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mark invited Schütz to Copenhagen to supervise the ear, text-driven style of the Renaissance masters. This
wedding music (October 5, 1634) for his daughter, emphasis overrode (but did not supplant) the more con-
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Magdalena Sybilla. Soon after Schütz’s arrival, King temporary, grander style of the polychoral concerto,
Christian IV appointed the musician as the court’s Vis- the style that led Moritz to send Schütz there in the fi rst
iting Capellmeister (with a considerable stipend). After place. His second Venetian sabbatical aff orded Schütz
the death of his mother in February 1635, Schütz re- the opportunity to study with the most progressive Ital-
turned to Dresden, where, as he wrote in his Preface ian vocal composers of the day: Claudio Monteverdi
to the Kleine geistliche Konzerte, “Praiseworthy music has and Alessandro Grandi.

not only fallen into great decline through the constant From them Schütz became proficient in the construc-
perils of war…but in many places has ceased altogeth- tion of what was an enhanced sacred type of monody.
er, suffering the general ruin and disorder that results The modest forces used proved to be extremely import-

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from unholy strife.” On his return to Dresden, Schütz ant to Schütz during the increasing deprivations of the
carried a letter from Christian IV to Johann Georg re- Thirty Years War. Far from being a concession to his
questing the he might soon be permitted to return to limitations, the first two books of the Symphoniae sacrae

Copenhagen “to complete the work that he has done and Kleine geistliche Konzerte forced Schütz to learn and
with our Kapel.” 15 embrace the rhetorical style that dominates his middle
period. Gone were the resources that allowed compos-
Seven ing grand, polychoral concertos. In their place, Schütz
Dismayed by the continued decline in the court’s developed an expressive style dependent on rhetoric (a
music and aware of his advancing age, Schütz wrote to concept Gabrieli forced him to embrace in his book of
the Elector (June 21, 1645) seeking to retire, which Jo- madrigals). This dichotomy was by no means absolute;
hann Georg denied. Due to this perceive snub, Schütz there is ample evidence that Schütz never forsook the
was frequently absent from Dresden, returning only on grandeur of the Venetian school, but these works had
a full-time basis in early summer 1649. During this in- to accommodate the declamatory style of the smaller
terim the Peace of Westphalia was signed (October 24, vocal concertos, leading to a style that mixed the best
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1648). Another petition for retirement accompanied elements of both disciplines.
the presentation to the Elector of the third book of the Table 1 on the next page illustrates the realities of
Symphoniae sacrae (1650). This presentation (with the Me- this stylistic synthesis, using three principal categories:
morial of 1651) was simply ignored. Johann Georg died works that are choral, works that are soloistic, and those
in October 1656. in which these two elements are mixed.

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With the accession of Johann Georg II in 1657, Synopsis

Schütz finally achieved a degree of relief from his The exclusively choral works are the Cantionae sacrae
duties, having received the honorary title “Senior Ka- (1625), the Geistliche Chor-Music (1648), the small-tex-
pellmeister” and permission to retire, even though still tured liturgical pieces of the Zwölf Geistliche Gesänge

required to fulfill duties at court three or four times a (1657), and Schütz’s “swan-song,” the eight-part, dou-
year. 17 ble-choir settings of the massive Psalm 119, another
setting of Psalm 100, and the sublime Deutsches Magni-
fi cat. With the notable exception of the Musikalische Ex-
Developing a Style equien, the music Schütz published from 1628 to 1648

Of the foregoing list, the first four items are the most shows the most the debilitating effects of the Thirty
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important. Schütz’s discovery by Moritz led to his study Years War and is exclusively soloistic.
with Gabrieli in Venice, an education in composition While this article focuses on two collections—the

that grounded the young composer firmly in the lin- Cantiones sacrae and the Geistliche Chor-Music—it was the
CHORAL JOURNAL October 2022 Volume 63 Number 3 15