Heinrich Schütz

Schütz studied in Venice with Giovanni Gabrieli from approximately 1609 to 1612, learning the Italian polychoral style that he would bring back to Germany. He later returned to Italy around 1628 to study with Claudio Monteverdi, absorbing the emerging dramatic style. These Italian influences profoundly shaped his settings of German sacred texts.

Schütz composed the music for Dafne in 1627, with a libretto by Martin Opitz, which is widely regarded as the first German-language opera or Singspiel. Unfortunately, the music for Dafne is entirely lost, and only the libretto survives. This makes it impossible to assess the work musically, though its historical significance as a milestone in German-language dramatic music is undisputed.

Schütz's major works include the Psalmen Davids (1619), the Symphoniae Sacrae (published in three parts: 1629, 1647, and 1650), and the Musikalische Exequien (1636), considered the first German Requiem setting. He also composed the Johannes-Passion and Matthäus-Passion late in life. These works established the foundation for German Baroque sacred music that culminated in the works of J.S. Bach.

Schütz lived from 1585 to 1672, making him a pivotal figure bridging the Renaissance and Baroque periods. He served as Kapellmeister at the Electoral Court of Saxony in Dresden for most of his career, beginning around 1615. His long life spanned the devastations of the Thirty Years' War, which severely impacted musical institutions across Germany.