Jauchzet dem Herren - Les Psaumes de David au XVIIe Siècle en Allemagne du Nord ~ La Fenice, Jean Tubéry
Psalms and instrumental works by BUXTEHUDE, SCHEIDT, FÖRTSCH, WEILAND, WECKMANN, BRUHNS, BERNHARD, SOMMER
This disc offers an unusually broad sampling of North German composers of the 17th century. A group of seven psalms is filled out with four instrumental works. Buxtehude’s Dixit Dominus (BuxWV 17) has been recorded only by Emma Kirkby (Fanfare 29:5); his Trauermusik and Klaglied (BuxWV 76), recorded in various partial renditions, is heard here with the Trauermusik and three of the seven strophes of the Klaglied. A cursory check of the other psalmists on my shelves turns up Jauchzet dem Herren of Nikolaus Bruhns on Hungaroton and Christoph Bernhard’s Aus der Tiefe on Ricercar, but both works have been recorded more recently. Johann Förtsch’s Aus der Tiefe is in current catalogs, but Julius Weiland and Johann Sommer are hard to find anywhere on records. Sommer, who died in 1627, is the earliest of the group, while Förtsch, who died in 1732, is the latest.
Hans-Görg Mammel is the soloist in all the psalms, many of them virtuoso works. The Bruhns, the longest and concluding work on the program, is particularly impressive, and the two Buxtehude pieces are worthy additions to his substantial discography. Jean Tubéry’s instrumental accompaniment is fine, and the historic organ is heard in a prelude and fugue by Bruhns. The venue is a church in Mariendrebber, built for the counts of Diepholz (long extinct) in the Middle Ages. Dating back to 1659, the organ has been rebuilt and renovated repeatedly until as recently as 1991. This is an interesting and offbeat program of early Baroque Lutheran music. -- FANFARE: J. F. Weber
