Johann Sebastian Bach

Published in 1739, the third part of the Clavier Übung was J.S. Bach’s first organ music to appear in print. It contains preludes on the Catechism and other hymns. It is also his most voluminous and important collection for this instrument. Generally speaking, the music requires three keyboards, including a pedalled one. Together, the first nine arrangements form a Lutheran mass, a ‘missa brevis’. The booklet includes an extensive essay by the performer on the music’s purpose, background and the structure of the entire Clavier Übung, for example he maintains that some of the items were intended for use at home.

Our CD takes us on musical journey from the Baroque to the Romantic era. It is the sequel to our CD "Great Joy - Große Freude 1" (HAEN98444).

No other holiday is as closely bound up with music and song as Christmas. And the playing of the familiar holiday songs is also an age-old element of music for brass instruments, cultivated for centuries by the traditional small brass ensembles playing from German church towers. As Johann Kuhnau, Bach's immediate predecessor as organist and choirmaster at St. Thomas' church in Leipzig, wrote in 1700, "When our waits blow their trombones from the tower playing a sacred song at the holidays, we are incomparably moved, and could think we were hearing the singing of angels." Even today, brass music is still capable of touching us this deeply. That is why the joyous, regal sound of the brass insturments are an indispensable part of the musical sounds of the Christmas season.

The Schwerin Brass-Collegium: In 1975 nine musicians from Schwerin got together on the initiative of trumpeter Hans-Joachim Drechsler to form the Schwerin Blechbläser-Collegium. It was the first ensemble of its kind in Germany. The Schweriner Blechbläser-Collegium cultivates nearly all styles of music with a repertoire of more than 200 works by more than 100 composers from six centuries.

A new recording by the ascending British star of the early music and baroque scene. Grace Davidson’s distinctive and ethereal voice can be heard in ensemble with such groups as The Sixteen, Tenebrae, the Monteverdi Choir, the English Concert, the Gabrieli Consort, Ensemble Plus Ultra and Ex Cathedra. This is the first album devoted entirely to her own voice and features her in a range of early music repertoire from Hildegard to Mozart and is accompanied by the original instrument orchestra Fiori Musicali.

Grace Davidson takes as her canvas for this vocal portrait music ranging over 700 years of musical history, displaying a wonderful variety of musical textures and colours. From the subtle, suggestive monody of Hildegard of Bingen (the 12th-century visionary) through to the distinctive music of the Neapolitan baroque and the vivid tones of Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate this is a musical journey portraying an outstandingly beautiful new voice. The music performed includes rarities such as Mancini, Koželuch and Leo as well as well known works by John Dowland, Bach and Mozart.

New York recital debut, February 28th 1971