Pamela Dellal, mezzo soprano
uncommon intelligence, imagination and textual
awareness... |
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Motet Notes
Heinrich Schütz: "Meister, wir wissen," SWV 414 - Symphoniae Sacrae III
Schütz' "Meister wir wissen" was first published in 1650 when the composer was 65 years old. It not only reflects the composer's ripe maturity but also a new-found vitality, no doubt generated by the end of the horrible Thirty-Years war that had raged since 1619. The interesting and mysterious parable of separation of the sacred and secular worlds obviously interested Schütz greatly. Here all of the traditional triple meter portrayals of heaven are used for the moments about Caesar. God's world is portrayed in a calm duple meter. The prevailingly transparent texture gives the whole piece an other-worldly quality that adds to its mystery.
©Craig Smith