Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672): Symphoniae Sacrae (9 Concertos from Book I)

00:00 Fili mi Absalon, SWV 269 (Concerto No. 13, for bass, 4 trombones & continuo)
06:46 Venite ad Me, SWV 261 (Concerto No. 5, for tenor, 2 violins & continuo)
14:54 Buccinate in neomenia tuba, SWV 275 (Concerto No. 19, for two tenors, bass, cornett, clarino trumpet, dolcian & continuo)
18:53 Jubilate Deo, SWV 276 (Concerto No. 20, for two tenors, bass, cornett, clarino trumpet, dolcian & continuo)
22:15 O quam tu pulchra es, SWV 265 (Concerto No. 9, for 2 tenors, 2 violins & continuo)
26:57 Veni de Libano, SWV 266 (Concerto No. 10, for 2 tenors, 2 violins & continuo)
31:12 In te, Domine, speravi, SWV 259 (Concerto No. 3, for alto, 2 violins, trombone & continuo)
37:13 Anima mea liquefacta est, SWV 263 (Concerto No. 7, for 2 tenors, 2 English horns & continuo)
41:33 Adjuro vos, filiae Jerusalem, SWV 264 (Concerto No. 8, for 2 tenors, 2 English horns & continuo)
Margret Reiter-Edzart: contralto
Kurt Huber: tenor I
Wilfrid Jochims: tenor II; solo tenor in ¨Venite ad me¨
Wilhelm Pommerien: bass
Susanne Lautenbacher, Werner Keltsch: violins
Willy Schnell, Dietmar Keller: English horns
Edward H. Tarr: clarino trumpet
Otto Steinkopf: cornett
Heinrich Göldner: dolcian
Richard Zettler, Ludwig Bertz, Joseph Fersch, Helmuth Heincke: trombones
Continuo: Peter Buck, cello - Georg Hörtnagel, double bass - Martin Galling, harpsichord
Helmuth Rilling, conductor
Source: Schütz, ¨Symphoniae sacrae¨ [I, Op. 6] Venice 1629
Modern Editions: Concertos nos. 3, 5, 7-10 ed. by R. Gerber (¨Heinrich Schütz, Neue Ausgabe sämtliche Werke¨ XIII), Kassel & Basel 1957; nos. 13, 19 & 20 ed. by R. Gerber (¨Heinrich Schütz, Neue Ausgabe sämtliche Werke¨ XIV) [in preparation]
Art: An imaginary church interior with a staircase, an organ, a tomb, and elegant figures, with a dog in the foreground (1629), by Dirck van Delen (c.1604-1671)

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Two of the richest eras of Western music met in the splendid musical world of 17th-century Venice, and each brought its influence profoundly to bear upon Heinrich Schütz during his two sojourns there. From 1609 to 1613 Schütz resided in Venice, where he placed himself under the tutelage of the foremost composer of church music in Italy - one of the brightest luminaries of the late Italian Renaissance, Giovanni Gabrieli. His second protracted visit to the musical capital of Italy, in 1628, was occasioned in part by the distractions at home of the Thirty Years War, and also by the recent rise to prominence in Venice of a new musical style and its leading exponent - Claudio Monteverdi.
Schütz, then 43 years old and Hofkapellmeister of the court at Dresden, fell quickly under the spell of the new dramatic concerted style of composition that had lately brought Monteverdi to the height of renown. The first tangible result of this influence was a collection of twenty small sacred concertos on dramatic and erotic texts drawn mainly from the Old Testament - the first book of ¨Symphoniae sacrae¨, Op. 6, published in Venice in 1629. These works are for the most part clearly cast in the new mold, but many of them also demonstrate a decided kinship with the earlier motet style.
The first book of ¨Symphoniae sacrae¨ was in time followed by two others, published in 1647 and 1650 as Opus 10 and 12 respectively, which differ from Opus 6 in many respects. Schütz replaced the richly varied colors of the wind instruments of Book I with the combination of two violins (which had appeared only three times in the 1629 collection); in several of the concertos of Book III, however, he added an obbligato bassoon and a chorus ¨ad libitum¨. Another distinction concerns the texts employed: while Book I, together with the ¨Cantiones sacrae¨ of 1625, constitutes the only major work by Schütz written exclusively on Latin texts, Books II and III of the ¨Symphoniae sacrae¨ contain works on German texts. It is even more significant that the rather personal and subjective texts drawn from the Psalms and from the ¨Song of Solomon¨, which predominate in Book I, are largely supplanted in the later publications by others of a more objective and universal character, from the Gospels and the Epistles; Book I contains only a single Gospel text (no. 5). In the early publication Schütz treats several of the Old Testament texts with great freedom; he has in effect compiled these texts from diverse Biblical fragments and reordered them to comply with his own artistic intentions. In the selection of concertos recorded here, all except nos. 3, 5, and 13 are of this type.
Concertos nos. 19 and 20 (based on several fragments from the Psalms) constitute a textual and musical unit by virtue of the refrain on the word ¨Alleluja¨. The older motet style shows up strongly here, especially in the close association of the vocal and instrumental motives; with the exception of the brief passage at ¨in tympano¨, Schütz does not clearly distinguish between voices and instruments in regard to the treatment of thematic material, in sharp contrast to the techniques of the new monodic style. Concomitantly, an independent instrumental interlude (a prominent feature of most of the other concertos) is not to be found.
Concertos nos. 3 (Psalm XXXI, 1-2) and 5 (Matthew XI, 28-30), on the other hand, are rich in “modern” traits. The formal disposition of each piece (in 4 and 3 sections respectively) results from internal textual contrasts. The return to the opening musical material in both concertos is very effectively introduced by a climactic melisma (a flourish of several notes on a single syllable of text). In no. 3 this spot (at ¨ut eruas me¨) stands in impressive contrast to the syllabic declamation (just the opposite of a melisma, and the basis of the modern recitativo style in vogue in early-17th-century Italy) on the words “non confundar”. Both concertos also employ instrumental interludes, in the progressive spirit, and (more progressive still) two of them - the introductory Sinfonia to no. 5 and that preceding the second part of no. 3 - demonstrate thematic independence from the vocal line.
Among the most significant and progressive compositions of Opus 6 are the four pieces on texts after the ¨Song of Solomon¨. The texts are pieced together from short phrases (not even complete sentences) that would seem simply to have struck the composer’s fancy, but the result is neither artistically (that is to say, “expressively”) inferior to nor foreign to the spirit of the ¨Song of Songs¨.
The four concertos (nos. 7-10) actually form two bipartite structures (¨prima¨ and ¨secunda pars¨), each with an overall form of ABC - no. 7: AB, no. 8: C; no. 9: A, no. 10: BC. The two last concertos are a continuation of the first two in the direction of increasing complexity. No. 7 begins in a simple song-like manner and reaches its first musical peak at the word ¨decora¨. In no. 8, at the words ¨si inveneritis... quia amore langueo¨, the meaning and structural sense of the text closely governs the musical structure (a technique characteristic of the madrigal - hence ¨madrigalism¨); the continuation of this passage (whose treatment presents the sharpest possible contrast to the syllabic declamation on “non confundar” in no. 3) leads to an intensely climactic passage, whose expressiveness is strongly underscored by pungent harmonies, constituting the second high point of the work.
Even richer in ¨madrigalisms¨ are the concertos nos. 9 and 10. Schütz ingeniously unifies the two works by the use of the words ¨O quam tu pulchra es¨ as a textual refrain (in no. 9 the music of the refrain is also the same); moreover, the interdependence of the two parts is emphasized by means of similarly constructed codas on the refrain text, the exclamation “O” receiving emphatic expansion.
With the concerto no. 13, ¨Fili mi Absalon¨ (2 Samuel XVIII, 33), Schütz has created one of the most poignant elegies in the history of music. The highly personal manner in which Schütz came to terms with Italian ideas is here eloquently demonstrated. Totally lacking in descriptive detail, the work concentrates its expressiveness in the declamatory style (shared by the four trombones), which, rising in a noble cantabile, penetrates the dolorous chromatic harmonies and expands in a series of vast arches. Although Schütz produces a “closed” form with a return to the opening music, the ending is altered to die away with the three last appeals, ¨Absalon¨, in sorrowful resignation. The two rather imposing ¨Sinfoniae¨, written in a solemn imitative style, fulfill a dramatic function almost operatic in character. Each prepares us for what is to follow, the first by anticipating the music of ¨Fili mi¨, and the second by presaging the emotional atmosphere of the middle section.
Schütz was designated by his contemporaries as “Seculi sui musicus excellentissimus” - the most outstanding musician of his century. Unfortunately for us, that century has long been considered important mainly as the era that preceded Bach and Handel, and it is only fairly recently that the music of the 17th century has begun to be fully appreciated in its own terms by other than a handful of experts. The idea of the esoteric nature of Schütz’s music is now swiftly being erased, and, with the aid of a new and authoritative critical edition of his complete works, this composer is fast being restored to the position of eminence that he occupied in the view of his contemporaries - the prince of Protestant musicians.
KURT GUDEWILL

translated and revised by Jason Farrow
Nonesuch (H-71160) 1966

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FILI MI ABSALON, SWV 269
Fili mi Absalon! Absalon fili mi! Quis mihi tribuat ut ego moriar pro te, Absalon fili mi! fili mi Absalon!
My son Absalom! Absalom my son! Would that I had died in your place, Absalom my son! My son Absalom!
VENITE AD ME, SWV 261
Venite ad me omnes qui laboratis, omnes qui onerati estis et ego reficiam vos. Tollite jugum meum super vos, et discite a me, quia mitis sum, et humilis corde; et invenietis requiem animabus vestris. Jugum enim meum suave est, et onus meum leve.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy-laden, and I shall restore you. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
BUCCINATE IN NEOMENIA TUBA, SWV 275 - JUBILATE DEO, SWV 276
Prima pars:
Buccinate in neomenia tuba, in insigni die solemnitatis vestrae. Alleluja, in voce exultationis, in voce tubae corneae exultate Deo, adjutori nostro. Alleluja.
Secunda pars:
Jubilate Deo in chordis et organo, in tympano et choro. Cantate et exultate et psallite sapienter. Alleluja.
Part I:
Sound the trumpet in the new month, at the time of the new moon, on our solemn feast-day! Halleuia. Rejoice with singing, with the sounds of trumpets and horns, rejoice in the Lord, who is our strength. Halleluia.
Part II:
Praise God with strings and pipes, with drums and dancing. Sing and rejoice and strike the lute. Halleluja.
O QUAM TU PULCHRA ES, SWV 265 - VENI DE LIBANO, SWV 266
Prima pars:
O quam tu pulchra es, amica mea, columba mea, formosa mea, immaculata mea, o quam tu pulchra es! Oculi tui columbarum. Capilli tui sicut greges caprarum. Dentes tui sicut greges tonsarum. Sicut vitta coccininea labia tua. Sicut turris David collum tuum. Duo ubera sicut duo hinnuli capreae gemelli. O quam tu pulchra es!
Secunda pars: Veni de Libano, veni, amica mea, columba mea, formosa mea, o quam tu pulchra es! Veni, coronaberis. Surge, propera amica mea, soror mea, sponsa mea, immaculata mea et veni. O quam tu pulchra es!
Part I:
O, how beatiful you are , my beloved, my dove, my lovely one, my perfect one; o, how beatiful you are! Your eyes are as doves. Your hair is as a flock of sheep; your teeth like newshorn ewes. A scarlet ribbon are your lips; your neck is as the tower of David. Your breasts are like ywo fawns, twins of a gazelle. O, how beatiful you are!
Part II:
Come with me from Lebanon; come, my beloved, my dove, my lovely one; o, how beatiful you are! Come, garland your brow,. Arise, make haste, my beloved, my sister, my bride, my perfect one, and come. O, how beautiful you are!
IN TE, DOMINE, SPERAVI, SWV 259
In te, Domine, speravi, non confundar in aeternum. In justitia tua libera me. Inclina aurem tuam, accelera ut eruas me. In te, Domine, speravi, non confundar in aeternum.
In thee, Lord, I trust; let me never be confounded. In thy rightneousness, deliver me. Incline thine ear to me, hasten to rescue me. In thee, Lord, I trust; let me never be confounded.
ANIMA MEA LIQUEFACTA EST, SWV 263 - ADJURO VOS, FILIAE JERUSALEM, SWV 264
Prima pars:
Anima mea liquefacta est, ut dilectus locutus est, vox enim eius dulcis et tacies eius decora. Labia eius illia stillantia myrrham primam.
Secunda pars:
Adjuro vos, filiae Jerusalem, si inveneritis dilectum meum, ut nuntietis ei, quia amore langueo.
Part I:
My soul dossolved as my beloved spoke, for his voice is sweet and his visage lovely. His lips are lilies distilling sweetest myrrh.
Part II:
I charge you, daughters of Jerusalem, if you see my beloved, to tell him that I am sick with love.
Translations by Jason Farrow

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[@truman90]

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[@calefonxcalectric]

Hi. Yes, it is.