Album

David Pohle forges a near-direct link between the influence of Heinrich Schütz and the generation of Bach and Telemann. One of Schütz's last students, Pohle had composed at least one complete cantata cycle for the Lutheran church year by 1665. However, Pohle never published any of his works and the cantata cycle, along with most of the other music he composed, has disappeared. Carus-Verlag's David Pohle: Wie der Hirsh schreyet collects some of the little bit of sacred choral music from Pohle's pen that has survived, along with five of his instrumental sonatas, which exist in nearly equal number to his sacred vocal works; about 30 of them are extant. All but one of the sonatas has been recorded before, but the six sacred vocal works featured here are new to recordings.

The sonatas are completely delightful, consisting of very short movements that tend to highlight abrupt contrasts when they change, some languid and expressive, others fleet and sinewy. Harmonically they are steeped in a style that sounds weirdly arcane, much as the little bit of surviving chamber music by Johann Sebastian Bach's granduncle Heinrich Bach sounds, with its fondness for late-Renaissance era "false relations." This makes sense; Heinrich Bach was an older contemporary to Pohle. Pohle's sacred vocal works, however, are more of a mixed bag, and while they are good, they seem rather stylistically primitive in comparison to the sacred concertos of Franz Tunder and one wonders why he set so many Latin, rather than German, sacred texts. There are highlights: In te Domine speravi contains some particularly fine moments, with its rapid patterns of sixteenth notes, subtle interruptions of the meter, and occasionally odd harmonic shifts in keeping with the style of the sonatas. The other works do tend to grow on the listener and L'Arpa Festante under Rien Voskuilen and the vocal soloists do a very fine job here. Although there are no hidden masterworks to be found on Carus-Verlag's David Pohle: Wie der Hirsh schreyet, it's a good listen and will please those who have a solid interest in the early German Baroque.

© Uncle Dave Lewis , All Music Guide

CD 1
David Pohle Composer Sonata à 6, for 2 violins, 3 violas de braccio, viola da basso & continuo, No.24 in G- Work Rien Voskuilen Organ, L'Arpa Festante Orchestra
1	Sonata à 6, for 2 violins, 3 violas de braccio, viola da basso & continuo, No.24 in G-	5:38			$0.99
David Pohle Composer Wie der Hirsch schreyet, sacred concerto for voice, 2 violins & continuo Work Rien Voskuilen Organ, L'Arpa Festante Orchestra, Hans-Jorg Mammel Tenor
2	Wie der Hirsch schreyet, sacred concerto for voice, 2 violins & continuo	8:36			$1.49
David Pohle Composer Diligam te Domine, psalm setting for voice, 2 violins & continuo Work Rien Voskuilen Organ, Monika Mauch Soprano, L'Arpa Festante Orchestra
3	Diligam te Domine, psalm setting for voice, 2 violins & continuo	5:42			$0.99
David Pohle Composer Sonata a 3, for 2 violins, viola da braccio & continuo No.29 Work Rien Voskuilen Organ, L'Arpa Festante Orchestra
4	Sonata a 3, for 2 violins, viola da braccio & continuo No.29	3:12			$0.99
David Pohle Composer In te Domine speravi, psalm setting for 3 voices, 2 violas, bassoon & continuo Work Rien Voskuilen Organ, David Erler Alto, Monika Mauch Soprano, L'Arpa Festante Orchestra, Hans-Jorg Mammel Tenor
5	In te Domine speravi, psalm setting for 3 voices, 2 violas, bassoon & continuo	5:27			$0.99
David Pohle Composer Sonata à 6, for 2 violins, 3 viola da braccio, bass viol & continuo No.23 Work Rien Voskuilen Organ, L'Arpa Festante Orchestra
6	Sonata à 6, for 2 violins, 3 viola da braccio, bass viol & continuo No.23	3:41			$0.99
David Pohle Composer Benedicam Dominum, for soprano, alto, 2 violins, bassoon & continuo Work Rien Voskuilen Organ, David Erler Alto, L'Arpa Festante Orchestra
7	Benedicam Dominum, for soprano, alto, 2 violins, bassoon & continuo	4:12			$0.99
David Pohle Composer Sonata à 6, for 2 violins, 3 viola da braccio, bass viol & continuo, No.11 Work Rien Voskuilen Organ, L'Arpa Festante Orchestra
8	Sonata à 6, for 2 violins, 3 viola da braccio, bass viol & continuo, No.11	3:46			$0.99
David Pohle Composer Jesu chare, sacred concerto for alto, 2 violins & continuo Work Rien Voskuilen Organ, David Erler Alto, L'Arpa Festante Orchestra
9	Jesu chare, sacred concerto for alto, 2 violins & continuo	9:29			$1.49
David Pohle Composer Paratum cor meum, sacred concerto for tenor, 2 violins & continuo Work Rien Voskuilen Organ, L'Arpa Festante Orchestra, Hans-Jorg Mammel Tenor
10	Paratum cor meum, sacred concerto for tenor, 2 violins & continuo	5:37			$0.99
David Pohle Composer Sonata à 6, for 2 violins, 3 viola da braccio, bass viol & continuo No.25 Work Rien Voskuilen Organ, L'Arpa Festante Orchestra
11	Sonata à 6, for 2 violins, 3 viola da braccio, bass viol & continuo No.25	9:11			$1.49