Schütz Symphonae

If a primary aim of a major issue celebrating a composer's tercentenary is—as it must be—to reveal the extent of his genius, Archive have triumphantly succeeded with this set. The name of Schütz, not so long ago generally classed simply as a predecessor of Bach, is still only gradually becoming accepted by the musical public at large as belonging to the same circle of the elect; but with nine major works and several smaller ones already in the gramophone catalogues (even if not all the performances are ideal) his greatness is now more easily recognisable. The present recording of the complete Psalmen Davids of 1619—the magnificent collection he wrote in his early thirties after his appointment as musical director to the Elector of Saxony—represents a landmark.

The Psalms of David were Schütz' first published collection 1619 after becoming the Choirmaster of the Duke of Saxony. Composed over a number of years, they blend Venetian inspired polychorality with the German of Luther's Bible translation. Throughout, particular attention is evident in the wordsetting, the meaning of the text as exemplified by the music was a driving force for Schütz throughout his creative life. Texts employed are mainly psalms or psalmselections, with a few other biblical excerpts.

Brahms had already decided to retire as a composer when, on a journey to Meiningen in 1891, he was inspired and challenged by clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld’s beautiful playing. The two Sonatas, Op. 120 are part of a late flowering that resulted in some of Brahms’s finest chamber music. Brahms himself explored these pieces beyond the clarinet, and Karl-Heinz Schütz’s arrangements are based on the composer’s own alternative versions, seeking out the ideal of two equally matched instruments in constant dialogue. Also included is a selection of ‘songs without words’, further expanding the flute repertoire with arrangements of these much-loved Lieder.

By 1648, Heinrich Schuetz was both a survivor and a relic of his own past glory. The 63-year-old devout Lutheran had survived the religious slaughter of the Thirty Years War, which had killed more than half of the musicians of his German world. Surely the most influential composer of German history, he had also outlasted his own impact on the next generation of German composers, patrons, and audiences, who unjustly regarded his music as outdated. Who knows how he felt about his growing isolation, but it's interesting that he chose to compose one of his grandest and greatest accomplishments - the Geistliche Chormusik 1648, op. 11 - in the antiquated contrapuntal style of Renaissance vocal polyphony, the prima prattica, rather than the operatic Italianate seconda prattica he himself had introduced to German music.

To visit the great Venetian cathedrals in the 17th century was to bow deeply to the polychoral or “cori spezzati” style that reigned there, pioneered by Giovanni Gabrieli. The young Heinrich Schutz was no exception. Unable to resist the sparkling sounds arising from polychoral writing and antiphonal placement, Schutz carried the style back to his native Germany. Capella Murensis and Les Cornets Noirs here present with absolute fidelity works by Schutz and Gabrieli that epitomize the high Ventian style.

The Psalms of David were Schütz' first published collection 1619 after becoming the Choirmaster of the Duke of Saxony. Composed over a number of years, they blend Venetian inspired polychorality with the German of Luther's Bible translation. Throughout, particular attention is evident in the wordsetting, the meaning of the text as exemplified by the music was a driving force for Schütz throughout his creative life. Texts employed are mainly psalms or psalmselections, with a few other biblical excerpts.

The Psalms of David were Schütz' first published collection 1619 after becoming the Choirmaster of the Duke of Saxony. Composed over a number of years, they blend Venetian inspired polychorality with the German of Luther's Bible translation. Throughout, particular attention is evident in the wordsetting, the meaning of the text as exemplified by the music was a driving force for Schütz throughout his creative life. Texts employed are mainly psalms or psalmselections, with a few other biblical excerpts.