Andreas Hammerschmidt (1611/12-1675) was one of the most important masters of the early German Baroque. His vocal works are known to the wider public today through just a few pieces such as “Machet die Tore weit”.

Hammerschmidt ranks alongside the greatest Protestant-Lutheran church music composers including Schütz, Schein, Rosenmüller and Bach. His output encompasses a wide range of the most varied musical forms: sacred concertos and cantatas, motets and instrumental pieces, and secular vocal works. This CD with the ensemble Gli Scarlattisti presents Andreas Hammerschmidt’s vocal compositions for Passiontide and Easter as well as a "DixitDominus" by his contemporary Johann Rosenmüller (1619-1684). The vocal ensemble Gli Scarlattisti was founded in 1995 by Jochen M. Arnold and comprises professional singers from Germany and Switzerland.