His Historia der Aufferstehung (History of the Resurrection) was written four years later and was the first oratorio of this type known in Germany. It contained elements from both the present and the past, calling for basso continuo ad libitum in the tradition of the Renaissance motet inherited from Lassus, but completely transforming it in terms of expressivity. The Evangelist, on the other hand, was called upon to perform a very personal interpretation of the texts, stemming from Schütz’s subjective interpretation of the prayers. The work is reminiscent of Schein’s fervent sacred collection in madrigal style Israelis Brünlein.

Schütz married Magdalena Wiedeck in 1619; the couple had two daughters, Anna Justina and Euphrosyne, before Magdalena’s early death in September, 1625. Schütz’s absorbing work for the court and chapel continued, and his pastoral tragicomedy Daphne, now lost, was performed in Hartenfels Castle in 1627 to celebrate the marriage of the Elector’s daughter. Could this work have been a first transposition into German of the new dramatico-lyrical art form that had originated in Italy at the beginning of the century, and which had developed into actual opera in Monteverdi’s Orfeo of 1607? This is possible, for Schütz alluded in 1633 to an earlier work written in recitative style (“in reddened still”) which had been composed in a manner and style still completely unknown in Germany (“in Deutschland noch ganz unbekannt...”).

Monteverdi’s influence

The Thirty Years War, accompanied by destruction and mourning, soon reached Saxony. The first to suffer from the demands of war were of course the musicians in the Elector’s Kapelle. Schütz wrote a moving letter in 1628 to the Prince, begging him to defend the cause of his employees, most of whom had not received their salaries for many months. But the letter had no effect, and the discouraged Schütz decided to leave his position for a time, as his services were no longer of use. Taking advantage of a promise made by the Elector after Daphne was performed, Schütz obtained permission to return to Venice to hone the “small talent that God had given [him]” and to meet the “subtile” Monteverdi, master of all that was new in music. While it cannot be authoritatively established that a meeting between the two composers took place, it is highly likely that it occured. Monteverdi cannot have acted as a teacher to Schütz; they must have exchanged views as fellow musicians on the modern concertante style used both on stage and in the religious context.