"The Little Church Around the Corner"
One East 29th Street, New York
MUSIC NOTES:
Pentecost 24 - November 18, 2001
When Martin Luther posted his polemical "95 Theses" on the door of the church at Wittenberg in 1517, he had no intention of initiating a movement that would lead to a formal break with Rome and the establishment of a Protestant church in Germany. Inevitably, the break did occur, as the disputations became more embittered and fractious. Nevertheless, the early Lutheran church retained much of the traditional Catholic liturgy, and complex polyphonic music set to Latin texts co-existed with the increasingly widespread use of accessible melodies set in the German vernacular (the chorales).
The Missa Secunda of Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612) is a fine example of the continuation of the Latin polyphonic tradition in post-Reformation Germany. This work reveals a highly skilled hand in its fluidity of line, vibrant melodic quality and assured counterpoint, much of which was learned while studying in Venice with Andrea Gabrieli, the maestro di capella of St. Mark's Basilica. Upon Hassler's return to Germany, he held various positions at Augsburg, Nuremberg, Ulm and Dresden, and ultimately exerted a decisive influence on the course of German music.
Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) belongs to the generation immediately following Hassler. Schütz also studied in Venice, but with the son of Hassler's teacher, Giovanni Gabrieli, who arguably represents the zenith of Venice's time as one of the great centers of European music. The exuberant stamp of Venice remained clearly impressed on Schütz's work long after his return to Germany, despite the deprivations and hardships of the Thirty Years War, which had considerable impact on his career, driving him at one point to the royal court of Denmark to seek employment.
The motet Cantate Domino canticum novum appears in the Cantiones Sacrae of 1625. This collection might be called a "middle period," as it falls between the earlier Psalmen Davids (1619) and the later Symphoniae sacrae (1629-1650). The motet is a superb example of the lively style of Schütz and the dramatic quality he gives to his work. His use of the compositional device known as word-painting is remarkable, as when the word cantate (sing) is set as a descending triad, fundamental to both vocal technique and emerging tonal theory; and the word canticum (song) recurs as a melisma (a single syllable extending for several measures), suggesting the ongoing, melodic nature of a song.
The Missa Secunda of Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612) is a fine example of the continuation of the Latin polyphonic tradition in post-Reformation Germany. This work reveals a highly skilled hand in its fluidity of line, vibrant melodic quality and assured counterpoint, much of which was learned while studying in Venice with Andrea Gabrieli, the maestro di capella of St. Mark's Basilica. Upon Hassler's return to Germany, he held various positions at Augsburg, Nuremberg, Ulm and Dresden, and ultimately exerted a decisive influence on the course of German music.
Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) belongs to the generation immediately following Hassler. Schütz also studied in Venice, but with the son of Hassler's teacher, Giovanni Gabrieli, who arguably represents the zenith of Venice's time as one of the great centers of European music. The exuberant stamp of Venice remained clearly impressed on Schütz's work long after his return to Germany, despite the deprivations and hardships of the Thirty Years War, which had considerable impact on his career, driving him at one point to the royal court of Denmark to seek employment.
The motet Cantate Domino canticum novum appears in the Cantiones Sacrae of 1625. This collection might be called a "middle period," as it falls between the earlier Psalmen Davids (1619) and the later Symphoniae sacrae (1629-1650). The motet is a superb example of the lively style of Schütz and the dramatic quality he gives to his work. His use of the compositional device known as word-painting is remarkable, as when the word cantate (sing) is set as a descending triad, fundamental to both vocal technique and emerging tonal theory; and the word canticum (song) recurs as a melisma (a single syllable extending for several measures), suggesting the ongoing, melodic nature of a song.
