Lost Treasures - Works from the St. Mary’s Choir Library in Lübeck

“Lost Treasures” explores the choir library of Lübeck’s Marienkirche, whose cantors compiled an extensive collection of music from the 16th century until 1674. Canticorum presents 19 sacred works from this collection, including motets by Hans Leo Hassler, Orlando di Lassus, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Andrea Gabrieli, and Giovanni Gabrieli. Two settings of “Audi Domine hymnum” by Hassler and Giovanni Gabrieli invite comparison, with additional works by Christianus Hollander, Giovanni Croce, and Jacobus Clemens non Papa. The program ranges from dense imitative counterpoint to the interplay of high and low choirs. Canticorum brings together eight singers from the WDR Rundfunkchor Köln and has been exploring the Lübeck repertoire together with musicologist Kerala Snyder since 2018. Trombonists Timothy Beck and Stefan Schmitz complete the ensemble. The recording was made in July 2019 amidst the unique acoustics of the early Romanesque Church of St Pantaleon in Cologne.