Playing time: 58:52
Recording date: January 1987
During his long life Heinrich Schütz produced many pieces of music which introduced new techniques and idioms into Germany, while promoting the use of the German language as a medium for music of all sorts. As such he was one of the first composers and he exerted considerable influence over later generations. He did most of this as Kapellmeister to the Elector of Saxony in Dresden. Approximately 500 pieces by Schütz survive, though many more are known to be lost; they are overwhelmingly sacred in character and were mainly published in a number of large collections, of which some of the main ones are the Madrigals (1611), Psalms of David (1619), Cantiones Sacrae (1625), Symphoniæ Sacæ I, II and III (1629, 1647 and 1650), Kleine Geistliche Konzerte I and II (1636 and 1638) and the Geistliche Chormusik (1648).
During two stays in Venice (1609-13 and 1629) Schütz absorbed many of the developments taking place in Italy, which he put to use subsequently in his works. For example the Psalms of David started his polychoral settings of (predominantly) psalms, while the Cantiones Sacrae and Symphoniæ Sacæ illustrate his successive adaptations of the monodic style to German needs. In contrast to these the Geistliche Chormusik contains 29 German polyphonic motets in a more traditional idiom. During the thirty years' war (1618-1648), Schütz' circumstances worsened dramatically particularly after 1630, which led to him travelling to a number of other courts as well as Denmark. During these years he wrote pieces for reduced forces, reflecting hard times, published in the Kleine Geistliche Konzerte I and II and Symphoniæ Sacæ II. After the end of the war he repeatedly petitioned for retirement, which was granted eventually. Of miscellaneous later works, the three passions (St John, Luke and Matthew) and the Christmas story were notable. Schütz made little use of chorales in his compositions, and no instrumental music by him survives. Of some dramatic works known to have been written, none survive.
Vocal Soloists: Agnès Mellon, Greta de Reyghere, Monique Zanetti - Soprano; Howard Crook - Alto; Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, Hervé Lamy - Tenor; Renaud Machart, Peter Kooy, Peter Lika - Bass; Continuo: Ageet Zweistra - Cello; Jonathan Cable - Violone; Jan Willem Jansen - Positive Organ; Konrad Junghänel - Theorbo; La Chapelle Royale directed by Philippe Herreweghe.
Other recordings of the Musikalische Exequien, composed for the funeral of Prince Heinrich Posthumus of Reuss:
Some other recordings devoted to Schütz' choral music:
A major recording devoted to Schütz' most important German contemporary, Johann Hermann Schein (1586-1630):
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Simon op den Brouw