Schütz: Psalm 98: Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, SWV 35

Critics have applauded the ensemble’s purity of sound, its controlled sensuality, and the profundity of its music-making: since Jörg Breiding took over the direction of the Knabenchor Hannover (Hanover Boys Choir) ten years ago, he has expanded the choir’s comprehensive repertoire with works by less-known composers. Excerpts from previously published CDs and from so-far unpublished recordings present a musical portrait spanning five epochs of European choral music.

This is a newly available recording of the young Fischer-Dieskau performing Baroque repertoire and is the only available recording of him singing this repertoire. During the 1950s, the voice of the young Fischer-Dieskau exuded a special lyricism and melodic naturalness as no other had before him.

The massed voices of the 140-strong National Youth Choir revel in the magnificently soaring lines of Schütz’s sacred music, complemented by John Kitchen’s contributions on the powerful Rieger organ of St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh. Revered by his contemporaries as the ‘Orpheus of our time’, Schütz would never have heard his music performed by forces such as these and on such a scale – surely he would have been a strong advocate of this astounding aural experience. Kitchen’s solo contributions contextualise the choral music with organ works by Samuel Scheidt and other contemporaries of Schütz.