Der Abentheurliche Simplicissimus Teutsch ("The adventurous Simplicissimus German")
A musical and literary panorama of the Thirty Year’s War
Hans Jacob Christoffel von Grimmelshausens novel from 1668 is numbered among the most important works of German literature. Using powerful language and a strongly visual depiction of the Thirty Year’s War (the background for the story), the novel is a unique documentation of the baroque time of war and pestilence with its dualism of the sensual pleasures of the living and the ascetic condemnation of the world.
The director and actor Klaus Hemmerle (Stuttgart) recites excerpts from the adventures of the hero of the novel, “Simplissicimus”, CAPELLA CAESAREA performs sonorous and passionate instrumental music from the period in Germany. The arrangement of text and music brings strikingly to life the baroque everyday living during the chaos of the Thirty Year’s War.
Together with Rosenmüller, Schein and Scheidt, less well-known composers of the C17th are also represented:
M. Weckmann, E. Kindermann, J. Grabbe, Ph. F. Buchner.