Heinrich Schütz

Heinrich Schütz (October 9, 1585 – November 6, 1672) was a German composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and is often considered to be one of the most important composers of the 17th century along with Claudio Monteverdi. He wrote what is thought to be the first German opera, Dafne, performed at Torgau in 1627; however, the music has since been lost.

Sources

• Manfred Bukofzer, Music in the Baroque Era. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1947. ISBN 0393097455
• Basil Smallman: Heinrich Schütz, The Master Musicians, 2000.
• Tamsin (nee Tristan) Jones, "Passions in Perspective: An Analytical Discussion of the Three Passions of Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) against their Historical and Stylistic Backgrounds" (Ph. D. thesis, University of Birmingham, 2000)
• Heinrich Schütz: "Geistliche Chor-Music, Op. 11." Edited by Andrew Thomas Kuster. Ann Arbor, MI, 2005. ISBN 1411642430.