Knowing Knüpfer A pre-Bach notable, with BASIL RAMSEY Hyperion    CDA67160

Appointed to the position of Thomaskantor in Leipzig at the age of 24, Knüpfer was a musician of exceptional accomplishment, not only as singer but as a composer. Contemporaries were in awe of his ability in sundry arts, so his demise at 43 was a matter of great regret.

This collection is obviously representative of Knüpfer's extant music, and selected from psalm-settings and cantatas. There is no lack of variety in textures, nor of ideas that are regenerative [listen track 2, 0:00-1:05; track 17, 0:00-1:00]. His use of colour points to a composer sensitive to the detail that activates expression.

These performances under the aegis of Robert King provide another sample of an obscure composer working at a propitious time, and of the scholars today who have restored more music meant for performance rather than an idling on a library shelf.

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Record Box is Music & Vision's regular Wednesday series of shorter CD reviews