Micrologus; From Cologne to Bremen

82-22 FROM COLOGNE TO BREMEN

Today's Micrologus is entitled “From Cologne to Bremen.” We are fortunate that so many European recordings of early music are imported into this country. However, there's still a great deal of activity over there that we hear very little about. And one of the pockets of this activity is in the northern part of West Germany, particularly, as you might have guessed from the title, in the centers of Cologne and Bremen.

There's a good reason for all this new growth. The performers are cared for and fed by West German Radio. In fact, a large portion of the artists’ livelihood in the groups you'll hear on today's show come from fees from West German Radio for broadcast of live concerts, and of studio recordings made specifically for radio, which then might or might not be made into discs for public release. Some of Germany's finest early musicians have been attracted to Cologne and Bremen, and a good many foreign ones too, including several from the United States. It's fair to say that while the total repertoires of these groups are wide, they have concentrated on music from Northern Europe and particularly from Germany, as seems appropriate. The first group we'll hear today has been heard before on Micrologus: Ensemble Sequentia. In fact, I interviewed one of the founding members, the American, Benjamin Bagby, some months ago. Their work has done much to bring to life some of the earliest medieval music. And from their base in Cologne, they have begun to tour and now, happily, to record the repertoire. We hear “Olim sudor Herculis,” from the Carmina Burana.

Once the sweat of Hercules, crushing monsters far and wide, removing the plagues of the world, shone afar with illustrious renown. But finally, the former celebrated fame withered, cut off by dark shadows, when Hercules was captured by the charms of Iole. Love tarnishes the merit of glory. The lover does not regret time lost, but labors rashly to be dissolute in the power of Venus.

[MUSIC: “Olim sudor Herculis,” an anonymous conductus from the Carmina Burana, performed by Ensemble Sequentia, and featuring the singing of Benjamin Bagby]

If you can now wrench your ears back from the 13th century, we're going to jump ahead a few hundred years and listen to the musical offerings of a group called Musicalische Compagney. Formed in 1972 by musicologist and cornettist, Holger Eichhorn, the group originally consisted of cornetto and three sackbuts, but now, like the group Concerto Castello, whose work we have sampled here, Musicalische Compagney consists of cornetto, violin, sackbut, cello, keyboard and dulcian, the only difference from Concerto Castello being the addition of the dulcian. Musicalische Compagney has a recording of ten sonatas written for the Hamburg Collegium Musicum by the mid 17th century composer Matthias Weckmann. From that collection, we'll hear the Sonata No. 1 for cornettino, violin, sackbut, dulcian, and basso continuo.

[MUSIC: Sonata No. 1 for cornettino, violin, sackbut, dulcian, and basso continuo, from a collection of sonatas written for the Hamburg Collegium Musicum by Matthias Weckmann, and performed by Musicalische Compagney]

Also based in Bremen, and in fact sharing violinist, Thomas Albert, with Musicalische Compagney, is a group with the not overly dramatic name of Fiori Musicali. They also specialize in chamber music of the 17th century, but the emphasis on stringed instruments in the group means, naturally, a very different sound and also a slightly different repertoire. The special delight of this group to me is the use of the plucked string instrument for the basso continuo. We know that lutes and baroque guitars were popularly used for this purpose in the Baroque era, but we just don't hear them often enough today for my taste. Here is Fiori Musicali with the Sarabande from the Sonata No. 2 in E minor by Philipp Heinrich Erlebach.

[MUSIC: A movement from the Sonata Seconda in E Minor, by Philipp Heinrich Erlebach, published in 1694, and performed here by Fiori Musicali]

The last group on today's show is the one which is probably the best known over here, due to a more active recording schedule and better international distribution: Musica Antiqua Köln. The membership seems to be somewhat fluid from disc to disc, but the mainstays are violinists Reinhard Goebel and Hajo Bäss, along with harpsichordist Henk Bouman. They specialize in the trio sonata repertoire of the Baroque, most particularly that with virtuoso violin parts. We're going to hear them in a performance of Battaille (battle), a multi-section sonata-like work by the forgotten composer Clamor Heinrich Abel. The piece goes through a fascinating succession of textures, including a stark, recitativo section in the middle. And if you're trying to figure out why the last dance-like section sounds familiar, it might be because it cribs the chaconne bass pattern of Monteverdi's famous duet madrigal “Zefiro torna.”

[MUSIC: Bataille, by Clamor Heinrich Abel, performed by Musica Antiqua Köln]

Early music groups active in the north of Germany. Their names, again, in the order you heard them are Ensemble Sequentia, Musicalische Compagney, Fiori Musicali, and Musica Antiqua Köln.

You've been listening to a program of music entitled, “From Cologne to Bremen.”