Heinrich Schütz und die Musica poetica

Abstract

In his book Heinrich Schütz - Musicus poeticus, published for the first time in 1959, Hans Heinrich Eggebrecht stressed Schütz's rootage in the German protestant tradition of composition teaching, the 'Musica poetica', which combined the traditional counterpoint teaching with the doctrine of musical-rhetorical figures. This essay shows, 1., that the summarizing term 'Musica poetica' for the treatises of the protestant teaching tradition is questionable, 2., that the general combination of counterpoint and doctrine of figures is characteristic neither of the Musica poetica treatises nor of the German teaching tradition for his works but to the Italian tradition, imparted to him by his teacher Giovanni Gabrieli. Instead of trying to explain Schütz's treatment of the words with the use of musical-rhetorical figures, it may be more obvious to examine their connection to Italian music theory, especially to Zarlino's imitation concept. In Schütz's sacred music, however, the Italian imitation concept had to be transformed, as it involved not only putting single words into concrete musical forms but also expressing their deeper meaning with the help of the music. (Autor)