On its brand-new second Graupner CD the Kirchheimer BachConsort performs
solo and dialogue cantatas by this composer who always met the highest
standards of his times. Graupner sought opportunities for original
expression and was open to the latest developments and to unfamiliar
instruments. With his inexhaustible imagination he was able to create
cantatas rich in contrasts and with variability, originality, diversified
instrumentation, special tone-color opulence, intelligent voice leading,
and drama schooled on the opera as their hallmarks. The interplay of the
vocal and instrumental parts is also a special feature of his music. In the
introduction to his Hymnbook published in 1728 Graupner emphasized what in
his view was the most important task facing a composer: »Edifying words in
a song make an even deeper impression on human hearts when the meaning and
message of the text, as it were, are vividly presented through the music
with carefully considered and select expressions. And this is the noblest
thing in every composition in which specific texts and words are
prescribed.« In his cantatas Graupner succeeded in employing purposeful
musical affections to illustrate and represent the texts. For him there was
no difference between secular and sacred music; he knew how to engage in
skillful negotiations between these two genres.