Missa 1724

Description

Jan Dismas Zelenka, the greatest composer of Czech Baroque music, was only rediscovered in the last twenty years, but he is generating a real enthusiasm. A musician at the Court of Dresden under Augustus "the Strong" and later under his son Frederick Augustus II, he composed magnificent sacred works for the Regent, who was Catholic. The Prague Collegium 1704 has been paying tribute to Zelenka's great work for several years with four CDs dedicated to this extraordinary composer, all praised by critics. This new CD brings together different parts of several masses dating from 1724-1725. The pieces share a similar and varied instrumentation including oboes, bassoon, and three trombones that brilliantly complement the strings. Václav Luks has combined these individual movements into a single work, Missa 1724. With the soloists, choir, and orchestra of Collegium 1704, he brings this wonderful music to life in an interpretation that is, as usual, excellent.