39. Heinrich Schütz - Musikalische Exequien (1636)

Recording

Title: Musikalische Exequien
Performer: The Sixteen, The Symphony Of Harmony And Invention
Director: Harry Christopher
Year: 1998
Length: Around 29 minutes

Review

This is a beautiful piece of German music.... well Italo-German really, the influence of Gabrielli is more than apparent here but then it does have Schütz' distinct touch as well as being sung in the German language.

This recording consists of three tracks which are a Requiem Mass in choral form but with some really good solo singers and a light but effective instrumental accompaniment. The final result is grandiose and touching mournful and joyful at the same times, like a good Requiem should be.

We will start to get more and more German Music and when we get to the 19th century we will have to fend them off with a stick, but if Schütz is a symbol of what is to come we should all be happy for it.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Schütz's compositions show the influence of his teacher Gabrieli (displayed most notably with Schütz's use of resplendent polychoral and concertato styles) and of Monteverdi. Additionally, the influence of the Netherlandish composers of the 16th century is also prominent in his work. His best known works are in the field of sacred music, ranging from solo voice with instrumental accompaniment to a cappella choral music. Representative works include his three books of Symphoniae sacrae, the Psalms of David (Psalmen Davids), the Sieben Worte Jesu Christi am Kreuz (the Seven Last Words on the Cross) and his three Passion settings. Schütz's music, while starting off in the most progressive styles early in his career, eventually grows into a style that is simple and almost austere, culminating with his late Passion settings. Practical considerations were certainly responsible for part of this change: the Thirty Years' War had devastated the musical infrastructure of Germany, and it was no longer practical or even possible to put on the gigantic works in the Venetian style which marked his earlier period.

Another Psalm by Schutz as there is nothing of the Exequien on the Tubes: