Label: RAUM KLANG 2204
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Six Sonatas for Violincello & Basso continuo, Op. 4 - Kristin von der Goltz, cello; Hille Perl, viola da gamba; Lee Santana, lute

The term ‘lesser master’ is not one likely to induce fairness. After all, ‘lesser masters’ have always been regarded as also-rans meriting little more than a footnote in musical history – as minor figures of no epoch-making import. However, we must be careful to distinguish between those whose lack of success stemmed from a primarily imitative attitude devoid of genuine originality, and those who are difficult to pigeonhole precisely because of their pronounced individuality. The chroniclers’ view was that anything that couldn’t be categorized should best be left out - an attitude, which jettisoned far too many supposed imitators. Anyone listening with an open mind to these sonata recordings will quickly realize that Dutch cellist and composer Jacob Klein is clearly one of those cheated of their honor. Nothing can justify the sonatas’ sinking into oblivion – a sentiment which applies all the more so to their creator.

Label: RAUM KLANG 2205
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SWEELINCK - DER ORGANISTENMACHER (MAKER OF ORGANISTS) - HEINRICH SCHEIDEMANN: Praeambulum 6; Mio cor, se vera sei salamandra; Praeambulum 14; Praeambulum 8; MELCHIOR SCHILDT: Paduana Lachrymae (nach. Dowland); Gleichwie das Feuer (3 Variationen); DIRCK SWEELINCK: Wie schon leuchtet der Morgenstern (5 Variationen); JAN PIETERSZOON SWEELINCK: Toccata XX; Psalm 23 (3 Variationen); O God die onse Vader bist; Fantasia II; ANONYM (MS. CAMPHUYSEN): Daphne (3 Variationen); PAUL SIEFERT: Paduana. Leon Berben, organ. Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck is one of the principal composers in the 16th- and 17th-century Holland. As far as we know, Sweelinck only left Holland on one time. Nevertheless his works show Italian/Venetian influences, English/virginalist elements and knowledge of Spanish composers. The growing cultural importance of Amsterdam in Sweelinck´s day probably explains his knowledge of contemporary European music. At the beginning of the 17th century, many organists traveled not only from Germany but also Poland and Sweden to Amsterdam to study under the famous Sweelinck. Later his Hamburg pupils Heinrich Scheidemann and Jacob Praetorius founded a sort of 'Sweelinck outpost' in Hamburg. They passed on their pupils what they have learned in Amsterdam. Léon Berben plays the pieces of Sweelincks und his pupils brilliantly at St. Jacque's Church in Liège. This organ was reconstructed in the style of the late 16th century, following Sweelinck´s large organ in Amsterdam.

Label: RAUM KLANG 2208
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GUILLAUME DU FAY (1398 – 1474): Belle, veullies moy retenir; Pour l’amour de ma doulce amye; Qui latuit in virgine; Je me complains piteusement; Quel fronte signorile; Resvelons nous; He, compaignons; Je languis en piteux martire; J’ai grant doulour; Vergene bella; Seignor Leon; JACOBUS VIDE (ca. 1386 – ca. 1433): Et c’est assez; GILLES DE BINS DIT BINCHOIS (1400 – 1460): Triste plaisir; Mort en merchy; Lune tres belle; Adieu, adieu, mon joieulx souvenir; Adieu, adieu, mon joieulx souvenir; NICOLAS GRENON (1380 – 1456): La plus belle et doulce figure; La plus grant chiere (anon. 15th cent.); Paumgartner (Buxheimer Orgelbuch, 15th century)

Lena Susanne Norin, alto; Randall Cook, viola d’arco, fidel; Susanne Ansorg, fidel, rebec
Under the dukes of Valois during the 15th century, Burgundy became one of the strongest political powers of Western Europe, and its capital, Dijon, one of the great centers of music. The sound of this music was so innovative and independent that today it is known as “The Burgundian School”. The musicians at the Burgundian court came from all over, and among them was Guillaume Du Fay, not only one of the greatest composers of his own time, but of all time. Like many of his colleagues, he travelled to the South – singers trained in the Northern cathedral schools were sought after by the courts of Italy, including the papal chapel. Borrowing from all the various styles in his musical environment, Du Fay developed these ideas and even surpassed them. Beloved for his artfully beautiful melodies and unique instinct for the harmonious balance of musical phrases, he achieved the closest thing to musical perfection in his time. The three musicians of this recording came together to explore this refined repertoire, whose immanently singable quality and sweet melancholy have given it a prominent place amongst the masterpieces of late medieval song. As opposed to common practice today, they have chosen to use the most minimal of instrumentation – one singer and two stringed instruments – to best do justice to the intimacy of these miniature masterpieces.

Label: RAUM KLANG 2301
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LE JARDIN DE PLAISANCE - SONGS FROM LATE FIFTEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH MANUSCRIPTS - JOHANNES OCKEGHEM: O rosa bella; D'un autre amer mon cuer s'abesserroit; ANON: Filles à marier; On doibt bien amer l'oysellet; ANTOINE DE BUSNE (BUSNOYS): A vous sans autre me viens render; Ja que lui ne s'i attende; CHARLES THE BOLD: Ma dame trop vous m'esprennés; GUILLAUME DUFAY: Par le regart de vos beaulx yeulx; GILLES DE BINS (BINCHOIS): Je ne vis oncques la pareille; DELAHAYE: Mort j'appelle de ta rigeur; WALTER FRYE?/JOHANNES TINCTORIS/ALEXANDER AGRICOLA: Tout a par moy; ANON/DUFAY: Le serviteur; BARBINGANT?: Au travail suis que peu de gens croiroient; HAYNE VAN GHIZEGHEM: De vous aymer follement m'assenty. Ensemble "LA MORRA": Rosa Dominguez & Raphaèl Boulay, voice/voix, Viva Biancaluna Biffi, fiddle/vièle; Luis Beduschi, flutes/flûtes, Marie Bournisien, harp/harpe; Michal Gondko, lute/luth & direction, Corina Marti, flutes/flûtes & direction. "Jardin de Plaisance" with the ensemble LA MORRA is Raumklang's first CD of the schola cantorum basiliensis edition. This series presents promising young artists and ensembles who have studied at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. At the same time it is promoting interesting projects outside the mainstream early music. The generation of musicians after Guillaume Dufay and Gilles Binchois began around 1450 to experiment with new compositional techniques that led to a very progressive and independent repertoire of secular songs. After 1460 these works were collected in circles of the French high nobility, and several of these manuscript collections have been preserved. The ensemble LA MORRA, Basel, presents an anthology of this highly refined art of instrumental and vocal music making in the freshness and immediacy of a "garden of pleasure".

Label: RAUM KLANG 2302
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CHROMATIC AND ENHARMONIC MUSIC FOR VIOL OF THE SURROUNDING OF CARDINAL FRANCESCO BARBERINI (ROME, c. 1635)
ERCOLE BOTTRIGARI (1531 - 1612): Il cantar novo
POMPONIO NENNA (1556 - 1613): S’io taccio il duol s’avanza; Ecco, o mia dolce pena; Ancide sol la morta;
CHERUBINO WAESICH (active c. 1632 - 1639): Canzona seconda; Canzona decimaquarta;
MICHELANGELO ROSSI (1601/2 - 1656): O prodighi di fiamme; Toccata settima
CARLO GESUALDO DA VENOSA (c. 1561 - 1613): Tu m’uccidi, o crudele; Occhi del mio cor vita
GIOVANNI PIETRO DEL BUONO (c. 1657): Tre Sonate sopra Ave Maris Stella
DOMENICO MAZZOCCHI (1592 - 1665): Lamentum Matris Euryali; Chiudesti I lumi, Armida
GIOVANNI GIROLAMO KAPSBERGER (c. 1580 - 1651): Care lagrime mie
TARQUINIO MERULA (1574/5 - 1665): Canzonetta sacra sopra alla nanna
PIETRO EREDIA (c. 1575 - 1648): Passa la vita

Evelyn Tubb, soprano; Marie Nishiyama, harp
The Earle His Viols: Irenen Klein, treble & bass viol; Jessica Marshall, tenor & bass viol; Brigitte Gasser, bass & treble viol; Randall Cook, violin; Uri Smilanski, bass viol1638, one of Domenico Mazzochi’s few printed books of music was first published as “Madrigali a cinque voci”. In a dictation to Cardinal Francesco Barberini, Mazzochi identifies the true calling of his music: „Already they [the madrigals] have been honored many times in Your allowing them to be sung together with your viol ensemble.“ The Cardinal had in fact subsidized a musical academy, in which a viol ensemble was active and significant enough that the institution was known as “accademia delle viole”. The use of viols allowed the polyphonic structure of the music to be clearly audible, whilst avoiding the confusion of simultaneously sung texts by having only the upper voice sung. The theoretical background for the Cardinal’s “accademia delle viole” was provided by the scholar Giovanni B. Doni. Among the essential elements of powerfully effective music, according to Doni, belonged the use of different keys with their varying interval structures as well as chromatic and enharmonic. The musicians of the ensemble “The Earle his Viols” met at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. On the CD, pure instrumentals are changing with madrigals where the wonderful voice of the soprano Evelyn Tubb shines over the polyphonic sound of the viols.

Label: RAUM KLANG 2303
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Tracks: San to feggari tis anixis; Lemonia; Apo makran elepose; Myrtate; El clavel y la espada (instr.); Mia Paraskevi; Tis trichas to gefiri; Moiroloi tou Idomenea; Anathema tis moirés Anixe porta tis xanthis Pano choros (instr.); Triantafilia; Sto pa kais to xanaleo

Artists: Theodora Baka, voice; Thymios Atzakas, ud, lute, song arrangements; Pantelis Pavlidis, lyres from Pontos & Karpathos, voice; Bijan Chemirani, zarb
Theodora Baka (born in Larissa, Greece) has been familiar with the traditional songs of her homeland since she was a child. With Myrtate she has achieved a charming synthesis of the traditional sounds of various regions of Greece and contemporary music influences. The singer is accompanied by an unusual formation (ud, lyre, and zarb) that underscores the songs’ remote, southern timbre. Her versatile voice celebrates in song the old epics of her homeland, laments the lost freedom of a young bride, converses with a lover – the yearning sound of Baka’s voice is captivating.

Label: RAUM KLANG 2305
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MUSIC FROM NUREMBERG PRINTS OF THE 16TH CENTURY
Works by Alexander Agricola, Ludwig Senfl, Jacobus Barbireau, Heinrich Isaac, Johannes Ghiselin, Francesco da Milano, Hans Buchner, Antoine de Févin,Jacob Obrecht, Hans Neusidler, Sixtus Dietrich & various unknown composers
MUSICKE & MIRTH: Irene Klein, treble & alto viol; Silvia Tecardi, treble, alto & tenor viol
Jane Achtman, tenor & bass viol; Wim Maeseele, lute
This is Raumklang’s second CD of the schola cantorum basiliensis edition, which presents promising youngartists and ensembles who have studied at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. At the same time it is promotinginteresting projects outside the mainstream early music. At the beginning of the 16th century Nuremberg(“The spider in the web”) was a northern European centre in which many threads of international music lifecame together. Early on Nuremberg had established itself as a centre of book printing. The first printingoffices that occupied themselves seriously with the printing of music, however, were those of Hieronymus Formschneider and Johannes Petreius. Most of the pieces on this recording are taken from these collections of three-part music. They contain international repertoire, including old masterworks such as Caecox and Tandernaken by Alexander Agricola, but also arrangements of German folk songs and ballades, as well as French compositions and more recent Italian forms.

Label: RAUM KLANG 2403
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Jesu, meines Lebens Leben BuxWV 62; Membra Jesu nostri BuxWV 75; Herr, wenn ich nur dich hab BuxWV 38

Capella Angelica & Lautten Compagney
Wolfgang Katschner, conductor
Dietrich Buxtehude’s cantata cycle Membra Jesu Nostri is one of the most extraordinary musical works of the seventeenth century. On the basis of a mystical medieval text, the Lübeck organist developed a seven-part Passion meditation that stands out clearly from the Protestant tradition of the contemplation of the Passion of Christ. The occasion for and the performance context of this cycle are just as unknown as is Buxtehude’s motivation for composing this work. The textual basis of Membra (i.e., limb, body part) is a collection of Latin hymns, each of which addresses a part of the body of the crucified Christ, always greeting it with “salve” (i.e., hail!). Whereas originally only the five wounds mentioned in the Bible - on Christ’s feet, knees, hands, side, and the face - were treated, the collection was later extended by independently written verses to the chest and the heart. On this recording the Lautten Compagney and Capella Angelica under Wolfgang Katschner have been supplemented the cantata cycle by “Herr, wenn ich nur dich hab” and “Jesu, meines Lebens Leben”. Both concertos deal with the soul’s close relationship to Christ: Like the Membra, they address the listener’s emotions and want to impart upon him to need to focus the heart and faith completely on the salutary nearness to God.

Label: RAUM KLANG 2409
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Weihnachtsoratorium (Christmas Oratorio) BWV 248/I – III

Katarzyna Jagiello, soprano; Gerhild Romberger, alto; Marcus Ullmann, tenor; Jochen Kupfer, bass
Dresdner Kammerchor; Dresdner Barockorchester/Hans-Christoph Rademann
With the Christmas oratorio Bach has created an irreplaceable piece of the German Christmas time. The intense and joyful music of Bach reflect the gospel in the evangelism of Luke. On this recording Raumklang publishes the first part – the three cantatas, which Bach has written for the three days of Christmas in 1734. From the first sound of the tympani you can feel the powerful tension of this live recording, which took place in December 2004 in Dresden. The Dresdner Kammerchor under Hans-Christoph Rademann is one of the top choirs in Germany and well known for its unmistakable intensity and clarity of sound. Numerous international tours, a multitude of radio and award-winning CD recordings have added to the choir’s renown and include collaborations with such orchestras as Concerto Köln under René Jacobs’ direction, the Lautten Compagney Berlin under Wolfgang Katschner and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. The Dresdner Kammerchor is accompanied by the Dresden Baroque Orchestra. Working with a historically correct instrumentation, the musicians are unified in their duty to keep the high standard that was set by King August the Strong’s Hofkapelle (court ensemble).

Label: RAUM KLANG 2501
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Music for Various Instruments: 12th century Songs for the Virgin

The Ensembel Peregrina:
Agnieszka Budzinska - voice, harp; Anita Dettwiler, voice, sinfonia; Kelly Landerkin, voice; Kinga Misiak - Gesang / voice/ chant

The twelfth century in Europe witnessed a burgeoning spiritual interest in the Virgin Mary. This, in turn, inspired medieval writers, artists and musicians to seek ever more lavish and ingenious ways of depicting Her unique qualities. Mel et lac presents a selection of medieval Marian songs, both monophonic and polyphonic, from a time of compositional experimentation and novelty. Mel et lac is the première recording of Ensemble Peregrina, a new group of female voices devoted to the exploration of musical repertories from Europe in the 12th to 14th centuries. A co-production between Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Schweizer Radio DRS2 and Raumklang.

Label: RAUM KLANG 2502
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GEROG PHILIPP TELEMANN: Overture in G “Burlesque de Quixotte”; Overture in G “La Quereileuse”; JOHANN MATTHESON: Overture in F “Die geheimen Begebenheiten Henrico IV: Konigs von Castilien und Leon”; FRANCESCO BARTOLOMEO CONTI: Overture in C “Don Chisciotte in Sierra Morena”

Elbipolis Baroque Orchestra Hamburg
Guests: Kerstin de Witt, recorder; Michael Metzler, percussion
At the end of the Cervantes year the young Elbipolis Baroque Orchestra presents its debut record “Don Quixote in Hamburg”. The musicians of Elbipolis met in different formations of early music like the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin or the Baroque orchestra Bremen. Their repertoire is mainly dedicated to the music of Hamburg of the 17th and 18th centuries. The famous Quixote of Cervantes, of course, has never been to Hamburg but in the amusing liner notes Quixote and Sancho Pansa start to this adventure and meet some different composers of Hamburg. In fact G.Ph. Telemann, Johann Mattheson and the Italian composer Francesco Bartolomeo Conti have written different overtures to the entertainingly adventures of Don Quixote. The members of Elbipolis Baroque Orchestra play this music lively and energetic, in the suite of Conti the sound of the strings is supported by a recorder and percussion.

Label: RAUM KLANG 2503
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Caprice No. 1 in C minor; Caprice No. 2 in G minor; Caprice No. 3 in E flat major; Caprice No. 4 in D minor; Caprice No. 5 in B flat major; Caprice No. 6 in E minor; Caprice No. 7 in B flat major; Caprice No. 8 in G major; Caprice No. 9 in C major; Caprice No. 10 in A major; Caprice No. 11 in F major

Kristin von der Goltz, cello
After her first CD with sonatas by Jakob Klein, Kristin von der Goltz has again turned her attention to an unknown master. Only little is known about the cello virtuoso Joseph-Marie-Clément dall’Abaco (1710-1805). He played as a court musician in the ensemble of the electoral chapel at Bonn, was appointed Director of Chamber Music there, and later celebrated as a virtuoso on numerous concert tours, including to London and Vienna. Highly esteemed as an instrumentalist all his life, his reputation as a composer was soon forgotten. Just how unjustified this was it shown by the eleven solo Caprices recorded here. Eccentric harmonic turns, self-indulgent sequences, and casually syncopated rhythms reflect dall’Abaco’s imaginativeness. After two hundred years of obscurity, the solo Caprices have been now reworked on the basis of a copyist’s copy and awakened to new life by Kristin von der Goltz. The sensitive world premiere recording is based on the only surviving source of the solo Caprices in the Biblioteca del Conservatorio di Milano.

Label: RAUM KLANG 2506
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Die Kölner Akademie
Orchester Damals und Heute /Michael Alexander Willens
At the beginning of the seventeenth century, German Passion music was strongly influenced by the Italian Oratorio. Heinrich Schütz was perhaps the composer most responsible for introducing the Italian style to Germany. Among the list of composers paving the way to Bach in this tradition was the composer, organist and singer Johann Valentin Meder. His St. Matthew Passion was most likely written in 1701 in Riga. Meder’s work captivates through its clarity and its accessible style. Some of the expressive melodies and texts are from contemporary Passiontide chorales. In accordance with the performance practice of the time, Michael Alexander Willens has assigned the vocal parts to five solos singers who double as chorus and soloists. Although the specified instrumental ensemble is relatively small – two oboes (doubling on recorders), two violins, and basso continuo – Willens and the Kölner Akademie are able to draw from it the remarkable wealth of color and contrast that is already inherent in Meder’s work.

Label: RAUM KLANG 2601
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JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685 – 1750) – MOTETTEN: Komm, Gott Schöpfer, Heiliger Geist; Der Geist hilft unsrer Schwachheit auf (BWV 226); Intonation - Du heilige Brunst (BWV 226); Zünd uns ein Licht an im Verstand; Komm, Jesu, komm (BWV 229); Denn du bist der Tröster; O Mensch bewein dein Sünde groß (BWV 622) - organ; Jesu, meine Freude (BWV 227); Herr Christ, der einig Gotts Sohn (BWV 601) - organ; Fürchte dich nicht (BWV 228); Intonation - Gott Vater sei Lob; Meine Seele erhebt den Herren (BWV 733) – organ; Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied (BWV 225)
HEINRICH SCHUTZ (1585 – 1672): Responsorium; Meine Seele erhebt den Herren (anon., 16th cent.); Herr Christ, der einig Gotts Sohn (anon., 15th cent.); Ehre sei dem Vater (anon., 16th cent.)

Trinity Baroque:
Elin Manahan Thomas, Christine Maria Rembeck, soprano; Clare Wilkinson, Kate Hamilton, alto; Julian Podger, Hermann Oswald, tenor; Thomas Guthrie, Christopher Adams, bass
Arno Jochem, violin; James Johnstone, organ
Julian Podger, direction
Johann Sebastian Bach’s motets number among his most sophisticated works. In order to do justice to the challenging, virtuoso style of the motets, Trinity Baroque, under the direction of Julian Podger, performs them with just one voice on a part. This accentuates the filigree, transparent, and yet powerful polyphonic structure of the motets. Trinity Baroque traveled to Saxony to record Bach’s motets – in the Wenzelskirche, Naumburg, where in 1746 Bach inaugurated and later oversaw the maintenance of the Hildebrandt organ. The historic venue inspired a further idea: besides the soloistic interpretation of the voice parts, the bass line is tonally emphasized by this “Bach” organ (and a violin) – the clearly perceptible sound of the organ blends harmoniously into the tonal fabric of the voice parts, lending this recording a unique character.

Label: RAUM KLANG 2604
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Ars Choralis Coeln/Maria Jonas
The Liederbuch (song book) of Anna of Cologne represents an impressive testimonial to the spiritual and cultural life in the Rhine-Meuse region during the Late Middle Ages. Eighty-two Latin and vernacular songs – some with melodies – are preserved in it: from translations of Latin hymns to sacred contrafacta of carnival songs. Informed by the spirit of the “new devoutness,” the devotio moderna, the songs express religious devotion to God and veneration of the Mother of God. One is admonished to bear in mind the Grim Reaper, and not strive for prestige and success in the world, where Fortune’s wheel makes enduring happiness impossible. The joys of the Kingdom of Heaven, on the other hand, are longingly extolled in song.