Heinichen, Johann David: Messen

   in Choir & Organ (Sep, 2015)
The German music publisher and recording company Carus has done sterling work over many years in bringing much unfamiliar repertoire to wider attention. Inevitably, not everything is uniformly of interest, but that is not the case with the present disc of Masses by the Saxon court composer Johann David Heinichen, an exact contemporary of Bach. With the disband- ing of the Dresden opera in 1720, Heinichen turned his attention to writing liturgical music for the Catholic court of the Electoral Prince. This CD offers two Masses: no.11 radiates ceremonial splendour; no.12 is a large-scale ‘number’ Mass. These performances on period instruments and a small mixed voice choir are perfectly adequate, with …