Intégrale de l'œuvre Volume 1

Description

This eleven-CD box set (the first volume of a complete collection) brings together the eight existing volumes that were separately released by the Carus label of most of the essential works of the German composer Heinrich Schütz. Schütz, born in 1585 in Thuringia and died in Dresden in 1678, served as chapel master at the court of Dresden and had a decisive influence on the music of his time. He made several trips to Italy, to Venice, before facing the vicissitudes of the Thirty Years' War and ending his career in Weissenfels in his native region. Composed during the first part of his life, the Italian Madrigals, the Psalms of David, the Symphonia Sacrae, and the Musikalische Exequien reflect Venetian influence and the teachings of Gabrielli and then Monteverdi. They testify to a vitality of a conquering freshness. Schütz enjoys a profusion of instrumental and vocal elements, marrying plainchant with the rhetoric of the madrigal, Lutheran inspiration (the use of chorales intended for the mass) with the "Italian" concerto featuring continuo and double choir. Sacred music for the court, for the chamber, and sometimes for simple "divertissement." In contrast, the later works (the Little Spiritual Concerts, the Seven Words of Christ, the Passion according to Saint Luke, which mark the birth of the German cantata and the tradition of Passions) exhibit a marked austerity and introspection, reducing the forces and musical means to achieve an unparalleled spiritual expression, a true "Art of Consolation." Among the existing complete collections of Schütz's works, Hans Christoph Rademann's "historically informed" interpretation is certainly the most homogeneous, characterized by the rigor of its setup, its musical quality, and its fidelity to the text and spirit. Sagittarius has found in Rademann and his Dresdner Kammerchor the privileged intercessor of his spiritual message. The articulation of the text and the clarity of the choral and orchestral masses are the conductor's priorities, but they do not hinder the outpouring of song and heart. All the performers are commendable in this regard. Notable soloists include Mields, Kobow, Mc Leod, and Van der Kamp, along with an exceptional continuo featuring Hille Perl, Lee Santana, and Ludger Remy. As a bonus, the box set includes a DVD commented on by experts that immerses us in the history of the Pope of German music through a luminous journey between Venice and Germany. Immerse yourself without delay in this work that is both austere and jubilant. (Jérôme Angouillant)