(Yo-han Hâr’-man Shin) 1586–1630
German composer

Schein trained at Dresden, Naumburg and Leipzig and finally took charge of the music at St Thomas’s, Leipzig, in 1616. His first vocal music collection, Cymbalum Sionium (1615), brings together settings of Latin and German texts in a variety of styles. A more modern outlook, embracing the Italian idiom and demonstrating greater personal expression, is reflected in his three- to five-voice chorale settings with basso continuo, Opella nova (‘New Service’, 1618). The second volume (1626), for three to six voices with obbligato instruments, reveals his skill in word-painting. More than half the pieces are settings of biblical texts; the remainder are chorale-based. Two further publications reflect progressive and traditional influences respectively: Fontana d’Israel (‘Israel’s Fountain’, 1623) sets Old Testament texts in Italian madrigal style while the Cantional (‘Song Book’, 1627) is a vast anthology of Lutheran hymns designed for use in the Leipzig churches. A colourful collection of instrumental dances, Banchetto musicale (‘Musical Banquet’), was published in 1617.

Recommended Recording:
Israelis Brünnlein, Ensemble Vocal Européen (dir) Philippe Herreweghe (Harmonia Mundi)

Introduction | Early Baroque | Classical
Personalities | Heinrich Schütz | Early Baroque | Classical