Schütz: Choral Works

Featuring

Matthias Jung
Bernhard Hentrich
Uwe Zimmermann
Sächsisches Vocalensemble
Heinrich Schütz

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Composer Biography

Heinrich Schütz, who served the Wettin electoral court from 1615 until his death in 1672, was celebrated by his contemporaries as 'Lumen Germaniae' (the light of Germany).

Composition History

Schütz's 'Psalms of David', his first major German-language work after studying in Venice, was dedicated to Prince Johann Georg I, Elector of Saxony, for the court orchestra.

Compositional Technique

Schütz made musical use of 'rhetorical figures' from the humanistic world, particularly 'Hypotyposis', to graphically portray non-musical pictures and events mentioned in the text.

Performer Biography

The Saxon Vocal Ensemble, founded in 1996 under Matthias Jung, is known for its small number of performers per part, requiring top-quality solo singing and high flexibility.

Interpretation

This recording uses a vocal ensemble with two thorough bass (continuo) instruments, reflecting Schütz's freedom in instrumentation, where works could be performed purely vocally or with a mix of voices and instruments.

Compositional Technique

Schütz transferred the musical portrayal of 'affectations' (emotional states like love, rage, pain, joy) from Renaissance madrigals into polyphonic sacred music.

Composer's Artistic Vision

In Heinrich Schütz's vocal works, language and music achieved an intimate amalgamation that had never been reached before and has perhaps been equaled but never surpassed since.