Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) was the most important and influential German composer of the seventeenth century. In A Heinrich Schütz Reader, the composer and his times are brought to life through the translation of more than 150 documents by or about the composer, each complemented with richly detailed annotations and commentary.
When Peter Schumann saw a copy of Fomite's NOTES OF DEVASTATION, a compilation of the three Passions Schütz composed in his eighties, he offered to "mess it up" with drawings reflecting his secular reading of the passion stories, his German historical sense of the Thirty Years War, and his reflections on the currency of the passion themes. ES IST VOLLBRACHT-MISSION ACCOMPLISHED is that mess-up.
This collection features twenty-nine motets by Heinrich Schütz, a pivotal figure in early Baroque music, arranged for various vocal combinations and optional basso continuo. The scholarly edition by Andrew Thomas Kuster modernizes the original 1648 part books, presenting them in contemporary clefs and retaining original note values. It includes English translations, keyboard reductions for easier rehearsals, and critical commentary. Notable pieces like "Selig sind die Toten" and "Die mit Tränen säen" highlight Schütz's profound musical legacy.
Concentrating on the period after the death of the Saxon elector, Johann Georg I, this edition examines the sources published by Mueller, and supplements them with a detailed commentary and further documents which provide a context for the composer's letters.
Lebensbilder aus Urzeit und Gegenwart
