COPENHAGEN RENAISSANCE MUSIC FESTIVAL 2014
From Luther to Schütz
- Denmark and Saxony - Music culture between Martin Luther and Heinrich Schütz
Copenhagen Renaissance Music Festival 2014 is dedicated to Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) and the musical connections and relations between Denmark and Germany both before, during and after his own presence at the Royal Danish court under Christian IV 1633-35, and again 1642-44.
The festival is organised in close collaboration with the International Heinrich Schütz Society (IHSG) based in Kassel, Germany, and is a good example of an ongoing musical and cultural connection and interaction between the two countries. Apart from concerts and other musical events, the festival hosts both conferences and meetings, as well as IHSG's annual general assembly. This is the society's second gathering in Copenhagen. The first IHSG Schütz Fest in the Danish capital was in 1968.
During Schütz' lifetime, Saxony already had numerous important connections with Denmark. In 1536, less than two decades after Luther nailed his theses in the Saxon city of Wittenberg, the Reformation was officially introduced in Denmark. Three years later the time had come for Saxony to join, which is why 2014 will mark the 475th anniversary of this event. Denmark was directly involved in the formation of the Saxon Lutheran music at this time. Just like Schütz, his Danish colleagues travelled to Giovanni Gabrieli in Venice where they too experienced polychoral music. In the mid-seventeenth century not only solo works were played on the organs in the Danish capital, but also modern concerto works were part of the repertoire. After 1650 the modern Italian music was a reality at the Copenhagen court, just as at the court of the Electorate of Saxony in Dresden.
The Copenhagen Schütz Festival 2014 intends to show aspects of this broad horizon. The programme is a comprehensive journey through the German-Danish music history from the period between Luther and Schütz. It will, with the participation of excellent Danish ensembles, take place in the historical churches of the city. An excursion to the important early music heritage sites in Hillerød and Helsingør is also on the programme..
