Magnificat

It is always a pleasure to welcome German baritone Martin Hummel back for another Magnificat set. I first met Martin in 1980, when he was still a teenager. I had met his brother Cornelius (a very fine cellist) at the Aspen Music Festival, and ended up staying with his family in Würzburg over the Christmas vacation. I had gone to Germany to work with composer Karlheinz Stockhausen on a cello transcription of his work In Freundschaft (this was before my conversion to baroque cello!) I remember being charmed by Martin’s voice as he sang christmas carols and folk song, accompanying himself on guitar. 

Many years later I saw his name on a recording on Schütz’s Weihnachtshistorie (the definitive recording of that work, by the way) and set about finding him. Martin sang the Evangelist role of the Weihnachtshistorie in Magnificat’s first season in December of 1992. Two years later he returned for Schütz’s Auferstehungshistorie. He has been back three times since, and it is always a pleasure.

Martin was born into a musical family and had his training in Würzburg and at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis with Kurt Widmer and René Jacobs. He further continued his music study with Margaret Hönig, Peter Schreier, Julia Hamari, Hans Hotter, and others. After his studies, Martin Hummel embarked on a career of song recitals and concerts that has taken him to a number of European countries, to the USA, and to Asia. He has taken part in first performances under leading conductors, and has undertaken broadcasts and television engagements, in addition to his recordings for major record companies. He teaches at the Würzburg and Bayreuth Musikhochschule.