This stylishly devised programme juxtaposes cantatas by Rosenmüller, Krieger and Buxtehude with instrumental chorales and sonatas by Scheidemann, Praetorius, Tunder and Weckmann; most of these now known, if at all widely, as forerunners to Bach rather than as fine musicians in their own right as they deserve to be. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Hamburg became a leading commercial port where material and cultural goods circulated freely. Ensemble Méridien has chosen this city as the focal point of a fascinating musical journey through northern Germany, a journey that reveals different aspects of this artistic power. The port of Hamburg was also the driving force behind the north German organ school of the time. Churches were overflowing with magnificent organs, and their building and playing techniques reached extremely high standards, as is evident from the organ music included here. Though most of the music in this recital has been recorded before, it has only appeared on relatively obscure labels, and not in this imaginative context where one may more fully appreciate its dramatic as well as musical merits.

On the CD Musicalischer Seelen-Frieden Dorothee Mields and the ensemble Hamburger Ratsmusik present several of the most beautiful solo cantatas of the baroque composer Johann Philipp Krieger. Krieger understood how to unite French and Italian elements of style in his music and thus as a composer he was an important role model for the generation in which Bach and Telemann were active. His altogether twenty sacred concertos from the collection "Musikalischer Seelen-Friede", the only edition of Krieger’s sacred music, which was printed in 1990 and 1996, are among the most important contributions to this important genre in his time.