The most important musical setting of the Nativity before Johann Sebastian Bach

Ehmann and the Westfalische Kantorei were among the pioneers in the field of historically informed performance practice. In particular, they brought the work of Heinrich Schutz back into public awareness.

SCH¸TZ: PSALMS OF DAVID MARLO

This CD features madrigals based on texts by G. Battista Guarini.
Includes madrigal(s) by various composers. Ensemble: Cantus Cölln. Conductor: Konrad Junghänel. Soloist: Konrad Junghänel.

SCH¸TZ: SYMPHONIAE SACREA III

Schutz, H.: Psalms of David - Swv 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 31, 34

he Heavens Are Telling The Glory Of God

Kreuzchorvespern: Geistliche Musik Zu Passion Und Ostern

Heinrich Schutz continued to set himself challenges throughout his long career. Of all the genres of sacred music that he undertook, the oratorio offers us his most contrasting ideas. His Historia der Geburt Jesu Christi (1664) is in many respects the model for the genre that would later be employed by the musicians of Johann Sebastian Bach's generation; the score that Vox Luminis use for this recording has been reconstructed from manuscript sources in the Duben Collection in Uppsala. The album is completed with a number of particularly festive motets for the Christmas period by Heinrich Schutz and his illustrious contemporary Andreas Hammerschmidt.

Here the listener witnesses a rare musical experience. The twenty-three singers of the Saxon Vocal Ensemble which was founded in 1996 present an outstanding performance conducted by Matthias Jung. In short: an exemplary recording." (klassik heute) "... Twenty mixed voices are accompanied here only by an organ. No less an authority than Wilhelm Steuder writes in the notes that singing these works with or without instruments are both legitimate approaches. The Psalm of David mention no instruments in the score, although they are often used. The singers, based in Dresden, are flexible and responsive, producing exquisite tonal quality. This is certainly a worthy choice for a collector who wants a disc drawn from two of Schutz's most important books without going on to buy the complete sets that are readily available." (Fanfare)

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REVIEWS:
Fanfare (5-6/98, p.204) - "The fifth complete recording of this magnificent collection of motets is astonishing....there is no feeling that the singing is rushed, nor does the diction of the nonnatives sound strange....Highly recommended."

Schutz, H.: St. Luke Passion

Schutz, H.: Motets / German Magnificat

Uns ist ein Kind geboren

Vom Himmel Hoch (Das klassische Weihnachtskonzert)

One of the key German composers before Bach with over 500 surviving individual pieces, Heinrich Schütz mainly composed church music. Credited with bringing the Italian style to Germany, he continued its evolution from the Renaissance into the early Baroque. Despite living most of his long life in Germany, Schütz made two trips to Venice in his twenties. The first was between 1609 and 1613, during which he studied under Giovanni Gabrieli. The second trip occurred in the late 1620s, possibly to meet and study under Monteverdi. These visits significantly influenced Schütz’s music as he blended the ornate and theatrical Venetian style with the more subdued Lutheran tradition. This album explores his solo cantatas alongside examples of the brilliant and virtuosic Venetian-style instrumental music.

The first and presumably only performance of the opera Dafne took place in Torgau on April 13, 1627, as part of the festivities celebrating the marriage of the Saxon Duchess Sophie Eleonore and the Hessian Landgrave Georg II. Although the libretto by Martin Opitz appeared in print, virtually nothing of the music has survived. At first glance, the reconstruction of an opera whose music has not survived appears to be a daring undertaking. In fact, however, there are many clues to the structure of the work, so that it was possible to produce something that, although not identical to the original, is very close to it. In all, there are a dozen mostly secular works by Schütz in the present reconstruction by conductor Roland Wilson, making up about half of the entire opera. Says Wilson himself, "You'll hear some glorious pieces by Schütz and his contemporaries that you probably never would have listened to otherwise."

The Historia der Auferstehung Jesu Christi, or Resurrection Story, is the first oratorio work by Heinrich Schütz and was first performed in 1623 during the vespers of the third day of Easter in the Chapel of Dresden’s Royal Palace. Although the original title speaks of the "joyous and victorious resurrection," it is, at its core, a quiet and concentrated work with a refined dramaturgy in which the Easter jubilation only slowly breaks through. Schütz's work impressively captures the unspeakable and mysterious nature of the idea of resurrection in music. Ensemble Polyharmonique is a renowned collective of vocal soloists that specializes in the music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods with historical performance practice. In a larger cast and together with an outstanding instrumental ensemble, they present a high-quality, lively and stirring interpretation of the Resurrection History to which they add two wonderful Easter concertos by Heinrich Schütz and Michael Praetorius.

Born in 1889 in the Ore Mountains, the 25th Kreuzkantor Rudolf Mauersberger made it his life's work to perform the complete surviving works of Heinrich Schütz - his artistic achievements set standards in the history of interpretation of the composer's works at a time when reliable Schütz editions were not yet in sight. As a brilliant music educator, he trained the Dresdner Kreuzchor - whose direction he took over in 1931 - to become a special kind of sound instrument and one of the most traditional and best boys' choirs in Germany with an international reputation. Martin Flämig, as Mauersberger's successor, also rendered outstanding services to the Dresdner Kreuzchor and is also represented in this edition with interpretations of various Schütz works.

The set comprises 10 albums and offers reference recordings of all central works such as the Psalms of David, the Cantiones sacrae, the Resurrection History, the Small Sacred Concerts, the Sacred Choral Music and, last but not least, the Passions.

Heinrich Schütz spent his whole life searching for that which is new in music. The Symphoniae Sacrae I, which were presented in 1629, also testify to this. Schütz composed them as a result of the impressions made upon him by his second journey to Venice. In addition to the numerous Italian stylistic traits which can be traced back to Monteverdi, the 20 concertos - all in Latin - particularly impress with their great variety of timbres: solo pieces, duets and trios for all voice type are combined with diverse string and wind instruments are are governed by the emotional and expressive world of the text. The recording impressively continues the award-winning Schütz complete recording with the Dresdner Kammerchor conducted by Hans-Christoph Radermann with the customary top-quality soloists such as Dorothee Mields, Felix Schwandtke and others.

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