• Claire Tomlin &
• Sarah Potter soprano
• Daniel Auchincloss tenor
• Psalmody
• The John Jenkins Consort
• directed by Peter Holman

Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672), the greatest German composer of the seventeenth century, is often compared to Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-69) for his acute exploration of the human condition. In this special day of events in conjunction with the exhibition Rembrandt the Printmaker at Gainsborough’s house, we explore how the two great creative figures responded to the same themes, from the Bible, from everyday life and from the great events of the time.

The concert is effectively a portrait of the composer, equivalent to Rembrandt’s profound series of self-portraits (some of which are in the exhibition), taking in intimate love songs and madrigals, dramatic Biblical scenes and large-scale political motets, including his great setting of Psalm 85, written to mark the end of the Thirty-Years War in 1648.

Like Rembrandt, Schütz revels in the dramatic possibilities of his medium. The concert brings together pieces featuring passionate, virtuoso music for solo voices, those exploiting spatially separated groups, and those with unusual combinations of voices and instruments – including a charming wedding songwritten in 1635 for the Copenhagen court, featuring four sopranos and the chirping of birds.

Peter Holman’s vivid performances of seventeenth-century music have delighted audiences at the Festival and further afield for many years. In this concert he is joined by several of our regular vocal soloists, by our resident chamber choir Psalmody, and (making its debut) by the John Jenkins Consort, named after East Anglia’s greatest seventeenth-century composer and bringing together leading violinists, viol players and continuo players associated with the Festival.