Praetorius: Advent and Christmas Music

Chronique

Short vocal pieces and arrangements for recorders by the German composer Michael Praetorius formed part of the repertoire of the amateur musicians who first revived Renaissance and Baroque music, but the historical-instrument movement has not treated him as generously as some of his contemporaries. The Bremer Barock Consort, a group of (remarkably) student musicians from Bremen led by North German veteran Manfred Cordes helps remedy the situation with a lovely group of pieces with texts appropriate to the holiday season. They date from the first two decades of the 17th century. Several of these works, including the well-known In dulci jubilo, mix Latin and German in the texts, seemingly a direct demonstration of the process by which Lutheranism differentiated itself from Catholic worship. The source material of the music, too, is a mixture: Latin chants, chorales, or chorale-like tunes in German, or short hymn melodies like In dulci jubilo. All are elaborated with delightful variety into pieces mostly between five and ten minutes long, with choral ensembles (the choir has one voice per part), vocal solos, and instrumental passages from an ensemble of recorders and violas da gamba. Sometimes the ensemble is reduced to a pair of recorders playing one of the entrancing duets familiar to those who've played Praetorius' music at home, spinning a seemingly endless fantasy out of a very basic set of tonal materials. The overall effect is of an early 17th century version of Bach's profounder forms of chorale variation, all clothed in the sunny mood characteristic of Praetorius. A really nice disc of early 17th century music, clearly recorded. The booklet notes, in German, English, and French, discuss Praetorius' career in detail but don't say much about the music you hear.

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