Baroque sacred music from the Swabian Benedictine monastery of Zwiefalten
Works by the Tyrolean monastery composer Leopold von Plawenn (1628?-1682)
In the Baroque period, abbots held court in monasteries like princes. The resulting need for representation found eloquent expression in the lavish patronage of the arts. Monastic musical cultivation reached a level that still amazes today. One of the great masters was Leopold von Plawenn. The scion of an old Tyrolean noble family was probably trained in music in his native city of Innsbruck, perhaps by the court conductor Johann Stadlmayr or his successor Ambrosius Rainer. Plawenn entered the Swabian Benedictine monastery of Zwiefalten. His music spread throughout southern Germany and Austria. The motets from Plawenn’s Opus 4 are prime examples of the Italian-influenced style of high baroque church music, rich in emotion and contrast. Like Opera 1-3, the collection bears the flowery title “Sacrae Nymphae duplicium aquarum”. The “sacred spring nymph”, who, like Zwiefalten, sits at the confluence of two streams, is the Mother of God Mary, whose image of grace is particularly venerated in the monastery church. In our concert project dedicated to Leopold von Plawenn, the internationally successful vocal ensemble Voces suaves, which emerged from the renowned Schola cantorum in Basel, is collaborating for the first time with the Tyrolean early music ensemble vita & anima under the direction of Peter Waldner.
Vocal ensemble Voces suaves
Ensemble vita & anima
Christoph Rudolf & Johannes Frisch (baroque violins)
Arno Jochem (viola da gamba, violone & baroque violoncello)
Pietro Prosser (chitarrone), Reinhild Waldek (baroque harp)
Peter Waldner (positive organ)