Sunday, December 6, 2009

Zelenka - Responsoria pro Hebdomada Sancta - Capella Montana






Zelenka - Responsoria pro Hebdomada Sancta -
Capella Montana

Religious | Eac, flac, cue | no log, cover | 2 CD, 561 MB
June 27, 2000 | MD&G Records | RapidShare



The history of Western music has been enriched to a great degree by the rediscovery and revival of countless forgotten works from the Middle Ages to the 18th century. The second half of the 20th century in particular has been witness not to a revival but to an explosion of interest in the so-called minor masters of the Baroque and Classical periods. The trend continues with discoveries that continue to amaze and capture the attention of performers and consumers alike in ever increasing numbers. No longer are we content with the latest recording of Messiah, but the musically curious seek new horizons, including works of Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745).

A Bohemian contemporary of Bach, Zelenka was unknown to all save a few musicologists until the 1950s, when the publication of his trio sonatas aroused more than idle curiosity. Other publications followed, and in the late 1960s Newell Jenkins and his Clarion Concerts Orchestra recorded an LP of Zelenka's orchestral music for the now-defunct Decca Gold Label. In the late 1970s, Archiv issued the complete orchestral music with the Camerata Bern, and the trio sonatas with an all-star ensemble that included Heinz Holliger. The momentum has continued and now encompasses Zelenka's choral works. Now one can actually choose from several different recordings of his orchestral and chamber music. What we are discovering is that Zelenka's music is of a consistently high quality and that it is commanding increasing respect from performers and listeners alike, who are beginning to wonder exactly who this obscure Bohemian was.

Well respected in his day (Bach and Telemann owned copies of Zelenka's music), Zelenka worked at the Saxon Court of Augustus the Strong, obligingly producing a string of stunning choral works for the Roman Catholic liturgy, including these 27 responses written in 1723 for Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. One is immediately struck by the sentient settings of the texts, which employ an undeniable amalgam of stile antico and stile nuovo, and of flowing Italian Renaissance polyphony and foursquare German Baroque counterpoint, the knowledge of both acquired by Zelenka during his years of study with Johann Joseph Fux in Vienna. The Zelenkanian hallmarks are ever present as well: the occasional quirky change in the phrase length or melodic content, and the bold, unexpected harmonic shift that raises the eyebrow and at the same time elicits a smile of envy.

Ludwig Goßner's ensembles are agile, alert, and responsive, with the vocalists producing a sound that is expectedly but never excessively lean. Though light-toned, the vocal soloists — drawn from Capella Montana — generate abundant warmth and are clearly in touch with the emotional content of the text. The dark-hued instrumental support — violas da gamba, sackbutts, and organ — play colla parte, lending a dour and proper timbre to the Lenten texts. Ravishing sound and cogent, intelligently written notes further commend this exquisitely recorded and beautifully packaged set.--Fanfare


Composer: Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679 - 1745)
Title: Responsoria pro Hebdomada Sancta
Label: MDG Scene
Cataloque number CD: 605 0964-2
Date: 2000
Location:Edith-Stein-Kapelle des Kardinal-Schulte-Hauses in Bensberg
Producer: Reimund Grimm
Release: 2000
Total Time: 47:30 + 78:04

Performers:
Capella Montana
Bochumer Gambenensemble
Ludwig Goßner, conductor


CD 1
01. Feria V
02. In monte oliveti
03. Tristis est anima mea
04. Ecce, vidimus eum
05. Amicus meus
06. Judas mercator pessimus
07. Unus ex discipulis meis
08. Eram quasi agnus innocens
09. Una hora, Seniores populi

CD 2
01. Feria VI
02. Omnes amici mei
03. Velum templi scissum est
04. Vinea mea electa
05. Tamquam ad latronem
06. Tenebrae factae sunt
07. Animam meam dilectam
08. Tradiderunt me
09. Jesum tradidit impius
10. Caligaverunt oculi mei
11. Sabbato Sancto
12. Sicut ovis
13. Jerusalem, surge
14. Plange quasi virgo
15. Recessit pastor noster
16. O vos omnes
17. Ecce quomodo moritur justus
18. Astiterunt reges terrae
19. Aestimatus sum
20. Sepulto Domino





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