Johann Hermann Schein's taut and fleet Psalm 116 could not be more different than the majestic, mystical setting of the same text by Heinrich Schütz. Schein's fascination with the Italian madrigal style is nowhere more evident. The text it dispatched with remarkable brevity rushing form one text painting marvel to the next. Sometimes, he shows remarkable restraint in his affective display; at other times, the writing is unabashedly graphic. (Listen for the 'teardrops' and 'sliding feet', for example)! It’s astonishing that Schein never spent any time in Italy, given his total mastery and assimilation of the style.