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Heinrich Schütz (1585–1672): Choral Composer Extraordinaire

Of Schütz’s importance, Grass writes: gali / di Henrico Saggitario / Allemano / in Venetia MDCXI
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(op. 1, 1611). Moritz decided to underwrite a third
“Never, even in his incidental compositions, year of study with Gabrieli, one that ended with the
had he achieved the mediocrity required by master’s death in 1612, whereupon Schütz returned to
Protestants for their daily use. He had provided Hesse-Kassel to work off his indebtedness to Moritz.

neither his elector nor Christian of Denmark
with anything more than the strictest mini- Three
mum of courtly music…. When publishers in- The benefits of Moritz’s investment were short lived,

sisted on additions conducive to works used in for in 1614 Schütz was invited to Dresden to help his
churches, such as the notation of the thorough retiring Kapellmeister Rogier Michael (ca. 1553–1623)
bass, Schütz, in his prefaces, deplored these and his visiting helper “von Haus aus,” Michael Prae-
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adjuncts and warned against their use, since, torius (1571–1621) in supplying music for the christen-
in his opinion, the basso continuo should nev- ing of Duke August, who later became the archbishop
er be anything but a rarely used expedient.” 2 of Magdeburg. Given that the Saxon Elector, Johann
Georg, was Moritz’s political superior, the Landgrave
was forced to acquiesce. Moritz would come to regret
Biographical Overview this submission bitterly: shortly after arriving in Dres-
Space does not allow a full rehearsal of Schütz’s biog- den, Schütz was offered the post of Kapellmeister for the

raphy (which is readily available elsewhere). But sever- Saxon Electoral Chapel, a position that provoked a
3
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al important waypoints in his journey deserve mention: “not altogether seemly” exchange of letters between
the Elector and Moritz, became permanent in 1617.
One During his first months in Dresden, Schütz was called

He was “discovered” by Landgrave Moritz of upon to supply music not only for a state visit by Em-
Hesse-Kassel during a 1598 overnight stop at the inn peror Matthias and Archduke Rudolf of Austria but
managed by Schütz’s parents. Hearing Schütz’s beau- also for a three-day celebration of the centenary of the
tiful singing voice, Moritz offered him a free education Reformation. 9

at the Humanist Latin school he had founded in Kassel
(the Mauritzianum). In return, Schütz would become a Four
member of his Court’s Kapelle under the tutelage of The following year marked the beginning of the
Georg Otto (c. 1550-1618). Despite parental misgiv- seemingly endless Thirty Years War (1618–48), which
ings, Schütz arrived in Dresden in 1599. brought devastation to most of Germany and imposed

severe hardships, both financial and artistic, on Schütz’s
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Two tenure. In 1619, Schütz fi nally published the lavish
To satisfy his parents, Schütz enrolled in the Uni- music Moritz anticipated from his study with Gabrieli,
versity of Marburg to study law. But Landgrave Moritz Die Psalmen Davids sampt etlichen Moteten und Concerten. 11
was so impressed with Schütz’s potential that he trav-
eled to Marburg and made Schütz an offer he couldn’t Five

refuse—fully underwritten study with the Venetian In 1628, Schütz returned to Venice, where he met
master Giovanni Gabrieli (1554/57–1612). In 1609, Claudio Monteverdi, Alessandro Grandi, and Ignazio
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Schütz departed for Venice, where, despite Moritz’s Donati. Through them he discovered the small-voiced
desire that he learn to compose polychoral concertos, concerto, leading to his publication of Symphoniae sacrae
he received from Gabrieli a thorough grounding in the I in 1629. 12

“self-sufficient textures of Renaissance-style polyph-
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ony.” After two years of study with Gabrieli, Schütz Six
published his first major work, Il Primo libro / de madri- In February 1633, Crown Prince Christian of Den-

14 CHORAL JOURNAL October 2022 Volume 63 Number 3