Schütz - Musikalische Exequien / Mellon · de Reyghere · Zanetti · Crook · Fouchécourt · Lamy · Machart · Kooy · Lika · La Chappelle Royale · Herreweghe [Import]

Heinrich Schutz (Artist), Philippe Herreweghe (Artist), Agnès Mellon (Artist), Greta de Reyghere (Artist), La Chapelle Royale (Artist), Howard Crook (Artist), Jean-Paul Fouchécourt (Artist), Hervé Lamy (Artist), Renaud Machart (Artist), Peter Kooy (Artist), Peter Lika (Artist), Monique Zanetti (Artist), Jan Willem Jansen (Artist), Konrad Junghänel (Artist), Jonathan Cable (Artist), Josep Benet (Artist), Han de Vries (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 14, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Harmonia Mundi, U.S.A.
• ASIN: B00000076P
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #672,481 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Musikalische Exequien (Funeral Music), for double chorus & continuo, SWV 279-281 (Op. 7): I. Concert in the form of the burial Mass

2. Musikalische Exequien (Funeral Music), for double chorus & continuo, SWV 279-281 (Op. 7): II. Motette 'Herr, wenn ich nur Dich habe'

3. Musikalische Exequien (Funeral Music), for double chorus & continuo, SWV 279-281 (Op. 7): III. Canticum B, Simeonis 'Herr, nun lässes

4. Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, motet for soprano, alto, 2 tenors, bass & continuo, SWV 380 (Op. 11/12)

5. Selig sind die Toten, motet for 2 sopranos, alto, 2 tenors, bass & continuo, SWV 391 (Op. 11/23)

6. So fahr ich hin zu Jesu Christ, motet for 2 sopranos, alto, tenor, bass & continuo, SWV 379 (Op. 11/11)

7. Ich bin die Auferstehung, for 2 tenors or sopranos, bass & continuo, SWV 324 (Op. 9/19)

8. O lieber Herre Gott, wecke uns auf, for 2 sopranos & continuo (2 versions), SWV 287 (Op. 8/6)

9. Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes, motet for 2 sopranos, alto, 2 tenors, bass & continuo, SWV 386 (Op. 11/18)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautifully nuanced performance, March 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Schütz - Musikalische Exequien / Mellon · de Reyghere · Zanetti · Crook · Fouchécourt · Lamy · Machart · Kooy · Lika · La Chappelle Royale · Herreweghe (Audio CD)

Somebody from Houston, TX, below, gives this recording three stars because of the very characteristic which, in my eyes, makes this recording so wonderful. Buy this disc and judge for yourself which one of us has it right. My Texan friend doesn't like the one-voice-per-part approach taken by Herreweghe on this disc. I, on the other hand, happen to prefer a small chorus composed mainly of the soloists themselves to a large, more impersonal, chorus. Moreover, small "choruses" formed by the soloists singing together were very common at the time most of baroque music was written. In fact, a large free-standing chorus was a rarity. When Handel sometimes employed such choruses, it was newsworthy enough to be reported in newspapers. So Herreweghe here is simply following the authentic performance tradition. There are still people who object to the whole practice of period performance. They are entitled to their view, but many of us are very thankful to conductors like Herreweghe for bringing baroque music to us in its original guise. This is a wonderful recording. In addition to Musicalische Exequien, it contains several motets and mini-cantatas from Geistliche Chormusic and Kleine Geistliche Concerte. Herreweghe recently revisited some of these pieces with Collegium Vocale (the CD is entitled Geistliche Chormusic). By the way, my Texan friend might like this second version of Geistliche Chormusic better: it is based on choral singing, and it is some of the most nuanced and spiritual choral singing there can be. I suggest that you buy both of these recordings. Only three motets overlap (SWV379, SWV391 and SWV386). One of them, SWV379 (So fahr ich hin zu Jesu Christ) is so preternaturally beautiful that you will want to own as many versions of it as you can. The soloists on the Geistliche Chormusic CD are Agnes Mellon, Mark Padmore and Peter Kooy. All of them have been performing Schutz's music for years. Combined with Herreweghe's, their collective insight into Schutz's music resulted in a truly outstanding recording. I have recently come by another Schutz recording which I greatly enjoyed: Schutz's Lamenti & Concerti (Musicalische Compagney). I think the group is now defunct, but back in the mid-80's they used to have some pretty impressive vocal group: Padmore, Cordier, Ragin and van der Kamp. Definitely buy it if you find it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine performance of beautiful works, November 17, 2007

By 

Caterina Sforza (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Schütz - Musikalische Exequien / Mellon · de Reyghere · Zanetti · Crook · Fouchécourt · Lamy · Machart · Kooy · Lika · La Chappelle Royale · Herreweghe (Audio CD)

These are sensitive, nuanced performances of wonderful pieces-- but they are not my favorite. These seem just a bit languid to me, compared with John Eliot Gardiner -- my preference is for his more rhythmically driven interpretation. But that's just my preference. These are beautiful realizations of this not-well-known-enough music.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Espiritualidad, patriotismo y sensibilidad: todo en uno, May 1, 2004

By 

Don Rafael de Domínguez y Hernández (Mexican Central America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Schütz - Musikalische Exequien / Mellon · de Reyghere · Zanetti · Crook · Fouchécourt · Lamy · Machart · Kooy · Lika · La Chappelle Royale · Herreweghe (Audio CD)

Esta breve antología a la obra de Schutz con gran maestría unifica la más pura y elevada espiritualidad teutónica cristiana, los más vivos y exaltados sentimientos patrios alemanes, y la sensibilidad extrema, lírica y estética propia de los más grandes maestros de la música.