Schütz and His Legacy
Heinrich SCHÜTZ (1585-1672)
Wol dem der den Herren fürchtet, SWV30 [4:05]
Eyle mich Gott zu erretten, SWV282 [3:45]
David POHLE (1624-1695)
Vox Domini super aquas [instrumental version] [4:55]
Johann THEILE (1646-1724)
Ach, dass ich hören solte [5:55]
Matthias WECKMANN(c.1616-1674)
Sonata quinta a 4 [4:49]
Christoph BERNHARD (1628-1692)
Aus der Tieffen [6:46]
Johann VIERDANCK
Sonata a 3 tromboni e cornetto [3:17]
Alessandro STRIGGO (c.1536-1592) / Johann SCHOP (c.1590-1667)
Nasce la pena mia [6:42]
Heinrich SCHÜTZ / Christoph KITTEL (1603-1639)
O süsser Jesu Christ, wer an dich recht gedencket [4:40]
Matthias WECKMANN
Sonata prima a 4 [4:50]
Vincenzo ALBRICI (1631-1690)
Omnia quae fecit Deus [8:16]
Johann SCHOP
Paduana a 6 [5:24]
Alice Foccroulle (soprano)
InAlto/Lambert Colson (cornetto, cornettino)
rec. September 2015, Sint Leodegarius’s church, Bornem
German and Latin texts, German, English & French translations included
PASSACAILLE 1023 [63:26]
Just as Heinrich Schütz forged his musical style from a range of sources both in Germany and Italy, so in turn he influenced and inspired various composers, both through the example of his compositions and his teaching, especially during the years he worked in Dresden. This CD demonstrates that effectively, with its presentation of a selection of vocal and instrumental pieces, albeit, somewhat oddly, some of the former are featured in arrangements.
In those vocal pieces which are performed in accordance with the original scoring, Alice Foccroulle brings fresh-voiced and radiant clarity, particularly in Johann Theile’s ‘Ach, dass ich hören solte’. But she is also responsive to the nuances of the text, such as her expressive iterations of ‘Ach’ in that same work, and throughout Schütz’s song ‘Eyle mich Gott zu erretten’, which has all the variety and drama of a Monteverdian opera. She imparts a yet more beguiling, and appropriate Italianate effusiveness, to Christoph Bernhard’s ‘Aus der Tieffen’ and Vincenzo Albrici’s ‘Omnia quae fecit Deus’.
Lambert Colson provides often lively direction from the cornet, securing a generally well-blended timbre from the instrumentalists of InAlto. However, it is the sackbuts, which stand out for their prominent contributions in the way that they conjure an array of moods among different pieces. In the arrangement of a song by David Pohle, after the jolly opening by the strings, the sackbut (taking the place of the bass voice) provides dignity, but later whips up all the participants to a flamboyant climax. A highly-pitched sackbut adds an almost comic character to Matthias Weckmann’s battle-inspired Sonata quinta a 4, reminding us of the senseless Thirty Years’ War, which the composers of this era lived through, and whereas the instruments also offer vitality and urgency in the other Weckmann Sonata featured here, they bring a warmer and softer tone to Johann Vierdanck’s Sonata.
The agility of the other instrumentalists’ performances should not be overlooked, for example the violinists’ stylish interpretation of Johann Schop’s divisions, or elaborations upon Alessandro Striggio’s madrigal ‘Nasce la pena mia’, or the solemn addition of the violas da gamba in the Theile work already mentioned. But the performances are not a tussle for claiming the audience’s attention, as InAlto are consistently focused upon deft and sensitive ensemblework.
Detailed liner notes give useful information about the generally little-known composers performed here, and how they came into contact with Schütz. That provides the necessary background to an otherwise diverse selection of pieces with otherwise seemingly little connection, but Colson’s enticing interpretations are such as to render that an almost academic concern.
Curtis Rogers
