Schütz: Psalm 150: Alleluja! Lobet den Herren in seinem Heiligtum SWV 38

The young Heinrich Schütz’s four-year sojourn with Giovanni Gabrieli proved to be one of the most fruitful educational journeys to Italy undertaken by a German musician. Following his return, Schütz presented his 'Psalms of David' in 1619: an impressive result of his encounter with the Italian musical style. These 'German Psalms in the Italian Manner' are consistently based on the polychoral style with which Schütz had become acquainted in the Venetian tradition of cori spezzati. As first organist of St Mark’s, Venice, Gabrieli included in his compositions the architecture of this ecclesiastical building in a unique way, placing the singers and instrumentalists, who were divided into as many as four choirs, in facing galleries, thus achieving remarkable sonic and spatial effects.

On this recording the Cappella Murensis and the ensemble Les Cornets Noirs make use of the four galleries in the Abbey Church at Muri where the abbots and master builders designed the octagonal nave of specifically for polyphonic effect. In the works for two, three and four choirs, voices and instruments blend with a total of four continuo organs, producing a unique sound. The inclusion of the two large historic Bossart organs (Epistle and Gospel) as continuo instruments creates an additional dynamic palette.

With magnificent Sonatas and Canzonas by Giovanni Gabrieli, Les Cornets Noirs, led by the cornettists Gebhard David and Bork-Frithjof Smith, are showcased as one of the leading European ensembles in early baroque music.

These works form an important part of the repertoire of the Dresden Kreuzkirche, due to their spiritual and stylistic wealth. They include both solemn and joyful elements. This is the first time these works have been available on CD.

The massed voices of the 140-strong National Youth Choir revel in the magnificently soaring lines of Schütz’s sacred music, complemented by John Kitchen’s contributions on the powerful Rieger organ of St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh. Revered by his contemporaries as the ‘Orpheus of our time’, Schütz would never have heard his music performed by forces such as these and on such a scale – surely he would have been a strong advocate of this astounding aural experience. Kitchen’s solo contributions contextualise the choral music with organ works by Samuel Scheidt and other contemporaries of Schütz.