Schütz Sacred Choral Works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Heinrich Schütz
Label: Reflexe
Magazine Review Date: 8/1988
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 42
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: 749225-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Musicalische Exequien |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Basle Boys' Choir Chiaroscuro Hans-Martin Linde, Conductor Heinrich Schütz, Composer Schola Cantorum Basiliensis Instrumental Ensemble |
| Psalmen Davids sampt etlichen Moteten und Concerte, Movement: Danket dem Herren (Ps 136), SWV45 |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Basle Boys' Choir Chiaroscuro Hans-Martin Linde, Conductor Heinrich Schütz, Composer Schola Cantorum Basiliensis Instrumental Ensemble |
Composer or Director: Heinrich Schütz
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Magazine Review Date: 8/1988
Media Format: Cassette
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: HMC40 1261
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Musicalische Exequien |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Heinrich Schütz, Composer Paris Chapelle Royale Chorus Paris Chapelle Royale Orchestra Philippe Herreweghe, Conductor |
| Geistliche Chormusik, Movement: Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, SWV380 |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Heinrich Schütz, Composer Paris Chapelle Royale Chorus Paris Chapelle Royale Orchestra Philippe Herreweghe, Conductor |
| Kleiner geistlichen Concerten, Anderer Theil, Movement: Ich ben die Auferstehung, SWV324 |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Heinrich Schütz, Composer Paris Chapelle Royale Chorus Paris Chapelle Royale Orchestra Philippe Herreweghe, Conductor |
| Kleiner geistlichen Concerten, Erster Theil, Movement: ~ |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Heinrich Schütz, Composer Paris Chapelle Royale Chorus Paris Chapelle Royale Orchestra Philippe Herreweghe, Conductor |
| Geistliche Chormusik, Movement: So fahr ich hin zu Jesu Christ, SWV379 |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Heinrich Schütz, Composer Paris Chapelle Royale Chorus Paris Chapelle Royale Orchestra Philippe Herreweghe, Conductor |
| Geistliche Chormusik, Movement: Die Himmel erzählen dei Ehre Gottes, SWV386 |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Heinrich Schütz, Composer Paris Chapelle Royale Chorus Paris Chapelle Royale Orchestra Philippe Herreweghe, Conductor |
| Geistliche Chormusik, Movement: Selig sind die Toten, SWV391 |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Heinrich Schütz, Composer Paris Chapelle Royale Chorus Paris Chapelle Royale Orchestra Philippe Herreweghe, Conductor |
Composer or Director: Heinrich Schütz
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Magazine Review Date: 8/1988
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 59
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: HMC90 1261
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Musicalische Exequien |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Heinrich Schütz, Composer Paris Chapelle Royale Chorus Paris Chapelle Royale Orchestra Philippe Herreweghe, Conductor |
| Geistliche Chormusik, Movement: Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, SWV380 |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Heinrich Schütz, Composer Paris Chapelle Royale Chorus Paris Chapelle Royale Orchestra Philippe Herreweghe, Conductor |
| Kleiner geistlichen Concerten, Anderer Theil, Movement: Ich ben die Auferstehung, SWV324 |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Heinrich Schütz, Composer Paris Chapelle Royale Chorus Paris Chapelle Royale Orchestra Philippe Herreweghe, Conductor |
| Kleiner geistlichen Concerten, Erster Theil, Movement: ~ |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Heinrich Schütz, Composer Paris Chapelle Royale Chorus Paris Chapelle Royale Orchestra Philippe Herreweghe, Conductor |
| Geistliche Chormusik, Movement: So fahr ich hin zu Jesu Christ, SWV379 |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Heinrich Schütz, Composer Paris Chapelle Royale Chorus Paris Chapelle Royale Orchestra Philippe Herreweghe, Conductor |
| Geistliche Chormusik, Movement: Die Himmel erzählen dei Ehre Gottes, SWV386 |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Heinrich Schütz, Composer Paris Chapelle Royale Chorus Paris Chapelle Royale Orchestra Philippe Herreweghe, Conductor |
| Geistliche Chormusik, Movement: Selig sind die Toten, SWV391 |
Heinrich Schütz, Composer
Heinrich Schütz, Composer Paris Chapelle Royale Chorus Paris Chapelle Royale Orchestra Philippe Herreweghe, Conductor |
Author:
In a perfect world it would be gratifying to be able to say that neither of these two recordings containing Schutz's great Musicalische Exequien is to be recommended above all other contenders. Sadly, the ideal performance of the Exequien—inspired, free of blemish and imaginatively recorded—simply does not yet exist, and those who have it in mind to include the work in their CD collections are faced with a difficult choice. Reviewing the re-release of Hans-Martin Linde's version on LP in September 1985, I was able to commend it only as the best performance of the Musicalische Exequien then available. A new interpretation by La Chapelle Royale under Philippe Herreweghe might seem likely to have changed matters, but in the event it does not; neither performance is entirely satisfying, and Linde's in many respects proves to be the stronger of the two.
Admittedly Herreweghe's disc has some clear advantages. It is considerably better filled, with a good selection of full and solo motets—largely of a funerary nature making up the playing time virtually to a full hour. On Linde's much shorter record the Musicalische Exequien is complemented only by Schutz's spectacular Psalm 136, SWV45, a sharply contrasted piece resplendent with trumpets and drums but somewhat roughly performed. Herreweghe wins hands down, too, in the quality of the recorded sound; Linde's performance appears dull and unsophisticated by comparison, lacking presence and clarity.
In almost every other respect, however, Herreweghe and his performers do not really satisfy. Their interpretation of the Musicalische Exequien itself, cautious and tending towards the anaemic has a chamber feel about it that denies the music its true sense of liturgy or occasion. The soloists, gentle-voiced and inscrutable, pay more attention to delicacy of tone than to eloquence; neither their words nor those of the (mixed-voice) choir have the distinctness or emphasis needed to push home the message of such a remarkable funeral oration as this. No thrust, no real momentum is built up in the performance. As for Schutz's extraordinary final section—the words of the ''Nunc dimittis'', troped by distant solo singers with the words ''Blessed are the dead who died in the Lord''—the sound of Herreweghe's choir either masks or merges into that of the soloists, frustrating yet another potentially magic moment.
Placed beside Herreweghe, Linde's readings seems to come closer not only to the spirit of the piece but also to the essence of Schutz. The Basle Boys' Choir, though perfect neither in balance nor in tuning, do at least sing with passion and immaculately enunciated German. The solo singers of Chiaroscuro, if again not entirely even in quality, do include some powerful communicators; the bass duetting of Richard Wistreich and Josef Agosti in particular is a real joy. And, rough as the sound-quality in general may be, there's a feeling of space about the much meatier performance of the climactic final section. Linde, then, gets my vote, but the temptation to abstain, at least until something even better comes along, is admittedly very great.'
Admittedly Herreweghe's disc has some clear advantages. It is considerably better filled, with a good selection of full and solo motets—largely of a funerary nature making up the playing time virtually to a full hour. On Linde's much shorter record the Musicalische Exequien is complemented only by Schutz's spectacular Psalm 136, SWV45, a sharply contrasted piece resplendent with trumpets and drums but somewhat roughly performed. Herreweghe wins hands down, too, in the quality of the recorded sound; Linde's performance appears dull and unsophisticated by comparison, lacking presence and clarity.
In almost every other respect, however, Herreweghe and his performers do not really satisfy. Their interpretation of the Musicalische Exequien itself, cautious and tending towards the anaemic has a chamber feel about it that denies the music its true sense of liturgy or occasion. The soloists, gentle-voiced and inscrutable, pay more attention to delicacy of tone than to eloquence; neither their words nor those of the (mixed-voice) choir have the distinctness or emphasis needed to push home the message of such a remarkable funeral oration as this. No thrust, no real momentum is built up in the performance. As for Schutz's extraordinary final section—the words of the ''Nunc dimittis'', troped by distant solo singers with the words ''Blessed are the dead who died in the Lord''—the sound of Herreweghe's choir either masks or merges into that of the soloists, frustrating yet another potentially magic moment.
Placed beside Herreweghe, Linde's readings seems to come closer not only to the spirit of the piece but also to the essence of Schutz. The Basle Boys' Choir, though perfect neither in balance nor in tuning, do at least sing with passion and immaculately enunciated German. The solo singers of Chiaroscuro, if again not entirely even in quality, do include some powerful communicators; the bass duetting of Richard Wistreich and Josef Agosti in particular is a real joy. And, rough as the sound-quality in general may be, there's a feeling of space about the much meatier performance of the climactic final section. Linde, then, gets my vote, but the temptation to abstain, at least until something even better comes along, is admittedly very great.'
Schütz Musicalisches Exequiem; Psalmen Davids (excs)
Schütz Sacred Choral Works
Schütz Sacred Choral Works
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