Heinrich

SCHÜTZ

(1585-1672)

Germany Takes Charge

“If my labor pleases you, may you use it to praise God the All-highest; but if one or the other [of my tunes] displeases you… try to help others compose better melodies and publish them to the greater glory of God.” – Heinrich Schütz

So far, the most influential composers in this book have either been Dutch, English, French, or Italian.  This will seem strange to the observant reader.  After all, aren’t the most famous composers like Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms all German?  When does Germany come in and take charge of things?  Who was the

German composer that learned the magic of composing and passed it on to his fellow countrymen?  That German was Heinrich Schütz.

Heinrich Schütz began taking music lessons from the esteemed Italian composer Giovanni Gabrieli at the age of nineteen.  If you’ll remember, Gabrieli was a master of composition.  He was the first to use forms like the trio-sonata, and was the first to add instrumental parts to choral music.  Gabrieli, in fact, was a major component that caused the change of Renaissance music to Baroque music.  Schütz couldn’t have found himself a more qualified music teacher.  During his training with Gabrieli, Schütz became a master of the organ and a brilliant composer of music in the grand, Italian Renaissance tradition. 

When Schütz returned to his native Germany he was brimming with colorful Italian talent.   He was now an accomplished musician and composer.  His name soon became known throughout Germany and he received a request to become the Kapellmeister (or “conductor”) in Saxony.  He jumped at the noble position.      

News came to Schütz of a new style of music created by the Florentine Cammerata.  It was a style far more expressive than anything written in Germany.  Schütz immediately wanted to experience it and learn how to write this new musical concept himself.  He thus packed his bags and went back to Italy in 1628.  In Italy, Schütz received lessons from Claudio Monteverdi, who taught his German pupil how to compose operas.  When Schütz finally returned to Germany he immediately began to write music in his new found style.  Schütz composed several operas and although none of them have survived, they are agreed to be the first operas ever written in German.  

Schütz also worked with another new musical form, the oratorio.  The oratorio, a musical setting used to describe a story from religious texts, was invented around the same time as the opera.  Oratorios required Schütz to compose dramatic, yet pious music.  Schütz managed to do both and he laid out the groundwork for thousands of oratorios that would be composed in the future.  Schütz had established Germany as a new dominant voice in music.   

Contact |  Top of Page | Home