The two competitors had a few things in common: Johann Hermann Schein was born in Dresden in 1586, one year after Heinrich Schütz. Similar to Schütz, the Dresden court conductor for many years, he was accepted into the Dresden court orchestra as a choirboy, where he received a solid musical education. And he became very successful as a composer. Around 1600, a transformation took place that originated in Italy: the invention of the basso continuo, the development of solo singing, a freer approach to counterpoint, the emergence of opera and much more. These innovations were received in the German-speaking world: through the sale of Italian printed music, the private acquisition and distribution of music, the employment of Italian musicians, trips to Italy. Schein made an important contribution to this development by combining these radically new Italian ideas with the German style.