Ciacconas, Canzonas & Sonatas / Deuter, Harmonie Universelle, Nicolai / Deuter / Harmonie Universelle, Release Date: 10/30/2012, Composer: Johann Michael Nicolai, Antonio Bertali, Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Conductor: Florian Deuter, Orchestra/Ensemble: Harmonie Universelle, Number of Discs: 1. Only fourteen years had passed since the end of the Thirty Years' War when the musician and collector Jacob Ludwig compiled a comprehensive collection of violin music in 1662 containing contemporary works played at German courts from this period. The collection termed by experts as "Das Partiturbuch Ludwig" was created for the culture-loving Duke August of Brunswick and his wife and was presented to him on the occasion of his 83rd birthday. It is amazing that despite the devastating effects of such a long period of war in Germany, cultural life had never come to a complete standstill, and Jacob Ludwig succeeded in discovering a whole series of musical jewels to add to his collection. The works of Das Partiturbuch Ludwig were arranged according to the number of instruments involved and include sonatas, canzonas, chaconnes and other works influenced by the modern Italian trends of this period. The volume is one of the most valuable sources north of the Alps for works displaying the technical and compositional potential of the violin whose popularity was on the rise at this time. The renowned Baroque violinist Florian Deuter and his ensemble Harmonie Universelle have compiled a selection from the 114 works included in Das Partiturbuch Ludwig which not only demonstrates the incredible variety of music from this source, but also offers listeners a broad palette of different genres and instrumental scoring.