Hasse: Te Deum; Lauretanische Litanei; Sub tuum praesidium; Etc / Barbara Christina Steude, Susanne Langner, Georg Poplutz, Matthias … – Tonträger neu kaufen

Neuware

68 Min.

2010

CD

120 g

Johann Adolf Hasse: Te Deum & Other Sacred Works / Steude / Langner / Poplutz / Lutze

Release Date: 09/28/2010
Label: CPO Catalog #: 777 462 Spars Code: DDD
Composer: Johann Adolf Hasse
Performer: Matthias Lutze, Georg Poplutz, Barbara Christina Steude
Conductor: Matthias Jung
Orchestra/Ensemble: Batzdorfer Hofkapelle
Number of Discs: 1
Recorded in: Stereo
Length: 1 Hours 8 Mins.


Works on This Recording

1. Te Deum in D major by Johann Adolf Hasse
Performer: Matthias Lutze (), Georg Poplutz (), Barbara Christina Steude ()
Conductor: Matthias Jung
Orchestra/Ensemble: Batzdorfer Hofkapelle
Period: Baroque
Written: 18th Century
Venue: Lukaskirche Dresden
Length: 5 Minutes 25 Secs.
2. Litaniae Lauretanae, for chorus & ensemble by Johann Adolf Hasse
Performer: Matthias Lutze (), Georg Poplutz (), Barbara Christina Steude ()
Conductor: Matthias Jung
Orchestra/Ensemble: Batzdorfer Hofkapelle
Venue: Lukaskirche Dresden
Length: 21 Minutes 9 Secs.
3. Sub tuum praesidium, for chorus & ensemble by Johann Adolf Hasse
Performer: Matthias Lutze (), Georg Poplutz (), Barbara Christina Steude ()
Conductor: Matthias Jung
Orchestra/Ensemble: Batzdorfer Hofkapelle
Venue: Lukaskirche Dresden
Length: 2 Minutes 39 Secs.
4. Tantum ergo in E flat, for chorus & ensemble by Johann Adolf Hasse
Performer: Barbara Christina Steude (), Matthias Lutze (), Georg Poplutz ()
Conductor: Matthias Jung
Orchestra/Ensemble: Batzdorfer Hofkapelle
Venue: Lukaskirche Dresden
Length: 10 Minutes 35 Secs.
5. Tantum ergo in C, for chorus & ensemble by Johann Adolf Hasse
Performer: Georg Poplutz (), Barbara Christina Steude (), Matthias Lutze ()
Conductor: Matthias Jung
Orchestra/Ensemble: Batzdorfer Hofkapelle
Venue: Lukaskirche Dresden
Length: 7 Minutes 3 Secs.
6. Regina coeli in D major, Marienantiphon for alto, chorus & orchestra by Johann Adolf Hasse
Performer: Barbara Christina Steude (), Georg Poplutz (), Matthias Lutze ()
Conductor: Matthias Jung
Orchestra/Ensemble: Batzdorfer Hofkapelle
Period: Baroque
Venue: Lukaskirche Dresden
Length: 10 Minutes 7 Secs.


Notes and Editorial Reviews

Like Handel before him, Hasse worked at Hamburg opera and then travelled to Italy. In the 1730s he came to rest in Dresden where he composed and performed opera as well as sharing responsibility for sacred music in the Royal chapel. Hasse's operas are being rediscovered on disc, but this programme from the Sächisches Vocalensemble, the Batzdorfer Hofkapelle and Matthias Jung showcases some of his major sacred music.

Hasse's Te Deum was written for the dedication of the new court church on the Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in 1751. It was originally performed with Hasse's Mass in D minor. In Dresden the celebrant alone traditionally sang the verse Salvum fac populum tuum; accordingly Hasse later added a soprano solo setting of this verse, so that other churches could perform it. The text employed is quite substantial. For the ceremonial performance Hasse added an instrumental introduction and the setting of the words is quite brisk. The work has a galant grace and a lively melodic attractiveness, which must have made it highly suitable for court performance. It became one of Hasse's best known sacred works.

The Laurentine Litany was written in 1750 for an entirely smaller-scale performance at Saturday afternoon devotions. It wasn't normally Hasse's role to provide music for these lesser services, but there must have been some reason for him deciding to write the setting. The litany comes from Loreto, a central Italian Marian pilgrimage site. Whilst not as grand as the Te Deum it still has an elegant charm and mixes solo moments with choral items.

Sub tuum praesidium is a short piece. It was originally the antiphon to the Nunc Dimittis at Compline, but in Germany the text was expanded into a Marian prayer. This form is the one set by Hasse in 1750, also for Saturday afternoon services. Two Tantum Ergo settings are included, both quite substantial. A short hymn used for sacramental devotions dates from the mid-1750s ( Tantum Ergo in C minor) and from around 1780 comes the Tantum Ergo in E flat major. This latter Tantum Ergo was written by Hasse when in retirement in Vienna. He sent the manuscript to Dresden but it does not seem to have been taken up. The programme concludes with the earliest piece on the disc, a setting of the Regina Coeli. This seems to have been in use since 1710 and remained in use by the Dresden Jesuits until the 20 th century. Hasse's music is fluent and graceful with all the galant qualities of the period. It doesn't dig beneath the surface, but must have made an attractive backdrop to court or church ceremonial. The Sächsiches Vocalensemble makes a nice bright sound with a focused line and good sense of style. The Batzdorfer Hofkapelle make a clean lithe sound. Both choir and orchestra are relatively small, as was probably the case at the original performances. Soloists Barbara Christina Steude, Susanne Langner, Georg Poplutz and Matthias Lutze do not have great voices, but they are young and bright, without overly-intrusive vibrato and they blend nicely. Matthias Jung conducts with precision and keeps the music moving without pressing. The CD booklet includes a full article about Hasse and the music, plus texts and translations. This isn't great music, but it is well crafted and attractive and is presented in persuasive performances.

-- Robert Hugill, MusicWeb International


-----

Das Dresdner Te Deum

Johann Adolph Hasse erreichte zwar mit seinen Werken seit den 1730er Jahren eine europaweite Berühmtheit, die nur mit derjenigen von Händel und Haydn vergleichbar ist, aber heute ist sein Name eher aus dem kulturellen Gedächtnis verschwunden, weil die Bindung seiner Musik an traditionelle Gattungen wie z. B. die italienische opera seria nach dem Ende des 18. Jahrhunderts eine länger wirkende Popularität verhinderte. Während Hasse seine frühe Berühmtheit vor allem seinen Opern verdankte, finden in neuerer Zeit vor allem seine Kirchenmusikwerke enorme Beachtung. Die meisten dieser Werke schrieb Hasse für die Gottesdienste in der Katholischen Hofkirche zu Dresden. Sein Te Deum von 1751 fand eine weite Verbreitung in ganz Mitteleuropa. In der Dresdner Hofkirche verdrängte das Werk seit dem Beginn des 19. Jahrhunderts alle anderen Kompositionen und wurde so das Dresdner Te Deum schlechthin. Dieses und die anderen auf der CD zu hörenden Kirchenmusikwerke Hasses verdienen auf jeden Fall große Aufmerksamkeit!

-----

Product Information

The Dresden Te Deum

Although Johann Adolph Hasse's compositions brought him fame throughout Europe beginning in the 1730s and renown matched only by that of Handel and Haydn, today his name has virtually vanished from cultural memory: the reliance of his music on traditional genres such as the Italian opera seria served as an obstacle to its enduring popularity after the end of the eighteenth century. While Hasse's early fame rested above all on his operas, in more recent times it is especially his sacred compositions that have enjoyed immense esteem. He wrote most of these works for the religious services at the Catholic court church in Dresden. His Te Deum of 1751 met with broad dissemination throughout Central Europe. In the Dresden court church it supplanted all other such works from the beginning of the nineteenth century on – and thus came to be known as the Dresden Te Deum. In any case, this work and the other sacred compositions by Hasse heard on this CD merit our full attention!

-----

Rezensionen
klassik. com 10 / 10: »Die CD ist ein schönes Beispiel für den sinnenfrohen Katholizismus im Dresden des 18. Jahrhunderts.«

Sächsische Zeitung 08 / 10: »Hasses Kompositionen an der Nahtstelle von Spätbarock und Vorklassik gehören zum Prächtigsten jener Epoche, das Vocalensemble und die Hofkapelle heute zu den Besten ihrer Zunft. Zum Niederknien schön.«

F. F. dabei (Radio / TV Freizeit Berlin) 1 / 11: »Die Mitglieder des sächsischen Vokalensembles artikulieren auf dieser CD so klar und deutlich, dass man wunderbar nachvollziehen kann, wie virtuos Hasse mit den lateinischen Worten umgeht.«

-----

CPO 777 462