Christ lag in Todesbanden

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• Abbey Church of Muri
• Great Organ of the Abbey Church of Muri
• Great Organ of the Abbey Church of Muri
• Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik for Christ lag in Todesbanden
• Disposition of the Schott/Bossard/Metzler/Kuhn organ in the Klosterkirche Muri
• Interview Johannes Strobl: Musik & Liturgie (December 2021)

With the reconstruction of the historic bellows mecanism the restoration of the Great Organ in the Abbey Church at Muri was successfully completed in the autumn of 2005. The present SACD is the first documentary recording of the sound of the Great Organ after the completion of its restoration. The historic organs in the Abbey Church at Muri in the Swiss canton of Aargau are highly esteemed across the Swiss borders. Every year experts and enthusiasts from all over the world visit the historic organs in Muri.
The Great Organ was built by Thomas Schott in 1619-1630, enlarged in 1744 by Joseph and Viktor Ferdinand Bossard, and immaculately restored nearly 40 years ago.

The recorded works by North German baroque composers and by J.S. Bach have been carefully chosen in consideration of the qualities of the instrument. The homogeneous and original baroque sound of the organ ensures the adequate reproduction of the works.

Moreover the chosen music allows a comparison between compositional styles of the same period: Four baroque composers are presented with their chorale settings of “Christ lag in Todesbanden” (Herinrich Scheidemann, Franz Tunder, Georg Böhm, Johann Sebastian Bach). The choice of the Easter chorale “Christ lag in Todesbanden” creates a link with its place of origin, since the Muri Easter Play is held to be the earliest drama in the German language. The chorale settings are completed by three Preludes (Matthias Weckmann, Dietrich Buxtehude, Nicolaus Bruhns) and a Sonata and a Toccata by J.S. Bach.
The various possible approaches to setting a cantus firmus are illustrated in this recording, as are a range of examples of independent organ works in the North German tradition, whose influence may be traced in the art of Johann Sebastian Bach.

Johannes Strobl has performed as a soloist and ensemble musician in many European countries and in Israel, Japan, the USA, Brazil and Argentina. In 1998 he was a prizewinner at the Paul Hofhaimer Competition in Innsbruck, and in 2000 together with “Les Cornets Noirs” – an ensemble specialized in 17th-century music – at the “concours musica antiqua” in Bruges.
Johannes Strobl also appears with increasing frequency as conductor of Cappella Murensis, a professional vocal ensemble which found its home in the Abbey Church at Muri in 2002. He and his ensemble achieved outstanding success with the release of the rediscovered “Mass of Muri” by Johann Valentin Rathgeber (aud.92.559). Since 2001 Johannes Strobl has been organist at the Abbey Church at Muri . In addition to his ecclesiastical duties he is the artistic director of the concert series “Music in the Abbey Church at Muri”.