Motet notes - Schütz

Tonight’s motet, "Heute ist Christus," is a perfect vehicle for the vocal ensemble Trium. The writing is overtly Italianate in its specific response to the text. This is especially evident in "Glory to God in the Highest." (Listen for the dazzling roulades on the word "Highest"). Schütz would have been familiar with the Concerte delle Dame (virtuoso vocal music for three treble voices) written at the dawn of the Baroque period for the famed "Three Ladies of Ferrara" by Luzzasco Luzzaschi.