The work of Johann David Heinichen, a German composer and music theorist, belongs to the late Baroque period. Even though he created at the Dresden court, serving Augustus II the Strong – and therefore in a centre characterised by a truly rich and colourful cultural life – he unfairly remains a much less recognisable composer of his time. During the concert, musicians of the ensemble polyharmonique and Wrocław Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Jarosław Thiel, will perform Heinichen’s works, which were recorded for the first time on the artists’ joint album, the Dresden Vespers released in 2022.
Although the evening’s repertoire focuses on the works of Johann David Heinichen, it will also be enriched by compositions by two other Baroque masters – Johann Sebastian Bach and Jan Dismas Zelenka. The evening will begin with the sounds of the first motet – Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied (Sing to the Lord a new song). Bach composed it around 1726 for two choirs and used the text of Psalms 149 and 150. According to historical records, the fugue Lobet den Herrn in seinen Taten, which crowns the three-movement motet, delighted Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – he heard it during his stay in Leipzig in 1789. Baroquely elaborate, precise in the German style, melodic in the Slavic style, and concertante in the Italian style – this is how the work of Jan Dismas Zelenka is often described. In the catalogue of his works Catholic religious music prevails, including Da pacem Domine from 1740, which begins the second part of the concert.
The reason why Johann David Heinichen’s compositions were forgotten was probably the fact that he did not publish any of his works. Yet he was an artist highly appreciated by his contemporaries, including George Frideric Handel and Johann Mattheson, and although his works are only gradually being discovered, they delight us as impressive compositions full of sublime solutions and harmonious colours. The musicians will present some of them, including Magnificat in B flat major and Alma Redemptoris Mater in E flat major.