Program: #19-39 Air Date: Sep 16, 2019
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This indispensable series on Carus of the complete works by the great German composer continues with a two-CD set of Psalm settings.
NOTE: All of the music on this program features the Dresden Kammerchorabd soloists directed by Hans-Christoph Rademann.
For more information: https://www.carus-verlag.com/en/recordings/artists/all-artists/schuetz-psalmen-friedensmusiken-complete-recording-vol-20.html
The ambitious project of a complete Schütz recording began in 2009 as part of an intensive cooperation between Rademann and the Carus publishers Günter and Dr. Johannes Graulich. It was based on the musicological text of the Stuttgart Schütz Edition, Carus-Verlag’s complete edition. In the following years, the recording was prepared in close cooperation with many Schütz specialists, such as Prof. Werner Breig, Prof. Michael Heinemann, Ludger Rémy, Dr. Uwe Wolf and Dr. Helmut Lauterwasser. The final CD – Vol. 20, Friedensmusiken und Psalmen (Carus 83.278) – has now been released. For the first time, Schütz’s wonderful music can be experienced entirely in all its many facets in an excellent recording.
Hans-Christoph Rademann on the recording: “I feel deeply grateful that we were able to master such a large project. Furthermore, I feel enormously enriched – and all musicians would surely feel the same – because Schütz’s music testifies to the greatest mastery. The term ‘father of German music’ is absolutely justified. Schütz is able to express an enormous amount with his music; he is, so to speak, an ‘illuminator’ of the word – with powerful musical images. Painting and music move very close together, one learns to see with one’s ears, so to speak.”
Carus publisher Dr. Johannes Graulich on the recording: “The fact that we have succeeded in producing the entire work of the great composer Schütz at the highest artistic and technical level, and that in only 10 years, is an enormous achievement of which we are very proud. Some of his works have been recorded for the first time; much of the music sounds wonderfully new and surprising, thanks to Rademann’s refreshing interpretation and the insights of historically informed performance practice. I thank Hans-Christoph Rademann, the musicians, MDR KULTUR, Deutschlandfunk Kultur, BR KLASSIK and the sponsors for their support in this epochal recording project.”
Schutz studied in Venice with Giovanni Gabrielli (and perhaps with Claudio Monteverdi). There are many elements of Gabrielli’s style in these works. Small choirs echo each other across space. Sometimes they’re also treated contrapuntally. The extensive use of brass adds a noble air.
If you’ve been following the series, you’ll hear many familiar voices. Dorothee Mields, Gerlinde Sämann, David Erler, and Georg Poplutz (just to name a few) deliver fine performances. In fact, everyone involved maintains the same high performance standards set by earlier recordings in the series.
After 19 volumes, these artists and ensembles have internalized Schutz’s style — and Hans-Christoph Rademann’s interpretation of it. As always, these are models of clarity. No matter how complex Schutz’s writing, vocal lines sound clean and transparent.
The release even includes a world premiere recording, “Trostlied” SWV 502. This simple and beautiful work was written in memorium for an infant. It’s Schutz at his most personal, and a fine way to end the series.
Composer Info
Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672),