As the Plague and the Thirty Years’ War left a trail of death and destruction across Europe, Heinrich Schütz, one of the most important German composers prior to Johann Sebastian Bach, wrote his Musikalische Exequien. Based on his personal experience – having lost his parents, his wife and later his two daughters in a short period of time –, Schütz composed a deeply felt meditation on bereavement and mourning for a force of a few soloists and a small choir. Instead of reverting to the usual Latin requiem, he set to music a collection of short liturgical texts in the vernacular, about grief, comfort and forgiveness.
In this twenty-first-century interpretation, director Peter Sellars and the Los Angeles Master Chorale perform this moving work as a tender ceremony of remembrance and mourning. Ethereal choral passages offer comfort and contemplation, solos an intimate but shared moment of grief. Until, in a minimalist choreography, the life of the bereaved finally picks up its rhythm. Trusting that what seems so far away is always near.
15.6.2025 — 19:00
Centre for Fine Arts
Ticket prices from € 22 to € 78
-30 years old: € 10 / € 25
-15 years old: Free (if accompanied by an adult)
HEINRICH SCHÜTZ
Musikalische Exequien, Op.7, SWV 279–281
19:00
ConductorGRANT GERSHON DirectorPETER SELLARS
Lighting DesignerJAMES F. INGALLS Costume designerDANIELLE DOMINGUE SUMI
LOS ANGELES MASTER CHORALE
ProductionBOZAR MUSIC