Des styles italiens novateurs comme l'opéra et l'oratorio, tous deux ayant pour base les mêmes concepts rhétoriques, se sont répandus très rapidement à travers toute l'Europe et c'est dans les régions de langue allemande que les modèles furent développés avec le plus d'ardeur. Le programme de ce CD Sanctum Desiderium est une soigneuse sélection de compositions allemandes du dix-septième siècle qui expriment un désir sacré en le traduisant aussi par des images musicales.

Johann Philipp Förtsch is one of the most remarkable German composers of the 17th century. About halfway through his life his career as a professional musician came to an end and he started to devote his life to the medical profession. Also notable is that his sacred compositions are more dramatic in character than was common in his time.
Förtsch was born in Wertheim am Main where his father was mayor. He studied medicine, law and philosophy in Jena and then in Erfurt. He did not plan to become a professional musician but must have enjoyed a good musical education.

Of the many second- and third-tier composers of the early and middle German Baroque, Johann Philipp Förtsch (1652–1732) ranks among the more obscure, though in his case it is due not to the quality of his music but to the fact that for him music became an Read more Kapellmeister of Schleswig in1680 by one of the opera’s cofounders, Duke Christian Albrecht of Holstein-Gottorf. The Duke was embroiled in political conflicts with neighboring Denmark, and was forced to flee to Hamburg in 1683, at which point Förtsch resumed his medical practice, obtaining a licentiate from the University of Kiel and setting up a practice in Husum.