What Money Can Do!

Starting the day off right, with coffee and good music.  This time it's back to the Baroque, and a set of concerti written in the German city of Dresden by Johann David Heinichen.  I know, I'd never heard of him either and after listening to these marvellous discs over and over and over I can only wonder why.
More of Heinichen's music is gradually re-appearing and it's long overdue!

This particular set comes from DGG's Archiv early music label, and features the ensemble Musica Antiqua Köln under the direction of Reinhard Goebel.  The set of Dresden Concerti includes eleven full concerti, a sonata, and an independent movement, for a total of 2 hours 15 minutes of music.

And what marvellous music it is!  Heinichen's work is melodious, sprightly, and obstinately memorable.  As court composer to the wealthy Elector of Saxony at the Court of Dresden, Heinichen had access to one of the finest orchestras in all of Europe, with multiple players of all instruments at his disposal.  His works reflect that fact, with constant shifts in the instrumentation from movement to movement.  You can listen right through the whole 2 CDs of this album (and I often do) with no sense at all of any repetition or formulaic writing. 

Although I haven't got them yet, the DGG catalogue includes two more Köln/Goebel collaborations on Heinichen's music: a collection of sacred music, and an anthology of concerti composed for Dresden by various composers.  Both of these are on my shopping list, and all are available for download at www.deutschegrammophon.com.

If you love Baroque music, you owe it to yourself to investigate this composer without delay!