Schütz: Choral Works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Heinrich Schütz
Label: Erato
Magazine Review Date: 10/1985
Media Format: Cassette
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: MCE75211
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Christmas Story |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Bernadette Geglin, Soprano Dirk Van Croonenborgh, Bass Heinrich Schütz, Composer Kurt Widmer, Bass Louis Devos, Conductor Musica Polyphonica Schola Cantorum Bruxelliensis |
| Geistliche Chormusik, Movement: Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, SWV380 |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Bernadette Geglin, Soprano Dirk Van Croonenborgh, Bass Heinrich Schütz, Composer Kurt Widmer, Bass Louis Devos, Conductor Musica Polyphonica Schola Cantorum Bruxelliensis |
| Geistliche Chormusik, Movement: Ein Kind ist uns geboren, SWV384 |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Bernadette Geglin, Soprano Dirk Van Croonenborgh, Bass Heinrich Schütz, Composer Kurt Widmer, Bass Louis Devos, Conductor Musica Polyphonica Schola Cantorum Bruxelliensis |
| Geistliche Chormusik, Movement: Das Wort ward Fleisch, SWV385 |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Bernadette Geglin, Soprano Dirk Van Croonenborgh, Bass Heinrich Schütz, Composer Kurt Widmer, Bass Louis Devos, Conductor Musica Polyphonica Schola Cantorum Bruxelliensis |
Composer or Director: Heinrich Schütz
Label: Erato
Magazine Review Date: 10/1985
Media Format: Vinyl
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: NUM75211
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Christmas Story |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Bernadette Geglin, Soprano Dirk Van Croonenborgh, Bass Heinrich Schütz, Composer Kurt Widmer, Bass Louis Devos, Conductor Musica Polyphonica Schola Cantorum Bruxelliensis |
| Geistliche Chormusik, Movement: Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, SWV380 |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Bernadette Geglin, Soprano Dirk Van Croonenborgh, Bass Heinrich Schütz, Composer Kurt Widmer, Bass Louis Devos, Conductor Musica Polyphonica Schola Cantorum Bruxelliensis |
| Geistliche Chormusik, Movement: Ein Kind ist uns geboren, SWV384 |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Bernadette Geglin, Soprano Dirk Van Croonenborgh, Bass Heinrich Schütz, Composer Kurt Widmer, Bass Louis Devos, Conductor Musica Polyphonica Schola Cantorum Bruxelliensis |
| Geistliche Chormusik, Movement: Das Wort ward Fleisch, SWV385 |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Bernadette Geglin, Soprano Dirk Van Croonenborgh, Bass Heinrich Schütz, Composer Kurt Widmer, Bass Louis Devos, Conductor Musica Polyphonica Schola Cantorum Bruxelliensis |
Composer or Director: Heinrich Schütz
Label: Erato
Magazine Review Date: 10/1985
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: ECD88155
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Christmas Story |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Bernadette Geglin, Soprano Dirk Van Croonenborgh, Bass Heinrich Schütz, Composer Kurt Widmer, Bass Louis Devos, Conductor Musica Polyphonica Schola Cantorum Bruxelliensis |
| Geistliche Chormusik, Movement: Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, SWV380 |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Bernadette Geglin, Soprano Dirk Van Croonenborgh, Bass Heinrich Schütz, Composer Kurt Widmer, Bass Louis Devos, Conductor Musica Polyphonica Schola Cantorum Bruxelliensis |
| Geistliche Chormusik, Movement: Ein Kind ist uns geboren, SWV384 |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Bernadette Geglin, Soprano Dirk Van Croonenborgh, Bass Heinrich Schütz, Composer Kurt Widmer, Bass Louis Devos, Conductor Musica Polyphonica Schola Cantorum Bruxelliensis |
| Geistliche Chormusik, Movement: Das Wort ward Fleisch, SWV385 |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Bernadette Geglin, Soprano Dirk Van Croonenborgh, Bass Heinrich Schütz, Composer Kurt Widmer, Bass Louis Devos, Conductor Musica Polyphonica Schola Cantorum Bruxelliensis |
Author:
Although the Christmas Story is surely one of Schutz's most popular and frequently performed works, it has not often been recorded. For this anniversary year, Louis Devos has produced a new and most attractive chamber-size interpretation, using period instruments and a modest team of singers, with an emphasis on light, airy textures and brisk tempos. To my mind, his solution seems better suited to the music than does Norrington's Decca recording of 1971, with its somewhat grander scale, curious mixture of old and modern instruments, more distinguished ensemble of soloists, and its generally expansive speeds, some of which border on the sluggish.
The central figure in this oratorio is of course the Evangelist, whose gently undulating recitatives and arioso passages serve to link the more colourful choruses and intermedia. Here the role is taken by Kurt Widmer, a quietly-spoken baritone rather than the ''good, bright tenor voice'' that Schutz specifies in his preface to the 1664 edition of the recitatives. Admittedly Widmer's reading of the part more effectively communicates the plain facts of the story than it does the drama of the situation; but this is clearly part of Devos's overall plan, which has been to play down the theatrical element and emphasize the narrative. For the shepherds, we have three excellently matched (male) altos; for the wise men, three light tenors who again blend perfectly; and the chorus of high priests and scribes is also taken by solo voices. Only Bernadette Degelin as a somewhat unimaginative and plainly terrestrial Angel is marginally disappointing. The small chorus and orchestra perform splendidly throughout.
So compact is this Christmas Story that there is room to follow it with three of the Christmas motets from Schutz's Geistliche Chormusik of 1648. These are wonderfully joyous pieces, full of subtle, slippery shifts of accent that give rise to a constantly changing sense of metre. Again, the talented Scola Cantorum Bruxelliensis perform with great flair.'
The central figure in this oratorio is of course the Evangelist, whose gently undulating recitatives and arioso passages serve to link the more colourful choruses and intermedia. Here the role is taken by Kurt Widmer, a quietly-spoken baritone rather than the ''good, bright tenor voice'' that Schutz specifies in his preface to the 1664 edition of the recitatives. Admittedly Widmer's reading of the part more effectively communicates the plain facts of the story than it does the drama of the situation; but this is clearly part of Devos's overall plan, which has been to play down the theatrical element and emphasize the narrative. For the shepherds, we have three excellently matched (male) altos; for the wise men, three light tenors who again blend perfectly; and the chorus of high priests and scribes is also taken by solo voices. Only Bernadette Degelin as a somewhat unimaginative and plainly terrestrial Angel is marginally disappointing. The small chorus and orchestra perform splendidly throughout.
So compact is this Christmas Story that there is room to follow it with three of the Christmas motets from Schutz's Geistliche Chormusik of 1648. These are wonderfully joyous pieces, full of subtle, slippery shifts of accent that give rise to a constantly changing sense of metre. Again, the talented Scola Cantorum Bruxelliensis perform with great flair.'
Schütz: Choral Works
Schütz: Choral Works
Schütz: Choral Works
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