Schütz: Musicalische Exequien

Schütz composed his Musicalische Exequien (Funeral music) for the funeral in 1635 of Henry II, Count of Reuss-Gera. Lionel Meunier and the dozen singers of his Vox Luminis preface this profoundly moving work with four funeral motets by Schütz, including the majestic Das ist je gewißlich wahr, written in response to a deathbed request from his friend and fellow composer Johann Hermann Schein. What counts here is the intimacy and intense beauty of the musicmaking, backed by ideal recorded sound, and the conviction with which Vox Luminis engage with biblical words and sacred texts by Martin Luther and later Lutheran authors. Listen for the impassioned pleas for mercy in “Nacket bin ich”, and the overwhelming compassion of the angelic chorus in the final motet, Herr, nun lässest du deinen Diener in Friede fahren.