Album insights
Michael Schultheiß, known as Praetorius, was born in February 1571 in Creuzburg, north of Eisenach, the son of a pastor who had been a student of Martin Luther. Despite having a busy life journeying through Germany from court to court to make music, teach, and offer advice on matters like organ building, he never forgot his roots. He always signed with "M.P.C." (Michael Praetorius von Creuzburg) and dedicated much of his life to expanding Lutheran church music. Praetorius passed away in 1621 at the age of 50, possibly due to overexertion in Wolfenbüttel, where he had officially served as Kapellmeister of the Braunschweig-Lüneburg court since 1603.
Praetorius' church music, despite its extensive nature, is less acknowledged today due to various reasons. He was overshadowed by Heinrich Schütz's church music, which was better known. Praetorius's compositions combined the Italian Baroque style with Lutheran chorales, creating music accessible even to the simplest village choir. Praetorius's oeuvre included liturgical music of all kinds in the new Baroque style, ranging from two-part bicinia to large-scale multi-choral concerts for voices and instruments. Praetorius never traveled to Italy like Schütz; instead, he assimilated his knowledge of the Baroque style through imported Italian works.
His work, Terpsichore (Wolfenbüttel 1612), the sole preserved publication of his instrumental music, is widely considered a source of German dance music for wind instruments. This publication includes various French dances and songs performed by French dancing masters in France. Praetorius emphasized the ideal ensemble for this type of music - a French violin consort consisting of a violin, two or three viols, and a large bass viol tuned a tone lower than the modern cello. Many arrangements, except one, are attributed partially or fully to the French violinist Pierre Francisque Caroubel.
The four pieces from the Polyhymnia on the CD showcase different combinations of vocalists and instruments in the Baroque Concertato style. Songs like "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" and "Puer natus in Bethlehem" feature three solo voices supported by Capella fidicinia and a ripieno choir. The contrast between the solo and full sections is used to emphasize the verse-refrain structure effectively. Praetorius's Puericinium (Wolfenbüttel 1621) demonstrates his Choralkonzert technique for a boys' choir, with pieces designed for four identical soprano voices with continuo accompaniment.
In this recording, efforts were made to recreate a performance under Praetorius's direction as faithfully as possible. The ensemble, including all soloists, consists entirely of boy and male voices. Additionally, The Parley of Instruments uses instruments reflecting late 16th or early 17th-century constructions, similar to the ones Praetorius specified in his compositions.