Before the genius of Johann Sebastian Bach blazed across the firmament of history, many talented creators shaped the character of German sacred music throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. One of the first composers to draw on Italian innovations in his work was Johann Hermann Schein (1586–1630). Although he never left his homeland, his diligent study of the works of Lodovico Viadana, among others, enabled him to absorb Italian principles of composition. He drew on this knowledge when writing madrigal motets collected in Israelsbrünnlein, in which he employed rhetorical figures, tone painting, textural contrasts, and interesting harmonic solutions, achieving a particularly unique kind of expression.
He was not, however, the first composer to explore the possibilities of incorporating illustrative elements into works in the German language. The first to undertake this task was Leonard Lechner, born in South Tyrol in 1553, an outstanding pupil of Orlando di Lasso. He mastered the inner workings of his teacher’s polyphonic craft while also drawing from the refined style of Italian madrigals. The combination of these inspirations with his individual sonic imagination and independence of thought enabled him to create deeply moving settings of German texts. The cycle of four- and five-voice works Deutsche Sprüche von Leben und Tod, preserved in a manuscript from 1606, stands out for its originality, skillful use of polyphonic technique, and expressive means illustrating the text.
The concert program also includes selected motets in stile antico from Geistliche Chormusik by Heinrich Schütz (1585–1672). Considered the most important German composer before Bach, he included in this collection his own five-, six-, and seven-voice works, as well as German settings of motets by his master – Andrea Gabrieli. The excellent integration of the Italian style with the prosody of the native language is one of this composer’s key achievements.
The concert will conclude with the monumental motet Singet dem Herrn, BWV 225, by Johann Sebastian Bach. Although written for two choirs accompanied only by basso continuo, thanks to its original technical solutions, it evokes the sound of an entire array of biblical instruments mentioned in the verses – drawn, among others, from Psalms 149 and 150 of David. The theological depth enclosed in musical form shapes – as John Eliot Gardiner aptly observed – “the most secular, dance-impregnated vocal music Bach ever wrote.”
Marta Dziewanowska-Pachowska
PROGRAM
Johann Hermann Schein (1586–1630) – Selected madrigal motets from the collection Israelsbrünnlein (1623)
O Herr, ich bin dein Knecht
Freue dich des Weibes deiner Jugend
Die mit Tränen säen
Ich lasse dich nicht
Zion spricht: Der Herr hat mich verlassen
Leonhard Lechner (1553–1606) – Deutsche Sprüche von Leben und Tod (before 1606)
Alles auf Erden…
Auch Sonn, Mond und Sterne…
Wir Menschen reisen…
Heint frisch, wohlmächtig…
In Gottes Händen…
Gedenk mit nichten…
Wenn sich erschwinget…
So überfallen…
Was jetzt im Laufen…
Weil dann so unsteht…
Wir wöllen kehren…
Ihn fürchten, lieben…
Sein Gnad und Güten…
Sein Hand wird retten…
Nach diesem Leiden…
Heinrich Schütz (1585–1672) – wybrane motety ze zbioru Geistliche Chormusik (1648)
Herr, auf dich traue ich, SWV 377
Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, SWV 380
Die mit Tränen säen, SWV 378
Unser keiner lebet sich selber, SWV 374
So fahr ich hin zu Jesu Christ, SWV 379
J. S. Bach – motet Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 225
PERFORMERS
THE CHAMBER CHOIR OF THE POLISH ROYAL OPERA
JAKUB JASTRZĘBSKI POSITIVE ORGAN
RENATA SZCZYPIOR CONDUCTOR
Duration: approx. 1h
