During the years 1609
until 1612 Schutz served his apprenticeship
in various small German courts and chapels.
Then he made a life-changing decision:
to study in Italy at St. Mark’s, Venice
with Giovanni Gabrieli. Not only did
this decision totally alter his compositional
style but his musical development places
him in a family tree from Adrian Willaert
c.1525, through to Andrea and Giovanni
Gabrieli. This torch was carried across
to Germany with Schutz and eventually
to J.S. Bach who is often described
as the last great medieval composer.
In Italy the line ended with Monteverdi
at his death in 1643. This 17th
century Italian-Germanic trend is the
specialism of Capella Augustana under
the learned inspiration of its young
director Matteo Messori.
What all of these figures
have in common is that they are basically
contrapuntalists. Ironically Monteverdi
and Schutz were fore-runners in the
use of figured bass and later recitative.
The opening chorus of the St. Matthew
Passion with its mixed choir contrasted
with the second choir of trebles shows
its links with Schutz's double choir
motets. In turn Schutz had seen, heard
and studied in St. Mark’s Venice with
Gabrieli demonstrating the real weight
of the Italian polychoral tradition
behind him.
We are told in the
excellent accompanying essay by Messori
that Schutz was keen on madrigals. This
was for several reasons. First, it encouraged
composers to think purely in lines.
Second, it developed the skill of expressive
word-painting. It is curious therefore
that Schutz only produced one book of
madrigals. Yet when one hears the sacred
concertos one is quickly reminded, especially
in these performances by a small group
of singers, that they are in fact madrigals
with sacred texts; in other words psalms
or the supposed Meditations of St. Augustine.
Schutz was apparently
very careful about suggesting continuo
accompaniment in any of his works and
added organ parts rather ruefully.
The Italian Madrigals
in these performances have harpsichord
accompaniment which I for one do not
particularly like. If I did not possess
another version of them I would be quite
happy with these performances. However
I have a recording with Konrad Junghanel
accompanying with the lute (harmonia
mundi 901686) which is for many reasons
preferable. Junghanel’s delicate lute
sounds colour the voices gently. Also
the standard of singing by Cantus Cöln
is very fine indeed. Schutz was ambiguous
about accompaniment in madrigals so
the subtle figurations of the lute work
most effectively.
I also listened to
a few of Johann Herman Schein’s greatly
influential ‘Duetti Pastorali' alluded
to in the accompanying essay. These
were published at various times and
range from the rather simple lied-style
settings of 1609 to the expressive language
of the late 1620s (Harmonia Mundi RD
77088 also with Cantus Cöln). Schutz
must surely have known these works as
indeed he must have known Monteverdi’s
middle period Madrigal Books - the fourth
book for instance, dated 1603. These
composers took special care with the
text, its careful expression and in
the uses of continuo. Schutz even sets
the same poets as Monteverdi. Guarini
(Il pastor fido) and Marino are examples
proving that the younger man had totally
assimilated the Italian style.
In 1628 Schutz returned
to Italy to study with Monteverdi, so
with the Sacred Concertos dating from
several years later, the inspiration
is quite certainly the later madrigal
books of Monteverdi - especially Book
7. Nowhere is this more noticeable than
in the very first of the Sacred Concertos
‘Eile mich, Gott’ (Make haste O God
to deliver me’) a setting of psalm 70.
The accompanying continuo is given here
to a spinet, organ and six string violone
in G on the grounds that these were
available to Schutz in the musicians’
balcony of the church at the Royal Court
of Copenhagen, where he worked at the
time. This instrumentation really fleshes
out the bass. No matter what scholarship
may dictate, musically and dramatically
this combination is very effective and
powerful. These concertos are quite
rightly referred to as ‘Sacred Madrigals’
and although short (‘Kleine’ after all)
make their point effectively and without
wasted notes.
The two CDs devoted
to motets are utterly different. These
pieces are more severe. This 1625 collection
of ‘Cantiones Sacrae’ consists of twenty
pieces on CD 1 and twenty one on CD
2. Each is a separate work but Schutz
envisaged some motets being joined as
they inhabit similar texts; say those
suitable for Holy Week. The texts are
normally biblical and in Latin whereas
the Concerti are in German. As I said
above some are taken from a set of meditations
said to have been written by St. Augustine.
The continuo here is a safe choice being
an organ; the one illustrated in the
booklet built in 1731-33 by Giacinto
Pescetti for the church of St. Biagio
della Guidecca. Its specification is
given but, quite rightly, very little
of its full capacity is audible. I agree
with Messori when he writes "The
sound of the early organ and its Principale
(pipes) blends marvellously with the
choir of four singers, who were specifically
placed in the organ gallery above the
entrance door, the place historically
appointed for the performance of church
music".
This budget CD set
comes complete with texts, the excellent
essay mentioned above and full discographical
details. But asked by a friend with
whom I shared a pleasant hour listening
to some of these tracks if I would make
a space for this box on my shelves,
I said a reluctant ‘no’. There is nothing
here which excited me, indeed the motets
often sound rather routine and in the
madrigals I prefer Cantus Cöln.
In addition the music itself, although
generally of a high standard, is not
vintage Schutz.
Nevertheless for the
student or the Schutz enthusiast this
set is genuinely worth investing in.
If you are a completist you will want
it anyway.
Gary Higginson