Lamento

Featuring

Iestyn Davies
Silas Wollston
Hugh Cutting
Fretwork
Franz Tunder
Samuel Scheidt

Johann Christoph Bach
Johann Hermann Schein
Heinrich Schütz
Christian Geist
Giovanni Felice Sances

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Compositional Technique

Johann Hermann Schein, a solidly Protestant composer, integrated Italian techniques like basso continuo into a German context, even using Lutheran chorales with virtuosic decoration.

Composer Biography

Samuel Scheidt, unlike his friends, distinguished himself as an instrumental performer and his fame now rests on his instrumental music; he studied with the great Sweelinck in Amsterdam.

Historical Context

In 17th-century German-speaking lands, viols were gradually replaced by violins, but the process was slower than in Italy, leading to pieces where both instruments were mixed.

Composer Biography

The composers Schein, Scheidt, and Schütz were born within a few years of each other in close proximity and became close friends.

Performer Biography

Fretwork, a viol consort, celebrates its 35th anniversary in 2021 and is known for both English consort music and commissioning over 40 new works from prominent contemporary composers.

Composer Biography

Heinrich Schütz's musical education began when Landgrave Moritz of Hessen-Kassel heard him sing at his father's inn and arranged for him to be educated at court.

Historical Context

After the 16th-century Reformation, central Europe was a complex mix of faiths and small political entities, including kingdoms, duchies, and electorates.