Heinrich Schütz's Italian madrigals might be thought of as his dissertation work, composed in 1611 and presented to his patron, the Landgrave of Hesse, who had sent him to Italy on a scholarship for study with Giovanni Gabrieli. They had an effect far beyond their immediate purpose, serving to introduce a newly expressive Italian spirit into German music and thus kicking off a trend that would endure for two centuries. (He also snared an extra year's scholarship money for his trouble.) Schütz's madrigals did not follow either the radical harmonic experiments of Gesualdo or the new declamatory experiments of Monteverdi; instead, they would have fit right into the mainstream of madrigal composition around 1600, with high-quality Italian texts dealing mainly with the pleasures and pains of love. There are flashes of dissonance and an assured handling of harmony in general, with complex but coherent harmonic layouts. Perhaps the madrigals' most distinctive characteristic is their vivid word-painting. This reading by the Dresden Chamber Choir under Hans-Christoph Rademann might be classified as skilled but old-school. The choir has 18 predominantly young voices, with ten female and eight male adult singers; their control of pitch in a completely a cappella setting is impressive, and these are sensitive, expressive performances, especially for people whose native language is not Italian. It's also true that the trend in the performance of vocal music of this type has been toward smaller ensembles, especially in the case of madrigals, which were likely meant for part-singing from the start. For those interested in the Dresden Chamber Choir, which has gained quite a reputation for its performances of music of the early Baroque, this may not be the best place to start, but for those who enjoy choral performances of madrigals (for example, the numerous British university choir madrigal performances) this will be an enjoyable outing.
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