In 1596, the Wasungen-born Melchior Vulpius was called to Weimar as the cantor, music and Latin teacher at the municipal school and the St Peter and Paul Parish Church (Stadtkirche). Thus he became the highest ranking Ernestine church musician and the expectations of him were equally high. Within some years, he created a considerable repertoire, which he published from 1602 onwards: He released a new collection almost every year until his early death in 1615 aged 45.

Many of them found their way to the cantorial library in the little Saxon town of Waldheim where they were preserved until today. Since 2002, this musical heritage has been investigated and gradually made accessible to the public once more. Waldheim’s cantor René Michael Röder and Capella Daleminzia directed by him now release a CD series with the complete works by Vulpius.

Vol.2 of the Melchior Vulpius Edition contains the motets for eight to thirteen parts of the Cantiones Sacrae I, thus completing the recording of Vulpius’s first published collection of works. The nine-part motet “Surrexit pastor bonus” for Easter Monday is the only one in this collection to be sung by four choirs and contains another special feature. While Choir 1 sings the Latin text, the Choirs 2 to 4 contrast this with hymns in German language. Furthermore, the choirs should be placed in a quadrophonic manner if possible.