The outstanding musical significance of Johann Rosenmüller, who was said to be able to merge Italian sensuality and German “gravitas” in his compositions in the most harmonious way, was already undisputed among his contemporaries. He studied in Leipzig, and quite soon the town council realized that he was a musician of an immense talent. Rosenmüller therefore received a position at the famous Leipzig Thomasschule, and was considered as the future successor of the ill Thomaskantor, Tobias Michael. His future would actually have been secured at that point if a scandal had not shaken the Leipzig music scene in the spring of 1655: Johann Rosenmüller was imprisoned due to alleged homosexual activities. But he could escape from prison and flee to Italy; he lived in Venice for 25 years before he could return to Germany. But also during the time of his exile he went on composing for German courts; Rosenmüller’s music was so highly esteemed that hardly any court orchestra in the German-speaking countries could afford to neglect his works in their repertoire selection.

The Rosenmüller sacred concertos recorded on this album are combined with equally fine compositions of less-known German contemporaries such as Johann Balthasar Erben, Augustin Pfleger, Christian Flor and others. The soprano Miriam Feuersinger is a specialist for sacred music of the German Baroque and was awarded with the famous German “Echo Klassik” in 2014 for her album with cantatas by Graupner. Nearly all the sacred concertos by Rosenmüller and his contemporaries chosen for her new CD are world premiere recordings.