Heinrich Schütz, Concerto Palatino & Collegium Vocale Gent, Philippe Herreweghe - Opus Ultimum: Schwanengesang
STYLE: Choral RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 168262- LABEL: Harmonia Mundi Gold HMG501895 FORMAT: CD Album ITEMS: 2
Reviewed by Steven Whitehead
There are some good stories behind Heinrich Schütz's 'Opus Ultimum" or, if you prefer, 'Last Works'. He was born in 1585 and achieved fame as both organist and composer while living through the turbulent times of the Thirty Years War. By the early 1660s Schütz's prestige was in decline and, sidelined in the Dresden Court, he started to prepare for his death. His last great project was to set all 176 verses of Psalm 119, the longest Psalm and thus the longest chapter in the Bible, to music. 10 years later, this 'Opus Ultimum' had assumed the form of 11 motets for double choir. Since the manuscripts were dispersed after his death, it was to be another three centuries before the work was reconstructed before being lost again in the upheavals of the Second World War before being found once more and, finally, committed to tape. Philippe Herreweghe with Concerto Palatino and Collegium Vocale Gent recorded Schütz's 'Swansong' in 2007 to great acclaim and in 2017 it was re-issued in the Harmonia Mundi Gold budget series. The musicianship is first rate and any listener who enjoys baroque music will appreciate it. Psalm 119 in all its glory takes just under 70 minutes to perform: too long for a single disc. However we get two bonuses, both by Schütz, with his setting of Psalm 100 and his "Deutsches Magnificat". As is to be expected of an octogenarian, Schütz was looking backwards not forward. Thus in places he re-uses earlier Gregorian chant but in a way that is appropriate for the words he is setting to music. Many would argue that Schütz was the greatest German composer before Bach and this two disc set is certainly good evidence to support his case.
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