ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
PHILIPPE HERREWEGHE
Psalmen Davids 1619 (selection)
Grace Davidson, Barbora Kabatková soprano
Alexander Simpson, Benedict Hymas alto
Thomas Hobbs, Tore Denys tenor
Wolf Matthias Friedrich, Jimmy Holliday bass
Collegium Vocale Gent
Philippe Herreweghe dirigent
Heinrich Schütz published his masterful volume Psalmen Davids in 1619, two years after the centenary of the Reformation. Elector Johann Georg of Saxony (to whom the work was dedicated) could be very content indeed with his brand-new Kapellmeister’s hypermodern motets. Not only was the grand Venetian polychoral style being heard in Germany for the first time ever, Schütz’s careful handling of the power and poetry of Luther’s language made the Psalmen Davids an undisputed milestone in seventeenth-century music history!