The nine sacred concerts published in this volume are a representative selection of a collection composed of a total of 22 pieces: from the Kirchen- und Tafelmusik of Andreas Hammerschmidt. Printed in 1662 in Zittau by Johann Caspar Dehn, the collection is dedicated to “the benevolent, noble, staunch and steadfast gentleman, Heinrich von Heffter, the meritorious Mayor of the city of Zittau”. The place of publication and the recipient of the dedication are references to Hammerschmidt’s most important place of activity: from 26 April 1639 until his death on 29 October 1675, Andreas Hammerschmidt was organist at the St. Johannis church in Zittau. [...]
In 1662, Andreas Hammerschmidt published the sacred concerts of the Kirchen- und Tafelmusik. It would turn out to be his third to last collection, followed only by the Missae […] tam vivae voci quam instrumentis variis accomodatae (1663) and his “swansong”, the Fest und Zeit-Andachten (1670/71). The collection contains 22 pieces, including ten monodies and twelve pieces for two to five vocal parts and several instrumental parts each. Here it is conspicuous that, aside from the violin in the Basso continuo, only either strings or brass are involved in nearly every piece; neither simultaneous deployment nor the alternation of string and brass parts are found. Only in No. 19 Ich will den Herren loben allezeit are violins orchestrated together with trombones. “A long way from the monodic style that Heinrich Schütz had become familiar with in Italy […], Hammerschmidt’s compositions are simpler: less flexible in their rhythm, which Schütz often designed more freely, corresponding with the characteristic linguistic style and the idea of musical oration, and which had also hardly ever been melodically and in particular harmoniously dared.9 Nonetheless, Hammerschmidt designed the pieces of his Kirchen- und Tafelmusik to be anything but uniform. Thus, purely instrumental introductory or transitional segments (“Symphon.”; Nos. 11 and 17)10, many solo-tutti changes, in addition to the in his time common alternations in the measure, also sometimes including changes in tempo (“Praesto”, No. 11), hemiolas and many prescribed dynamic contrasts are found. Two pieces are arranged as a dialogus (Nos. 7 and 10), eight (Nos. 2, 5, 6, 8, 16, 18, 21, 22) as choral settings. Orchestration and the deployment of musical means of design appear to be oriented to practical requirements and are aimed at ensuring a variety of performance possibilities and addressing a broad audience. This makes his work attractive even today for both concerts and church services.
Excerpt from the preface by Bert Siegmund
For each piece, following parts sets are available:
Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren, Stimmen (om231/2-1) / ISMN 979-0-502341-65-7
Herr, unser Herrscher, Stimmen (om231/2-2) / ISMN 979-0-502341-66-4
Herr, ich habe lieb die Stätte deines Hauses, Stimmen (om231/2-3) / ISMN 979-0-502341-67-1
Christ lag in Todesbanden, Stimmen (om231/2-4) / ISMN 979-0-502341-68-8
Nun danket alle Gott, Stimmen (om231/2-5) / ISMN 979-0-502341-69-5
Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, Stimmen (om231/2-6) / ISMN 979-0-502341-70-1
Ein jegliches hat seine Zeit, Stimmen (om231/2-7) / ISMN 979-0-502341-71-8
Vom Himmel hoch, Stimmen (om231/2-8) / ISMN 979-0-502341-72-5
Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, Stimmen (om231/2-9) / ISMN 979-0-502341-73-2
