Description
Heinrich Scheidemann was highly esteemed already during his lifetime and so famous that he could afford to have a copperplate engraving made of his portrait. During the transition between the Renaissance and the Early Baroque he founded his fame above all on the elegant writing style of his compositions, which even today appeals to a broad public.
Organist Hilger Kespohl has selected works from the comprehensive oeuvre of this Hamburg master for the present Super Audio CD, and performs on the incomparable Arp Schnitger organ in Hamburg-Neuenfelde which enables this richly varied musical portrait to shine in all its glory.
Scheidemann learned his trade from Sweelinck. Back in Hamburg, he combined his teacher's secular tradition – in Calvinist Amsterdam, Sweelinck mostly performed concerts outside the liturgy – with the requirements of the Lutheran religious service. It is therefore not surprising that Scheidemann produced works with liturgical associations.
These chorale variations number among the first great highpoints in this genre and are performed here with the fine sense of sound which Hilger Kespohl is able to show "his" Schnitger organ from its very best side.
All the registrations are informatively documented in the booklet, and the meticulously produced 2+2+2 sound on this top quality Super Audio CD comes with a guarantee of listening pleasure for all those who love and enjoy audiophile recordings.