Also Available - Praise & Glory - Music From Medingen Convent / Volkhardt, Ensemble Devotio Moderna

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On the Lüneburg Heath there are six convents which are still active today. In their ancient archives there exist many old music manuscripts from the middle ages most of which are unknown today and of enormous importance in terms of music history as well as the history of the convents in Northern Germany.

The Hanoverian musician, Professor Ulrike Volkhardt and music historian Dr. Ulrike Hascher-Burger undertook a initial research of these long unheard music manuscripts within the convents on the Lüneburg Heath. Their careful work has prepared and brought these ancient manuscripts of "devotio moderna" music from the middle ages into a performable state.

This type of "devotio moderna" music, intriguing and unheard for centuries, fruitfully evokes a deeply felt inner meditation. In these recordings, beautiful vocal music is combined with instruments of the middle ages that were reconstructed and then had to be mastered. Selected musical examples, interpreted by the appropriately named Ensemble Devotio Moderna, are for the first time made accessible to music lovers by the Cantate label. Every CD of this series has it's own theme, each describing daily musical life of the convent with the liturgical high feast as a special focus. The series will be accompanied by detailed, illustrated booklets which inform you the many aspects of this singular musical culture.

Track listing:

Admission to the Convent
1 Procendentem sponsum de thalamo
2 Nonnenkrönung

Praise
3 Cantate domino canticum novum
4 Ad te domine levavi oculos meos
5 Revela oculos meos
6 Si oblitus fuero tui/Super flumina Babylonis
7 Ibant gaudentes

Suffering
8 In omnibus hiis non peccavit Iob
9 Si bona suscepimus

Promise
10 Tribus signis deo dignis
11 Puer nobis nascitur

Protection
12 Protector noster
13 Scapulis suis obumrabit tibi dominus
14 Pastor bonus
15 Genti peccatrici
16 Redemit dominus populum suum
17 Pastor bonus
18 A facie furoris
19 Scapulis suis obumrabit tibi dominus

Heaven
20 Locutus est ad me unus de septemn angelis
21 Audivi vocem in celo