Seelenfrieden
Martin Platz (tenor), lautten compagney Berlin / Wolfgang Katschner
rec. 2025, Reitstadel, Neumarkt/Oberpfalz, Germany
Texts and translations included
Reviewed as a download
Prospero PROSP0137 [73]

2025 was the tricentenary of Johann Philipp Krieger’s death, which received little interest, although some concerts were devoted to his music. The present disc seems not to have been released to mark this occasion, but it may not be coincidental that three of eleven works in this programme are by him, one of them being the longest item. Although most of the pieces are available in other recordings, only a few are really well-known.

Krieger was one of the composers between Heinrich Schütz and Johann Sebastian Bach. The first post-Schütz generation is represented here by Johann Rosenmüller and Andreas Hammerschmidt, who were both strongly influenced by him; Johann Theile, Dieterich Buxtehude and Krieger are of the second generation. Other composers of their time were Philipp Heinrich Erlebach and Johann Kuhnau. Their fate in modern times has been different; whereas the complete oeuvre of Buxtehude and the sacred works of Kuhnau are available on disc, Erlebach and Krieger are still awaiting a more extensive exploration.

Krieger was born in Nuremberg. He was educated at the keyboard and at an early age he already showed extraordinary skills. As a teenager he went to Copenhagen to study with Caspar Förster. After his return he entered the service of Margrave Christian Ernst of Bayreuth. When the latter became involved in the war against France, Krieger was allowed to travel to Italy. There he studied with Johann Rosenmüller in Venice and later went to Rome to study with Bernardo Pasquini. After his return he went to Vienna and played for Emperor Leopold I, who ennobled him. In 1677 he was appointed organist in Halle at the court of Duke August of Saxony-Weissenfels. When the latter died in 1680, he was appointed Hofkapellmeister by his successor, Johann Adolph I. The new Duke rated music even more highly than his predecessor, and that was reflected by a new order of worship which was introduced in 1684.

In 1697 Johann Adolph I died, which Krieger experienced as a personal loss. That same year he published Musicalischer Seelen-Friede, comprising twenty sacred concertos, mostly on texts from the Book of Psalms in German and in Latin. These were the pieces which Johann Adolph very much appreciated, and Krieger dedicated the collection to the deceased Duke. The scoring is for solo voice – high (S/T) and low (A/B) respectively – and basso continuo, with two violins either obbligato or ad libitum, which largely follow the vocal line. This allowed for performances by different ensembles, which was commercially profitable. The same goes for the fact that these concertos are not connected to a specific time of the ecclesiastical year.

These pieces are in the tradition of the German sacred concerto, which was through-composed. Interestingly these settings include passages of a more declamatory character. They can be considered the forerunners of the recitatives which were to become such an important part of the German cantata in the first half of the 18th century. An example is the last piece on the programme, Der Herr ist mein Licht und mein Heil, where the penultimate section, “Denn mein Vater und meine Mutter verlassen mich”, has the traces of a recitative. As one might expect, Krieger’s pieces include examples of text illustration. A specimen from the concerto just mentioned is the long note on “bleiben” (dwell). Also notable are the marked contrasts in the opening piece, Herr, auf dich traue ich, which follow the changes of mood within this long psalm.

Krieger is here put into his historical context, although he is not the focus of this recording. The selection is explained in the booklet by Martin Platz: “We chose pieces with lyrics that relate to the soul and inner peace. From this selection, we then tried to include as wide a range of timbres and musical languages as possible: intimate pieces with little accompaniment as well as ariosos and jubilant melodies, plus the recitative sections of the psalm settings. Our aim was to create a broad spectrum, as we would in a concert programme.” This results in a thematical coherence on the one hand, but in variety on the other hand, as the composers have worked out this theme in different ways.

A recurrent subject of sacred music in Lutheran Germany was the longing for death which was considered the transition to a better life. An eloquent example is Johann Rosenmüller’s Welt, ade, ich bin dein müde, whose text was written by Johann Georg Albinus (1649): “Farewell, world, I am weary of you, I want to go to heaven. There will be true peace and eternal, proud tranquillity. World, with you there is war and strife, nothing but vanity. In heaven there is always peace, joy and bliss.” The last line is repeated at the end of the next two stanzas. This piece has become known especially through the oeuvre of Bach, who used it unaltered, on Rosenmüller’s melody, in two cantatas (BWV 27 and 156).

In the same vein is Buxtehude’s cantata O Gottes Stadt, which is a setting of the first and last stanzas of a text by Johann Rist, one of the composer’s favourite poets. The opening lines say: “O city of God, O golden light, O glory without end. When shall I behold your face, when shall I kiss your hands?” The city of God is the new Jerusalem, which – according to Revelation, the last book of the New Testament – will descend from heaven. This piece is an expression of the concept of unio mystica, the union of the faithful with God, which was a key element in Lutheran piety.

This longing for death was inspired by the trials and tribulations of daily life – and in Germany in the first half of the 17th century also by the misery of the Thirty Years War – but also the awareness of human sinfulness as the ultimate cause of death. This is expressed by one of Heinrich Schütz’ best-known pieces, Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott. It is one of the few works by Schütz that is based on a chorale melody. This hymn, a versification of Psalm 51 (Vulgata: 50), dates from 1524; the composer of the melody is not known, but may have been Johann Walter. Psalm 51 – best-known with the Latin text Miserere mei Deus – is one of the seven penitential psalms, which were especially sung during Holy Week. That connects them with the Passion of Christ, and this event was the heart of Luther’s theology (theologia crucis). In the way Schütz has arranged the first stanza we recognize the influence of the Italian monodic style in his oeuvre.

Thematically connected to it is Ach, dass ich hören sollte by Johann Theile. He was highly gifted: he started studying law at Leipzig University at the age of twelve. Being of humble birth, this helped him to improve his social standing. He was held in high esteem by student friends and also, according to a poem dedicated to him in the preface of his first publication of 1667, by none other than Heinrich Schütz. The text of Ach, daß ich hören sollte is taken from Psalm 85: “Oh, that I might hear what God the Lord says, that he promised peace to his people and his saints. So that they do not fall into folly”. Its scoring is typical for German 17th-century music: two violins, three viole da gamba and basso continuo. It is an example of the strongly rhetorical character of German 17th-century music, for instance in the emphasis of the opening word “ach” and also its ending, “ach, ach”.

The security of everlasting life is expressed by Schütz in Ich werde nicht sterben and Hammerschmidt in Sei nun wieder zufrieden, meine Seele. The former is the first of two sacred concertos from the Symphoniae Sacrae II of 1647, which are the result of Schütz’s second stay in Italy, which is reflected by the standard scoring for voice(s), two violins and basso continuo. The text says: “I shall not die but live and proclaim the Lord’s praise.” Hammerschmidt’s piece is a setting of two verses from Psalm 116: “Be content again, my soul, for the Lord does you good.” These works are illustrations of the “inner peace” Martin Platz talked about. That also goes for the last item, mentioned before, Der Herr ist mein Licht und mein Heil by Krieger: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27). This culminates in Psalm 34, here with a Latin text, Benedicam Domino: “I will praise the Lord at all times!”, ending with a jubilant “Alleluja”.

The programme is extended with two instrumental works. Rosenmüller’s Sonata VII à 4 is a specimen of the stylus phantasticus. It is largely dominated by chromaticism: it opens with ascending chromatic figures, and the second section is dominated by descending chromatic lines. Krieger’s Sonata à 4 is based on a basso ostinato.

This is Martin Platz first solo album. He is a tenor I have heard before, for instance, in a concert under the direction of Jordi Savall. He is not an early music specialist, and his repertoire includes music of our time. However, he has a fine voice, perfectly suited to this kind of repertoire, excellent diction – which is essential in music whose text is in the centre – and the flexibility which is needed to deal with the coloratura which is part of most of the pieces performed here. The variety of mood and character is perfectly realized.

The instrumental parts are very well played by the lautten compagney Berlin. The only issue is the frequent use of the cornett. As far as I know, all the instrumental parts are for strings. It is true that often performers have the freedom to replace a violin with another instrument, such as the cornett, but in none of the pieces here I can see a reason to use it; strings alone would have been preferable.

That said, this disc is another impressive testimony of the richness of 17th-century German sacred music and of the skills of the composers in expressing the content of a text.

Johan van Veen
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Contents
Johann Philipp Krieger (1649-1725)
Herr, auf dich traue ich
Andreas Hammerschmidt (1611-1675)
Sei nun wieder zufrieden, meine Seele
Dieterich Buxtehude (c1637-1717)
O Gottes Stadt (BuxWV 87)
Johann Rosenmüller (c1619-1684)
Sonata VII à 4
Welt ade, ich bin dein müde
Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672)
Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott (SWV 447)
Ich werde nicht sterben (SWV 346)
Johann Philipp Krieger
Sonata à 4
Benedicam Dominum
Johann Theile (1645-1724)
Ach, dass ich hören sollte
Johann Philipp Krieger
Der Herr ist mein Licht und mein Heil