Musica Warmiensis Volume 4
Binder D. (18th/19th C)
Festiva agmina (Offertorium in C. de Sancto N.)
Johann Melchior Dreyer (1747-1824)
Mass in D
Lambert Kraus (1728-1790)
Litaniae Lauretanae beatae Mariae Virginis
Ingrida Gápová (soprano), Kacper Szelążek (alto), Aleksander Rewiński (tenor), Piotr Pieron (bass)
Musica Warmiensis Restituta/Paweł Hulisz
rec. 2024, Archcathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Frombork, Poland
Texts not included
Reviewed as a download
Dux 2109 [45]

During the last twenty years or so a lively early music scene has come into existence in Poland, to which the number of early music festivals – some taking place simultaneously – and ensembles attest. Part of this development is also the exploration of the country’s own musical heritage, which has resulted in a growing number of recordings of music by Polish composers and music by ‘foreign’ composers performed in Poland. The present disc is the fourth of a project “aimed at discovering and preserving sacred music from the second half of the 18th and the first half of the 19th centuries, performed by church ensembles that existed in the historical region of Warmia.”

Most of the readers of this review may not be familiar with Polish history and geography. “Warmia (…) is both a historical and an ethnographic region in northern Poland, forming part of historical Prussia. Its historic capitals were Frombork and Lidzbark Warmiński and the largest city is Olsztyn.” (Wikipedia) The Prussian past explains why the programme consists of pieces by German composers.

Only one of them is well-known, although his music is not that often performed. Johann Melchior Dreyer was born in Röttingen in Württemberg and studied at the Jesuit Gymnasium in Ellwangen, where he became part of a flourishing music scene. He worked as a schoolmaster and started to compose sacred music which found a wide dissemination. In 1779 he was appointed organist at the collegiate church; in 1790 he became also choirmaster and in 1802 Kantor. His music was not only popular in the Catholic southern part of Germany, but also elsewhere, including North America and Russia. The largest part of his output consists of sacred music, but he also wrote some music for the stage and instrumental works: symphonies, string quartets and keyboard music.

The Mass in D is scored for four voices (soli and tutti) and an orchestra including transverse flutes and horns. The soprano plays a leading role in the Kyrie. The Gloria is very short: 2’36”; there are hardly any repetitions. The Credo takes more time, and here – as so often in masses of the 18th century – the passages on the incarnation and crucifixion are given special attention. Here they are scored for soprano solo, preceded by an instrumental introduction. It ends with a descending figure on the words “sepultus est”. This creates a strong contrast to the ensuing passage about the resurrection. Another solo is the Benedictus, scored for tenor, again introduced by an instrumental section. In the “Dona nobis pacem” soprano and tutti alternate.

The programme opens with a work written by a composer with the name Binder. It is not known what the additional D. stands for. We know several composers with the name Binder: the best-known of them is Christlieb Siegmund (1723-1789) who worked all his life in Dresden as a player of the pantaleon (the invention of Pantaleon Hebenstreit, whose pupil he was) and the harpsichord. Tomasz Garwoliński, in his liner-notes, thinks he may be the most likely composer of the Offertorio Festiva agmina, although it cannot be excluded that it is by one of Binder’s sons, in particular August Siegmund (1761-1815), who was an organist and composer and has written keyboard pieces and sacred music. The Offertorio is homophonic; the tutti and soli alternate. It is impossible to say what the piece is about or for what occasion it was written, as this is not discussed in the liner-notes and the booklet omits the lyrics.

The third and last work is the Litaniae Lauretanae beatae Mariae Virginis by Lambert Kraus, who is largely unknown, also to the editors of New Grove. He was an abbot at the Benedictine monastery in Metten in Bavaria, who was also active as a composer. His music found a wide dissemination, both in copies and printed editions. In his monastery operettas and comedies were regularly performed. Some of his instrumental works have been recorded by the Arsatius Consort (MPV-Musikverlag, 2003). 

The Litaniae are scored for four voices (soli and tutti) and an orchestra including pairs of horns and trumpets. The work consists of six sections, opening with a Kyrie for the tutti. Next is ‘Sancta Maria’, a duet for soprano and alto, opening with an instrumental episode. In ‘Mater admirabilis’ soli and tutti alternate. The fourth section, ‘Turris Davidica’, is a solo for bass, with two horns in the orchestra. ‘Regina angelorum’ is another section for the tutti, and the work finishes with ‘Agnus Dei’, with opens with an instrumental episode in which the organ has an obbligato part. The main part of this section is a solo for tenor, and it concludes with a tutti episode.

It would be an exaggeration to claim that these works are indispensable masterworks but that does not mean that recordings like these are of no importance. They are of quality and interesting for their contribution to our knowledge of music history in a part of Europe that is little-known outside Poland. Moreover, works like these may have been written and performed elsewhere in Central Europe as well. I already mentioned that Lambert Kraus was abbot in a monastery in Bavaria. The disc I referred to was part of a series of recordings of music written or performed in monasteries in southern Germany, which often had a lively music practice. The fact that the composers here are little-known is merely because much, or even most, of their music has not been printed, and that in our time performers tend to focus on the ‘big names’. Therefore performers and ensembles willing to look beyond the obvious deserve praise for their efforts. In order to convince audiences that such music deserves to be performed, it requires very good performances and a perfect blending of, and balance between, the voices – which is what it gets here. The Cappella Warmiensis Restituta is an excellent ensemble playing on period instruments. The four singers have fine voices and deliver stylish performances in their solos. They also sing the tutti sections, which may well be in line with the performance practice at the time.

The playing time of 45 minutes is disappointingly short, the liner-notes leave something to be desired and the lack of lyrics is a serious omission, but these shortcomings should not discourage anyone, who likes to broaden his musical horizon from investigating this disc. I have not heard the previous three volumes, but this latest instalment might well encourage anyone interested to look out those, too.

Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen
https://bsky.app/profile/musicadeidonum.bsky.social

Buying this recording via a link below generates revenue for MWI, which helps the site remain free