On this page The textPlainchant settingAnglican chant settingDixit Dominus, by Orlande de Lassus (1532-1594)Dixit Dominus, by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)Der Herr spracht zu meinem Herren, by Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672)Dixit Dominus, by Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)Dixit Dominus, by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)Dixit Dominus, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) The text from the Psalter in The Book of Common Prayer (1928),pointed for singing in Sarum chant Psalm 110. Dixit Dominus1 The LORD said • unto my Lord, * Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine ene•mies thy footstool.2 The LORD shall send the rod of thy power • out of Sion: * be thou ruler, even in the midst a•mong thine…
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Psalm 110.
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Saul on the Road to Damascus, Part 3
The week before last, I introduced readers to Heinrich Schütz’s Saul, Saul, was verfolgst du mich? (SWV 415). This short work presents the moment when the words of Jesus come to Saul, the initial phase of his conversion. Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It will be hard for you to kick against the thorns. Calvin Stapert (whose books on various musical topics I often cite) wrote to share with me some comments on how Schütz constructed this short work. With Stapert’s permission, I’ve posted his comments below. First, here is another recording of Saul, Saul, was verfolgst du mich? featuring the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists, conducted…
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Schütz: Baroque before Bach
by Ken Myers [This article originally appeared in the September/October 2015 issue of Touchstone magazine.] Exactly one hundred years before the birth of Johann Sebastian Bach in 1685, his greatest German predecessor was born in Köstritz, a small town in what is now Saxony. Heinrich Schütz was arguably the greatest German composer before Bach, the first German composer to enjoy an international reputation. Unlike Bach’s extensive clan, the Schütz family was more involved in commerce and civil service than music. Heinrich’s father, Christoph, eventually became mayor of nearby Weißenfels, but he worked as an innkeeper in that town when Heinrich was a boy. It was there that Heinrich’s natural musical talent…