Heinrich Schütz

Heinrich Schütz (October 9, 1585 – November 6, 1672) was a German composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and is often considered to be one of the most important composers of the 17th century along with Claudio Monteverdi. He wrote what is thought to be the first German opera, Dafne, performed at Torgau in 1627 (although the music has since been lost). Heinrich Schutz portrait (no crght. ... October 9 is the 282nd day of the year (283rd in Leap years). ... Events January 12 - The Netherlands adopts the Gregorian calendar Beginning of the Eighth War of Religion in France (also known as the War of the Three Henrys) August 8 - John Davis enters Cumberland Sound in quest for the North West Passage. ... November 6 is the 310th day of the year (311th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 55 days remaining. ... Events England, France, Munster and Cologne invade the United Provinces, therefore this name is know as ´het rampjaar´ (the disaster year) in the Netherlands. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... This article or section should be merged with Pipe organ The Casavant pipe organ at Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica, Montreal The organ is a type of keyboard musical instrument, distinctive because the sound is not produced by a percussion action, as on a piano or celesta, or by... Johann Sebastian Bach, 1748 portrait by Elias Gottlob Haussmann Johann Sebastian Bach (March 21, 1685 (O.S.) – July 28, 1750 (N.S.))[1] was a German composer and organist of the Baroque period, and is universally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... Portrait of Claudio Monteverdi in Venice, 1640, by Bernardo Strozzi Claudio Monteverdi (May 15, 1567 (baptised) – November 29, 1643) was an Italian composer, violinist and singer. ... The foyer of Charles Garniers Opéra, Paris, opened 1875 Opera is an art form consisting of a dramatic stage performance set to music. ... Torgau is a town on the banks of the Elbe in northwestern Saxony, Germany. ... Events A Dutch ship makes the first recorded sighting of the coast of South Australia. ...

Life

Schütz was born in Köstritz; his extraordinary talent was discovered by Moritz von Hessen-Kassel in 1599. After being a choir-boy he went on to study law at Marburg, before going to Venice from 1609-1613 to study music with Giovanni Gabrieli. He subsequently had a short stint as organist at Kassel before moving to Dresden in 1615 to work as court composer to the Elector of Saxony. Events Swedish King Sigismund III Vasa is replaced by his brother Charles IX of Sweden. ... A choir or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. ... Law (a loanword from Old Norse lag), in politics and jurisprudence, is a set of rules or norms of conduct which mandate, proscribe or permit specified relationships among people and organizations, provide methods for ensuring the impartial treatment of such people, and provide punishments for those who do not follow... Marburg is a city in Hesse, Germany, on the Lahn river. ... Venice (Italian Venezia), the city of canals, is the capital of the region of Veneto, population 271,663 (census estimate 2004-01-01). ... Events April 4 – King of Spain signs an edit of expulsion of all moriscos from Spain April 9 – Spain recognizes Dutch independence May 23 - Official ratification of the Second Charter of Virginia. ... Events January - Galileo observes Neptune, but mistakes it for a star and so is not credited with its discovery. ... Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Music Look up Music in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikicities has a wiki about Music: Music Music City : a collaborative music database All Music Guide: includes a comprehensive and flexible Genre and Style system MusicWiki: A Collaborative Music-related encyclopedia Science... Giovanni Gabrieli (1553–1556? – August 12, 1612) was an Italian composer and organist. ... This article or section should be merged with Pipe organ The Casavant pipe organ at Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica, Montreal The organ is a type of keyboard musical instrument, distinctive because the sound is not produced by a percussion action, as on a piano or celesta, or by... Map of Germany showing Kassel Watershed of the river Weser Kassel [ˈkasl̩] (until 1926 officially Cassel) is a city in central Germany. ... Brühls Terrace and the Frauenkirche Dresden [ˈdreːsdn̩] (Sorbian/Lusatian Drježdźany), the capital city of the German federal state of Saxony, is situated in a valley on the river Elbe. ... Events June 2 - First Récollet missionaries arrive at Quebec City, from Rouen, France. ... An elector can be: In the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation, the collegiate of seven Electors (eight since 1648) (Kurfürsten) consisted of those lay or clerical princes who had the right to vote in the election of the king or Holy Roman Emperor; see prince-elector. ... With an area of 18,413 km² and a population of 4. ...

He held his Dresden post until the end of his life (sowing the seeds of what is now the Dresden Staatskapelle while there), but left Dresden itself on several occasions; in 1628 he went to Venice again, most likely meeting Claudio Monteverdi there—he may have studied with him—and in 1633, after the Thirty Years' War had disrupted life at the court, he took a post at Copenhagen. He returned full time to Dresden in 1641, and remained there for the rest of his life. He died from a stroke in 1672 at the age of 87. The Dresden Staatskapelle is an orchestra based in Dresden. ... Events March 1 - writs were issued in February 1628 by Charles I of England that every county in England (not just seaport towns) pay ship tax by this date. ... Portrait of Claudio Monteverdi in Venice, 1640, by Bernardo Strozzi Claudio Monteverdi (May 15, 1567 (baptised) – November 29, 1643) was an Italian composer, violinist and singer. ... Events February 13 - Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for his trial before the Inquisition. ... The victory of Gustavus Adolphus at the Battle of Breitenfeld (1631) The Thirty Years War was a conflict fought between the years 1618 and 1648, principally in the Central European territory of the Holy Roman Empire, but also involving most of the major continental powers. ... City nickname: none Location in Denmark Area  - Total  - Water 526 km² xxx km² xx% Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density 502,204 1,116,979 954/km2 [including water] xxx/km2 [land only] Time zone Eastern: UTC+1 Latitude Longitude 55°43 N 12°34 W Copenhagen (Danish: København) is... Events The Long Parliament passes a series of legislation designed to contain Charles Is absolutist tendencies. ... A stroke or cerebrovascular accident (CVA) occurs when the blood supply to a part of the brain is suddenly interrupted by occlusion (an ischemic stroke- approximately 90%of strokes) or by hemorrhage (a hemorrhagic stroke - approximately 10% of strokes). ... Events England, France, Munster and Cologne invade the United Provinces, therefore this name is know as ´het rampjaar´ (the disaster year) in the Netherlands. ...

Style

Schütz's compositions show the influence of his teacher, Gabrieli, with their resplendent polychoral and concertato style, and of Monteverdi, whose music he had studied, though 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, the Sieben Worte Jesu Christi am Kreuz (the Seven Last Words on the Cross) and his three Passion settings, which he wrote just before his 80th birthday. While early in his life his music is mostly in the most progressive styles, later, culminating in his late Passion settings, his music is simple and almost austere, and often for small ensembles. 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. The Venetian polychoral style was a type of music of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras which involved spatially separate choirs singing in alternation. ... Concertato (sometimes called stile concertato) is a term in early Baroque music referring to either a genre or a style of music in which groups of instruments or voices share a melody, usually in alternation, and almost always over a basso continuo. ... In music, the Dutch School refers, somewhat imprecisely, to the style of polyphonic vocal music composition in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... A cappella music is vocal music or singing without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. ... This article describes the biblical Passion. ... In music history, the Venetian School is a term used to describe the composers working in Venice from about 1550 to around 1610; it also describes the music they produced. ...

Almost no secular music by Schütz has survived, save for a few domestic songs (arien) and no purely instrumental music at all (unless one counts the short instrumental movement entitled "sinfonia" that encloses the dialogue of Die sieben Wortte), even though he had a reputation as one of the finest organists in Germany.

Schütz was of great importance in bringing new musical ideas to Germany from Italy, and as such had a large influence on the German music which was to follow. The style of the north German organ school derives largely from Schütz (as well as from Netherlander Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck); a century later this music was to culminate in the work of J.S. Bach. Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562–October 16, 1621) was a Dutch composer, organist, and pedagogue whose work straddled the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Baroque eras. ... For other people named Bach and other meanings of the word, see Bach (disambiguation). ...

Works

The following are published works. Most of these contain multiple pieces of music; there are over 500 total surviving individual pieces by Schütz.

• Il primo libro de madrigali (first book of madrigals) (Venice, 1611)
• Psalmen Davids (Book 1) (Dresden, 1619)
• Historia der frölichen und siegreichen Aufferstehung ... (History of the Resurrection of Jesus) (Dresden, 1623)
• Cantiones sacrae (Freiberg, 1625)
• Psalmen Davids (Book 2) (Freiberg, 1628)
• Symphoniae sacrae (Book 1) (Venice, 1629)
• Musicalische Exequien (Dresden, 1636)
• Kleiner geistlichen Concerten (Book 1) (Leipzig, 1636)
• Symphoniae sacrae (Book 2) (Dresden, 1647)
• Geistliche Chor-Music (Dresden, 1648)
• Symphoniae sacrae (Book 3) (Dresden, 1650)
• Zwölff geistliche Gesänge (Dresden, 1657)
• Psalmen Davids (revision of Book 2) (Dresden, 1661)

Sources

• Manfred Bukofzer, Music in the Baroque Era. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1947. ISBN 0393097455