A number of recordings have explored how Catholic masses and motets functioned in liturgical context rather than simply featuring performances of the music as an independent entity. Such recordings are rarer for Lutheran music, however, in spite of the fact that, generally speaking, the chorale-based music of the Lutheran church is more closely tied to specific liturgical functions than is the more abstract music of Catholicism. This handsomely packaged release by the Belgian early music choir Vox Luminis under Lionel ...
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A number of recordings have explored how Catholic masses and motets functioned in liturgical context rather than simply featuring performances of the music as an independent entity. Such recordings are rarer for Lutheran music, however, in spite of the fact that, generally speaking, the chorale-based music of the Lutheran church is more closely tied to specific liturgical functions than is the more abstract music of Catholicism. This handsomely packaged release by the Belgian early music choir Vox Luminis under Lionel Meunier, with Bart Jacobs on organ, aims to improve the situation, with a generous selection of music by composers beginning temporally with Martin Luther himself and running through much of the 17th century. You get two lenses on the repertory: the first disc is devoted to the liturgical year, and the second to the distinctive larger forms that emerged as Lutheranism differentiated itself. These include the German Mass and German Requiem, the latter having resonances centuries later in...
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