Luther’s Wedding Day

Luther's wedding day
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Artist: Capella de la Torre, Katharina Bäuml
Genre: Classical
Label: Challenge Classics

Nothing specific is known about the music that was played at Martin Luther's wedding on June 13th, 1525. But on the assumption that it's "hardly conceivable that music was dispensed with," Katharina Bäuml and Capella de la Torre have set out to fill in the blanks. They project a likely liturgical sequence of pieces by Isaac, Senfl, Josquin, and Johann Walter (whose setting of Luther's famous Ein feste Burg is used) and add works by Michael Praetorius, Sermisy and dances by anonymous composers for an imagined wedding feast to follow. Early music reconstructions of festivities are often lavish affairs. This one doesn't conform to that norm. It's altogether more reserved, involving just three singers and six instrumentalists. At its most celebratory it's careful rather than unbuttoned. challenge.nl

Michael Dervan

Michael Dervan

Michael Dervan is a music critic and Irish Times contributor