Heinrich Schütz : a review of his life, a survey of his music, and an analysis of his "Trauermusiken"
Date
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
This thesis seeks to review the life of Heinrich Schütz, to survey the collections which he published in his lifetime, and to discuss and analyze the texts and the music of the occasional "Trauermusiken"-—that is, those works which Schütz composed for the funerals of specific individuals. The life and the music of Schütz are discussed with the objective of synthesizing pertinent information not available in any other single source—information about musical and political figures, the times, and the stylistic trends in the music of the age. The ten occasional "Trauermusiken" are analyzed because this small portion of Schütz total output spans a period of thirty-five years and includes many diverse stylistic elements. The texts show Schütz orthodox Lutheran theology. An analysis of the aural, harmonic, melodic, rhythmic, and formal saliencies of the music and of the influence of the text upon the music reveals a general homogeneity of style with the total output of Schütz.