Paul Gerhardt: The Great Chorales

Paul Gerhardt, one of the most significant song composers of the Protestant Church, was born in Gräfenheinichen on 12 March 1607. On the occasion of the poet’s 400th anniversary, Rondeau Production released the disc ‘Die großen Choräle und Geistlichen Lieder’ in 2007. Many of today’s favourite church songs were written by Paul Gerhardt: ‘Geh aus mein Herz und suche Freud’, ‘Wie soll ich dich empfangen’, ‘Lobet den Herren, alle die ihn ehren’, or ‘Nun ruhen alle Wälder’ - all performed on this disc by Thomanerchor Leipzig (St Thomas’s Boys Choir Leipzig). The actor Otto Sander recites the Baroque poems with empathy and great expressivity: texts of great emotional depth. Torsten Laux improvises on Gerhardt’s most loved songs at the organ at Berlin’s St Nikolai church - the church at which Paul Gerhardt was active for twelve years and where he composed a significant portion of his song output. The songs and poems are performed in German. The renowned poet and the disc’s performers are introduced in the CD’s liner notes, which are entirely in German.

Otto Sander
Torsten Laux
Martin Petzold
Thomanerchor Leipzig
Thomaskantor Georg Christoph Biller