Biber: Litaniæ de Sancto Josepho; Muffat: Missa in labore requies

1	Litaniæ de Sancto Josepho
2	Sonata Sancto Polycarpi à
3	Missa In Labore requies:
4	Missa In Labore requies:
5	Sonata à 13
6	Missa In Labore requies:
7	Sonata for violin, 2 viol
8	Missa In Labore requies:
9	Sonata à 14, "S. Placidi"
10	Missa In Labore requies:
Biber: Litaniæ de Sancto Josepho; Muffat: Missa in labore requies
1.	Litaniæ de Sancto Josepho à 20, for eight solo voices, double chorus, orchestra & continuo, C. 44 13:14
	Composed by Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
	Performed by Cantus Cölln and Concerto Palatino
	Conducted by Konrad Junghanel
2.	Sonata Sancto Polycarpi à 9, for 8 trumpets, kettledrums & continuo in C Major, C. 113 4:37
	Composed by Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
	Performed by Cantus Cölln and Concerto Palatino
	Conducted by Konrad Junghanel
3.	Missa In Labore requies: Kyrie 4:41
	Composed by Georg Muffat
	Performed by Cantus Cölln and Concerto Palatino
	Conducted by Konrad Junghanel
4.	Missa In Labore requies: Gloria 12:02
	Composed by Georg Muffat
	Performed by Cantus Cölln and Concerto Palatino
	Conducted by Konrad Junghanel
5.	Sonata à 13 3:12
	Composed by Antonio Bertali
	Performed by Cantus Cölln and Concerto Palatino
	Conducted by Konrad Junghanel
6.	Missa In Labore requies: Credo 14:59
	Composed by Georg Muffat
	Performed by Cantus Cölln and Concerto Palatino
	Conducted by Konrad Junghanel
7.	Sonata for violin, 2 violas & continuo No. 11 in C minor (Fidicinium Sacro-Profanum No. 11), C. 88 4:40
	Composed by Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
	Performed by Cantus Cölln and Concerto Palatino
	Conducted by Konrad Junghanel
8.	Missa In Labore requies: Sanctus 5:08
	Composed by Georg Muffat
	Performed by Cantus Cölln and Concerto Palatino
	Conducted by Konrad Junghanel
9.	Sonata à 14, "S. Placidi" 3:26
	Composed by Antonio Bertali
	Performed by Cantus Cölln and Concerto Palatino
	Conducted by Konrad Junghanel
10.	Missa In Labore requies: Agnus Dei 3:21
	Composed by Georg Muffat
	Performed by Cantus Cölln and Concerto Palatino
	Conducted by Konrad Junghanel

All Music Guide

Harmonia Mundi's Biber: Litaniae de Sancto Josepho, featuring Cantus Cölln and Concerto Palatino under Konrad Junghänel, is one of the finest recordings ever made of Salzburgian Baroque sacred choral music. Recorded in Melk Abbey in Austria, these combined period instrument groups pack a real wallop inside the Melk Abbey's cavernous interiors, and the music -- with its constant changes of mood and extremes of range in volume -- is breathlessly exciting. Crediting the disc to Biber overall is a little misleading, as only about 21 minutes of the 70 minute disc are his; the main work is Georg Muffat's enormous "Missa in labore requies" and it dominates the proceedings. But no one will be disappointed, as anyone familiar with the elephantine scale of Biber's sacred music will easily note that this Muffat is cut of the same cloth; it just carries a different designer name. The long mass is intersected by sonatas by Antonio Bertali and Biber, and this helps for the listener to take a breath from the sheer grandioseness of these proceedings, whereas Johann Sebastian Bach's slightly later sacred music exemplifies unanimity of purpose, order, and balance, and it seems like the composers of Biber and Muffat's school wanted to keep listeners on the edge of his/her seat, and there are a couple spots here that will make you jump out of it. For a big, bold, over-the-top experience in seventeenth century sacred choral music, there aren't a lot of recordings that can beat this, therefore Harmonia Mundi's Biber: Litaniae de Sancto Josepho is recommended with enthusiasm. Uncle Dave Lewis