On this new recording, the ensembles Wunderkammer and Ælbgut present selected love and mourning songs by poet Gertraud Möller and composer Johann Sebastiani.

The Nuremberg Poets' Association of the Pegnitz Shepherds (the Pegnesischer Blumenorden), named after the Pegnitz River there, was founded in 1644. The association was intended to preserve the German language and counteract the foreign terms and coarse usage that proliferated during the Thirty Years' War. These "Pegnitz Shepherds" met until 1676 in the area of the western Pegnitz meadows.

The Poets' Association was somewhat ahead of its time: namely, women were able to actively contribute and become members of the association. Gertraud Möller (1641-1705) was even crowned "Poeta laureata" in 1671 and had a collection of her works printed under the title Parnaß-Blumen, most of which were set to music by Johann Sebastiani (1622-1683) for voices with instrumental accompaniment.

Wundekammer was founded in 2013 by four Berlin musicians and is committed to historically informed performance practice. The works of old masters are not "timelessly topical", but a decidedly past art that is therefore in need of reconstruction. It is precisely in tracing the circumstances of creation and performance that music regains its vitality, the human experience of beauty speaks to us. Wundekammer wants to share this musical experience with its audience, often making new connections with contemporary compositions by Peter Uehling or literary texts.

Ælbgut is a young ensemble founded in 2018 by Isabel Schicketanz (soprano), Stefan Kunath (alto) and Martin Schicketanz (bass). Combining solo music-making with transparent ensemble singing is the core idea of the ensemble. Their debut CD with the second version of the Johannes-Passion by J.S. Bach, released in March 2020, was awarded the OPUS KLASSIK "Choral Recording of the Year".