Motet notes - Schütz

The third and final set of Symphoniae Sacrae was composed in 1650, when Schütz was 65, as Germany was emerging from the chaos of the Thirty Years' War.  Scored for a small ensemble of five singers, two violins and continuo, there is a distinct transparency that brings clarity to Simeon’s mysterious, yet amazing words to Mary in Luke 2: 34-35.