Heinrich Schütz

Ein Kind ist uns geboren

The signing of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 brought the devastating Thirty Years' War to an end. That same year saw the publication of the motet collection *Geistliche Chor-Music* by the Dresden court Kapellmeister Heinrich Schütz (1585–1672), which he dedicated to the St. Thomas Choir in Leipzig. Schütz, one of the most important musical innovators at the dawn of the Baroque era, turns away in this work from the Italian-style basso continuo and returns once more to the compositional technique of the rigorously crafted Dutch-German motet.

The practical edition of the motet *Ein Kind ist uns geboren* (SWV 384) presented here is conceived as a vocal setting. However, it can also be performed purely as an instrumental piece with recorders, violas da gamba, and other melodic instruments. In his preface, Schütz himself explicitly points out this option for a vocal-instrumental instrumentation.

The sheet music is accompanied by practice files (recordings of all individual parts as well as a complete recording) available for download.