Tempesta di Mare - Janitsch: Rediscoveries from the Sara Levy Collection (2018)

Tracklist
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01. Sonata da chiesa in A Minor, Op. 7 No. 2: I. Adagio di molto
02. Sonata da chiesa in A Minor, Op. 7 No. 2: II. Fuga. Alla breve
03. Sonata da chiesa in A Minor, Op. 7 No. 2: III. Vivace
04. Sonata da camera in D Minor, Op. 3 No. 14: I. Largo
05. Sonata da camera in D Minor, Op. 3 No. 14: II. Allegro non molto
06. Sonata da camera in D Minor, Op. 3 No. 14: III. Vivace
07. Sonata da camera in E-Flat Major, Op. 6 No. 35: I. Andante
08. Sonata da camera in E-Flat Major, Op. 6 No. 35: II. Allegro ma non troppo
09. Sonata da camera in E-Flat Major, Op. 6 No. 35: III. Allegro moderato-Tempo di polacca-Lento
10. Sonata da camera in G Minor, Op. 4 No. 21: I. Largo. Mestoso
11. Sonata da camera in G Minor, Op. 4 No. 21: II. Allegretto
12. Sonata da camera in G Minor, Op. 4 No. 21: III. Melodia. Adagio ma non troppo "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden"
13. Sonata da camera in G Minor, Op. 4 No. 21: IV. Vivace
14. Ouverture grosso in G Major: I. Largo-Alla breve
15. Ouverture grosso in G Major: II. Larghetto
16. Ouverture grosso in G Major: III. Alla breve
17. Ouverture grosso in G Major: IV. Allegro
The Philadelphia-based baroque orchestra Tempesta di Mare here reveals an unparalleled musical legacy, presenting long forgotten works by the German baroque composer Johann Gottlieb Janitsch, confined for centuries to unexamined archives.
The works formed part of an enormous music collection which belonged to Sara Levy, the great-aunt of Felix Mendelssohn. She was a distinguished harpsichordist, collector, and influential figure in the musical life of late-eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century Berlin. Removed from the Berlin Sing-Akademie towards the end of World War II, her musical library was for many decades considered lost or destroyed. It was unearthed in Kiev only in 1999 and returned to Germany in 2001, where it is now again accessible to the public.
While there can be no doubt that the instrumental oeuvre of Janitsch matched the diversity of that of some of his more prominent Berlin colleagues, the emphasis of his compositional output lay on chamber music, especially Quadros, four of which are featured here. The typical, prevailing dialogic structure of the Ouverture grosso highlights the influence which thematic play had on the rest of his work.