Schütz: Die sieben Worte Jesu Christ am Kreuz, SWV 478 (The Seven Words of Jesus Christ on the Cross)

Carus presents three fascinating works for the Passiontide on Volume 6 of the Complete Recording of Heinrich Schütz.

Heinrich Schütz expressed musically the central message of the Christian thinking in the work The Seven Words of Jesus on the cross SWV 178, so this mostly enigmatic work is similarly in a theological and musical way fascinating.

The mostly unknown sacred concert for four violins and voice, Have mercy upon me, O God SWV 447 is a world premiere recording for the Good Friday service and represents a delightful addition to The Seven Words of Jesus.

The St Lukas Passion SWV 480 unfolds a kind of panorama which invites the listener to an intensive and quiet viewing of the passion.

Performed by the talented collaboration of the Dresden Chamber Choir under the direction of Hans Christoph Rademann, we can enjoy the music in its most sublime form.

The third volume in the ARS NOVA Copenhagen and Paul Hillier’s Heinrich Schütz series showcases the Johannes-Passion (St. John’s Passion) and Die sieben Worte Jesu Christi am Kreutz (Seven Last Words of Christ). Dacapo’s Schütz series aims to record all the passions and oratorios of Schütz and this is another fine example of the early Baroque vocal music that is said to have inspired J.S Bach.

This is a newly available recording of the young Fischer-Dieskau performing Baroque repertoire and is the only available recording of him singing this repertoire. During the 1950s, the voice of the young Fischer-Dieskau exuded a special lyricism and melodic naturalness as no other had before him.

Theese works conceived in very different ways, as much in the way that the accompaniments to the recitatives are constructed as in the theatricality with which the characters are imbued; the human aspect of the Sieben Worte is contrasted with the more abstract image of the characters in the Historia. Of Johann Sebastiani, however, we know practically nothing; his Matthäus Passion seems nonetheless to be heavily influenced by Schütz with an additional typically Lutheran touch given by the chorales that punctuate the various scenes of the Gospel narration.

“Schütz’s historical achievement lay in moving German music from its peripheral position to one of central importance. He was praised by many contemporary musicians and theorists [for the] sensitive and complex manipulation and enrichment of the text that is one of the chief hallmarks of Schütz’s best music.” Grove Dictionary

This box set presents the complete narrative works (Historiae) of Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) in the acclaimed new recordings by Ars Nova Copenhagen conducted by Paul Hillier.

The engaging account of the six stories of Christmas, Passion and Resurrection in Schütz’ sublime Baroque settings is presented along with authoritative notes and the conductor’s own commentary on the works, which rank among the finest pieces of the 17th Century.