Other notes - Schütz

The text of Die Sieben Worte (The Seven Words) deals with the passion story but it is not a narration of the crucifixion, nor does it present only one of the four gospels. Rather it is a compilation of Jesus’ utterances from the cross drawn from all four evangelists, sometimes quoted one at a time and sometimes in combination. Each of the “words” has the same structure: Narrative material in the voice of an evangelist introduces the words of Jesus’ direct speech, which are the high points of each section. Schütz realized this structure musically by clearly distinguishing the two kinds of material, making an audible contrast between the narrated portion (evangelist) and the spoken words (Jesus).

Schütz distinguishes the narration from the quoted words by vocal scoring. Jesus’ words are sung by the same tenor voice throughout, whereas the words of the narrator are sung by various other voices: soprano, or alto, or another tenor, or (in two cases) by a four-voice ensemble. The constantly-changing narrating voice is less dramatically realistic than in Schütz’s passion settings, but the changes in narrator help distinguish sections of the piece, which are more episodic than dramatically continuous – more a series of tableaux than a sequence of events.  Schütz also distinguishes the two kinds of text by musical style. The evangelist’s words are presented primarily in narrative recitation that draws both on the traditional chanting of gospel texts and on theatrical recitative. In addition to using word repetition, Schütz intensifies the words of Jesus by adding two high-range instruments that play along with the singer, sometimes in passages of brief imitation of the voice and sometimes in alternation with it. The four parts – two instrumental lines, the tenor voice of Jesus and the basso continuo – together form a complete harmonic ensemble that offers further contrast with the much plainer texture of one voice and continuo heard in most of the narration.

The seven sections narrating and quoting the words are doubly framed. Immediately before and after is a brief expressive sinfonia in a five-part texture (the two gambas that accompany Jesus as well as three others heard only in these passages). This repeated sinfonia is framed, in turn, by 5-part vocal movements that combine all the voices used in the work. The texts of these sections are the opening and closing stanzas of a hymn, “Da Jesus an dem Kreuze stund,” whose words have pre-Reformation origins and that appear both in Roman and Lutheran hymnals. The closing text promises God’s favor to those who reflect on the words. This surely points to the composer’s goal: to offer up and frame the words in expressive ways, less for narration and drama than for contemplation and reflection.