By the late 1960s, the Musical Heritage Society record label had positioned itself as the USA’s “go-to” independent label label for music of the Renaissance and Baroque. In addition to licensing recordings from European labels, MHS undertook its own recordings, resulting in some of the most acclaimed releases employing original instruments and “historically informed” interpretation.
Among those gems is a recording of German music for the Christmas season from the Renaissance era, including many works by Michael Praetorius and many of his forgotten contemporaries. The focus of the recording is polyphonic vocal music, and MHS assembled four brilliant vocalists – Elly Ameling, Bernhard Michaelis , Hans-Ulrich Mielsch and Barry McDaniel – accompanied by five renowned period instrumentalists: recorder virtuoso Hans-Martin Linde (doubling on crumhorn), gamba players Ilse Brix-Meinert, Ulrich Koch, and Johannes Koch, and lutenist Walter Gerwig.
The recording has been remastered from archival sources and includes the original liner notes.
