Next up: Monteverdi, Gabrieli, Schein, and Schütz with Back Bay Chorale, including my perennial favorite, Schütz’ Musikalische Exequien! Read more below and then come hear the concert on Saturday night!
Next up: Monteverdi, Gabrieli, Schein, and Schütz with Back Bay Chorale, including my perennial favorite, Schütz’ Musikalische Exequien! Read more below and then come hear the concert on Saturday night!
Musikalische Exequien (Funeral music), Op. 7, SWV 279–281 is a sacred composition by Heinrich Schütz, dating from c. 1635/36. Written for the funeral services of Count Henry II, Count of Reuss-Gera, who had died on 3 December 1635, it is Schütz's most famous work of funeral music.[1] It comprises the following sections:
Henry II had planned the service himself and chosen the texts, some of which are scriptural and others of which are from 16th-century Lutheran writers, including Martin Luther himself. He also commissioned Schütz to compose the music on the occasion of his death.
Part I, by far the longest part of the work, is scored for SSATTB (2 sopranos, alto, 2 tenors, bass) chorus alternating with small ensembles of soloists. Part II is scored for double choir SATB SATB, and part III for SATTB choir and a trio of soloists. All movements are accompanied by basso continuo.
Musikalische Exequien (Funeral music), Op. 7, SWV 279-281 is a sacred composition by Heinrich Schütz, dating from c. 1635/36. Written for the funeral services of Count Henry II, Count of Reuss-Gera, who had died on 3 December 1635, it is Schütz's most famous work of funeral music.