German Advent Songs

For many CDs that fit thematically in the wintertime, it’s all about Christmas. For the a cappella ensemble Schwersterhochfünf, this is going one step too far: The five sisters come from a family which placed special emphasis on singing during Advent. For their CD German Advent Songs, the singers go back to their roots and pick up on this beautiful tradition. Here, old songs ranging from Johann Crüger’s Wie Soll ich dich empfangen to modern works such as Gottfried Wolter’s Ich brach drei dürre Reiselein evoke the contemplative mood of comfort and warm candles on the Advent wreath. Because there is little musical material for this unusual setting, a virtue was made out of necessity: Schwesterhochfünf invited befriended composers to write custom arrangements for the well and lesser known Advents songs anew. A additional tone color is given to several of these simple, beautiful songs when the brother of the five sisters accompanies the female voices with his rich bass.