Heinrich Schutz (jan 1, 1585 – jan 1, 1672)

Description:

The preeminent German composer of the seventeenth century, who is widely credited with bringing Italian styels to the north. His early large-scale concerted motets are in a grand style associated with the music of his teacher, Giovanni Gabrieli. Gabrielli passing his ring onto Schutz reflects the passing of the torch from the old Venetian tradition to a new, international tradition

In music, that process of adaptation is reflected in the career of Heinrich Schutz, whose long life mirrors the general fate and progress of his art. Despite the grim conditions in which he was forced to work, Schutz became the first internationally celebrated German master.

While studying with Gabrieli he composed some Italian madrigals. "Schutz saw himself primarily as the bringer of Italianate "light to Germany"(as his tombstone reads), believing that the composition of grand concerted motets and magnificent court spectacles was his true vocation.

During the war, when all of his singers and such were drafted into the army, he was forced to compose leaner compositions.

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