Heinrich Schütz facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Heinrich Schütz
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Heinrich Schütz by Christoph Spätner, c. 1660 (Museum of Musical Instruments of Leipzig University)
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| Born | 18 October [O.S. 8 October] 1585 Köstritz
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| Died | 6 November 1672 (aged 87) |
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Works
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List of compositions |
Heinrich Schütz (born 18 October 1585 – died 6 November 1672) was a famous German composer and organ player. He lived during the early Baroque period. Many people think he was the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach. He is also seen as one of the most important composers of the 1600s.
Schütz helped bring the exciting Italian music style to Germany. He helped it grow from the Renaissance into the early Baroque period. Most of his music that we still have today was written for the Lutheran church. He mainly worked for the Elector's Chapel in Dresden.
He wrote what is often called the first German opera, called Dafne. It was performed in Torgau in 1627. Sadly, the music for this opera is now lost. Many of his other special event and theater pieces are also gone. Schütz wrote a lot of music, with over 500 pieces still existing today.
Some Lutheran churches in North America remember him as a great musician. They celebrate him on 28 July, along with Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel.
Contents
Early life of Heinrich Schütz
Heinrich Schütz was born in Köstritz. He was the oldest son of Christoph Schütz and Euphrosyne Bieger.
In 1590, his family moved to Weißenfels. There, his father managed an inn called "Zum güldenen Ring." Later, his father became the mayor (called a burgomaster) of Weißenfels. In 1615, his father bought another inn and renamed it "Zum Schützen."
When Heinrich was 13, a powerful ruler named Landgrave Moritz von Hessen-Kassel discovered his musical talent. This happened in 1598 when the landgrave stayed at Christoph Schütz's inn. The landgrave heard young Heinrich sing. He asked Heinrich's parents if the boy could come to his court for more education and music lessons.
His parents first said no. But after many letters, they agreed. In August 1599, they took Heinrich to the landgrave's home in Kassel.
After singing in the choir, Schütz studied law in Marburg. Then, from 1609 to 1612, he went to Venice, Italy. There, he studied music with a famous composer named Giovanni Gabrieli. Schütz always said Gabrieli was his only true teacher. Gabrieli even left Schütz a ring when he died. After his studies, Schütz worked as an organist in Kassel from 1613 to 1615.
Working in Dresden (1615–1672)
After long talks between the landgrave and the Elector of Saxony, Schütz moved to Dresden in 1615. He became the court composer for the Elector. This meant he wrote music for the ruler's court.
In 1619, Schütz married Magdalena Wildeck. They had two daughters, Anna Justina and Euphrosyne. Sadly, Magdalena died in 1625.
In Dresden, Schütz helped build what is now the famous Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden orchestra. But he left Dresden several times. In 1628, he went back to Venice. He might have met another great composer, Claudio Monteverdi, there.
In 1633, he was asked to go to Copenhagen to write music for a wedding. He returned to Dresden in 1635. He visited Denmark again in 1641. This was because the Thirty Years' War had badly damaged the court in Dresden.
The Thirty Years' War ended in 1648. After the war, Schütz became very active in Dresden again. In 1655, his daughter Euphrosyne died. That same year, he took a job as a music director (Kapellmeister) in Wolfenbüttel.
During the Thirty Years' War, Schütz's music in Dresden had to be smaller. This was because of the difficult times. But this period produced some of his most charming music. After the war, he started writing bigger pieces again. This led to his greatest Passion music in the 1660s, before Bach.
Schütz moved back to Weißenfels to live with his sister. He had to ask for permission to retire. The house where he lived is now a museum about his life. But the court in Dresden often called him back to work. He died in Dresden from a stroke in 1672, at 87 years old. He was buried in the old Dresden Frauenkirche. But his tomb was destroyed in 1727 when the church was taken down to build the new Dresden Frauenkirche.
Schütz's musical style
Schütz's music shows the influence of his teacher Gabrieli and also Monteverdi. He used styles like polychoral (music for many choirs) and concertato (music where voices and instruments play together). The music of Dutch composers from the 1500s also influenced his work.
His most famous pieces are sacred, meaning they are for church. They range from a single voice with instruments to music for choirs without instruments (called a cappella). Some of his well-known works include Psalmen Davids (Psalms of David) and Cantiones sacrae. He also wrote three books of Symphoniae sacrae, Die sieben Worte Jesu Christi am Kreuz (The Seven Last Words of Jesus Christ on the Cross), and three Passion settings. His Christmas Story is also very famous.
Early in his career, Schütz used very modern styles. But his later music became simpler and more serious. This was partly because the Thirty Years' War ruined Germany's music scene. It was no longer possible to perform the huge, grand pieces he wrote earlier.
Schütz's piece "Es steh Gott auf" (SWV 356) is similar to Monteverdi's work in many ways. His funeral music, "Musikalische Exequien" (1636), is a masterpiece. It is known as the first German Requiem. Schütz was good at both Latin and German music styles.
Schütz was one of the last composers to write in an older "modal" style. This means his music used scales that were different from the major and minor scales we hear today. His harmonies often came from how different voices moved together. But much of his music also had a strong pull towards a main key when it reached the end of a section (a cadence).
His music often used imitation. This is when one voice or instrument copies another. But Schütz did it in a unique way. The copied parts didn't always start at the same time or at predictable musical distances. This was different from other composers of his time.
Schütz's music often has strong dissonances. These are sounds that seem to clash. They happen when different voices move correctly on their own, but create surprising harmonies together. Most importantly, his music showed great care for the words and their meaning. He used special musical tricks to express the text, like a speaker uses words in a speech.
As he got older, Schütz's style became simpler. He used fewer complex chords and musical freedoms in his later works.
Besides an early book of madrigals (songs for several voices), almost no non-religious music by Schütz has survived. We only have a few home songs and special pieces for events. He also wrote no music just for instruments. This is surprising because he was known as one of Germany's best organists.
Schütz was very important for bringing new musical ideas from Italy to Germany. He had a big impact on German music that came after him. The style of the North German organ school came a lot from Schütz. A century later, this music led to the works of J.S. Bach. After Bach, other important composers like Anton Webern and Brahms studied Schütz's music.
Major works by Heinrich Schütz
Schütz wrote over 500 individual pieces of music. Here are some of his most important published works. Many of these are collections that contain several pieces of music.
- Il primo libro de madrigali (First book of madrigals) (1611)
- Psalmen Davids (Psalms of David, Book 1) (1619)
- Historia der ... Aufferstehung ... (The Resurrection Story) (1623)
- Cantiones sacrae (Sacred Songs) (1625)
- Becker Psalter (a collection of Psalms) (1628, revised 1661)
- Symphoniae sacrae (Sacred Symphonies, Book 1) (1629)
- Musikalische Exequien (Music for a Funeral) (1636)
- Kleine geistliche Konzerte (Small Sacred Concerts, Book 1) (1636)
- Kleine geistliche Konzerte (Small Sacred Concerts, Book 2) (1639)
- Symphoniae sacrae (Sacred Symphonies, Book 2) (1647)
- Geistliche Chor-Music (Sacred Choral Music) (1648)
- Symphoniae sacrae (Sacred Symphonies, Book 3) (1650)
- Zwölf geistliche Gesänge (Twelve Sacred Songs) (1657)
- Historia der ... Geburt ... Jesu Christi (Christmas Story) (1664)
- Lukas-Passion (The Passion According to St. Luke) (1665)
- Johannes-Passion (The Passion According to St. John) (1666)
- Matthäus-Passion (The Passion According to St. Matthew) (1666)
- Königs und Propheten 119er Psalm ... (Psalm 119, Psalm 100, and German Magnificat: "Swan Song") (his last work, 1671)
Images for kids
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Heinrich Schütz House, the composer's home in Weißenfels, now a museum.
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This painting, sometimes thought to be Schütz, is not actually him.
See also
In Spanish: Heinrich Schütz para niños
