Hugo Distler’s contribution to Lutheran church music of the twentieth century can hardly be overestimated. His clear musical language marked by lightness and transparency has influenced generations of church musicians and composers.

With the Norddeutscher Kammerchor in top form, Maria Jürgensen has now recorded a programme with works from Distler’s Liturgische Sätze and – as a complementary contrast – Hans-Werner Zimmermann’s jazz-inspired chorale variations on Distler’s Nürnberger Großes Gloria.

The Liturgische Sätze (Liturgical Settings) are based on original Lutheran melodies from the Reformation period. The various Kyrie and Gloria settings of the sixteenth century continue to be used in Lutheran religious services. In Distler’s settings the text always occupies the foreground; unfamiliar harmonies sometimes result from his very individual, word-related part writing. This ambitious a cappella programme is complemented by the Organ Sonata and Three Sacred Songs for soprano and organ. Christiane Roterberg and Arvid Gast perfectly complement the tone of this filigree music conveyed with the finest Super Audio CD technology.