Composer: Thomas Selle
Performer: The Muses’ Fellows, Anne Schneider, Monika Mandelartz, Pia Davila, Florian Sievers, Stephan Scherpe, Sönke Tams Freier
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Coviello
Catalogue: COV92214
Release: 2022
Size: 1.05 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Concertuum binis vocibus
01. I. Intrada Sit pacis dives
02. II. Eusebia Fulcrum
03. III. Aula quid exultas
04. IV. Flos meus
05. V. Magna Die bonitas
06. VI. Illustri natus
07. VII. Dona Dei
08. VIII. Und der Herr lobet
09. IX. Beatus qui miseretur
10. X. Auß der tieffe
11. XI. Die Güte deß Herrn
12. XII. Conclusion Sit pacis dives
Homage to the powerful was nothing unusual in the Baroque era; Thomas Selle, however, took it a bit further: he paid tribute to several members of his prince’s family with musical “Laudationes”. Selle combined the compendium with “little sacred concerts,” since secular power and religion went hand in hand. In these concerts, the everyday worries of the rural population, who hoped for consolation in religion, are the subject of discussion.
Thomas Sella’s work thus occupies a special position. The story is told on different levels, neo-Latin poetry meets Bible verses, combined in a highly intellectual way with subtexts and set to moving music. It unites: longing for peace and the romance of chivalry, religiosity and absolutism, cries of triumph and contemplation, archaism and humanism, pathos and charity, luxury and humility. Thomas Selle covers the entire spectrum of human nature in all it’s contradictions. Thus, this work remains highly topical even in our time.
This new CD presents the vocal concerti of Thomas Selle (1599-1663), performed here by Anne Schneider (soprano), Pia Davila (soprano), Florian Sievers (tenor), Stephan Scherpe (tenor), Sonke Tams Freier (baritone) and The Muses’ Fellows under the direction of Monika Mandelartz.
In 1634 Thomas Selle (1599-1663) published the collection Concertuum binis vocibus with ten vocal concerti for two voices and basso continuo. The first six concertos of the work have no comparable model, being laudationes or hymns dedicated to Selle’s own sovereign, the family of Duke Frederick III of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf. These concertos are composed in the Italian style with highly virtuoso vocal parts and festive ritornellos. The six laudation concertos are followed by four Kleine geistliche Concerti which are not dissimilar to those composed by Heinrich Schtz. (It must be kept in mind that Schtz’s Kleine Geistliche Concerti were only published two years later).
“My underlying intention has been to provide the greatest comprehendible representation of this work for which there is no equivalent in the entire history of music. I have not attempted to imitate Selle in my inserted passages, instead utilising my own English 47 musical language. My arrangements clearly communicate my own signature. I also diverge from the original version in the instrumentation in the performance which was based on the range of instruments represented in The Muses’ Fellows. This recording is the first performance for almost 400 years our very personal interpretation. We await subsequent performances with great interest.” Monika Mandelartz