With the so-called Prague Defenestration in May 1618, now 400 years ago, a dispute which had been smoldering for years escalated harshly. This date marks the beginning of the Thirty Years' War, which was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in human history: it resulted in eight million fatalities mainly from violence, famine and plagues, but also from military engagements predominantly fought on German soil since 1620, only brought to an end by the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Arno Paduch, the leader of the Johann RosenmÃ¼ller Ensemble and a specialist of German Music from the early Baroque, has compiled a program with music written for various events which took place during this war period. It is music for political occasions, like a "Te Deum" dedicated to Emperor Ferdinand II for the celebration after the Battle at the White Mountain by Johann Sixt von Lerchenfels, Heinrich SchÃ¼tz' composition "Da pacem Domine", which was performed during the Electoral Diet in October 1627, or Andreas DÃ¼ben's funerary motet "Bonum certamen certavi" for the Swedish king Gustav Adolf, who was killed in the Battle of LÃ¼tzen. But the programme also contains compositions that describe the horrors of war: two good examples are Johann Hildebrand's simple but poignant monody "Ach Gott! Wir haben's nicht gewusst, was Krieg fÃ¼r eine Plage" (Oh Lord, we didn't know what a real plague is war), which expressed the widespread despair at the hopelessness of the situation, or Matthias Weckmann's sacred concerto "Wie liegt die Stadt so wÃ¼ste" (How doth the city sit solitary).

Tracklist:

Syncharma Musicum, Swv 49
Votiva Aeolica Acclamatio Dem "Machet Die Tore Weit"
Te Deum Laudamus
Da Pacem Domine
Qui Confidunt In Domino
Actus Gratulatoris "Venite Exultemus"
Da Pacem Domine, Swv 465
Victoria Sveco-Saxonica "Fortes Heroes Pugnabant"
Pugna Triumphalis "Bonum Certamen Certavi"
Teutoniam Dudum Belli, Swv 338
Krieges-Angst-Seufftzer: Ach Gott! Wir Haben‘s Nicht Gewusst, Was Krieg Für Eine Plage Ist
Wie Liegt Die Stadt So Wüste
Geistliche Chormusik, Op. 11: No. 4, Verleih Uns Frieden Gnädiglich, Swv 372 - No. 5, Gib Unsern Fürsten Und Aller Obr

UPC: 4010072774248
Label: Christophorus
Release Date: 5.18.18
Format: CD

Schutz / Paduch - Verleih Uns Frieden / Music for Thirty Years War (CD)