Trauer-Actus / Cantatas
This collection of five cantatas by Telemann (out of the nearly 1,500 he composed!) are all dark-hued and contemplative. They are concerned mostly  with death, faith in God to the end, life's ephemeral nature, and the desire  for a clean soul. But out of such somber, austere subject matter comes not  only very beautiful music, but greater variety than one might suppose. In "Sei  getreu bis in den tod" (Be faithful unto death), Telemann gives us four arias  for separate voice types, and while the accompanying instrumentation remains  sparse--organ and strings--he varies the moods by subtle shifts in tempi, the  occasional use of pizzicato strings against a solo violin, and so  forth. When a chorus is called for, Junghänel uses the five soloists. The  effect is very intimate and just right for the meditative quality of the  works. In "Du aber, Daniel, gehe hin" (Go thy way, Daniel), he adds a flute  and oboe to the mix and the beautiful instruments-only start to the work is alone worth the price of the CD (although the lively fugue that follows is a  stunner, too). The performances are ideal--pious without being droopy, and  handsomely sung and played. If you like Baroque religious music with more  than a hint of gravity, this is bound to please you.--Robert Levine