Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, den er tut Wunder

As many of you may be aware, my family enjoys and seeks out the uplifting influence of the Fine Arts for its highly cultivated ability to carry and effectively communicate weighty themes. Musically, this means that we favor what is referred to as “Classical Music.”

For those who may not know, "Classical Music" (along with other Fine Arts of the Western Tradition) is generally divided into distinct periods:

-- the Renaissance, which, corresponding in time to the revival of Art, Music, Architecture and Education in Western Civilization that goes by the same name (which not coincidentally corresponds with the period of the Reformation, as well), often strikes me as "optimistically medieval" – grandiose and confident in a way that shows that the Church was the dominant influence in Western culture at that time;

-- the Baroque, in which matured artistic expression, following their development in the previous Renaissance period, excelled at expressing elements of the whole of life (intellectual, emotional, and spiritual) and were generally guided by the revolutionary themes of humanism and the Reformation;

-- the Classical, which roughly corresponds with the period of the Enlightenment, and like the Enlightenment is a reaction against religious and emotional themes, and tends to be expressive of an intellectually inspired utopianism, particularly of human dominance over nature;

-- the Romantic, which is a reaction against the spartan intellectualism of the Classical period in favor of human emotional life and the dominance of nature over man, and which seems to welcome a form of religious sentimentality at times; and finally,

-- the 20th Century, which is typified by a convulsive struggle between intellect and emotion, frequently in the same dissonant work of art, and which seems to search for, or, more often the case these days, find its foundation in some nebulous and elusive form of spirituality.

These are my general definitions/descriptions of these periods, which professional Classicists may find wanting, but which jibe with my experience, study and interpretation. In addition, it should be noted that within these periods are various genres, like sacred, secular, choral, orchestral, etc.

My family's favorite pieces invariably come from the Sacred Choral works of the late Renaissance and Baroque periods, especially those of the German composers (who in this genre wrote Liturgical music and hymnody almost exclusively for the Lutheran church). After many years of researching and collecting, we have also settled upon our favorite choir: the Dresdner Kreuzchor – particularly under the direction of Rudolph Mauersberger and Martin Flämig. This was the combination that produced the legendary German tenor, Peter Schreier, who joined the Kreuzchor as a boy in 1945. He is also our favorite tenor of all time...

The Dresdner Kreuzchor is the boy's choir of the Church of the Holy Cross in Dresden, Germany (which is right across the Elbe River from the famed Frauenkirche). It is one of the oldest boys choirs in the world, having a continuous 700 year history. For many years, under the leadership of Maestro Mauersberger (1930-1971), this choir, unlike all other famous boy's choirs, focused almost exclusively on the repertoire of Lutheran worship -- and it shows. Their recordings possess the quality of worship, having come from those who regularly produce music in and for the context of divine worship, and who seem to understand and personally connect with what they are singing. This is in contrast with recordings of worship music produced by professional performers, who regularly produce music purely for the delight of audiences, who may or may not understand or appreciate the texts they sing. As a result, while not technically perfect in all areas of execution, our family has nevertheless come to love the recordings of this choir.

Anyway, desiring to share with everyone the treasures of Lutheran liturgical music and hymnody, I highly recommend the collection pictured at the head of this blog entry: Dresdner Keuzchor: Legendary recordings. A full ten-disk collection for a mere €35.10, it's a steal.

The first two disks are collections from Heinrich Schütz (Psalmen Davids and Kleine geistliche Konzerte), the third is Johann Schein's Israelsbrünnlein, the fourth is Samuel Scheidt's Concertus Sacri, and the fifth and sixth CD's contain four Lutheran Masses by J.S. Bach. The first six CD's of this collection all contain music composed for use in the context of Lutheran worship. The seventh CD is a collection of motets by Sweelinck, Kuhnau, Gabrieli, and Schein, while the eighth disk is a collection of Chorals of the Lutheran Age, all by Martin Luther and Johann Walter. The ninth disk is a collection of German folk music, under the direction of Rudolf Mauersberger, and the tenth is a collection of choral music from the Romantic era.

For what it is worth, I highly recommend this collection.