Utwory na płycie:

• Track 1
• Track 2
• Track 3
• Track 4
• Track 5
• Track 6
• Track 7
• Track 8
• Track 9
• Track 10
• Track 11

CD 1:
Du, dessen Augen flossen Der Tod Jesu
Sein Odem ist schwach Der Tod Jesu
Gethsemane! Gethsemane! Der Tod Jesu
Du Held, auf den die K?cher Der Tod Jesu
Wen hab' ich sonst als dich allein Der Tod Jesu
Ach mein Immanuel! Der Tod Jesu
Ein Gebeth um neue St?rke Der Tod Jesu
Nun klingen Waffen Der Tod Jesu
Ihr weichgeschaffnen Seelen Der Tod Jesu
Unsre Seele ist gebeuget zu der Erden Der Tod Jesu
Ich will von meiner Missethat Der Tod Jesu

CD 2:
Jerusalem voll Mordlust ruft Der Tod Jesu
So stehet ein Berg Gottes Der Tod Jesu
Christus hat uns ein Vorbild gelassen Der Tod Jesu
Ihr werde Dir zu Ehren alles wagen Der Tod Jesu
Da steht der traurige, verh?ngnisvolle Pfahl Der Tod Jesu
Feinde, die ihr mich betr?bt Der Tod Jesu
Wer ist der Heilige Der Tod Jesu
Singt dem g?ttlichen Propheten Der Tod Jesu
Freuet euch alle Ihr Frommen Der Tod Jesu
Wie herrlich ist die neue Welt Der Tod Jesu
Auf einmal f?llt der aufgehaltne Schmerz Der Tod Jesu
Es steigen Seraphim von allen Sternen nieder Der Tod Jesu
Ihr Augen, weint! Der Tod Jesu
Hier liegen wir Der Tod Jesu

During his lifetime, Carl Heinrich Graun, a younger contemporary of Bach’s, was one of the best-known exponents of Italian opera in Germany. He achieved a reputation as a skilled composer, rising to the position of vice-Kapellmeister in Braunschweig. In time, King Frederick II, ‘The Great’, appointed Graun his court Kapellmeister. Graun became a leading figure in the renowned Berlin school that developed at Frederick the Great’s court, a school which also included his brother Johann Gottlieb, Kirnberger, Quantz, Benda and Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach. Graun became most famous for his religious music, and above all for his Der Tod Jesu. Der Tod Jesu forms part of the long Christian tradition of musical settings of the Passion story for the period before Easter. The text, compiled from the Gospels by Carl Wilhelm Ramler, was almost simultaneously set to music by Graun and Telemann, the two works receiving their premieres in March 1755. The stylistic differences of the two works are striking. Telemann represents the North-German, late-Baroque tradition, with all its complexity and preference for structure and colour. Graun, influenced by Italian opera, chose the path of lyricism and spontaneous melodies, using the harmonic language that had emerged from Classicism. In Der Tod Jesu we find fugal passages reminiscent of Bach; if a feeling of timelessness, an expression of higher things, is characteristic of Bach’s works, here personal expression gains the upper hand in a freer style. The text includes no dialogues or dramatic personages such as an evangelist-narrator or soloists with assigned roles. Rather, the soloists alternate (also exceptionally joining for duets) to present a free version of an episode from the Passion story in a recitative, followed by a poetic reflection on these events in an aria. After one or two of these individual interventions, the choir makes its answer, crowned by a chorale that could be sung by the whole congregation. The central position of the chorales was an important factor in the success of the work. Der Tod Jesu was so well received that it was performed again the following year on Good Friday, a tradition that was then maintained at the Berlin court until 1884. We are left only to wonder why Der Tod Jesu disappeared from the repertoire at the end of the nineteenth century. The appeal of the rediscovered Bach Passions perhaps proved impossible to counter

'Sigiswald Kuijken directs a flowing, sympathetic performance, characterised by moderate tempi, detailed yet gentle articulation, and a restrained - yet never static - approach to dynamics … the performance successfuly communicates the music's charm, lyricism and genteel expression' (Goldberg Early Music Magazine)

'When all is said and done, Kuijken and Hyperion have given us perhaps the most fully satisfying recording yet of the work - one not likely to be challenged for some time' (American Record Guide)

---

Recording details: April 2003; Concertgebouw, Bruges, Belgium; Produced by Teije van Geest; Engineered by Teije van Geest; Release date: February 2004;