"Let others wage war, but you, felicitous Austria, marry!"

This saying guided the politics of the Habsburgs over the course of centuries. The Imperial Court in Vienna was a melting pot of many cultures on an equal footing, practicing next to each other; interest in its imperial amalgam has somewhat faded with the downfall of the Habsburg Empire. With his ensemble Ars Antiqua, Gunar Letzbor wishes to direct our attention to the treasures of Austrian baroque composers, introducing on this sampler a selection of the most interesting works from the CD releases of recent years. These include unknown instrumental music of the famous Austrians Biber, Fux and Muffat alongside sacred works by the completely forgotten composers Joseph Balthasar Hochreither, Romanus Weichlein and Franz Joseph Aumann. They revivify felicitous Austria!