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    • 2022-23 Educational Events >
      • BachTalks
      • Saturday Sings!
    • 2022-23 Virtual Offerings >
      • The Choir Loft >
        • Feb. 5 - Winter's Chill - Dianna Morgan
        • Feb. 12 - The Heirs of Bach: Charles Ives - Steve Osborn
        • March 12 - The Heirs of Bach: Hugo Distler - Steve Osborn
      • Repertoire Exploration Projects
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  • Who we are and What we do
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    • Sonoma Bach Choir
    • Circa 1600
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Feritevi by Heinrich Schütz
Yup, the madrigal didn't just go north to England; it (and its descendants) spread around Europe
like peanut butter and jelly on bread.

Plus northerners went down to Italy to learn and feast on Italian style (and, no doubt, food, weather, sun, scenery, ah! la bella vita). One of the composers who made this journey was Heinrich Schütz, who as a very young man lived in and around Venice for a few years, and his first volume of music was published there: A book of madrigals.

And what a book! The young composer had clearly steeped himself in not only the Italian musical style but also the Italian language. Choosing some of the finest and most popular lyric poetry, he made incredibly creative and expressive music to match, ranging from the joyous to the truly tragic, from the small vignette to large multi-madrigal scenes.

Our madrigal today, 'Feritevi' is (as always) one of my favorites. It's the ultimate 'Make love not war' piece. It begins in the style later codified by Monteverdi as the 'stile guerriero', a very powerful, active, agitated texture, as the narrator urges the combatants on; but then the music softens with a rhetorical turn by which we realize that this is not really a battle; it's the old game of love, waged with tongues and lips and...well...you know...

It's a real romp, and a reading and singing (and Italian!) challenge worthy of your mettle. Or just listen along with the music and translation and enjoy this great piece!
Click here to download learning materials
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