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Heinrich SCHÜTZ (1585 - 1672): 'Resurrection of Christ"

La Petite Bande
Dir: Sigiswald Kuijken

rec: April 21 - 24, 2018, Tielt (B), Paterskerk
Accent - ACC 24355 (© 2019) (57'00")
Liner-notes: E/D/F; lyrics - translations: E/F
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Historia der fröhlichen und siegreichen Auferstehung unsers einigen Erlösers und Seligmachers Jesu Christi (Auferstehungshistorie) (SWV 50)a; Ich bin die Auferstehung und das Leben (SWV 464); Ich weiß, dass mein Erlöser lebt (SWV 393) [2]; Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied (SWV 35) [1]; Weib, was weinest du (SWV 433)

Sources: [1] Psalmen Davids sampt etlichen Moteten und Concerten, 1619; [2] Musicalia ad chorum sacrum, das ist: Geistliche Chor-Music ... erster Theil, 1648

Anna Gschwend, Yeree Suh, Marie Kuijken, soprano; Daniel Schreiber, alto, tenor; Stephan Scherpe (Evangelista), Sören Richter, Baltazar Zuñiga, tenor; Jens Hamann, baritone; Stefan Vock, bass
Sigiswald Kuijken, violin, violone; Thomas Baeté, Kaori Uemura, Marleen Thiers, viola da gamba; Mario Sarecchia, organ

When Schütz was appointed Kapellmeister at the court in Dresden in 1617, it was tradition to perform every year the gospel of Easter on a setting by Antonio Scandello (1517 - 1580), one of Schütz' predecessors in Dresden. It was only in 1623 that Schütz composed his own setting, the Auferstehungshistorie, as a replacement of Scandello's setting which Schütz himself had performed in his first years in Dresden. It was his first contribution to the genre of the Historia. It linked up with tradition, but also contained some meaningful innovations.

Schütz uses the same text as Scandello, a compilation of the events of Easter from the four gospels, the so-called Evangelien-Harmonie (Harmony of the Gospels), by the Wittenberg reformer Johannes Bugenhagen (1485 - 1558). He also keeps the traditional recitation model, the Easter tone, for the part of the Evangelist. Scandello had set the parts of the individual characters - Jesus, Mary Magdalene and Cleopas - for up to four voices, in Schütz's Historia they are set for two, with the exception of the part of Cleopas, which is given to a soloist. But Schütz gave performers the option of assigning the second part to an instrument or omitting it altogether. Sigiswald Kuijken basically follows the original intentions of the composer, but now and then turned to one of the alternatives.

This is not the only innovation: the basso continuo was introduced to support the singers. And the objectivity of the traditional Historia was eliminated in favour of a more emotional delivery of the events at Easter. Schütz made use of Affekt and madrigalisms to translate the actions into music and to express the emotions of the characters in the story. Not only the part of the Evangelist reflects this approach, but also the accompaniment of this part, for which Schütz strongly preferred a consort of four viole da gamba. This way he creates a contrast between the Evangelist and the other parts, which is underlined by another of his suggestions regarding the performance: he preferred his Historia to be performed with two choirs, one of them the Evangelist with the consort of viols, the other the 'choir of people'. He also wished only the Evangelist to be seen by the audience, whereas the other participants should be out of sight.

The work opens with an Introductio, the heading of the piece: "The Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ as it is described to us by the four Evangelists". It is scored for six voices, and Schütz leaves it to the performers to add instruments, if they wish ("voces et instrumenta si placet"). Another episode for six voices is the exclamation of Jesus' disciples, when the two men of Emmaus have told how they have met Jesus: "The Lord is risen and hath appeared to Simon!", again scored for six voices. The closing chorus is for the full ensemble of eight voices: "Thanks be to God, which has given uss the victory through Jesus Christ, our Lord!" The Evangelist adds his voice with the exclamation "Victoria!", which is repeated a number of times. At the end he is joined by the ensemble.

The Historia is preceded by four pieces, which - in different ways - can be connected to the resurrection. That goes in particular for Weib, was weinest du, a dialogo per la pascua, which is about the meeting of Jesus with Mary Magdalene after his resurrection. It is notable that each of the two characters is represented by two singers, as in the Historia. This piece opens the programme and is followed by Ich bin die Auferstehung und das Leben, a sacred concerto for eight voices in two choirs. It was probably composed for a funeral service, and is a setting of the Gospel of John, ch 11, vs 25-26 ("I am the resurrection and the life"). The second choir has been doubled by instruments in this recording. Ich weiß, dass mein Erlöser lebt is a motet for seven voices from the Geistliche Chormusik. It is a setting of the well-known text also used by Handel in his Messiah: "I know that my redeemer liveth", taken from the book of Job (ch 19). This work can be performed by voices and basso continuo alone, but also with instruments playing colla voce. Here some episodes are emphasized through the participation of the viols.

The last piece has no specific connection to Easter. Singet dem Herrn is a setting of Psalm 98 and taken from the collection of Psalmen Davids, published in 1619 and the fruits of Schütz' sojourn in Venice, where he had become acquainted with the cori spezzati technique. Kuijken explains: "I have used the work here, because the content can almost be seen as an epilogue: in my own interpretation, this Old Testament text forms a kind of dome over the Gospel reports". It would probably have made more sense then to place it at the end of the programme, rather than as the last piece before the Historia. The second choir is again supported by viols, and the soprano part is sung by two singers.

In recent years Sigiswald Kuijken has turned regularly to German sacred music of the 17th century, such as Buxtehude's Membra Jesu nostri and Schütz' Musicalische Exequien. As in his recordings of cantatas and oratorios by Bach, he consistently opts for a line-up of one voice per part. In the case of Schütz, that is certainly historically justified, even though the composer often indicated that a larger line-up is a possibility. However, Kuijken believes that a larger ensemble reduces the amount of expression rather than increases it. He argues that the text has to be in the centre, and he is definitely right about that. This is also one of the assets of this performance: the text is easily understandable without looking at the libretto in the booklet. Kuijken has gathered together a fine group of singers, whose voices blend perfectly and have a good feeling for this repertoire. The German pronunciation is also immaculate. The only point of criticism may be that the performances could have been more dynamically differentiated.

All in all, this disc is another worthwhile addition to the Schütz discography. The Historia der Auferstehung is a marvellous work of one of the geniuses in music history.

Johan van Veen (© 2020)

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