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freedom each line enjoys, a trait Schütz inherited from The most interesting aspect of this section is its stat-
Renaissance composers. Because traditional bar lines ic harmony and the striking shift down a whole step to
tend to inhibit correct accentuation of the text, the NSA G at m. 26 (and repeated at m. 40), which avoids par-
uses Mensurstrich (bar lines between the staves). While allelism by a clever manipulation of the two soprano
this freedom does not prevent choral performance, it and tenor parts. The simplicity of the music obscures
certainly suggests the advisability of using favoriti so- the canonic imitation that goes on between the paired
loists. Indeed, use of soloists for mm. 23–92 is worth sopranos and tenors. As a note to future performers,
consideration since such a reduction in texture would transition from duple to triple meter in Schütz most
only increase the splendor of the framing tutti ritornel- often is “measure equals measure” (proportio sesquialtera
li. Even though he does not set the entire psalm text or 2 in the time of 3). Also note the use of agogic stress
(vv. 7–14 omitted), Schütz includes a brief Gloria Patri in the soprano/tenor pairs, the length of which (agogic
(mm. 103–129) comprising a varied reprise of the “zu stress) cancels any metrical accent on the “downbeat.”

laufen” material: a third complete, re-texted repetition The first setting of “die Sünder selig zu machen”
of the opening tutti and a simple “Amen.” (Figure 9a, mm. 31–34 on page 29) is brief; however,
Schütz composed Das ist je gewisslich wahr after Jo- Schütz expands it considerably when repeated (Figure
hann Hermann Schein died in 1630. Schütz chose as 9b mm. 45–59 on page 29).
his text three verses from 1 Timothy: This repetition allows Schütz to repeat the same im-
itative passage four times without directly duplicating
15. Das ist je gewisslich wahr und ein teuer wertes Wort, dass any part (save for the bass’s transposed repetition of
Christus Jesus kommen st in die Welt, die Sünder selig zu the opening alto line, only augmenting the penultimate
machen, unter welchen ich der fürnehmste bin. note).
The entirety of v. 16 of the psalm is set in the mo-
16. Aber darum ist mir Barmherzigkeit widerfahren, auf dass tet’s long central section (mm. 65–109). This section
an mir fürnehmlich Jesus Christus erzeigte alle Geduld, zum consists of two parts (mm. 65–86, and 86–109). The
Exemple denen, die an ihn glauben sollen zum ewigen Leben. second section transposes the music of the first from d

to G. The conclusion of the motet sets v. 17, a kind of
17. [Aber] Gott dem ewigen König, den Unvergängliche und Un- peroration that returns to the grand, homophonic style
sichtbaren, und allein weisen, sei Ehre und Preis in Ewigkeit! of the beginning. The harmony used to set these ac-
Amen. clamations to God can be striking: the harmonic shift
from a minor to G major in the earlier triple meter sec-
Each verse becomes a major formal section in the mo- tion (mm. 21–31 and 35–45) repeats in an expanded
tet: version, moving through harmonic centers that ascend
v. 15 v. 16 v. 17 by whole steps from C to G, ahead of a “Gloria Patri.”
mm. 1–65 mm. 65–109 mm. 110–136

Schütz used the punctuation of each verse to de- Conclusion
termine the structure of its musical setting. The form I hope that this brief exposition of two important
of each section is more heavily dependent on repeti- choral collections by Heinrich Schütz will inspire the
tion (both at pitch and transposed) than is typical in new generation of conductors to perform this amazing
Schütz’s music. Perhaps the two most interesting fea- music. The trend of late has been to avoid historical
tures are the repetition (mm. 1–5 = mm. 11–15, and music (even from the nineteenth century). In the au-
mm. 5–10 = 15–20, each repetition transposed up a thor’s opinion, this needs to change! A major reason
third [a–C–E–A]), and the use of a triple meter, ritor- for this neglect is the perfection of modern perfor-
nello-like segment, which creates a binary structure in mances (on CD or YouTube) by small ensembles ded-
the setting of v. 15 (Figure 8 on page 28). icated to this music. It is not surprising that, hearing

CHORAL JOURNAL October 2022 Volume 63 Number 3 27