Selig sind die Toten

Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672), the most acclaimed German composer of the 17th century, worked mainly at the court in Dresden, where musical life languished during the Thirty Years’ War. Fortunately he was given chances to travel both before and during the war, spending considerable time in Denmark and Italy. His mature music shows an ability to absorb the style of Giovanni Gabrieli, with whom Schütz studied between 1609 and 1612. Schütz cultivated his master’s antiphonal sound with split choirs or instrumental ensembles, for which he used the term “sacred symphonies.” He also wrote several settings of the German Magnificat for two four-part choirs and an important collection of sacred choral music, the Geistliche Chormusik from 1648. This collection includes 29 motets, mostly on biblical texts, for multiple voices with optional continuo accompaniment.
One of the finest from the entire collection is Selig sind die Toten. Schütz developed this devotional text as a six-part motet with divided sopranos and tenors (thus SSATTB). The text comes from Revelation (14:13) and was often used in funereal settings as in the finale of Brahms’ German Requiem. It is not a long text, and Schütz responds by focusing his energy on several key phrases. The entire opening passage on “Selig sind die Toten” (Blessed are the Dead) unfolds with sustained luxuriating harmonies, yet he dwells longer on the important concept of dying “In the Lord” with repeated points of imitation. Text painting governs the homophonic moments of repose on “sie ruhen” (they rest) followed by pungent chromaticism on “ihre Arbeit” (their work). Finally, the mood grows more animated through a series of call and response chasing figures: “und ihre Werke folgen ihhen nach” (their works will follow them). In terms of texture, the divided soprano and tenor concept allows Schütz to create tight harmony and close points of imitation in the higher registers, while also providing enough inner-voice interest to flesh out the fullest possible vocal texture.

(c) Jason Stell