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War and peace have alternatively accompanied mankind for millenniums. Nowadays, during one of the longest peace periods in Europe, this alteration seems to have stepped back in our attentiveness and wars in foreign countries as well as the way we perceive them in the news seem to be all we concentrate on. That is why peace appears as a non-questioned precondition of our own lives – much more self-evident than it actually is. With this album, the meaning of peace and its fragile character shall become vivid in an artistic way. A cappella music is especially suitable for that purpose as the relationship between words and tones delivers the feelings which are related to peace and its antipode war in a very intensive way. As the chosen pieces of music show, the consequences of war and peace deeply touch the religious and secular life of every single person. If you want to approach these two terms musically, a musical collage of the same differentiation is needed. For that reason, the works on this album include pieces on earthly yearnings for peace as well as God’s derisiveness when looking at the headstrong mankind, ordo thoughts from the Middle Ages as well as the almost wordless grievance of the 20th century, the cradle song from the eve of war as well as the large-scale re-narration of the vision of peace we know from the nativity story. With this recording, the Heinrich Schütz Ensemble, which consists of highly motivated amateur singers as well as trained musicians, presents all qualities of a professionally working vocal ensemble: exemplary articulation, trained quality in all pitches as well as clean intonation.