About the Book
Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) was the most important and influential German composer of the seventeenth century. Director of music at the electoral Saxon court in Dresden, he was lauded by his German contemporaries as "the father of our modern music", as "the Orpheus of our time." Yet despite the esteem in which his music is still held today, Schütz himself and the rich cultural environment in which he lived continue to be little known or understood beyond
the linguistic borders of his native Germany. Drawing on original manuscript and print sources, A Heinrich Schütz Reader brings the composer to life through more than 150 documents by or
about Heinrich Schütz, from his earliest studies under Giovanni Gabrieli to accounts of his final hours. Editor and translator Gregory S. Johnston penetrates the archaic script, confronts the haphazard orthography and obsolete vocabulary, and untangles the knotted grammatical constructions and syntax to produce translations that allow English speakers, as never before, to engage the composer directly.Most of the German, Latin and Italian documents included in this
volume appear for the first time in English translation. A number of these texts have not even been printed in their original language. Dedications and prefaces of his printed music, letters and memoranda,
poetry and petitions, travel passes and contracts, all offer immediate and unabridged access to the composer's life. To habituate the reader ever more in Schütz's world, the entries are richly annotated with biographical detail; clarifications of professional relationships and ancestral lines; information on geographic regions, domains, cities, courts and institutions; and references to biblical, classical and contemporary literary sources. Johnston opens a door for
researchers and scholars across a broad range of disciplines, and at the same time provides an historical complement and literary companion for anyone who has come to appreciate the beauty of Schütz's music.
Table of Contents:
Contents
Acknowledgements
Bibliographical abbreviations
Illustrations
Youth and Early Manhood (1611-27)
1. Il primo libro de madrigali (Venice, 1611) (Original language: Italian)
2. Johann Georg I, Elector of Saxony, to Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (27.08.1614)
3. Johann Georg I to Moritz of Hesse-Kassel (25.04.1615)
4. Moritz of Hesse-Kassel to Johann Georg I (27.04.1615)
5. Schütz to Christoph von Loss, Privy Councillor and Marshal of the Court (23.09.1616); Johann Georg I's reply (30.09.1616)
6. Moritz of Hesse-Kassel to Johann Georg I (01.12.1616)
7. Christoph von Loss to Johann Georg I (11.12.1616)
8. Johann Georg I to Moritz of Hesse-Kassel (13.12.1616)
9. Schütz to Moritz of Hesse-Kassel (16.12.1616)
10. Moritz of Hesse-Kassel to Heinrich Schütz (23.12.1616)
11. Dresden Court to Schütz (07.1617)
12. Schütz to Heinrich Posthumus Reuss (09.12.1617)
13. Schütz to Johann Georg I (15.04.1618)
14. Moritz of Hesse-Kassel to Johann Georg I (11.01.1619)
15. Johann Georg I to Moritz of Hesse-Kassel (25.01.1619)
16. Psalmen Davids (Dresden, 1619): title page and dedication (01.06.1619)
17. Psalmen Davids (Dresden, 1619): title page of the Basso Continuo and preface (01.06.1619)
18. Schütz to the City Council of Frankfurt am Main (17.07.1619)
19. Schütz's poem on the occasion of Georg Schütz's wedding (09.08.1619)
20. Schütz to Ludwig Wilhelm Moser, Court Chamber Secretary (03.07.1621)
21. Schütz's text to Syncharma musicum (03.11.1621) (Original language: Latin)
22. Schütz's text to Teutoniam dudum belli (03.11.1621) (Original language: Latin)
23. Historia der Auferstehung (Dresden, 1623): title page and preface (25.03.1623)
24. Schütz to Wilhelm Ludwig Moser (25.05.1624)
25. Schütz to Wilhelm Ludwig Moser (30.12.1624)
26. Cantiones sacrae (Freiberg, 1625): title page and dedication (01.01.1625) (Original language: Latin)
27. Cantiones sacrae (Freiberg, 1625): foreword to the reader (Original language: Latin)
28. Schütz to the attention of Johann Georg I (before 17.03.1625)
29. Schütz to Johann Georg I (28.03.1625)
30. Dresden Court Musicians to Johann Georg I (11.06.1625)
31. Schütz to Johann Georg I (22.09.1626)
32. Schütz to Johann Georg I (09.05.1627)
33. Schütz to the Dresden Court (after 26.05.1627)
34. Schütz to Johann Georg I (02.08.1627)
35. Schütz to the Dresden Court (?09.1627)
36. Da pacem, Domine for the Electoral Assembly in Mühlhausen (04.10 to 05.11.1627): dedication and performance instructions (Original language: Latin and German)
37. Schütz to an Unnamed Person (October/November, 1627)
38. Johann Georg I to Johann Sautor, Court Chamberlain (15.11.1627)
39. Johann Sautor to Johann Georg I (11.12.1627)
40. Johann Georg I to Johann Sautor (18.12.1627)
Middle Age (1628-44)
41. Schütz to Georg Pflugk, Marshal of the Palace (early 1628)
42. Dresden Court Musicians directed to Johann Georg I (Palm Sunday, 06.04.1628 [Julian Calendar])
43. Schütz to Johann Georg I (22.04.1628)
44. Schütz to Johann Georg I (10.07.1628)
45. Schütz to Georg Pflugk (14.07.1628)
46. Schütz to Johann Georg I (03.11.1628)
47. Becker Psalter (Freiberg, 1628): title page and dedication to Electress Hedwig, Duchess of Saxony (06.09.1627)
48. Becker Psalter (Freiberg, 1628): preface to the reader
49. Becker Psalter (Freiberg, 1628): two memoranda to the reader
50. Schütz to Johann Georg I (29.06.1629)
51. Symphoniae sacrae I (Venice, 1629): title page and dedication to Johann Georg II, Electoral Prince of Saxony (19.08.1629) (Original language: Latin)
52. Schütz to Johann Georg I (24.08.1629)
53. Excerpt from Philipp Hainhofer's travelogue (27.10.1629)
54. Schütz to Georg Pflugk (late 1629)
55. Schütz to the Dresden Court (late 1629 or early 1630)
56. Schütz to Johann Georg I (22.04.1630)
57. Schütz directed to Johann Georg I (mid 1630?)
58. Schütz's elegy on the death Johann Hermann Schein (DR19.11.1630) (Original language: Latin)
59. Schütz to the Dresden Court (presumably 01.1631)
60. Schütz to the Dresden Court (presumably 01.1631)
61. Schütz to Georg Pflugk (28.02.1631)
62. Schütz to Philipp Hainhofer (23.04.1632)
63. Schütz to Friedrich Lebzelter (6/16.02.1633)
64. Schütz directed to Johann Georg I (09.02.1633)
65. Friedrich Lebzelter to Christian (V), Prince-Elect of Denmark (15.02.1633)
66. Friedrich Lebzelter to Christian (V), Prince-Elect of Denmark (13.11.1633)
67. Memorandum regarding preparations for Schütz's appointment to the Danish Court (late 1633)
68. Schütz's entry in Joachim Morsius' Stammbuch (21.01.1634) (Original language: Latin)
69. Zacharias Hestius to Johann Georg I (23.04.1634)
70. Christian IV, King of Denmark, to Johann Georg I (25.05.1635)
71. Danish travel pass issued to Schütz (25.05.1635)
72. Musicalische Exequien (Dresden, 1636): title page and dedication
73. Musicalische Exequien (Dresden, 1636): elegy on the death of Heinrich Posthumus Reuss
74. Musicalische Exequien (Dresden, 1636): memoranda and instructions for performance
75. Schütz to Johann Georg I (09.08.1636)
76. Schütz to the Dresden Court (after 09.08.1636)
77. Kleine Geistliche Konzerte I (Leipzig, 1636): title page and dedication (29.09.1636)
78. Schütz directed to Georg Pflugk (01.02.1637)
79. Printing patent granted Schütz by Emperor Ferdinand III (03.04.1637)
80. Danish travel pass intended for Schütz (16-31.03.1639)
81. Kleine Geistliche Konzerte II (Dresden, 1639): title page and dedication to Friedrich III, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp (02.06.1639)
82. Court Musicians to the Court Privy Councilor (21.10.1640)
83. Schütz to Johann Georg I (07.03.1641)
84. Schütz to Johann Georg II, Electoral Prince of Saxony (14.09.1641)
85. Heinrich Schütz to Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (25 April 1642)
86. Schütz's second appointment to the Royal Danish Court (03.05.1642)
87. Schütz to the Dresden Court (15.07.1642)
88. Schütz to Sophie Elisabeth, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg (22.10.1644)
Old Age (1645-56)
89. Schütz to the Wolfenbüttel Court (early 1645)
90. Schütz to Sophie Elisabeth of Brunswick-Lüneburg (17.03.1645)
91. Schütz directed to Johann Georg I (21.05.1645)
92. Schütz directed to Johann Georg I (28.09.1645)
93. Johann Klemm to Johann Samuel Schein (09.03.1646)
94. Schütz to the Dresden Court (24 May 1646)
95. Schütz directed to Jacob Weller, Senior Court Chaplain (30.07.1646)
96. Schütz to Christian Schirmer (07.09.1646) (Original Language: Latin)
97. Heinrich II Reuss to Schütz (22.10.1646)
98. Schütz to Martin Knabe (30.10.1646)
99. Bautzen Town Council to Schütz (05.03.1647)
100. Schütz to the Bautzen Town Council (14.03.1647)
101. Bautzen Town Council to Schütz (11.04.1647)
102. Schütz to the Bautzen Town Council (28.04.1647)
103. Symphoniae sacrae II (Dresden, 1647): title page and dedication (01.05.1647)
104. Symphoniae sacrae II (Dresden, 1647): preface to the reader
105. Symphoniae sacrae II (1647): appended list of published works to date
106. Schütz directed to Johann Georg I (between 20 June and 22 July 1647)
107. Schütz to Christian Reichbrodt, Privy Chamber Secretary (21.09.1647)
108. Johann Georg II to Johann Georg I (29.09.1647)
109. Schütz to August, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels (28.12.1647)
110. Schütz to Wilhelm IV, Duke of Saxe-Weimar (6 January 1648)
111. August of Saxe-Weissenfels to Schütz (18.01.1648)
112. Schütz to Unnamed Recipient (early 1648) (Original language: Latin)
113. Johann Georg II to Giovanni Sansoni (29.03.1648) (Original Language: Italian)
114. Geistliche Chormusik (Dresden, 1648): title page and dedication (21.04.1648)
115. Geistliche Chormusik (Dresden, 1648): preface
116. Schütz to the Dresden Court (07.07.1648)
117. Alexander Hering to the Bautzen Town Council (30.08.1648)
118. Johann Georg Hofkontz to Johann Georg I (16.05.1649)
119. Heinrich Schütz to Burkard Berlich (03.07.1649)
120. Schütz to Heinrich von Taube, Marshal of the Court (between 12.1649 and 02.1650)
121. Schütz to the Dresden Court (11.02.1650)
122. Symphoniae sacrae III (Dresden, 1650): title page and dedication (29.09.1650)
123. Symphoniae sacrae III (Dresden, 1650): preface from the Bassus pro Violone und Bassus ad Organum
124. Symphoniae sacrae III (Dresden, 1650): appendix to the Basso Continuo
125. Schütz to Johann Georg I (14.01.1651)
126. Schütz directed to the Dresden Court (21.02.1651)
127. Schütz to Christian Reichbrodt (11.04.1651)
128. Schütz and Johann Georg Hofkontz to Christian, Duke of Saxony (14.08.1651)
129. Schütz to Christian Reichbrodt (19.08.1651)
130. Schütz to Christian Reichbrodt (04.02.1652)
131. Schütz to Christian Reichbrodt (28.05.1652)
132. Schütz to Heinrich von Taube (26.06.1652)
133. Schütz to Heinrich II Reuss (16.06.1653)
134. Schütz's endorsement of Caspar Ziegler's Von den Madrigalen (1653/1685) (11.08.1653)
135. Schütz to Heinrich von Taube, Jacob Weller and Christian Reichbrodt (21.08.1653)
136. Schütz to Johann Georg I (21.08.1653)
137. Schütz to Johann Georg II (21.08.1653)
138. Schütz to Johann Georg I (21.09.1653)
139. Schütz to the Dresden Court (undated, probably 1653 or 1654)
140. Schütz Johann Georg I (29.05.1655)
141. Sophie Elisabeth of Brunswick Lüneburg to Schütz (22.06.1655)
142. Schütz to Johann Georg I (21.07.1655)
143. Schütz to Sophie Elisabeth of Brunswick-Lüneburg (24.07.1655)
144. Schütz's contract as Kapellmeister in Wolfenbüttel in absentia (23.08.1655)
145. Sophie Elisabeth of Brunswick-Lüneburg to Schütz (10.11.1655)
146. Schütz to Sophie Elisabeth of Brunswick-Lüneburg (27.11.1655)
Last Years (1657-72)
147. Zwölff Geistliche Gesänge (Dresden, 1657): title page and Christoph Kittel's preface
148. Zwölff Geistliche Gesänge (Dresden, 1657): memorandum Nr. 1 in the Basso Continuo partbook
149. Zwölff Geistliche Gesänge (Dresden, 1657): memorandum Nr. 2 in the Basso Continuo partbook
150. Schütz's appraisal of Constantin Christian Dedekind's Aelbianische Musenlust (Dresden, 1657) (21.09.1657)
151. Johann Jacob Löwe von Eisenach to Schütz (5 May 1660)
152. Schütz to August the Younger, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (10.04.1661)
153. Becker Psalter, 2nd edition (Dresden, 1661): title page and preface to the reader
154. Becker Psalter, 2nd edition (Dresden, 1661): Schütz's remarks in the Basso Continuo partbook
155. Becker Psalter, 2nd edition (Dresden, 1661): Schütz's afterword to organists in the Basso Continuo partbook
156. Schütz's receipt for payment from the Wolfenbüttel Court (21.05.1663)
157. Heinrich Schütz to the Zeitz Court (14.07.1663)
158. Heinrich Schütz to Moritz, Duke of Saxe-Zeitz (29.09.1663)
159. Catalogue of Schütz's published works sent to Wolfenbüttel (? 09.1663)
160. Schütz to August of Brunswick-Lüneburg (10.01.1664)
161. Historia von der Geburt Jesu Christi (Dresden, 1664): title page and memorandum to the reader
162. Schütz directed to Johann Georg II (03.05.1666)
163. Schütz to the Superintendent at Zeitz (after 1667)
164. Schütz to Christoph Bernhard (1670)
165. Constantin Christian Dedekind's poem commemorating the completion of Schütz's tomb (2 September 1670)
166. Schwanengesang (1671): proposed title page of Schütz's unpublished setting of Psalm 119
167. Schütz's curriculum vitae written by Martin Geier for the composer's funeral (17.11.1672)
168. Christoph Bernhard's rhymed Psalm 150 from the Geistreiches Gesang-Buch (Dresden, 1676)
169. Genealogy of the Schütz Family (1761)
Glossary
Bibliography
About the Author :
Gregory S. Johnston is Associate Professor of Musicology at the University of Toronto.
Review :
"Gregory Johnston translates 169 documents by or about Schutz in an attractive volume
suitable for scholars, performers, and students... Johnston's annotations, which appear in footnotes, provide much-needed contextual information to situate the documents in their religious, political, economic, and social settings... The quality of the translations, Johnston's adherence to stylistic principles of the seventeenth century, and his rich annotations help draw in students, performers, and scholars from disciplines of history, art history, Germanic studies, cultural history, and
religious studies." --Renaissance Quarterly
"An excellent insight into what Schütz achieved...An invaluable source for (specialist) researchers...Read it and you are more than likely to want to revisit his music; and in so doing get more from it than previously. Musicologically, A Heinrich Schütz Reader is a technical success. But its scope is sufficiently wide for the book to be both relevant and appealing to many constituencies other than musicologists." --ClassicalNet
"[An] immense amount of painstaking research that has gone into the book... The texts are equipped with helpful and detailed notes, explaining unusual terms and biblical references, giving information about the correspondents and other figures referred to, and clearing up matters of dating." --Daphnis
"[W]ill serve readers of English and the many admirers of [Schütz's] music very well." --Musical Times
"Gregory Johnston has produced a powerful companion to all interested in Heinrich Schütz, 17th-century music, and life at court. The breadth of material presented and the quality of the translation make this an indispensable addition to the library of the Baroque enthusiast, performer, or musicologist." --Early Music America
"Johnston's central contribution stands as editor of the largest collection of documents by or about Schütz in English. This alone makes the volume a constant companion of scholars of seventeenth-century German music and Baroque culture. The quality of the translations, Johnston>'s adherence to stylistic principles of the seventeenth century, and his rich annotations help draw in students, performers, and scholars from disciplines of history, art
history, Germanic studies, cultural history, and religious studies." --Renaissance Quarterly
"Beautifully produced...A welcome and superb resource dedicated to a great composer who deserves to be far better known. It would be of real interest to the scholar, musicologist, student, those interested in cultural, social, and church history and to all lovers of Baroque music." --American Organist
"[T]he most comprehensive collection of Schütz documents to date... Recommended." --Choice
"Gregory S. Johnston's A Heinrich Schütz Reader makes a significant contribution to
those interested in the world of seventeenth century music and culture. No library or serious student of Schütz's music should be without it." --Fontes Artis Musicae
"[Johnston] assembles a very important corpus of texts on Schütz that are not only well translated, but also beautifully presented, clearly referenced, and amply commented. In making [this material] available, Johnston has no doubt fully met the objectives he has set himself. This book has already proven to be an invaluable research tool for specialists of seventeenth-century music; without a doubt, it will also become a reference work for a much larger
readership, especially for musicians, historians, and literary scholars."--Revue de Musicologie
