Morimur

Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer), countertenor David James (Performer), violin Christoph Poppen (Performer), soprano Monika Mauch (Performer), tenor John Potter (Performer), Hilliard Ensemble (Performer), baritone Gordon Jones (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: countertenor David James, violin Christoph Poppen, soprano Monika Mauch, tenor John Potter, Hilliard Ensemble, et al.
• Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
• Audio CD (September 25, 2001)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: ECM Records
• ASIN: B00005ND3J
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #53,293 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #34 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Vocal Non-Opera > Passions
  • #43 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Featured Performers, A-Z > H to L

Track Listings

1. Auf meinen lieben Gott

2. Den Tod...

3. Allemanda

4. Christ lag in Tobesbanden

5. Corrente

6. Den Tod niemand zwingen kunnt

7. Sarabanda

8. Wo soll ich fliehen hin

9. Den Tod...

10. Ciaccona

11. Christ lag in Tobesbanden

12. Dein Will gescheh'

13. Befiehl Du Deine Wege

14. Jesu meine Freude

15. Auf meinen lieben Gott

16. Jesu Deine Passion

17. In meines Herzens Grunde

18. Nun lob', mein Seel', den Herren

19. Den Tod...

20. Ciaccona fur Violine solo und vier Stimmen nach einer Analyse von Helga Thoene

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Baroque Mysticism, October 23, 2001

By 

Joanne Fisher (Harrison Township, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Morimur (Audio CD)

This album attempts (and largely succeeds, in my opinion) to make clear to the listener what musicologists are exploring theoretically: that J.S. Bach used concepts of numerology to write a subtext within his Six Sonatas and Partitas for Violin.

The Six Sonatas and Partitas have long been a favorite of mine. Vocalists hold the vocal line of several familiar Chorales against the solo violin part, and demonstrate that Bach used the Chorales as an unheard cantus firmus for the solo violin part.

I enjoy this recording not only for the musicological exercise but because the end result is richly satisfying simply to the casual listener. It brings a whole new dimension to the Partita.
Often music theorists expound ideas which are visible only on the printed page, not audible to listeners, or at least not audible to other than highly specialized listeners. In this album, for once we get a chance to actually hear the results.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars musicology meets musicality, February 11, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Morimur (Audio CD)

this is about as good as it gets and those who have criticized the violin playing ("shallow tone" etc.) probably just don't happen to like the sound of the baroque violin and the style in which it invites one to play it. the instruments played by your veghs, menuhins, heifetzes etc. have without exception been extensively tampered with since they left their makers' workbenches in order to produce the bigger but blander sound more suited to more recent music and preferred by many modern ears. a modern g, and i think, d string notwithstanding (see telltale photo), poppen is playing an instrument that more closely resembles what bach and near contemporaries such as antonio stradivari and guarneri del gesu would have recognised as a violin. a correspondingly "modern" approach to the singing would probably have disfigured bach's harmonies (exquisitely tuned by the hilliards) with pitch-altering vibrato - ugh!

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Divine, January 10, 2002

By 

nathaniel cabot (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Morimur (Audio CD)

The Austrian Monastary where this recording was made must have inspired the artists to achieve the results that are evident on this album. Pitch perfect four part vocals combine with Baroque violin to transport the listener to a spiritual place Bach surely intended. And I am not even particularly religious. Let it suffice to say, for anyone with a modicum of appreciation for harmony and melody, this music will provide much enjoyment.