Förtsch: Aus der Tiefe

After the Thirty Years War, a brilliant musical culture was able to flourish in the churches of Northern Germany. Organists such as Buxtehude, Scheidemann, Bruhns or Sommer, started to compose their own works. This new musical culture in the North of Germany fundamentally differed from what was going on in the Center or the South of the country.

In these regions there remained a scholarly and speculative conception of music, inspired by the humanist spirit of the Reformation. On the shores of the Baltic and North seas it was the prosperous Hanseatic League which considerably influenced musical life.

Aristocrats and burghers insisted that the members of local chapels should be allowed to practice their art, like the organists and musicians attached to the service of the different towns. Thus a generation of musicians was born. Assembled on this disc, their music probably never achieved the recognition it deserved.

Förtsch was one of the founders of the Hamburg opera and as well as being a composer, singer and librettist, was a doctor and diplomat. Among his surviving compositions are several works for the stage and instrumental music, but above all, 80 sacred cantatas, of which several are presented here as world premiere recordings.

After last month’s beautifully repackaged start to their 30th anniversary, Ricercar now take great pleasure in presenting a compilation that includes two magnificent cantatas by J.S. Bach in a slipcased package that also includes the complete Ricercar catalogue.

These performances by the Ricercar Consort and its legendary quartet of soloists, from the series Deutsche Barock Kantaten, were created at a time when historical performance practice was new and sprang from original research into the performance practice. This style of music-making is now completely integrated into contemporary musical life thanks partly to these Baroque pioneers.

The years between 1600 and 1800 marked the golden age of church music in Hamburg and CPO’s successful Musica Sacra Hamburgensis series is devoted to this period. The rediscovery of Johann Philipp Förtsch shows how close the ties were between sacred music and Hamburg opera. His opera experience clearly motivated him to reshape the Bible texts for his sacred compositions - thus lending them the character of opera libretti and bringing the opera to the church.

Roland Wilson is the director of both Musica Fiata and La Capella Ducale and concentrates on researching performance practice. His interpretations as a conductor are noted for combining historical accuracy with artistic inspiration.