SKU: CA.3105209

ISBN 9790007206307. Language: German/English. Text: Birkmann, Christoph.

It only became apparent a few years ago that the text of the soprano cantata Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht came from the collection Gott-geheiligten Sabbaths-Zehnden by the Leipzig theology student and Bach pupil Christoph Birkmann, printed in 1728 in Nuremberg. Birkmann was probably therefore the author of the text. The cantata was written for the 23rd Sunday after Trinity, which fell on 24 November 1726 in the year of its first performance. As in other cantatas in the first annual cycle, Bach chose an instrumental sinfonia as the opening movement - here the first movement of the 1st Brandenburg Concerto. The soprano soloist has two recitatives and two arias, in which the falsehood of the world is juxtaposed with trust in God. The cantata text is rounded off with the first verse of the chorale In dich hab ich gehoffet, scored for four-part chorus, as is usual with Bach. With the use of two horns and three oboes added to the string ensemble, the cantata has colorful and varied orchestration. Score and parts available separately - see item CA.3105200.

SKU: CA.9700409

ISBN 9790007238803. Key: E flat major. Language: Latin.

Two complete settings of the Requiem by Johann Adolf Hasse are extant. Hasse composed the Requiem in C major on the death of the Elector Friedrich August 11 of Saxony. Only a few weeks later his son the elector Friedrich Christian also died. Presumably for this reason Hasse wrote the Requiem in D flat, and because of the shortage of time he used the Sanctus and Agnus of a Requiem in B flat which he had composed earlier. The principal sections Introitus/Kyrie and Dies irae probably date from 1763 and 1764. Score and parts available separately - see item CA.9700400.

SKU: CA.2718909

ISBN 9790007241605. Language: Latin.

In 1892 Dvorak received a prestigious commission from New York to write a festive cantata to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's discovery of America. In response he wrote an impressive work in a very short space of time - his Te Deum, which expresses in celebratory style the old hymn of praise in four effective, contrasting sections. In preparing the Carus edition, a careful assessment has been made of the variant readings of the autograph score and first printed edition, drawing on these as sources. The result is that the work is newly available in a modern, scholarly edition. The complete performance material is available on sale. Score and parts available separately - see item CA.2718900.

SKU: CA.3913909

ISBN 9790007216153. Text language: German.

With the final verse of the Book of Daniel from the Old Testament and a related cantata text, Telemann mourns the death of a prominent, but until now unknown dignitary in a cantata marked by great intimacy and with exquisite instrumentation. Jakob Ditmar, the Kantor of the Nikolaikirche in Berlin, to whom we owe the survival of this work, contributed two beautiful chorale settings for a performance in 1757. First critical edition of this cantata. Score and parts available separately - see item CA.3913900.

SKU: GI.G-9173

UPC: 785147917304. English. Text Source: Jesus, Savior, pilot me Text by Edward Hopper.

This text belongs to a rich tradition of hymns that draw upon sea imagery to establish the relationship between the believer and Christ (Hopper was known for his ministry to sailors). In the composer’s own words: “In times filled with personal strife, global instability, and other struggles, we look to Jesus Christ to ‘hush the ocean wild’ and to guide us safely to a peaceful shore.” A lovely anthem, with subtle dissonances to create a lush harmony.

SKU: CA.3113609

ISBN 9790007208103. Text language: German/English.

The cantata Erforsche mich Gott und erfahre mein Herz BWV 136 was composed in Bach's first year as Kantor of St. Thomas's in Leipzig and was first performed on the 8th Sunday after Trinity, the 18th July 1723. The librettist is unknown. The title of the cantata is taken from verse 23 of Psalm 139: Erforsche mich Gott und erfahre mein Herz; prufe mich und erfahre, wie ich's meine. (Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts) The opening chorus forms an extended fugue, framed by string writing bursting with energy. The obbligato horn accentuates and enriches the movement with a special tonal color. The alto aria in F sharp minor (movement 3) comprises a trio movement with an oboe d'amore as solo instrument in a contrasting range - a presto middle section which dramatically charges the words Denn seines Eifers Grimm vernichtet (For the fury of its zeal will destroy). In the duet (movement 5) the text is sung by tenor and bass line by line, sometimes imitating contrapuntally, and sometimes both singing together dramatically in homophonic writing. A simple chorale setting to the melody Auf meinen lieben Gott concludes the cantata. Particularly charming here is the violin which joins the four vocal parts as an independent part. Score and parts available separately - see item CA.3113600.

SKU: CA.3103409

ISBN 9790007042592. Key: D major. Language: German/English.

The marriage cantata (BWV 34a) on which this work is based was composed in 1726. This parody was composed in the first half of the 1740's. Score and parts available separately - see item CA.3103400.

SKU: CA.5408709

Language: Latin.

Michael Haydn composed three of his masses in honor of the holy archangels - St Michael, St Gabriel, and the Raphaelismesse in honor of St Raphael now published. By avoiding the use of vocal soloists, it is one of the genre of Missa in pieno. Four trumpets and two ad lib oboe parts added later by the composer give the work a festive sound in the baroque tradition. At the same time, elements of the 'sensitive style' feature too. The Gloria and Credo exist in two settings, a short version with polytextual passages and a longer version arranged by Haydn himself. The Carus edition, based on authentic performance material in St. Peter's Monastery in Salzburg, contains both versions, with the longer version published here for the first time. Score and parts available separately - see item CA.5408700.

SKU: CA.5066609

ISBN 9790007224301. Key: C major. Language: Latin.

Its contrasts between cantabile melodiousness and powerfully dramatic passages inspired by the storm and stress movement, combined with highly artistic contrapuntal writing and a brilliant organ solo, make this work a jewel in a wider context than Kraus's church music. It is here published for the first time in a scholarly edition. Score and parts available separately - see item CA.5066600.

SKU: FG.55011-455-5

ISBN 9790550114555.

This cycle of carols, to the poetry of Christina Rossetti, was assembled piecemeal over a number of years, gradually acquiring a larger dramatic and harmonic arch shape as new settings were added. I was particularly attracted to Rossetti's conflation of the dark, fallow winter landscape with that of the soul waiting for salvation. The cycle traces the long nights of watchfulness before Christmas, with the great event constantly deferred, only glimpsed periodically in different visions before the music turns inward again to contemplation. The opening carol embodies this spirit, with passages of diffuse, roving harmony interspersed with meditative, lyrical pedals, calling out the night watch and dreaming of a far-off summer of the spirit. Earth Grown Old is a kind of double carol, setting two complete poems, their lines at first presented separately as a still, expectant chorale and a jubilant dance, then progressively interwoven toward a fervent climax before once again receding into quiet. In the bleak mid-winter, which sets a highly compressed version of Rossetti's original poem, presents an enfeebled landscape frozen in time, in dire need of deliverance. A gentle melody weaves its way through static drones, broken by an angels' chorus announcing the joy to come. Love Came Down at Christmas ends the waiting, with its gently falling, overlapping lines building to a final revelation, the mystery of Christmas at last made real.