Johann Hermann Schein (Composer, Hymn-Writer, Thomaskantor)

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Johann Hermann Schein (Composer, Hymn-Writer, Thomaskantor)
Born: January 20, 1586 - Grünhain, near Annaberg [now Annaberg-Bucholz], Sachsen (Saxony), Germany Died: November 19, 1630 - Leipzig, Germany
Johann Hermann Schein was a German composer (and poet) of the early Baroque era. He was one of the first to import the early Italian stylistic innovations into German music, and was one of the most polished composers of the period.
Life
Johann Hermann Schein was son of a minister and teacher. At the age of seven, when his father died, he moved with his family to Dresden, where within six years he joined the choir of the Elector of Saxony as a boy soprano. In addition to singing in the choir, he received a thorough musical training with Rogier Michael, the Kapellmeister, who recognized his extraordinary talent. He went on to study at the University of Leipzig (1603), from 1603 to 1607 he studied at Pforta (or Schupforta near Naumburg), and finally, from 1608 to 1612, attended again the University of Leipzig, where he studied law in addition to liberal arts. Upon graduating, Johann Hermann Schein was employed briefly by Gottfried von Wolffersdorff as the house music director and tutor to his children. Due to his demonstrated abilities, he became later, in 1615, Kapellmeister at Weimar, and shortly thereafter became Kantor at the Thomasschule (and Thomaskirche) in Leipzig, a post which he held for the rest of his life. He preceded J.S. Bach in this post by more than a century. Unlike his friend Heinrich Schütz, he was afflicted with poor health, and was not to live a happy or long life. His wife died in childbirth; four of his five children died in infancy. He died at age 44, having suffered from tuberculosis, gout, scurvy and a kidney disorder.
Style
Johann Hermann Schein was a gifted composer. He was one of the first composers to absorb the innovations of the Italian Baroque - monody, the concertato style, figured bass - and use them effectively in a German Lutheran church music. While Heinrich Schütz made more than one trip to Italy, Schein apparently spent his entire life in Germany, making his grasp of the Italianate style all the more amazing. His early concertato music seems to have been modeled on Viadana's Cento concerti ecclesiastici, which was available in an edition prepared in Germany. Unlike Heinrich Schütz, who wrote only sacred music, Schein wrote sacred and secular music in approximate equal quantities, and almost all of it was vocal. In his secular vocal music he wrote all of his own texts. Throughout his life he published alternating collections of sacred and secular music, in accordance with an intention he stated early on - in the preface to the Banchetto musicale - to publish alternately music for use in worship and social gatherings. The contrast between the two kinds of music can be quite extreme: while some of his sacred music uses the most sophisticated techniques of the Italian madrigal for a devotional purpose, some of his secular collections include such things as drinking songs of a surprising simplicity and humor. Some of his works attain an expressive intensity matched in Germany only by those of Heinrich Schütz, for example the spectacular Fontana d'Israel or Israel's Brünnlein (1623), in which Schein declared his intent to exhaust the possibilities of German word-painting "in the style of the Italian madrigal." Possibly his most famous collection was his only collection of instrumental music, the Banchetto musicale (Musical banquet) (1617) which contains 20 separate variation suites; they are among the earliest, and most perfect, representatives of the form. Most likely they were composed as dinner music for the courts of Weißenfels and Weimar, and were intended to be performed on viols. They consist of dances: a pavan-galliard (a normal early Baroque pair), a courante, and then an allemande-tripla. Each suite in the Banchetto is unified by mode as well as motivically.
Works
Sacred vocal Cymbalum Sionium (1615) Opella nova, geistlicher Concerten (1618) Fontana d'Israel, Israelis Brünlein (1623) Opella nova, ander Theil, geistlicher Concerten (1626) Cantional oder Gesangbuch Augspurgischer Confession (1627, 1645) Secular vocal Venus Kräntzlein (1609) Musica boscareccia (1621, and several portions published later) Diletti pastorali, Hirten Lust (1624) Studenten-Schmauss (1626) Instrumental Banchetto musicale (1617)

Source: Cyber Hymnal Website; Wikipedia Website Contributed by Aryeh Oron (May 2003, February 2006), Thomas Braatz (September 2005)
Thomaskantors: Thomanerchor Leipzig \| Gewandhausorchester Leipzig \| General Discussions: Part 1 \| Part 2
Texts of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works
BWV 156, BWV 293, BWV 295, BWV 296, BWV 377
Chorale Texts used in Bach’s Vocal Works
Title			Year	EKG	Zahn
Machs mit mir, Gott, nach deiner Güt			1628	321
Chorale Melodies used in Bach’s Vocal Works
Title			Year	EKG	Zahn
Machs mit mir, Gott, nach deiner Güt			1628	321	2383
Use of Chorale Melodies in his works
Title	Chorale Melody					Year
In the “Cantional oder Gesangbuch Augspurgischer Confession…,” 4–6 voices (Leipzig, 1627, enlarged 2/1645) [1627 or 1645] Ach Gott und Herr, a 4-pt. setting for SATB and bc (1627)	Ach Gott und Herr					1627/1645
Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein, cantata for 2 voices & continuo (Opella nova, Part 1, No. 19)	Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein					1618
Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein, hymn for 4 voices (& continuo) (Cantional...)	Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein					1627
Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr, cantata for 3 voices (SST) & continuo (Opella nova, Part 2, No. 3)	Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr					1626
Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr, hymn for 4 voices (SATB) & continuo (Cantional...) (1627)	Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr					1627
Ehr' sei Gott in der Höh' allein, motet for 10 voices (Cymbalum Sionium)	Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr (?)					1615
Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, Setting for SATB [bc]	Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ					1627
A setting of Auf meinen lieben Gott SATB, bc	Auf meinen lieben Gott					1627
Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir, SS, bc	Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir					1618
Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir, SATB [bc]	Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir					1627
Christ ist erstanden, SATB [bc]	Christ ist erstanden					1627
Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, SATB [bc]	Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam					1627
Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, SS, 2 instruments, bc	Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam					1618
Christum wir sollen loben schon, setting for SATB [bc]; A ii/1, 12	Christum wir sollen loben schon					1627
Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt, hymn for 4 voices (& continuo) (Cantio...)	Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt
Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt, cantata for 2 voices & continuo (Opella nova, Part 1, No. 26)	Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt					1618
Ein Kind geborn zu Bethlehem for 6 voices	Ein Kind geborn zu Bethlehem (Puer natus in Bethlehem)
Erschienen ist der herrlich Tag for SATB + bc	Erschienen ist der herrlich Tag					1627
Es ist das Heil uns kommen her, Settiung for 2 sopranos, bc	Es ist das Heil uns kommen her					1618
Es ist das Heil uns kommen her, Setting for SATB, bc	Es ist das Heil uns kommen her					1627
Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, hymn for SATB [bc]	Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ					1627
Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, Cantata for SST, bc (Opella nova, Part 1, No. 2)	Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ					1618
Helft mir Gotts Güte preisen for 2 Sopranos (parts) + bc	Helft mir Gotts Güte preisen					1626
Helft mir Gotts Güte preisen for SATB + bc	Helft mir Gotts Güte preisen					1627
Herr Christ der einig Gottes Sohn, SS, bc	Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn					1618
Herr Christ der einig Gotts Sohn, SATB [bc]	Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn					1627
Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir, SS, bc; A iv, 139, P v, 113	Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir					1618
Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir, SATB [bc]; A ii/1, 76	Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir					1627
Das Tedeum in 4 Chor und 2 Capellen ausgeteilet (“divided into 4 choirs of instruments and 2 vocal choirs”)	Herr Gott, dich loben wir [The German Tedeum]					1618
Herr Gott, dich loben wir, SATB [bc]	Herr Gott, dich loben wir [The German Tedeum]					1627
Rex Christe (1627) from a 4-pt. setting of the Latin hymn which is really Herr Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht I	Herr Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht
Ich lasse dich nicht, motet for 5 voices & continuo (Israelis Brünlein No. 4)	Ich laß dich nicht					1623
Jesu, nun sei gepreiset, SATB [bc] A ii/1, 26	Jesu, nun sei gepreiset					1627
Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott, SST, bc	Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott					1618
Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott, S, 4 insts, bc	Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott					1626
Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn, hymn for SATB [bc]	Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn					1627
Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, SATB [bc]	Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin					1627
Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, SS, bc	Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin					1618
Herr, dein Ohren zu mir neige, motet for 4 voices (& continuo)	Mon Dieu preste moy l'aureille					1627
Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, SATB [bc] (1627); A ii/1, 3	Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland					1627
Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, SSATB [bc] (1627); A ii/1, 4	Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland					1627
Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, SST, bc (1618); A iv, 3, P v, 1	Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland					1618
O Herre Gott, dein göttlich Wort, SATB [bc] (1627)	O Herre Gott, dein göttlich(s) Wort					1627
O Welt, ich muss dich lassen, SATB [bc]; A ii/2, 69	O Welt, ich muß dich lassen					1627
Vater unser im Himmelreich, cantata for 2 soprano voices & continuo (Opella nova, Part 1, No. 12); A iv, 60, P v, 52	Vater unser im Himmelreich					1618
Vater unser der du bist im Himmel, cantata for 2 voices, 5 voices, instruments & continuo (Opella nova, Part 2, No. 18)	Vater unser im Himmelreich					1618
Vater unser im Himmelreich, hymn for 4 voices (& continuo) (Cantional...); A ii/1, 86	Vater unser im Himmelreich					1627
Von Gott will ich nicht lassen, SATB with bc	Von Gott will ich nicht lassen					1627
Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz, SST, bc.	Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz					1626
Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz, SATB bc.	Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz					1627
Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist, SATB [bc; A ii/2, 59 (Schein may be using a different melody for this text)	Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist					1627
Wir Christenleut habn itzund Freud a setting for SATB + bc	Wir Christenleut habn jetzund Freud					1627
Links to other Sites
Johann Hermann Schein (Cyber Hymnal) HOASM: Johann Hermann Schein Johann Hermann Schein, Biography, Discography (Goldberg) Schein, Johann Hermann (1586 - 1630) (Karadar) Baroque Composers - Johann Hermann Schein San Francisco Bach Choir: Johann Hermann Schein		Johann Schein (Wikipedia) Sxhein, Johann Hermann (BBKL) [German] Johann Hermann Schein (Encyclopædia Britannica) The Johann Hermann Schein Biography Page on Classic Cat BJohann Hermann Schein: New Schein Edition Heinrich-Schütz-Haus Bad Köstritz - Johann Hermann Schein
Bibliography
Manfred Bukofzer: Music in the Baroque Era (New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1947). ISBN 0393097455 Article "Johann Hermann Schein," in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vols. (London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980). ISBN 1561591742

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Last update: ýAugust 23, 2008 ý22:07:28