A musician of the early Baroque era, Heinrich Schütz established a link between Renaissance Italy, where he studied, and German culture, of which he was the greatest exponent before J. S. Bach. Born in his father's Golden Crane inn in Köstritz, Thuringia, on October 18, 1585, he grew up after five years in Weissenfels, learning music with local cantor Georg Weber and organist Heinrich Collander. A gifted singer, he was noticed by the sovereign Maurice I of Hesse-Cassel during a visit to the family inn, who offered to further his musical education in his chapel. In 1599, the young Schütz entered the Collegium Mauritianum in Kassel, where he also received a general education. He then left to study law in Marburg, and was thinking of making a career of it when his protector offered him a scholarship to attend the classes of the composer Giovanni Gabrieli in Venice, whose reputation had spread throughout Europe. Arriving in 1609, Schütz assimilated the art of the madrigal and remained in the City of the Doges for four years, after the death of his teacher in 1612. The previous year saw the publication of his Premier Livre de madrigaux à cinq voix. Returning to Germany in 1613, he temporarily resumed his law studies in Leipzig, before being appointed second organist to the Landgrave of Hesse. This marked the start of a rich musical career spanning six decades. At the request of Elector Johann-Georg I of Saxony, he entered the court of Dresden, where in 1617 he was appointed master of the ducal chapel, a highly coveted position he held until his death, in charge of organizing musical life at court and at church, and composing on demand. Barely in office, he wrote a grand ballet to honor the arrival of Emperor Matthias I, the score of which perished in the Electoral Library fire of 1760. In 1619, his marriage to Magdalena Wiedeck, who gave him two daughters, ended six years later with the death of the wife. For the centenary of the Reformation, the musician nicknamed "Sagittarius" composed a Venetian-inspired Latin Magnificat, demonstrating his mastery of polychoral art with instruments. The Psalms of David (1619) are from the same source. His activity increased during the Thirty Years' War, with major works such as the Easter oratorio Histoire de la Résurrection du Christ (1623), innovative in its dramatic expressiveness; the Cantiones Sacrae (1625), forty motets for vocal quartet and organ, where Italian seconda pratica meets German rigor; and the Psalter Becker (1628), a collection of 150 psalms revised in 1661. As for the 1627 opera Dafne, the first of its kind in Germany, created in Torgau for the wedding of one of his employer's daughters, all that survives is the German text by Martin Opitz, inspired by Ottavio Rinuccini's work of the same name. However, the Thirty Years' War had put a severe strain on Saxony's finances, and much to his regret, Schütz saw his musicians suffer first. In November 1628, he returned to Venice to work with Monteverdi on the vocal concertante style. The Symphoniae sacrae I (1629), with its distinctly Italian modernity, dates from this period. Returning to Dresden on a tighter budget, he had to follow a reduced program for several years, prompting him to request a leave of absence to prepare music for the wedding of Johann-Georg's daughter Magdalena-Sybilla of Saxony (bearing the same first name as his mother) to Christian of Denmark. Schütz eventually remained at the Danish court for two years, returning to Dresden only when the war temporarily ended with the Peace of Prague in May 1635. The following year saw the publication of one of his most performed works, Musikalische Exequiem, a set of three motets composed in memory of his friend Lord Henry II of Reuss-Gera, who had commissioned the piece before his death. It was performed by the composer himself on the day of his funeral, February 4, 1636. Before leaving for Denmark, where he was much appreciated and awaited by Prince Christian, Schütz composed the first part of the Petits concerts spirituels, a brilliant and highly expressive piece that was extended in 1639 by a second, equally successful collection, once back in Dresden. Ill for two years, he returned to his post in a situation that had hardly changed since the return from war with Sweden, complaining of lack of work and staff. He made one last visit to Denmark, from 1642 to 1644, where he was appointed Kapellmeister and handed over a handwritten copy of his Symphoniae sacrae II as a token of his thanks. The work, published in 1647, represents a new summit in the synthesis between the Italian vocal school and the Germanic tradition. Despite the lack of funds, the sixty-year-old composer did not give in to weariness and continued to occupy his office, working relentlessly on new works such as the oratorio The Seven Words of Christ (1646); the choral score Geistliche Chormusik (1648), which marked the end of the Thirty Years' War; and the Symphoniae sacrae III (1650). He came into conflict with Johann-Georg I when the latter imposed a rival in the person of Italian castrato Giovanni Andrea Bontempi, provoking his anger and that of the musicians. The matter came to an end when he asked for his right to retire, which was refused until the death of the Elector of Saxony on October 8, 1656. However, the "Sagittarius" remained honorary master of the Dresden chapel for special ceremonies, devoting himself fully to composition. Between 1657 and 1671, he published the 12 Chants spirituels (1657); the oratorio Histoire de la Nativité(Weihnachtshistorie, 1664), long lost but now restored, which became one of his major works; three Passions, by St. Luke, St. John and St. Matthew (1666); and finally theopus ultimum, the Schwanengesang or "swan song" (1671). When he died of a stroke in Dresden on November 6, 1672, at the age of 87, Heinrich Schütz was considered the most important German musical figure of his time, and a teacher who trained a whole generation of musicians, including Christoph Bernard, Matthias Weckmann, his cousin Heinrich Albert, Constantin Christian Dedekind, Caspar and Christoph Kittel, Johann Theile, Friedrich Werner, Johann Vierdanck, David Pohle, Adam Krieger, Johann Wilhelm Furchheim and others. His influence on J. S. Bach.
