Heinrich Schütz’s musical representation of Erasmus Alberus’ poem “Wann unsre Augen schlafen ein” is a fine example of the 17th century vocal style, featuring a series of well implemented figures from seconda pratica which happen to be placed in support of the given text.
The composition is structured in a linear manner, following a narrative construct presented in the poem and consequently developed into two musical sections which are attentively defined by pre-existing elements of punctuation. Schütz seems to have taken into account every detail from the text and across multiple levels of analysis; this collection of linguistic data was then transferred into the composition and it appears under the guise of musical punctuation, implementation of a defined rhythmic syntax, strategic positioning of dissonant charges by interaction with the semantic field, selection of voices dictated once again by the same process of interaction mentioned in the former point, etc.
The first section (A) begins with a chromatic tetrachord in the soprano part, which proceeds with its stepwise descent from tonic to dominant with the support of the basso continuo and it is followed by the imitation of the same descending formula, this time given to the bass part (also defined as fuga realis by Burmeister in the figurae tam harmoniae quam melodiae), beginning on the dominant and leading towards a secondary dominant, which descends one additional step back to the tonic in the middle of measure 4. In the opening segment the lament bass itself is used as a functional device moving through a chromatic opening collection and placed to portray death and, perhaps, its role in a much broader, natural and cyclical state; the ground bass appears throughout the A section of the composition in its three distinct variants, beginning respectively on the tonic and dominant in the form of the lament bass as well as on the secondary dominant which, instead of ending on a tertiary dominant, returns back to the original dominant from which a further descending lament bass pattern is generated (when the tetrachord is extended to a pentachord; G-G in mm. 1-4, D-D in mm. 17-19).
A few instances of violation of prima pratica practices can be found in the second iteration of the lament bass, which begins on the dominant and is subjected to the repetition of the same text (Wann unsre Augen schlafen ein) in imitation between the different voices; at the very beginning of each repetition Schütz places an octave leap in the first half of each connecting measure (m. 10 and m. 11), with the leap itself occurring between the first quarter note (strong) and the following quarter note (weak), which could be considered by other theorists (for instance Knud Jeppesen) a clear violation of prima pratica practices in any instance of third species counterpoint such as the one presented in this section. Despite the “violation” of prima pratica practices the example is a perfect implementation of seconda pratica as it acts in support of the given text, emphasizing the comma between the last word of the first sentence (ein) and the first word of the exact same repeated sentence (wann). The octave leap therefore acts as a dramatic musical comma between the two sentences, which is represented by the separation in register and defined by its position within the musical context. Aside from the octave leap between the opening sentence and its repetition it is possible to find two further instances of irregular leaps, according to prima pratica practices, this time connecting the opening sentence (Wann unsre Augen schlafen ein) to the second sentence in the text (so lass das Herz doch wacker sein). The first instance occurs before the perfect cadence in B flat and features a perfect fourth leap upward into a weak quarter which does not resolve in a stepwise, downward motion to its following quarter (a violation of prima pratica conventions in third species counterpoint according to Jeppesen), but instead leaps four consecutive times (a further violation according to prima pratica). The second instance occurs in similar circumstances, between the same two sentences with a comma separating them, but with an upward leap of a minor sixth.
In line with Zarlino’s theory it is possible to find a few instances of cadential material resolving on the first, fifth and third degrees of the characteristic mode, with a particularly emphasized lingering at the octave on the third degree and predictably, within the 17th Century practice, at the very end of the A section on the first degree.
The rhythmic syntax of the entire composition is strictly related to the elements of the semantic field; naturally this premise is omni-relevant and also applies to the first section. The overall combined rhythmic-syntactic value of each set noticeably increases or decreases depending on the related and conjunct collection of given semantic variables. A clear example of this occurs at the very beginning of the composition, where a dichotomous distinction is identifiable between the opening two rhythmic-syntactic sets. The first set (Wann unsre Augen schlafen ein) appears to have exactly half the rhythmic-syntactic value of the second set (so lass das Herz doch wacker sein) despite both sharing the same syllabic number. The rhythmic-syntactic relationship between the two sets becomes particularly interesting when juxtaposed to the rhythmic-syllabic relationship between the same two sets, the result of which happens to produce two inverted values. In simpler words this implementation creates a scenario in which the first set is shorter in terms of overall time but longer in terms of the “note values per syllable” ratio than the second set. It is possible to assume this decision was taken in relation to the elements of the semantic field and for theatrical purposes (with “When our eyes close in sleep” becoming a slow but short musical segment and “Let our hearts remain resolute” translating into a fast but long musical segment) but also in accordance to the conventional distribution of the harmonic and melodic materials of the composer’s time.
The second section (B) begins with an aposiopesis (a general pause, the rhetorical use of silence) and at a slower pace, stretching out the descending G aeolian octave as the bass sings Halt über uns dein rechte Hand (Stretch Thy right hand over us), which acts in direct harmonic and melodic contrast to the highly chromatic nature of the lament bass placed at the very beginning of the A section. The two occurrences just mentioned happen to be further examples of musical symbolism with which the composer effectively portrays the text. The phenomenon reappears shortly after in the following sentence as the bass sings the words dass wir nicht fall’n (That we not fall [...]). In this instance the composer makes use of a four-note melodic cell in which the third note falls a perfect fifth downwards into the fourth note to which the word fall’n (fall) is assigned; the musical statement is then repeated in imitation across the two voices and occasionally altered, nonetheless always maintaining the interval of the descending fifth between the third and fourth note of the melodic cell. It is worth noting that the only moment in the entire piece in which both voices are singing the same text at the same time occurs towards the end, as both soprano and bass sing the words dass wir nicht fall’n two times.
The very end of the composition appears to feature a variety of syncopated rhythms (pleonasmus) assigned to the soprano part, occurring on the words wir (we) and Sünd (sin) respectively, which lead towards the final perfect cadence in G. It is therefore possible to assume that the presence of such syncopated rhythms across the different measures was the reason for which bar-lines were placed in the last few measures of the composition and specifically in the soprano part; the placement itself would have guided the performer towards a facilitated reading and execution of the final section of the composition containing rather prominently syncopated rhythms.
Throughout the composition, due to the key signature of one flat and to the final perfect cadence in G, it is possible to identify the use of the Dorian mode in cantus mollis as the one variable degree appears to be the E in its two variants (E flat and E natural). This phenomenon produces a double set of harmonic and melodic implications for the composition itself and provides the listener with occasional instances of G aeolian sonorities, for instance in the very opening of the B section with the spelling of an entire descending G aeolian scale or even at the very end as the fifth degree is approached by an E flat in the bass before its cadence to G.
In conclusion, Schütz seems to have captured the essence of Erasmus Alberus’ poem and has effectively translated it into a musical terms, producing a composition which makes use of seconda pratica practices as well as musical punctuation, rhythmic-syntactic structures, subtle transformations of rhythmic, harmonic and melodic collections which interact with the semantic field in specific and profound systems.
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