| I have been editing music by Rosenmueller since the Radio 3 programmes in 1983. Sadly, the English record company, Hyperion, decided against extending their "Contemporaries of Bach" series with The King's Consort; although previous releases, on which I have worked with the group extensively (Kuhnau, Knuepfer, Schelle and Zelenka) have met with critical acclaim, sales have not been good enough to justify continuation. There are, however, several excellent CD recordings already, especially the three by Cantus Coelln and Konrad Junghaenel: an early set of Vespers for deutsche harmonia mundi, and a two-disc set for harmonia mundi france. The latter set consists of double-choir psalms with sonatas and motets as antiphons, and reveals the many sides of Rosenmueller's art. Another very interesting set is Roland Wilson's Requiem, which takes settings of texts on death and despair and forms them into a sort of liturgy for the dead, without pretending to recreate any actual event. It is interesting that much of the composer's output on that theme is in what we'd call E minor, so clearly something was going on in his mind. Details at the foot of the page. Prima la musica! will publish sonatas and church music by Rosenmueller; at the moment, only the E minor sonata from the 1682 set, two five-part suites from Studentenmusic and some smaller sacred concertos are listed so far, but watch this space! If you would like any particular piece which is not already available, e-mail them. In the meantime, the following pieces are already available from King's Music: Choral pieces Lauda Jerusalem (SATB, 5-part strings, bc) Order Code: KMRos2 �12.00 (score and parts), �5.00 (extra scores) Magnificat in B flat (SSTAB, 5-part strings, bc) Order Code: KMRos1 �12.00 (score and parts), �5.00 (extra scores) Solo motets O dives omnium (A, 2 va, bc) Order code: KMRos3 �6.00 (score and parts), �3.00 (extra scores) Aeterne Deus (S, 2 vn, bc) from the printed set Kern-sprueche (1648) Order code: KM533 �6.00 (score and parts), �3.00 (extra scores) Lieber, lieber Herre Gott (S, 2 va / tbn, bc) from the printed set Kern-sprueche (1648) Order code: KM535 �6.00 (score and parts), �3.00 (extra scores) Treiffet ihr Himmel (S, 2 va / tbn, bc) from the printed set Kern-sprueche (1648) Order code: KM535a �6.00 (score and parts), �3.00 (extra scores) Recommended recordings Sacri concerti Cantus Coelln, dir. Junghaenel deutsche harmonia mundi 05472 77181 2 Vespro (1996) Cantus Coelln, dir. Junghaenel harmonia mundi HMC 90611.12 (2 CDs) Two stunning recordings (the second even better than the first) by the group I consider head and shoulders above anyone else in this repertoire. REQUIEM (2002) Musica Fiata Koeln, La Capella Ducale, dir. Roland Wilson Sony Vivarte S2K 69470 (2CDs) This set contains one-per-part performances of Ad Dominum cum tribularer, Kyrie, Dies irae, Miserere mei, Agnus Dei, Domine ne in furore tuo, plus a sinfonia and plainchant. There is no attempt at service re-construction, and without the plainsong, it would have fitted one disc. Still, these are fine performances of wonderful pieces. Weihnachtshistorie (2004) Cantus Coelln, dir. Junghaenel harmonia mundi HMC 901861 A third impressive disc from Junghaenel and friends featuring at least one piece retrieved with the Berlin Sing-Akademie Archive and recorded (possibly performed?) for the first time. Delightful! On the following pages you'll find a catalogue of the complete (known) works and various areas of current research, as well as illustrations of printed editions and manuscript sources. Rosenmueller research...> |