Search - Johann Theile, Ludger Remy, Les Amis de Philippe :: Johann Theile: Arias; Canzonettas

Achingly beautiful

Mr. Geoffrey Lehmann | 05/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you love the music of Buxtehude, then these achingly beautiful 17th century German love songs are for you. Theile's wonderful arias and canzonettas have a very steady, Lutheran, pietist pulse. They are quite un-Italian. They are simply ravishing, and exceptionally well performed by Ludger Remy and his Amis de Philippe (named after Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, whose Gellert Oden and Sacred Songs, Remy recorded in equally magical performances).



Theile was born in 1646, and has been described as the "father of the contrapuntalists". He was well-known as a teacher of musical composition, the most famous of his sudents being Buxtehude, which is surprising as Buxtehude was 9 years older than his teacher. This connection between them - the young teacher and older student - may explain the similarity of the sound world which the two composers share. However Theile is more muted than Buxtehude, more severe, which may explain the comparative neglect of his work, although severity has not impeded the appreciation of J S Bach.



These arias and canzonettas are every bit as good as Theile's wonderful St Matthew Passion (again a very restrained, intense piece) which was described in Le Monde as "an absolute discovery", by Opera International as "what a great work!", by Harmonie as "a happy discovery in every sense of the term and [by] a really passionate composer" and by Diapason as "a great moment of sacred music that must absolutely be discovered". These descriptions were of the London Baroque recording of Theile's Matthew Passion, recorded as long ago as 1984 (also available on Amazon and highly recommended). Yet it took almost another 20 years until Remy's 2003 recording of Theile's Arias and Canzonettas to appear.



Theile is known as one of the fathers of German opera. He composed a biblical singspiel about the creation and fall and restoration of man. Will it take another 20 years for this to become available on disc?"