Ein unbekanntes weltliches Madrigal von Heinrich Schütz: Gelegenheit und Gelegenheitsgedicht, erwogen aus germanistischer Sicht

Abstract

Examination of two previously unknown single printings of poems written for the wedding at the court of Dresden in 1624 of Reinhard von Taube and Barbara Sibylla von Carlowitz. Heinrich Schütz and Johann Seusse each contributed a poem especially written for the occasion, the latter, secretary to the electorate, having previously supplied texts to Schütz's Psalmen Davids (1619). Seussius wrote an excellent, humanistically-influenced neo-Latin poem, which he then proceeeded to imitate poorly in pre-Opitzian German verse. Schütz limited himself to a single-strophic German madrigal; the musical notation was omitted on the printed page of the text. The new documentation of this specific encounter does not, however, allow an assessment of any deeper relationship between Schütz and Seusse. Occasional poetry fulfills representative and decorative purposes typical for social structures and conventions of the time. A photographic reproduction of Schütz's madrigal print, two contemporary portrait engravings of Seusse, and the first bibliographic compilation of all his known publications are provided. A supplement is cited as RILM 2008-17605.