German Baroque Music

[SonicMan46]

Hi, Dave. I would recommend you to check out this recording of the Concerti Grossi:

 

PI... I have a high opinion of these disks. 

Hi Gordo - thanks for the recommendations above - let us know what you think - these Muffat men seem to be unfound & under-recorded, probably our loss?  See my next post here - Dave

[SonicMan46]

Georg Muffat wrote 12 very fine concerti grossi, some of the best orchestral music of that generation that includes Corelli and Alessandro Scarlatti.

His son Gottlieb Muffat wrote some of the finest harpsichord music of the high baroque, in his suites.

The above piqued my interest regarding the son, i.e. Gottlieb Muffat (1690-1770) - the youngest and apparently by far the most talented son of Georg Muffat - he spent most of his adult life at the Viennese court (quote below from Wiki) - as shown previously, I have just two CDs of the father's works and am interested in the Concerti Grossi, pending Gordo's comments.

BUT, in perusing the son's recordings, not much is available - however, he seemed to be mainly a keyboard composer (and teacher), so I just did a MP3 DL from Classicsonline (just $6) - burned to CD-R and now listening - Keyboard Works on harpsichord w/ a Japanese performer who studied in Europe, Naoko Akutagawa - always astounds me how much music has been lost to us - attached are the booklet notes that were included in the DL, implying that there may be recently discovered manuscripts?  Who knows?  Dave

Gottlieb Muffat, son of Georg Muffat, served as Hofscholar under Johann Fux in Vienna from 1711 and was appointed to the position of third court organist at the Hofkapelle in 1717. He acquired additional duties over time including the instruction of members of the Imperial family, among them the future Empress Maria Theresa. He was promoted to second organist in 1729 and first organist upon the accession of Maria Theresa to the throne in 1741. He retired from official duties at the court in 1763.

 

[king ubu]

Forgive me if this has been mentioned, only checked the final four or five pages here - but this is a Muffat disc I enjoy:

[asin]B002AG5TW6[/asin]

Can be had cheaply on the marketplace, for instance here:
http://www.amazon.de/Orgelmusik-Wiener-Hof-Wolfgang-Kogert/dp/B002AG5TW6

Here's a review in German
http://www.organ-journal.com/en_UK/journal/showarticle,31141.html

It's about the Kogert disc as well as and another disc also including organ music from the Viennese court by Jeremy Joseph, whom I don't know - this one:

[asin]B002AG5TXA[/asin]

The multi-lingual booklets are available on the NCA website - samples are there as well:

Kogert:
http://www.ncamusic.com/produkte-details.php?lang=de&id=60206
Straight to the PDF: http://www.ncamusic.de/com/drucksachen/60206_booklet.pdf

Joseph:
http://www.ncamusic.com/produkte-details.php?id=60207&lang=de
Straight to the PDF: http://www.ncamusic.de/com/drucksachen/60207_booklet.pdf


Guess that Jeremy Joseph disc goes onto my shopping list ...

[king ubu]

Second of the Ricercar German Baroque box set repackings is out ... haven't even started listening to the first yet:

[asin]B00NB7LG4I[/asin]

One thing that bothers me with the first is the lack of recording dates (not even a year is given in most cases, where recordings from other labels were licensed, you get the (P) year, but that's it). A bit of a blunder for a label doing such a great job (their Telemann box, "Les Plaisirs de la table", is somewhat flawed too though, not providing any clear identification for the works contained).

[71 dB]

I noticed to my delight that cpo label is starting a project of complete recordings of Johann Kuhnau's (1660-1722) cantatas! Kuhnau of course was J. S. Bach's predecessor in Leipzig and an unjustly overlooked composer of baroque era suffering from the gigantic shadow of J. S. Bach's towering genius.

Apparently about fifty cantatas by Kuhnau have survived. Volume 1 will be released this month. I am extremely excited. I have been dreaming about projects like this. Kuhnau's complete cantatas? Wow, almost too good to be true!     

[The new erato]

I noticed to my delight that cpo label is starting a project of complete recordings of Johann Kuhnau's (1660-1722) cantatas! Kuhnau of course was J. S. Bach's predecessor in Leipzig and an unjustly overlooked composer of baroque era suffering from the gigantic shadow of J. S. Bach's towering genius.

Apparently about fifty cantatas by Kuhnau have survived. Volume 1 will be released this month. I am extremely excited. I have been dreaming about projects like this. Kuhnau's complete cantatas? Wow, almost too good to be true!     

+ 1.I have 2 Kuhnau discs, and both are very impressive.

[Florestan]

This is a gorgeous disc, filled with superb music and splendid musicmaking in spectacular sonics. Desert island stuff.

[The new erato]

This is a gorgeous disc, filled with superb music and splendid musicmaking in spectacular sonics. Desert island stuff.

Yes it is. Highly recommended by me as well.

[San Antone]

Johann Staden and the Nuremberg School



Johann Staden (baptized 2 July 1581 – 15 November 1634) He was a distinguished and versatile composer, and one of the outstanding German musicians of his day. In his later years he was the leading musician in Nuremberg and established the so-called Nuremberg school of the 17th century.

The world premiere recording of 15 motets of Johann Staden was recently released in April, 2015. The Windsbach Boys Choir was founded in 1946 by Hans Thamm and since 1978 under the direction of Karl-Friedrich Beringer, the choir is one of the most renowned boys choirs of the world, and along with the early music specialists Capella de la Torre and Concerto Palatino this recording has been praised for the "cleanliness and lightness, balance and softness" of it's sound.

[SonicMan46]

I noticed to my delight that cpo label is starting a project of complete recordings of Johann Kuhnau's (1660-1722) cantatas! Kuhnau of course was J. S. Bach's predecessor in Leipzig and an unjustly overlooked composer of baroque era suffering from the gigantic shadow of J. S. Bach's towering genius.

Apparently about fifty cantatas by Kuhnau have survived. Volume 1 will be released this month. I am extremely excited. I have been dreaming about projects like this. Kuhnau's complete cantatas? Wow, almost too good to be true!     

Hi Poju - just checked Amazon USA and ordered the cantata CD discussed above - also have the one below on way to me from 'across the pond' - should arrive shortly - Dave

[SonicMan46]

This is a gorgeous disc, filled with superb music and splendid musicmaking in spectacular sonics. Desert island stuff.

Hi Andrei - thought that I already owned that CD but not in my database nor found in my collection - SO, guess another to add to my 'wish list' - believe that I own the same performers on ZigZag of another composer (or more?) - Dave

[71 dB]

Hi Poju - just checked Amazon USA and ordered the cantata CD discussed above - also have the one below on way to me from 'across the pond' - should arrive shortly - Dave

That's cool Dave.  Hope you enjoy them.

I haven't bought the CPO cantata disc myself yet. I have been into post WWII stuff lately as you may have noticed... 

[SonicMan46]

Johann Gottlieb Janitsch (1708-1763) -portion of his bio from Wiki quoted below; this composer was unknown to me until a post of one of his recordings w/ the Epoca Barocca (a favorite group of mine and own a number of their recordings) was posted in the 'listening thread'; SO, I was looking on Amazon planning to order that CD, but came across another group, Christopher Palameta w/ Notturna who had recorded 3 discs of Janitsch's works - a Fanfare review of V.3 (attached) was convincing, so went ahead and ordered all three below from the Amazon MP - just $8 (had $10 remaining on a gift card which pretty much paid the the S&H) - looking forward to hearing these performances.  Dave

From 1740, when Frederick ascended to the Prussian throne, Janitsch's position as Contraviolinist was transferred to the newly founded Berlin Court Orchestra, where he was awarded a salary of 350 thalers. The Friday academies continued in Berlin in his home in the form of weekly concerts open to the public. This musical association was the first in a long line of similar organisations which arose in Berlin after 1750. From 1743, Janitsch was required to compose and organise "Redutenmusik" for the annual court balls held at carnival time by Frederick. The music was performed by 24 oboists, specially selected from various regiments of the Prussian army.

Janitsch's compositional style is typical of the galant and the empfindsamer Stil of the first half of the 18th century. Although several of Janitsch's works were already published by the Breitkopf during his lifetime, most of his surviving output exists in manuscript form. The largest repository of Janitsch's surviving works is the archive of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin, which was thought to have been destroyed during World War II until it was rediscovered in the Kiev Conservatory in 2000. There are also many other manuscripts in libraries across europe (Source).

   

[The new erato]

Hi Andrei - thought that I already owned that CD but not in my database nor found in my collection - SO, guess another to add to my 'wish list' - believe that I own the same performers on ZigZag of another composer (or more?) - Dave

[SonicMan46]

Hi New Erato - assume that the above is a recommendation?  I do own that one and may have confused w/ the other discussed which is now also in my collection -    Dave

[Que]

Recommendations on Fasch recordings, kindly provided by Dave, here quoted for reference:

Hi Que - Johann Fasch (1688-1758) - German Baroque w/ dates similar to Handel - wrote a lot of vocal music (most lost apparently) and much instrumental music - Orchestral Suites, Concertos, Symphonies, & Chamber Works (list HERE) w/ a LOT of winds used.  At present, I own the 10 CDs shown below (not sure at the moment 'how much' overlap there may be?) - virtually all of these are period performances - recommendations?  I really enjoy all of these discs, but the Accent ones w/ Il Gardellino are excellent; the Overtures/Symphonies w/ Rémy are also outstanding for a 'bigger band' - Dave

P.S. Click for a much larger image!

[Que]

Forgive me if this has been mentioned, only checked the final four or five pages here - but this is a Muffat disc I enjoy:

[asin]B002AG5TW6[/asin]

Can be had cheaply on the marketplace, for instance here:
http://www.amazon.de/Orgelmusik-Wiener-Hof-Wolfgang-Kogert/dp/B002AG5TW6

Here's a review in German
http://www.organ-journal.com/en_UK/journal/showarticle,31141.html

It's about the Kogert disc as well as and another disc also including organ music from the Viennese court by Jeremy Joseph, whom I don't know - this one:

[asin]B002AG5TXA[/asin]

The multi-lingual booklets are available on the NCA website - samples are there as well:

Kogert:
http://www.ncamusic.com/produkte-details.php?lang=de&id=60206
Straight to the PDF: http://www.ncamusic.de/com/drucksachen/60206_booklet.pdf

Joseph:
http://www.ncamusic.com/produkte-details.php?id=60207&lang=de
Straight to the PDF: http://www.ncamusic.de/com/drucksachen/60207_booklet.pdf


Guess that Jeremy Joseph disc goes onto my shopping list ...

Thanks for that! For some reason I always get confused between the two Muffats (father Georg & son Gottlieb). Luckily they are both included in the 1st disc you recommend.

An awesome recording of Georg's opus magnum:

[asin][B000BDGBZY[/asin]

A wonderful recording with organ music by Gottlieb:

[asin]B003BFCON2[/asin]

For Froberger I would suggest Van Asperen on Aeolus: volumes 5-7 of the keyboard series contain the organ repertoire.

Q

[Que]

I came across this (a 4CD set, no less! ):

[asin]B016VJM8I0[/asin]
Anyone familiar with this music or composer? 

Q

[Jo498]

Does anyone know this disc:

[asin]B000007N55[/asin]

[71 dB]

I noticed to my delight that cpo label is starting a project of complete recordings of Johann Kuhnau's (1660-1722) cantatas! Kuhnau of course was J. S. Bach's predecessor in Leipzig and an unjustly overlooked composer of baroque era suffering from the gigantic shadow of J. S. Bach's towering genius.

Apparently about fifty cantatas by Kuhnau have survived. Volume 1 will be released this month. I am extremely excited. I have been dreaming about projects like this. Kuhnau's complete cantatas? Wow, almost too good to be true!     

Finally listening to this cd (arrived yesterday). The sound image is something I am not very fond of. Nothing is in the middle! Everything is on the left and right. The sound is also somehow fuzzy. The performers "are there somewhere". Very unnatural sound, everything sounds so close and reverberant it's "heavy". Thanks to crossfeed the sound is somewhat tolerable, but far from great. What a dissappointment! As if there was too much Kuhnau out there. These are world premier performances now ruined by bad sound engineering. The music is perhaps great, hard to tell... 

Hopefully the following volumes are recorded better...