Monteverdi’s Vespers from 1610 is one of the few works of its time that belongs to the informal canon of pieces that almost every choir dreams of performing at least once. The work is polyphonic, challenging, and requires not only a high number of soloists, but also a relatively large orchestra, including some instruments that are still rather rare and therefore expensive. However Monteverdi’s Vespers can also be performed with considerably less outlay.
C.P.E. Bach and the sentimental style: Musical tastes began to change as early as the 1730s, favoring the so-called Empfindsam (“sentimental”) style, which placed a premium on authentic (i.e. not stylized) feelings, naturalness, and simplicity. This becomes especially clear when we look at Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s oratorio passions.
There’s a lot to discover when you start exploring the origins of the famous parodies in the Christmas Oratorio. The second important “quarry” which the composer mined for the Christmas Oratorio was the cantata Herkules auf dem Scheidewege (Hercules at the Crossroads) – a “dramma per musica”.
Based on three fascinating cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach, chief editor Dr. Uwe Wolf shows how musicologists and performers bring lost or incomplete masterpieces back to life through careful reconstructions.
In honor of the 300th anniversary, Carus editor-in-chief Dr. Uwe Wolf looks at Bach’s chorale cantata year-cycle from 1724/1725.
How do we get as close as possible to the 1724 version of the St. John Passion in 2024? What performance material is needed? Here you will find some practical performance thoughts, also on the 1725 version, from chief editor Dr. Uwe Wolf.
Chief editor Uwe Wolf gives his program recommendation for a Christmas concert 300 years after Bach’s first cantata year in Leipzig.
Discover how Bach borrowed from his own earlier music to create masterpieces like his B minor Mass.
November 2022 marks the 350th anniversary of Heinrich Schütz’s death. That’s reason enough to dedicate the last part of our series “With Schütz through the year” to compositions on themes of death and mourning.
What does Carus mean to you? How do you see the future of the company? Ester Petri and Uwe Wolf in dialog. Over the last few years both have had a considerable influence on the development of Carus – Ester Petri as Managing Director alongside Publisher Johannes Graulich, and Uwe Wolf as Program Director, succeeding Günter Graulich. Neither Petri nor Wolf is related to the Graulich publishing family, nevertheless they endeavor to maintain the good traditions of the family business – and at the same time to make the company fit for new challenges!
