The musical works of this program were composed during the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763), one of the earliest wars fought across several continents. It involved France as a major European power (backed by the Habsburg Monarchy, the Electorate of Saxony, Russia, and Sweden) against an alliance comprising England and Prussia (supported by the Electorate of Hanover, Hesse-Kassel, Brunswick, Bückeburg, and Saxony-Gotha). The primary focus was on European dominance, with underlying interests in the North American and South Asian colonies of England and France.

An Opera Revival – Three Centuries Later. In 2016, almost three hundred years after the composition of Georg Caspar Schürmann's Die getreue Alceste, barockwerk hamburg presented a semi-scenic performance of this opera in the atrium of the Hamburg State and University Library. The abridged version on this CD contains the most important elements of the action as well as the musical highlights of the work. In his text the booklet author Jürgen Neubacher guides us through the action with a synopsis and explanatory inserts.

This album features three dazzling but previously only little-known compositions for royals from Telemann’s immense trove of vocal music. The selections have been chosen from the field of commissioned and occasional compositions written for special occasions such as acts of homage, funerary ceremonies, weddings, birthdays, and inaugurations. Two works from Telemann’s primary creative field, that of church music, round off the program. The three works featured on this recording have in common points of reference to the particular English kings during whose reigns they were written; these monarchs were also in personal union the Prince Electors of Braunschweig-Lüneburg (for short: “Electors of Hanover”).