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This is the 52nd chorale message I have sent out. I got the idea a few weeks after the first shutdown, and sent out one of the most comforting chorales I know (and Lord knows we needed comfort at that time):
'Ich steh an deiner Krippen hier', from the sixth cantata of Bach's Christmas Oratorio.

Oddly, that simple but moving tune, called 'Nun freut euch lieben Christen g'mein', happens to feature in today's anniversary post. We're looking at the first movement of Heinrich Schütz's 'Musikalische Exequien' ('Musical Requiem'), which he wrote in 1735 for the burial service of his employer, patron, friend and musical colleague, Heinrich the Second (called Posthumus), Count of Reuss-Gera.

I like to call this movement 'The Omnibus of Chorales', for it incorporates eight chorale settings of six of my favorite chorale melodies (two are repeated). All of these chorales have been subjects of our Wednesday Chorale
​series over the past year.

The story is well-known (in early-music circles, anyway), but some of you may not have heard it, or perhaps the details have slipped your mind. In the last few years and months of the prince's life, he was much involved with the design of his own tomb and sarcophagus, apparently desiring to be surrounded in eternity by many of his favorite Biblical passages and chorale verses. As part of this project, he involved Schütz in selecting the texts, with a view to creating an absolutely unique and personal musical requiem featuring these very same passages.

And all of this came about.

Attached, you will find a photo of Heinrich's sarcophagus, along with a schematic diagram indicating the specific passages engraved thereupon. The numbers refer to the order of the scriptural passages and chorale verses as they appear in the first movement of the Musikalische Exequien. It's really a remarkable thing, a fusing of ancient and 16th- and 17th-century texts depicting a personal outlook upon eternity, all integrated into a lucid and moving musical structure which includes, oratorio-style, both free compositions and chorale settings.


I have created a special chorales-only version of the piece, and I recommend that you begin here. Attached is a score, an edited recording and a text-translation sheet including only the eight chorales. I think you'll enjoy Schütz's imaginative and super-expressive settings of these remarkable melodies. In fact, I think that this 'omnibus' works remarkably well as an autonomous piece--the pieces flow together quite smoothly--who knows, perhaps a performance of the suite is in our future--

(Or, of course, of the entire work.)

After soaking in those chorales for a while, click here to download a zip file containing a score of the whole movement (with chorales clearly indicated), a complete recording, and a complete text-translation sheet with those key numbers indicating each passage's position on the sarcophagus.

I think you'll love it. And I think you'll notice something remarkable: The music is in no way depressing. In fact, quite the opposite. There are certainly serious passages; but I know of no piece which is more uplifting, more optimistic, and yes, more comforting.

Thank you so much for coming along on this year-long (and counting) exploration! It's been an honor and a pleasure and actually a sort of therapy for me. I hope these great pieces have brought a measure of balm to your souls. Looking forward to more.
Click here to download learning materials
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