This special CD gives a musical glimpse of the early Reformation, early 16th century, where people in and around today's Germany were increasingly opposed to the Roman Catholic Church. This was mainly directed against the power of priests, bishops and pope. The liturgy was also attacked, especially the incomprehensible Latin language that had been used for hundreds of years.
Martin Luther is of
… course the most famous name of the Reformation, and he was not only a music lover but also musical himself. He composed many hymns and melodies, which are known to this day. The Thomas Müntzer (1489-1525) of this CD is much less well known. In 1524, his Deutsche Evangelische Messe was printed to replace the Latin Mass. Interestingly, he hardly changed the Gregorian melodies - but replaced the Latin words with German ones. For example, the first track on this CD is based on the chant Rorate caeli, and very similar to the version as heard on the CD Missa Ave maris stella. In this way, while this is a CD for connoisseurs, Amarcord's singers do sing the chants extremely seductively and beautifully homogeneous. That may hopefully win over many listeners to explore this particular musical world. (TC)more
