From the devastation of Saxony in the Thirty Years War comes this very individual Requiem, first performed at the funeral of the aristocrat Heinrich Posthumus Reuß in 1636. The texts were engraved on his coffin in advance and the Prince, being a keen singer and not wishing to miss his own funeral music, took part in performances of the first part of it during his lifetime.
Along with settings of the Nunc dimittis and Lord's Prayer is the last work Schütz wrote, the celebrated and beautiful Deutsches Magnificat for double choir. .
"Outstanding recording presence. heavenly singing." CLASSIC CD
Five star performance, five star sound.
"The sombre colours of Schutz' moving funeral music are finely brought out in this collection, which also includes several varied smaller settings of standard liturgical texts. The resonant acoustic enhances the inventiveness of the writing. "
BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE JULY 2006