Motet notes - Schütz

Jubilate Deo, Schütz's setting of Psalm 100, composed for the first Sunday after Epiphany, achieves a certain grandeur despite its small forces. The piece comes from Book II of the Kleine Geistliche Konzerte (Small Sacred Concertos). The rigors of the Thirty Years War left Schütz with remarkably small performance forces to which he responded resourcefully with these chamber pieces. Unlike some of the Concertos, this piece unfolds rather expansively. The quartet of four singers allows both for complex polyphony and occasional concerted singing. The Latin text is set naturally and Schütz seems to make all the right choices (no surprise) assuring that each line of text is brought to life it is own unique way.