This reconstruction of Schutz's Opus ultimum—his 'swansong'—could hardly have been a better choice for a major recording planned for 1985, European Music Year, marking the 400th anniversary of the composer's birth. It was not without its problems: to begin with, Schutz himself was faced with a major challenge when the undertook the daunting task of setting to music the longest psalm in the Psalter, all 176 verses of it, and all variations upon a single theme: God's Law. How could be avoid the monotony of repetition, even with the text neatly parcelled out into 11 little self-contained sections? Setting these for double choir and basso continuo, he added a final section: a definitive version of his earlier setting of Psalm 100, and his German Magnificat. The composer has devoted all his musical skill to making this, his last will and testament, a moving statement of his conception of art in the service of a deeply-held personal faith.
The editor, Wolfram Steude, has lifted this work from oblivion, added its two missing parts (Cantus and Tenor of Choir 2), and seen to the provision of orchestral parts, a task Schutz himself had entrusted to the Dresden Concertmeister Dedekind, but one he never fulfilled. It was left to the performers to breathe life into the music, which they have done superbly. They achieve, with remarkable accuracy of judgement, an artistically diversified whole out of what at first sight might seem a uniform series of mere segments. The performers raise it to something approaching a masterpiece. There are the obvious standard effects of the two choirs answering each other antiphonally and combining for special climactic moments, such as that towards the end of Section 4 ( ''Herr, die Erde ist voll deiner Gute''). There are also moments when the choirs give way to the soloists, with their quiet instrumental accompaniment. In this context, my attention was riveted by the ease and excellence of the four solo boy choristers, particularly in the sixth and tenth sections.
Each plasm division opens with its proper plainsong intonation. It's a pity these intonations were not sung in the slow, semi-metrical style of the seventeenth century. Sung as they are, they do sound a trifle precious and out of period. Once, too, the intonation was a fraction lower in pitch than the organ phrase that followed. But these are small points that should be seen in perspective: the overall impression conveyed by this very fine and sensitive performance is one of lively vigour and grandeur.'