Conversations avec dieu

Motets et cantates de Hammerschmidt, Telemann, Bruhns, Scheidt…
Le Concert Etranger, Itay Jedlin
77:17
Ambronay AMY045

• Bruhns: Hemmt eure Tränenflut
• Hammerschmidt: Ach Gott, warum hast du mein vergessen? Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott; Ergo sit nulla ratio salutis; Herr, wie lange willst du mich so gar vergessen? Inter brachio salvatoris mei; Pavane 1 à 5
• Monteverdi: Sinfonia
• Rosenmüller: Sinfonia XI
• Scheidemann: Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott (organ), Præludium in D
• Scheidt: Ist nicht Ephraim mein teurer Sohn? (organ)
• Telemann: Ach Herr, straf mich nicht in deinem Zorn

[dropcap]M[/dropcap]any fine ensembles have cut their teeth at the Ambronay Fesitval, where it is almost expected that performers will step off the well-trodden path and bring their audiences new experiences and insights into familiar repertoire. This programme combines settings of texts which call upon God in one way or another (both vocal and instrumental) is beautifully performed with some outstanding singing and playing – look out especially for bass Nicolas Brooymans!

The vocalists wring every last drop of feeling out of the text without allowing their emotions to affect the high quality of their singing. Although Telemann’s fine Ach Herr, straf mich nicht  sets the bar at a higher point than any of the subsequent works can quite reach, the inclusion of five works by Hammerschmidt is particularly welcome (even if the booklet notes omit any mention of the 30 Years War – surely the reason why so many such texts were set at the time!) and Bruhns’ Hemmet eure Tränenflut  is but one of that composer’s many works that deserve to be better known and more widely recorded. Finely played as it is, what exactly is the justification for the inclusion of a sinfonia by Monteverdi?

Brian Clark