Heinrich Schütz

Heinrich Schütz was the most towering German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach. Sent to Venice by the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, Schütz studied with Giovanni Gabrieli, absorbing the dazzling Venetian polychoral style. He served as Kapellmeister to the Elector of Saxony in Dresden for over five decades.

Despite the catastrophic destruction, depopulation, and financial collapse of the Thirty Years' War, Schütz adapted heroically—moving from grand Venetian brass-and-choir spectacles in 'Psalmen Davids' (1619) to austere, emotionally charged chamber motets in 'Kleine geistliche Konzerte'. His synthesis of Italian dramatic word-painting and German sacred text forged the German Baroque aesthetic.