Repertoire

Heinrich Schütz: Musikalische Exequien (Funeral music), SWV 279-281 (1635-1636)

Artists

National Youth Choir of Catalonia
Manel Valdivieso, conductor

Program

Henry II, Count of Reuss-Gera also nicknamed the Posthumous, lived at a time when death was everywhere. The Thirty Years’ War and the plague swept away a large part of Europe’s population. Notwithstanding this, in the midst of chaos and desolation, death was also understood as a happy respite, bringing eternal peace. It is probably for this reason that the German nobleman planned his funeral in great detail, including the music to be performed. Heinrich Schütz was to carry out his instructions, composing this Exequien which he himself defined as “a concert in the form of a German funeral mass.” It is written in vernacular language, with melodic motifs that beautifully accentuate the words.

The work consists of three parts: the first is for choir and soloists, designed to be sung around the coffin of the deceased; the second is a motet for double choir; and in the third, the second choir sings from on high to mark the arrival of the spirit of the deceased in heaven. The National Youth Choir of Catalonia, conducted this year by Manel Valdivieso, will recreate this sweet sadness of mourning that is implicit in a work of great purity and sincerity.

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