Description
Freiberg has always been an important cultural location. Shortly after its founding in the 12th century, which dates back to significant silver ore discoveries, culture and music are already evident and an integral part of city life. Freiberg was the second Saxon city to have a town piper's club, from which a wide variety of music groups later emerged. The city's wealth also made it possible to build large hall churches, of which St. Mary's Cathedral is still one of the region's most important cultural monuments.
An integral part of liturgical music and congregational singing in Freiberg's Evangelical Lutheran churches are the four Silbermann organs, which were built at different times and thus document the creative periods of the famous organ builder Gottfried Silbermann (1683-1753). In addition to the church services, the organs in St. Jakobi and St. Petri churches can be heard at midday music and the cathedral organs at concerts on Thursday evenings.
The purpose of this CD, published by the Gottfried Silbermann Association, is to document the richness of sound available and to use the corresponding compositions to bring the sound possibilities closer to organ lovers. As president and vice president of the Gottfried Silbermann Society, the organists Albrecht Koch and Clemens Lucke are very familiar with Silbermann's history and work as well as the sound worlds of his organs. The CD includes well-known works by Johann Sebastian Bach, for example, as well as rarities such as the chorale variations on "Now praise my soul to the Lord" by Johann Samuel Beyer, who worked as a cantor in Freiberg for decades in the early 18th century and also carried out the acceptance test for one of the four Silbermann organs heard here.
