David Pohle (1624-1695) was born in Marienberg in the Erzgebirge. He came from a family of miners and town pipers. Little is known about his life. After studying with Heinrich Schütz, who was later the godfather of his son, he was an instrumentalist, Music Director and composer at various princely courts in northern Germany. Despite holding mostly leading positions and although he produced an extensive oeuvre which provides interesting insight into the origins of the Protestent church cantata, none of his works were published during his lifetime - certainly an important reason why today Pohle's music is known only by insiders and specialists.

In seinem ‚Entwurf-Katalog’ verzeichnete Joseph Haydn ab 1765 sieben Orgelkonzerte. Sein eigener Organistendienst beim Fürsten Esterházy, den er an der Eisenstädter Schlosskirche versah, bot ihm die Möglichkeit, Orgelkonzerte aufzuführen. Gleichwohl blieben seine Orgelkonzerte Nischenrepertoire, denn die Symphonie war mehr und mehr auf dem Vormarsch und Haydn selbst hat bekanntlich ungleich mehr Symphonien als Orgelkonzerte komponiert. In seinem Katalog findet sich zudem auch die Bezeichnung ‚Cembalo’, was die Aufführung dieser Konzerte im weltlichen Rahmen außerhalb der Kirche möglich machte. Renommierte Organist Norbert Düchtel an der Johann-Philipp-Seuffert-Orgel aus dem Jahr 1756 in der Wallfahrtskirche Maria Limbach den Orgelkonzerten Joseph Haydns gewidmet. Das L’arpa festante Barockorchester München stellt den soliden Orchesterapparat.

The content of “Schranck No: II” represents the rich Dresden instrumental repertoire from the first two thirds of the 18th century with a volume of about 1,750 pieces of music. After the end of the Seven Years’ War, these musical pieces were sorted, inserted into envelopes with their characteristic detailed title labels and deposited in an archive cabinet, the aforementioned “Schranck No: II”, in the court church. Like a time capsule, this treasure was rediscovered only after the middle of the 19th century by the court kapellmeister Julius Rietz. Today, this unique collection belongs to the collection of the Saxon State Library – Dresden State and University Library.

The composer Andreas Hofer (1628/29-1684) is probably hardly known even by music connoisseurs! Yet he was Cathedral and Court Kapellmeister in Salzburg at a time when the prince-archbishopric was considered one of the most important centers of Western music. Hofer was in charge of all the music of the prince-archbishopric, both in the great Baroque cathedral and at court, and he brought the most accomplished musicians to Salzburg: among them none other than Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber as Vice-Kapellmeister and Georg Muffat as cathedral organist! This program presents seven psalm concertos by Hofer for one or two solo voices, strings and basso continuo. They are composed in the style of Monteverdi's seconda prattica, virtuosic and bursting with melodic ideas. In contrast, the collection of Psalmi brevi and his Missa Valete, for five voices and strings, show Hofer's great skill in vocal polyphony. Performers are the vocal ensemble Capella Spirensis of the Dommusik Speyer and the orchestra L'arpa festante conducted by the Domkapellmeister Markus Melchiori.

It is unbelievable that such a popular work in the current repertoire as Ludwig van Beethoven’s Violin Concerto Op. 61 only conquered the concert hall around three to four decades after its composition. The work ultimately gained its popularity through two revised printed versions published in Vienna and in London, which both reveal substantial revisions in the solo parts. The quest for Beethoven’s “original version” proves to be extremely complicated, as Beethoven himself offered up to four alternatives to the soloists in some spots of the manuscript. A study of the different inks and quills used in that autograph has allowed the violinist Anton Steck to propose the new und unusual version recorded here, which thanks also to the use of historical instruments results in a tangible and transparent rendering of a very well-known piece.