Description

Johann Gottlieb Janitsch (1708-1763), was born in Silesia (then under Austria, but Prussia from 1742 and now part of Poland) and followed a normal career path for a musician in Mitteleuropa, culminating as contraviolonist in the Royal Orchestra of the Court of Prussia from 1736 until his death in 1763. Janitsch also composed ballet music for the Royal Court Opera), rehearsed the opera chorus, andcomposed music for the balls held at the opera house during carnival-time. Janitsch was also called on to participate in the intimate concerts that took place in the king’s private apartments at Sanssouci, alongside a number of instrumentalist-composers including C.Ph.E. Bach and Johann Joachim Quantz..

Notturna is dedicated to the performance of early music written for winds. The members of the ensemble are distinguished performers who specialize in historical performance of the 18th and 19th centuries. Notturna draws on the transparency and expressiveness of early wind instruments to paint fresh pictures of unexplored repertoire. Since its inception the ensemble has felt a unique rapport with the music of Berlin composer Johann Gottlieb Janitsch, and have taken as part of their mandate to expose his neglected masterworks, many of which have yet to be published and recorded. This is the first of a two-disc collection.