8
October 1585 A.D.
Heinrich Schutz Born—German Lutheran Musician & Prelude to Johann
Sebastian Bach
Martin Luther, the best-known Protestant reformer,
wanted the German language to be the language of German religious life. That is
one reason he translated the Bible into it. On this day, October 8, 1585, thirty-nine years after Luther's
death, Heinrich Schutz was born. Luther would have been proud of what Heinrich
accomplished. The greatest Protestant German composer before Bach, most of what
Schutz wrote was religious and much of it was in German.
Heinrich showed real musical
talent as a young man. Landgrave (Count) Moritz was so impressed with him, he
made him a choirboy at Kassel where he studied music under the court
choirmaster. Despite this favor, Heinrich entered the University of Marburg to
learn law. Moritz thought it a pity to waste such musical talent and urged the
twenty-four year old Heinrich to go to Venice where he could study under one of
Italy's greatest composers, Giovanni Gabrielli. Moritz even promised to foot
the bill. Heinrich spent three years with the Venetian master.
He returned to Kassel in 1613,
but was unable to pay Landgrave Moritz back in service as fully as he would
have liked, because Elector John George I forced Moritz to send Heinrich to
him. While serving in this elector's court, Heinrich Schutz wrote his first
world-renowned composition, David's Psalms. The text was from the German
Bible.
When the terrible Thirty Years
War broke out, Heinrich returned to Italy. This time he studied under
Monteverdi, famous as the originator of the modern opera and an innovator in
religious music, too. Heinrich wrote not only the first mass set to German
words but its first opera, Dafne.
Heinrich's church music wasn't
dull or stodgy. Using ideas from Italian choral music, he made his religious
works more dramatic than anything that had been done before him in Germany.
Later, Johann Sebastian Bach, one of the most famous composers of all history,
borrowed and improved on Heinrich's methods.
The elector was not always a
good employer. Heinrich pleaded to be allowed to leave his court. For many
years he worked in Denmark. However, the elector refused to free Heinrich. The
composer wrote many works. He wrote motets (short choral compositions with
Bible texts) and several sets of what he called Sacred Symphonies.
In these he gave the choir's voices and the instruments equal treatment.
Heinrich also wrote a Christmas Oratorio. Late in life, he
set more psalms to music and composed a cappella versions of the stories of
Christ's trial, death and resurrection as told in the gospels of Matthew, Luke
and John. In many of these works, he found ways to emphasize the meaning of the
Bible text for the greatest understanding.
In his preface to the Psalms of
David, he said, "...instead of rests, I have used a comma
after each verse, because in this kind of composition, the rests are not
strictly observed, and such arias and melodies can be sung with more grace when
they follow the meaning of the words."
He concluded his preface humbly:
"Finally, dear readers, if my labor pleases you, may you use it to praise
God the All-highest; but if one or the other tune displease you, then use,
instead, the old, familiar melodies which you will find listed in the index of
this book, or else try to help others compose better melodies and publish them
to the greater glory of God."
Bibliography:
1. "Duns, Joannes Scotus." Dictionary of National Biography.
Edited by Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee. London: Oxford University Press, 1921
- 1996.
2. "Heinrich Schutz." Encyclopedia Americana. 1956.
3. "Heinrich Schutz." Encyclopedia Britannica. 1967.
4. "Heinrich Schutz" (1585-1672) at Before Bach there Was:
http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/1667/schutz.htm
5. Morgenstern, Sam. Composers on Music. New York: Pantheon,
1956.
6. Sadie, Stanley, editor. The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music.
Macmillan Press Ltd., London.
7. Various internet articles.
Last updated June,
2007.
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