Andreas Hammerschmidt. Sacred works.(Sound Recording Review)

Weser-Renaissance/Manfred Cordes. CPO 999 846-2, 2003.

Although documentary evidence exists to indicate that Heinrich Schutz admired his work and encouraged him in it, no one knows who Andreas Hammerschmidt's teachers were or where he studied. He made his early career as a court musician and then as church organist in various towns around Saxony, eventually settling down in 1639 to a long-term position as organist at St. John's Church in Zittau. He was financially successful there and, judging by the accolades he earned from local political figures, something of a pillar of the community; most of his earnings seem to have come from the publication of his many sacred vocal works. This disc includes selected pieces from two collections of Hammerschmidt's vocal music, Motettae unius et duarum vocum (One- and Two-voice Motets) and ...