Heinrich Schütz
made his second visit to Venice in 1628.
On his first visit, lasting around three
years, he studied with Giovanni Gabrieli.
His second visit was made partly to
escape the depredations of the Thirty
Years War but also to catch up on musical
developments now that Monteverdi had
replaced Gabrieli at St. Marks. Whilst
there, he published his Symphoniae Sacrae
I in 1629, the first of what would eventually
be three volumes. This first volume
of sacred concertos was dedicated to
his teacher Giovanni Gabrieli and sets
Latin texts. Symphoniae Sacrae II would
not be published until 1647, by which
time the Thirty Years War was nearing
its end.
On this set, enticingly
billed as volume 1 of a Heinrich Schütz
edition, Cappella Augustana under Matteo
Messori perform Symphoniae Sacrae I,
Symphoniae Sacrae II and Weihnachtshistorie,
the Christmas Story written after he
had retired from his post in Dresden.
The Symphoniae Sacrae
are sets of vocal concertos, settings
of sacred texts for one or two vocal
soloists and a group of instrumentalists.
In the first set, the texts are all
Latin and are taken principally from
the Psalms and the Song of Solomon.
The group perform the concertos in order
which means that we start with works
for single voice and instruments and
work gradually up to the multi-voice
works. This has the advantage of clarity,
but means that the 2 CDs that make up
Symphoniae Sacrae I can lack variety.
This is partly because the work was
not intended to be listened to in one
sitting, it was essentially a compendium
to be mined for works. Only someone
like a CD reviewer would ever need to
listen to these works end to end. But,
if you do so the result is a wonderful
experience.
Though owing a debt
to Gabrieli in these works, Schütz
also hints at influences such as Monteverdi.
Essentially these are marvellous chamber
pieces and that is how Cappella Augustana
play them. They call for virtuoso performances
from both singers and players. Messori
has gathered a fine group of instrumentalists
for whom the individual solo lines hold
no fears. The singers also perform highly
creditably and the whole ensemble is
responsive as a group. But, whilst never
less than satisfactory, not all the
vocal performances are on the highest
level. The most problematic performances
come from Krzysztof Szmyt and Robert
Pozarski, who are billed as tenors and
tenori alti. This is Messori’s solution
to the problem of the tenor/alto parts,
capable of being sung by a high tenor
or a counter-tenor. The modern counter-tenor
is an anachronism in this repertoire
and Messori is to be commended for using
high tenors. But Krysztof Szmyt, in
‘In te, Domine, speravi’ and ‘Cantabo
Domino in vita mea’, displays a weak
falsetto register and fails to integrate
his registers, to disturbing effect.
His passagework is also a little smudged,
a failing that is also displayed by
soprano Marzena Lubaszka in ‘Paratum
cor meum’. Bass Harry van der Kamp,
displays a wonderfully dark, even gravelly
voice and his performances in ‘Jubilato
Deo omnis terra’ and ‘Fili mi Absalon’
are some of the highlights of the discs;
this latter opens with a wonderfully
sombre ritornello involving four trombones.
This same dark texture is reproduced
in ‘Attendite, popule meus legem meam’.
The first duet in the
set ‘Anima mea liquefacta est’ with
its fiffare obbligati, comes as a welcome
contrast to the solo movements. Here
the two tenors Krzysztof Szmyt and Robert
Pozarski are in more comfortable territory,
both the duet and its second part ‘Adjuro
vos, filiae Hierusalm’ are lovely.
‘Benedicam Cominum
in omni tempore’ is a lively piece for
a trio of voices (soprano, tenor, bass)
and cornet. Its second part, ‘Exquisivi
Dominum et exaudivit me’ uses the same
forces and it is to the group’s credit
that each piece uses an entirely different
permutation of performers with nicely
balanced and admirable results. ‘Domine,
labia mea aperies’ opens with a lively
duet for cornet (Jean-Pierre Canihac)
and trombone (Mauro Morini). The vocal
sections provide some lovely reflective
music for Marzena Lubaszka and Krzysztof
Szmyt, but again the faster sections
are marred by poor passage work.
In ‘In lectolo per
noctes quem diligent anima mea quaesivi’
the texture created by the three dulcian
players is most evocative, but the voices
(Anna Mikolajczyk and Robert Pozarski)
do not quite match the instrumental
standard, perhaps because Pozarski seems
to find the high tenor tessitura a little
uncomfortable.
In terms of the number
of parts, ‘Veni, dilecte mi, in hortum
meum’ is the most complex piece on the
disc. Written for two pairs of duetting
voices (Marzena Lubaszka and Krzysztof
Szmyt, Anna Mikolajczyk and Robert Pozarski),
with trombone and dulcian obbligato,
one pair of voices acts as an evocative
echo type chorus, singing purely with
continuo accompaniment.
Written eighteen years
after the first set, Symphoniae Sacrae
II does not show the same experimentalism
in the scoring as set I; all but one
are written simply for strings and continuo.
Though Schütz’s way with violins
is many and varied, he does not use
them in a standardised way; they are
very much part of the contrapuntal texture
of the pieces. The other major change
is that these concertos are in German
with texts taken principally from the
Psalms but with other passages from
the Bible and even the inclusion of
texts by German theologians such as
Martin Luther. The vocal lines do not
lack virtuosity, far from it; but Schütz
has employed elaborate ornament in tandem
coupled to a rather plainer vocal line
to give clarity to the text; text is
very often paramount in Schütz’s
German works. Some of these set quite
long texts, far longer than any of the
Latin set and for them Schütz creates
some fascinating multi-movement works.
The singers in Cappella Augustana seem
to be more at home stylistically in
these later, German pieces.
Again, Cappella Augustana
perform them as published, starting
with works for solo voice, so the set
opens with a lovely group of seven concerti
for soprano solo which are shared between
Mikolajczyk and Lubaszka. Both sopranos
have a bright sound and contribute some
fine ornaments; though singing with
a lovely line they both convey the text
well. The opening of the German magnificat
‘Mein Seele erhebt den Herren’ is a
lovely moment and is almost Monteverdian
in feeling. With the addition of recorders,
this concerto is the only one using
extra instrumentation.
Following the soprano
group, the alto Piotr Lykowski is introduced
in a concerto, ‘Herzlich lieb hab ich
dich, o Herr’. Though billed as an alto,
Lykowski’s vocal line is another of
the alto/high tenor ones and he sings
it with an attractive enough, soft grained
voice. His performance is OK as far
as it goes but lacks something in intensity.
Both the tenors contribute a solo concerto
with Pozarski’s ‘Frohlocket mit Händen
und jauchzet dem Herren’ sounding dutiful
rather than joyous and Pozarski seems
to be forcing his voice in the lower
registers. ‘Lobet den Herrn in seinem
Heligtum’ is a lovely work but unfortunately
Szmyt’s passagework is a little uncomfortable.
The solo concertos conclude with a fine
pair sung with style by van der Kamp.
The duet concertos
start with a group of lovely ones for
the two sopranos who blend beautifully.
This group finishes with the delightful,
dance-like ‘Es steh Gott auf’. There
follows further duets for a variety
of combinations, soprano and tenor,
soprano and bass, two tenors, tenor
and bass. The duets for the two tenors
display the same limited qualities as
their solo movements. Bass Bodgan Makal
and tenor Robert Pozarski do smudge
their ornaments in their duets and Pozarski
can sound uneasy, but they respond well
to the wonderfully dark texture that
Schütz creates.
The final group consists
of five trios. The first, ‘Lobet den
Herrn Alle Heiden’ is a vigorous piece
sung by Lykowski, Szmyt and Makal. The
second trio, also for alto, tenor and
bass, is sung by Lykowski, Szmyt and
van der Kamp. Unfortunately in both
these works Lykowski is a little weak
and the passage-work can be fuzzy, but
this does not really mar what is a fine
pair of works. ‘Drei schöne Dinge
seind’ is a long setting of various
biblical texts given an impressively
sombre performance by Szmyt and Pozarski.
The concertos finish with a final pair,
‘Von Gott will ich nicht lassen’ for
two sopranos and bass and ‘Freuet euch
des Herren, ihr Gerechten’. ‘Von Gott
will ich nicht lassen’ is a setting
of a long devotional poem by Ludwg Helmbold
and the final concerto is a short joyous
setting of verses from Psalm 33.
In all the concertos
in this set, the performances of alto
and tenors never seem to be quite bravura
enough particularly when it comes to
ornaments; after all these were works
that were written to be sung by virtuoso
singers.
The concluding work
is the Christmas Story. This sets a
collation of texts, from St. Luke and
St. Matthew, centred on the birth of
Christ. Schütz wrote it after his
retirement from court, but it was written
at the express desire of the Elector.
The work alternates recitatives with
arias (concertos) with instrumental
obbligatos, the texts for the arias
being based on the biblical text. The
result is a very immediate and rather
modern work. The version recorded here
is one from 1664 that was authorised
(though not actually supervised) by
the composer which omits the concerti
con l’organo.
Cappella Augustana’s
version is perhaps not one which would
be a library choice, but they give a
fine performance. Krzysztof Szmyt as
the Evangelist takes the lion’s share
of the recitative. He makes a dramatic
Evangelist with a good feel for the
text but I would have liked his voice
to be more mellifluous. The remaining
personnel combine nicely for the various
ensemble numbers and the work receives
quite a dramatic performance.
Despite my occasional
criticisms, this is a highly recommendable
set. The instrumentalists of Cappella
Augustana maintain a high standard of
solo playing throughout, playing crisply
and stylishly. Messori’s speeds are
always apt, the concerti never sound
rushed but they never outstay their
welcome either. At super budget price,
I hope this tempts you to explore these
lovely works. I can’t wait for volume
2
Robert Hugill