Bremen Weser-Renaissance, Manfred Cordes - Förtsch: Sacred Concertos & Cantatas (2022)

Gottorf Castle in Schleswig is not only one of Schleswig-Holstein's most important architectural monuments but also a culturally significant site inasmuch as it was within its walls that the chapel masters of the local court ensemble once exercised their duties. Following Vol. 1 and its sacred cantatas by Augustin Pfleger our new series featuring Music for Gottorf Castle continues with Vol. 2: here the WESER-RENAISSANCE ensemble under Manfred Cordes turns to cantatas and sacred concertos by Johann Philipp Förtsch, who was the Gottorf chapel master during 1680-84 and one of the particularly colorful musical personalities of his time. As an opera singer, librettist, and composer, Förtsch was a pioneer in the field of the German-language opera (with the Hamburg Opera House, founded in 1678, forming its center). Any attempt to do justice to Förtsch's artistic multifacetedness would have to highlight three aspects: his work in various genres for court performance, the transfer of his opera experience to sacred music, and his work with sacred songs. Splendid compositions featuring all sorts of different forms open and conclude this recording; these were works in which the court trumpeters were called on to participate. Such tone color was also a must for “Nun danket alle Gott” (set to a biblical text from the Book of Sirach): a court composition in honor of the heavenly king and crowned with an alleluia. Tonal magic of a special kind results when this work is performed in its original setting. The Gottorf Castle Church, its interior so richly endowed with wood carvings, hardly produces echo effects, so that even the rich string part remains transparent into its middle voices, and over it the soft, baroque trumpet sound unfolds in all its glory.