israelis brünnlein

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israelis brünnlein - looks can be deceiving

The splendour of Johann Sebastian Bach’s musical heritage has obscured the work of many of his predecessors and contemporaries. Johann Hermann Schein (1586-1630), the most illustrious Thomaskantor of Leipzig before Bach, additionally suffered (and still does) in the shadow of his famous peer Heinrich Schütz. However, Schein’s music deserves to be rescued from this double eclipse: his work is among the best of the early Baroque period in Germany.

In seventeenth-century Germany, composers of religious vocal music were attracted by a force field of two poles: the voice of their religious leader, Martin Luther, and the artistic calling of their Italian counterparts. While Luther considered music to be a gift from God capable of stirring human emotions, and therefore encouraged composition, music making, listening and singing to spread the word of God, the motto on the other side of the Alps was “Prima le parole!” In the case of Monteverdi and his colleagues, the word prevailed over the music. Almost all the theorists, composers and musicians agreed: complex counterpoint had to make way for a more transparent texture in which lyrical expression, rhetoric and affect were able to thrive. The madrigal, with its worldly, often poetic lyrics in Italian, drenched in longing, heartache and amorous euphoria, was one of the preferred vehicles of this ‘seconda prattica’. Where Baroque Italy and Protestant Germany met, the musical premise emerged from which Heinrich Schütz and Johann Hermann Schein - born just four months later and 80 kilometres away - shaped their artistic universe.

Schein’s earliest musical education was as a choirboy in the Saxony court chapel in Dresden, and it continued in Schulpforta. As a young man, he seemed destined for a career in law, but ultimately he chose the path of music. Schein occupied a number of musical roles (including that of court conductor in Weimar), but took on a key position in 1616, when he acquired the role of cantor at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. He was to occupy this prestigious office until the end of his life around 14 years later. Unlike Schütz, Schein never went to Italy to explore or study its musical innovations. However, an encounter with Schütz, recently returned from his study trip to Venice, did provide a considerable injection of Italian novelty into his musical idiom, such as the concertato style and the basso continuo.

Schein’s œuvre consists largely of vocal compositions, both spiritual and secular. They were compiled in nine comprehensive publications - some intended for worship, others for secular occasions - which were published between 1618 and 1628. They include his first collection of religious concertos with basso continuo (Opella nova… auff italienische Invention componirt), the Musica boscareccia…auff italian-villanellische Invention anthology and the Fontana d’Israel / Israelis Brünnlein - Auf eine sonderbar Anmutige Italianisch Madrigalische Manier collection. Schein felt no urge whatsoever to conceal his Italian inspiration: on the contrary, music ‘nach Italienischen gusto’ was so popular among experts and aficionados that the use of Italian references had become a commercial strategy.

To Schein, however, this was not a cynical sales pitch, as Israelis Brünnlein (Leipzig, 1623) effectively illustrates. In this collection, the composer achieves a very successful marriage between German ‘Spruchmotet’ and Italian madrigal, between lyrical expression and compositional mastery, and between lyrical vision and inventiveness. All but one of the songs are set for five voices (two sopranos, alto, tenor and bass, often divided into two groups) and a basso seguente. The latter is not strictly necessary - he simply doubles the lowest part, adding no new material - and can be deployed according to discretion.

In this collection, Schein explores all the possibilities of the madrigal structure, albeit with German rather than Italian lyrics. They originate, as the title indicates - from the ‘source of Israel’: the Jewish Bible, or the Old Testament. However, this is only partly the case: out of the 26 Krafft-sprüchlein, 23 are from the Old Testament, one is from the New Testament and two lyrics were written by Schein himself. The use of religious lyrics is no excuse for a superficial or one-dimensional approach: Schein’s settings are lyrically and emotionally committed and translate existential fear, reverence and praise for the Supreme Being, as well as the unbridled joy of the believer. One can undoubtedly relate this to the context in which the compositions were used: many of them were composed for the weddings or funerals (“fürfallenden occasionen”, as the title page states) of prominent citizens of Leipzig, and were therefore less intimate than compositions for a broader liturgical purpose.

Schein was keen to use the contents of the Baroque toolbox: rhetorical-syntactical reference points in the lyrics are deployed to structure the musical fabric from inside out, while verses, words, syllables and accents set the tempo and rhythm. The narrative content or underlying meaning of the lyrics affects in turn the melodic development (which flaunts unusual intervals at strategic points), the harmonic structure (with measured use of dissonants), the colour and ambiance of the songs. Therefore, Schein goes deeply into lyrical expression without pursuing extreme emotional registers or throwing the current musical idiom overboard: he does not forget the rules of composition but sets them to work on behalf of the lyric. “Prima le parole” indeed, though Schein clearly speaks ‘with two words’: excessively direct messages, eccentric word paintings and shocking contrasts are not part of his vocabulary. In this way, he creates entirely his own fusion of Italian form and Lutheran content.

The musical result is still powerful, captivating and touching. For that reason alone, Israelis Brünnlein deserves the status of masterpiece, and - rather than an attitude of looking backwards from Bach - an hour of our undivided listening attention.

text: Sofie Taes

Full programme

Johann Hermann Schein (1586-1630)

Israelis Brünnlein - Geistliche Madrigale zu 5 & 6 Stimmen und Generalbass

1. Herr, ich bin dein Knecht
2. Freue dich des Weibes deiner Jugend
3. Die mit Tränen säen
4. Ich lasse dich nicht
5. Dennoch bleibe ich stets an dir
6. Wende dich, Herr, und sei mir gnädig
7. Zion spricht: Der Herr hat mich verlassen
interludium (orgel solo)
8. Da Jakob vollendet hatte
9. Lieblich und schöne sein ist nichts
10. Ist nicht Ephraïm mein teurer Sohn
11. Ich freue mich im Herren
12. Herr, laß meine Klage
13. Siehe, nach Trost war mir sehr bange
interludium (luit solo)
14. Ach Herr, ach meine schone
15. Was betrübst du dich, meiner Seele
16. O, Herr Jesu Christe
17. Lehre uns bedenken