Heinichen Lamentationes etc
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Johann David Heinichen
Label: Archiv Produktion
Magazine Review Date: 8/1996
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 129
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 447 092-2AH2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Lamentationes Jeremiae prophetae |
Johann David Heinichen, Composer
Axel Köhler, Alto Cologne Musica Antiqua Johann David Heinichen, Composer Jürg Dürmüller, Tenor Reinhard Goebel, Conductor Scot Weir, Tenor |
| Beatus vir |
Johann David Heinichen, Composer
Cologne Musica Antiqua Johann David Heinichen, Composer Jürg Dürmüller, Tenor Reinhard Goebel, Conductor Scot Weir, Tenor |
| Alma mater redemptoris |
Johann David Heinichen, Composer
Axel Köhler, Alto Cologne Musica Antiqua Johann David Heinichen, Composer Reinhard Goebel, Conductor |
| Nisi Dominus aedificaverit |
Johann David Heinichen, Composer
Cologne Musica Antiqua Johann David Heinichen, Composer Jürg Dürmüller, Tenor Reinhard Goebel, Conductor |
| De profundis |
Johann David Heinichen, Composer
Cologne Musica Antiqua Johann David Heinichen, Composer Raimund Nolte, Bass Reinhard Goebel, Conductor |
| Nicht das Band, das dich bestricket |
Johann David Heinichen, Composer
Axel Köhler, Alto Cologne Musica Antiqua Johann David Heinichen, Composer Jürg Dürmüller, Tenor Mechthild Georg, Soprano Raimund Nolte, Bass Reinhard Goebel, Conductor |
| Warum toben die Heiden |
Johann David Heinichen, Composer
Cologne Musica Antiqua Johann David Heinichen, Composer Raimund Nolte, Bass Reinhard Goebel, Conductor |
| Pastorale in A, 'Per la notte della Nativitate Chr |
Johann David Heinichen, Composer
Cologne Musica Antiqua Johann David Heinichen, Composer Reinhard Goebel, Conductor |
Author: Nicholas Anderson
As a follow-up to their colourful (and Gramophone Award-winning) album of concertos by the Dresden composer Heinichen (Archiv, 5/93), Cologne Musica Antiqua have turned their attention to his sacred vocal music. Heinichen served as Kapellmeister at the Catholic Dresden court of Augustus the Strong between 1717 and his death in 1729. That he himself was a Protestant need not concern us overmuch since, as Bach was to demonstrate with his B minor Mass, any inner conflict, at least in the creative domain, was resolvable. Either Reinhard Goebel has chosen judiciously from among Heinichen’s significant surviving body of sacred music, or we need to hear more of it, for much of what is included here is strikingly effective and of more enduring interest than his concertos.
The most spaciously conceived works in the programme are threeLamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet, and a German Oratorio, Nicht das Band, das dich bestricket, both written for Dresden in 1724. Heinichen’s harmonic vocabulary is fluent – he was a noted theorist whose treatise on the continuo bass prompted Charles Burney to dub him “The Rameau of Germany” – and his feeling for instrumental colouring often on a par with that of his contemporary, Telemann. There is a wide range of stylistic idiom present in the programme as a whole, sometimes harking back to earlier baroque styles in declamation, at other times hinting at early classicism. The more prolific and cosmopolitanly inclined Telemann is often the touchstone, yet it was to be another 30 years before Telemann produced oratorios such as Der Tod Jesu, with which Heinichen’s German Oratorio has points in common. On balance it is the Oratorio which offers the listener the most sustained evidence of Heinichen’s skill in the affective treatment of text by means of telling vocal declamation, graphic rhythms and diverting instrumental colour. An outstandingly vivid example of this is afforded by the merciless, lashing chords which accompany Peter’s betrayal of Jesus.
Little of the undeniable drama contained both in the Lamentations and the Oratorio is lost on Goebel, who directs the performances with fervour and expressive intensity. Sometimes I found his continuo line a little too assertive but, set against that, is playing and singing of almost constant excellence. And there are some ravishing arias, too, notably in the second Lamentation for bass voice and strings, and in the Oratorio where the soprano aria “Die Sporne, die meinen Erloser durchstechen” foreshadows the Telemann of the 1750s. As for library duplications, collectors are likely to have only the concluding work in the programme, a beguiling Pastorale for strings and colla parte oboes which probably belongs to a sacred vocal work. It can be found on Goebel’s previous disc of miscellaneous pieces for the Dresden orchestra by various composers (Archiv, 1/96). An interesting introductory essay by Goebel himself and exemplary recorded sound set the seal on a fascinating release. Recommended.'
The most spaciously conceived works in the programme are three
Little of the undeniable drama contained both in the Lamentations and the Oratorio is lost on Goebel, who directs the performances with fervour and expressive intensity. Sometimes I found his continuo line a little too assertive but, set against that, is playing and singing of almost constant excellence. And there are some ravishing arias, too, notably in the second Lamentation for bass voice and strings, and in the Oratorio where the soprano aria “Die Sporne, die meinen Erloser durchstechen” foreshadows the Telemann of the 1750s. As for library duplications, collectors are likely to have only the concluding work in the programme, a beguiling Pastorale for strings and colla parte oboes which probably belongs to a sacred vocal work. It can be found on Goebel’s previous disc of miscellaneous pieces for the Dresden orchestra by various composers (Archiv, 1/96). An interesting introductory essay by Goebel himself and exemplary recorded sound set the seal on a fascinating release. Recommended.'
Heinichen Lamentationes etc
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