Musikmuseum

Al Capriccio

~ Andrew Benson-Wilson

Al Capriccio
Concertos and symphonies by Johann Zach (1713–1773)
Barocksolisten München, Dorothea Seel, Anne Marie Dragosits
Musikmuseum MMCD 13035. 66’47

Barocksolisten München, directed by flautist Dorothea Seel, explore the music of the idiosyncratic composer Johann (Jan) Zach. He was born into a family of wheelwrights near the pilgrimage town of Brandýs nad Labem in central Bohemia, site of the murder of Duke Wenceslas. In 1724 he moved to Prague where he worked as a violinist and studied organ. His short-lived career as organist seems to have culminated in an unsuccessful application in 1737 for the position of organist at St. Vitus Cathedral. He reappears in early 1745 in Augsburg just before his appointment as Kapellmeister at the court of the Prince Elector of Mainz.

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Alexander Utendal: Meine Tage sind wie Schatten

~ Andrew Benson-Wilson

Meine Tage sind wie Schatten
Alexander Utendal
Psalms from Septem Psalmi poenietentiales & Magnificats
Profeti della Quinta
Musikmuseum 37, CD13036. 56’18

This 2018 recording in the impressive series of recordings from the Tiroler Landesmuseen in Innsbruck, (under the banner of musikmuseum), focusses on the now little-known composer Alexander Utendal (c1530-1581). His link with the Tyrol started from his early days in Hapsburg Flanders where he was a choirboy at the court of Mary of Hungary, Regent of the Netherlands. He then sang alto in the Court chapel of Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol, moving to Innsbruck in 1564 where he suceeded Jacob Regnart as Vice Kapellmeister. In his time, he had a strong reputation. His collection of four-part penitential psalms, printed in 1570, have been compared to those of Orlando di Lasso (published some years later). Utendal worked for linked courts, and would have known each other well.

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Stile Nuovo: Christmas and Vespers music

~ Andrew Benson-Wilson

Stile Nuovo
Weihnachtsmusik Von Christoph Sätzl & Marienvesper im Dom zu Brixen 1641
Odhecaton, La Venexiana, Prishna
Musikmuseum 41, CD13040. 2CDs 59’12+57’57

Stile Nuovo - Christmas and Vespers music, 2 CDs

I have been sent several CDs published by the Music Museum of the Tiroler Landesmuseen in Innsbruck. One of which is this set of two CDs, the first of which is of early Baroque Christmas motets from Tyrol and Italy (recorded in 2016) with a second CD (recorded, live, in 2000) of Marienvespers music from Brixen Cathedral as might have been heard around 1641. The two CDs do not seem to be related, although it is not clear if this is a re-release of earlier published recordings.

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