Schütz – A German in Venice

Works by Schutz, Cavalli et al

David de Winter (tenor); The Brook Street Band

First Hand FHR145 82:44 mins

Here is a wellthought-out programme. Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) first visited Venice in about 1609, and again in the late 1620s. Travel was important to him, geographically and intellectually. What David de Winter and the Brook Street Band have assembled is a musical sequence reflecting the influence of Italian, and more specifically Venetian style on Schütz. His music provides the recording’s leitmotif, with pieces by Monteverdi, Salamone Rossi, Giovanni Felice Sances, Cavalli and Grandi offering contrasts in colour, rhetoric and declamation.

All but one of the Schütz pieces come from his Symphoniae sacrae collections I and II, published in 1629 and 1647 respectively. While the earlier contained settings of Latin texts, the second features texts in German. Italian and central German traditions are frequently united, as in the ‘Lobet den Herrn’ with which de Winter begins his recital. From among a rich variety of solo vocal items, Cavalli’s ‘O quam suavis’, from his Motetti a voce solo (1645), charms our senses while the Stabat Mater of Sances is arresting for its chromaticism over a tetrachord ostinato bass. Two trio sonatas by the Jewish composer Salamone Rossi provide a beguiling distraction from the programme’s principal fare. The clearly defined and lively articulation of the Brook Street Band inform the music with irresistible allure. I hope these musicians will make further incursions into this neglected area of repertoire.

David de Winter sings with careful attention to texts, some of which, like Schütz’s setting of Psalm 8, offer scope for descriptive declamation. While his intonation is impeccable, I sometimes found his forte passages a little hard-edged and unyielding. In addition to his accomplished singing, de Winter has contributed an elegantly written essay.

PERFORMANCE ★★★★

RECORDING ★★★★★