Praetorius: Motets

Weser-Renaissance Bremen;
Cordes, Manfred

CPO 777245

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Hamburg developed a music culture centering on its four principal churches and distinguished by great variety and the highest standards of excellence. Here too, of course, polychoral music exhibiting the influence of earlier Northern Italian composers had been able to establish itself. Some Protestant composers of the time, including Hassler and Schütz, had studied this style directly with Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli, the most renowned Italian masters, both of whom were active at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice. Although Hieronymus Praetorius had no direct contact with Italian composers, his works for two or three choirs would have been absolutely unimaginable without their influence. His five-volume Opus musicum composed between 1599 and 1625, the earliest collection of polyphonic church music published in Hamburg, exemplifies Italian influence on Northern German sacred music and exhibits a fascinating mixture of old and new styles. Praetorius may be regarded as the most important German pioneer in this field.

CD

Muzyka klasyczna

CPO

27-06-2008

761203724529