In this recital by organist Christina Hutten, discover the musical genealogy of Heinrich Schütz through a sonic family tree, including music by his musical father, Giovanni Gabrieli; the pupil he raised and supported almost as a son, Matthias Weckmann; an heir of his musical legacy, Johann Sebastian Bach; and a living composer who shares many of his aesthetic values, Arvo Pärt.

Schütz’s influence on the next generation of performers and composers was profound; this program explores the music, instrumental and sung, of some of his students, including Thomas Bernhard, Matthias Weckmann, Johann Kerll and Johann Krieger, names now rarely heard but who nevertheless wrote music of profound beauty.

Schütz enjoyed two extended stays in Venice, studying with Giovanni Gabrieli, and later coming under the influence of Claudio Monteverdi. This program will include instrumental music by some of the Venetian composers he would have heard and mingled with, as well as his own compositions in the Italian style. Venice at the time enjoyed fine brass players, and the festival is pleased to include two sackbuts (early trombones) as well as the dulcian (early bassoon) in the festival ensemble.

Aside from his visits to Italy and a brief sojourn in Copenhagen, Schütz spent most of his working life at the Saxon court in Dresden, and his presence there was essential to establishing a distinctive German style of writing for organ and for voices. He also wrote the first German opera (now lost). Restrictions to musical activity brought about by the Thirty Years War meant that much of his output during that time was for small forces, with single voices and a small instrumental ensemble being the norm.

The Pacific Baroque Festival concludes with a Choral Evensong Service at Christ Church Cathedral, featuring the music of Heinrich Schütz.