Membra Jesu nostri (Rademann)
For Passion in 1680 Dieterich Buxtehude composed his greatest ortatorio-like work, the cantata cycle "Membra Jesu nostri". He dedicated it to his friend Gustav Düben, the Swedish Court Composer. Basically, the seven individual cantatas followed the structural scheme of an “ instrumental introduction – choral movement based on a biblical text – vocal solo (aria) based on a sacred text of the Middle Ages – and a repetition of the opening choral movement.” Within this scheme the feet, knees, hands, side, chest, heart and face of the crucified Christ are treated allegorically. Under the direction of Hans-Christoph Rademann the solo ensemble and the Dresdner Kammerchor have achieved a most impressive rendering of this work, which is entirely indebted to the gesture and expression of the text. The CD is rounded off by world premiere performances of two chorale cantatas by this composer from Lübeck, the 300th anniversary of whose death is being commemorated this year.
Awarded the Pizzicato Supersonic Award
Awarded the Pizzicato Supersonic Award
Purchase
Additional product information
Contents
-
Composer
Dieterich Buxtehude
| 1637-1707There are few documents concerning Buxtehude’s life. From a contemporary article in Nova literaria Maris Balthici, published soon after his death, we know that he regarded “Denmark as his homeland, from where he came to our region.”Dieterich Buxtehude, to use the spelling of his forename which he used when signing letters, was born about 1637 in Helsingborg, so he was a subject of the King of Denmark. His father, Johannes Buxtehude, was an organist, and taught his son sufficiently for him to become, in 1657 or 1658, an organist in Helsingborg and later in Helsingør. On the 11 April 1668 he was chosen to succeed Franz Tunder as organist at St. Marien in Lübeck, and until his death on 9 May 1707 Buxtehude remained in that position, one of the most important in northern Germany. After his death in 1707 musical experts praised Dieterich Buxtehude particularly for his keyboard music. For example, Johann Mattheson referred to him as a “highly regarded, former Lübeck organist.” That appreciation was based not on printed works, but on manuscript copies of his keyboard compositions, and on his reputation as a virtuoso which he enjoyed throughout Germany. Thus in 1703 Georg Friedrich Händel and Johann Mattheson were in Lübeck, and during the winter of 1705–06 Johann Sebastian Bach also went to Lübeck to study under Buxtehude so as to perfect his technique in composition and organ playing. Together with vocal music and music for keyboard instruments, two publications of his trio sonatas are extant. We know of the “Abendmusiken” in Lübeck from libretti printed for those occasions, but unfortunately the music is lost. That tradition of events similar to concerts was taken over by Buxtehude from his predecessor Franz Tunder. Personal details
-
Preface writer
Michael Wersin
-
Choir
Dresdner Kammerchor
DRESDNER KAMMERCHOR Radiant, transparent, homogeneous and flexible: the Dresdner Kammerchor is internationally esteemed for its unique culture of sonority. Its artistic director Hans-Christoph Rademann has shaped this distinctive sound since the choir was founded in 1985, leading it to worldwide renown. The choir’s diverse repertoire has its foundation in Baroque music, with a special focus on Saxon court music. As a cultural ambassador for Dresden and Saxony, the choir keeps the musical heritage of its homeland alive and makes it known to an international audience. A prominent example of this is the world’s first complete Heinrich Schütz recording, which was concluded in 2019, published by Carus-Verlag, and has won several awards: among others, the St. John Passion was awarded the Annual Prize of the German Record Critics in 2016, and the last installment of the edition containing “Psalms and Peace Music” was honored with the Opus Klassik 2020. The choir has also rediscovered, performed anew and recorded on CD numerous works by other Central German masters such as Johann Adolf Hasse, Johann David Heinichen and Jan Dismas Zelenka in collaboration with the Dresden Baroque Orchestra and other musical partners. In addition to symphonic choral works from the Classical and Romantic periods, a further repertoire focus is on challenging a cappella works of the 19th and 20th centuries. This includes music by Johannes Brahms, Max Reger, Olivier Messiaen, Francis Poulenc, Arnold Schoenberg and Herman Berlinski. For years, the Dresdner Kammerchor has been intensively dedicated to modern and contemporary music, with world premieres, first performances and its own commissioned works. This commitment is deepened further by diverse music education and youth projects. In 2009, Hans-Christoph Rademann and the Dresdner Kammerchor initiated the Dresden Choral Workshop for New Music, which took place for the 4th time in 2018. For its services to contemporary choral music, the choir was awarded a Sponsorship Prize by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation. The Dresdner Kammerchor gives guest performances in centers of music and at festivals throughout Europe. Tours have taken the singers to Israel, India, Taiwan, China, Mexico, South America, South Africa and the USA. Musical partners to date have included René Jacobs, Sir Roger Norrington, Ádám Fischer, Václav Luks, Stefan Parkman, Trevor Pinnock, Christoph Prégardien, Jos van Immerseel, Herbert Blomstedt, Omer Meir Wellber, Christian Thielemann, Riccardo Chailly and Reinhard Goebel, as well as the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Anima Eterna Brugge, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. The choir regularly collaborates with the Wroc"naw Baroque Orchestra. By means of a cooperation with the Dresden University of Music, the Dresdner Kammerchor keeps the connection to its roots alive. Personal details
-
Conductor
Hans-Christoph Rademann
| 1965Conductor Hans-Christoph Rademann is an immensely versatile artist with a broad repertoire who devotes himself with equal passion and expertise both to the performance and rediscovery of early music and to the first performances and cultivation of Contemporary Music. Born in Dresden and raised in the Erzgebirge mountains, he was influenced at an early age by the great Central German kantorial and musical tradition. He was a student at the traditional Kreuzgymnasium, a member of the famous Kreuzchor, and studied choral and orchestral conducting at the Carl Maria von Weber University of Music in Dresden. During his studies, he founded the Dresdner Kammerchor and formed it into a top international choir which is still under his direction today. Since 2013, Hans-Christoph Rademann has been the academy director of the International Bach Academy Stuttgart. He regularly collaborates with leading choirs and ensembles of the international music scene. From 1999 to 2004 he was chief conductor of the NDR Choir and from 2007 to 2015 chief conductor of the RIAS Chamber Choir. Guest conducting engagements have led and continue to lead him to the Nederlandse Bachvereniging, the Collegium Vocale Gent, the Akademie für Alte Musik, the Freiburger Barockorchester, the Deutsche Radiophilharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern, the Sinfonieorchester Basel, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg, among others. Hans-Christoph Rademann has been awarded prizes and honors for his artistic work, including the Johann Walter Plaque of the Saxon Music Council (2014), the Saxon Constitutional Medal (2008), the Sponsorship Prize as well as the Art Prize of the state capital Dresden (1994 and 2014 respectively). He received the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik several times for his numerous CD recordings (most recently in 2016), as well as the Grand Prix du Disque (2002), the Diapason d’Or (2006 & 2011), the CHOC de l’année 2011 and the Best Baroque Vocal Award 2014. In 2016 he was awarded the European Church Music Prize of the city of Schwäbisch Gmünd. His exemplary interpretation and recording of the complete works of Heinrich Schütz with the Dresdner Kammerchor in the Stuttgart Carus-Verlag, which was completed in 2019, was awarded the newly endowed Heinrich Schütz Prize as well as the OPUS KLASSIK 2020 in the same year. Hans-Christoph Rademann is professor of choral conducting at the Carl Maria von Weber University of Music in Dresden. He is also artistic director of the Musikfest Erzgebirge, ambassador of the Erzgebirge and patron of the Christian Hospice Service Dresden. Personal details
-
Soloist - soprano
Christina Kaiser
-
Soloist - soprano
Astrid Werner
-
Soloist - soprano
Anja Zügner
Soprano Anja Zügner received her first singing lessons at the age of 17. She completed her vocal studies at the Hochschule für Musik “Carl Maria von Weber” in Dresden in 2010. She has continued her studies, attending master classes with Kammersänger Peter Schreier, Ruth Ziesak, Gerold Huber and Ludger Rémy. As a lieder and oratorio singer, she has performed with Konrad Junghänel, Wolfgang Katschner and Hans-Christoph Rademann. Anja Zügner is a scholarship holder of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Forum Tiberius and the Carl Maria von Weber Scholarship. Personal details
-
Soloist - alto
Alexander Schneider
Alexander Schneider (altus) was a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor from 1987 until 1996. From 1997 he studied under Peter Herrmann at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin, obtaining his singing diploma in 2004. He has sung with numerous renowned conductors and ensembles including the Collegium Vocale of Ghent and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, as well as the Dresdner Kreuzchor. He made a successful opera debut in 1999 at the Neukölln Opera, Berlin, in Johann Adolf Hasse’s Commedia per musica La Sorella amante. His work is documented on many CD and radio recordings. Personal details
-
Soloist - tenor
Tobias Hunger
-
Soloist - bass
Matthias Lutze
Bass-baritone Matthias Lutze received his first musical training in the Dresdner Kreuzchor and Windsbacher Knabenchor. He studied singing in Dresden with Christiane Junghanns and Olaf Bär. He has also been considerably influenced by Charlotte Lehmann, Norman Shetler and Peter Kooij. He performs with leading ensembles such as the Collegium Vocale Gent, RIAS Kammerchor, Lauttencompagney Berlin and is a frequent guest at major music festivals including the Handel Festival in Halle, the Festival de Saintes, Dresden Music Festival and Prague Spring Festival. Matthias Lutze sings with conductors such as Philippe Herreweghe, Hans-Christoph Rademann, Daniel Reuss, Marcus Creed, Iván Fischer and Helmuth Rilling, and has performed in highly-acclaimed CD and radio recordings. Personal details
-
Soloist - bass
Marek Rzepka
-
Soloist - contrabass-bass
Matthias Müller
Matthias Müller works as a freelance musician in Freiburg im Breisgau. Since completing his studies he has pursued a busy international concert career, including performing on numerous CDs. The range of instruments he plays encompasses all of the gamba family, including various types of violone, and the lyra da gamba. Since 2000 he has been a permanent member of the ensemble Cantus Cölln, and also works together with various other leading ensembles and conductors. Personal details
-
Soloist - lute
Michael Dücker
-
Soloist - organ
Michaela Hasselt
-
Soloist - violin
Daniel Deuter
-
Soloist - violin
Margret Baumgartl
Margret Baumgartl studied violin in Dresden with Günter Friedrich and in Munich with Urs Stiehler. During her time as a student she specialized in authentic performance practice on historic instruments, working with conductors such as René Jacobs, Frieder Bernius, Jos van Immerseel, and Hans-Christoph Rademann. Her most important teacher and chamber music partner in the area of early music was Reinhard Goebel. She was a member of Musica Antiqua Köln from 2002 to 2006, performing in concerts throughout Europe, the USA and Canada, and appearing in a TV film on Bach’s The Art of Fugue. Margret Baumgartl became the concertmaster of the Dresdner Barockorchester in 2004. Personal details
-
Soloist - violoncello
Juliane Laake
-
Soloist - violoncello
Benjamin Dreßler
-
Soloist - violoncello
Katharina Schlegel
-
Soloist - violoncello
Renate Pank
Reviews
(BC) [...] The solo and tutti singing is excellent (as one expects from the choir concerned!), and the playing equally stylish. [...] The two works that fill the disc are based on chorales and, rather than using the melodies as the basis of contrapuntal expositions, Buxtehude opts to contrast four-part hymn singing with virtuose violin writing. Although I have more versions of Membra Jesu nostri on disc now than perhaps any other Buxtehude work, I'm sure this perfbrmance will establish itself as one of my favourites.
Quelle: Early Music Review, June 2007
Frequent questions about this work
There are no questions and answers available so far or you were unable to find an answer to your specific question about this work? Then click here and send your specific questions to our Customer Services!