Rolle: Motets

Göring, Sebastian, Kammerchor Michaelstein

CPO 777778

Johann Heinrich Rolle, who was active as the »Director musices« and »Kantor« at the Altstädtisches Gymnasium in Magdeburg but unfortunately continues to be little known today, quite likely has captured the hearts of many listeners since the release of his richly colored Christmas Oratorio (7988743). In his travel writings the English musicologist Charles Burney described Rolle as an impassioned and highly imaginative composer who had gained the greatest fame with his works for the church, and during his own lifetime Rolle did indeed enjoy great renown. His motets too display rich invention and formal variety far transcending mere solid craftsmanship. At the same time, Rolle could draw on a pronounced talent for keeping the technical demands of his music moderate but his compositions elegant and tonally beautiful. Musically and textually his motets stand for great variety on many different levels – also in view of their particular occasions of composition and their potential for use as church music. Ultimately, their varied character won them a firm place in the essential liturgical repertoire of their times – a place that surely contributed to Rolle's fame as »the nation's favorite composer.«

CD x 2

CPO

25.11.14

761203777822