Born in 1626 in Gdansk, Balthasar Erben was a true cosmopolitan, and with public sponsorship money: When he applied for the important position of Kapellmeister of the main church of St. Mary’s in his hometown at the age of 27 – obviously already held in high esteem – the council granted him a generous scholarship so that he could “look around the world and perfect himself as a composer”. For a whole five years, Erben traveled throughout Europe, visiting all the centers of musical culture as far away as Rome; accordingly, his compositional style, which was very distinctive during this time, is a combination of various influences, cleverly interwoven. The Abendmusiken Basel present an impressive collection of instrumental and sacred works by the composer, who is little known today, and who actually got the desired position after his return to Danzig.

ABENDMUSIKEN BASEL
Soprano
Jessica Jans 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10
Isabel Schicketanz 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10
Alto
Alex Potter 1, 4, 5, 8, 10
Tenore
Florian Cramer 1, 4, 5, 8, 10
Hans Jörg Mammel 1, 4, 5, 8, 10
Basso
Markus Flaig 1, 4, 5, 8, 10
Cornetto
Frithjof Smith 1, 10
Adrien Mabire 1, 10
Violino
Regula Keller 1, 2, 4–8, 10
Katharina Heutjer 1, 2, 5-8, 10
Viola
Johannes Frisch 1, 2, 4, 8, 10
Katharina Bopp 8
Viola da gamba
Brian Franklin 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10
Thomas Goetschel 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10
Violone
Matthias Müller 1, 2, 4–8, 10
Arciliuto
Matthias Spaeter 1, 2, 4–8, 10
Organo/Cembalo
Jörg-Andreas Bötticher 1–10