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Sacred German Music In The Thirty Years’ War, Brandi Hoffer

Musical Offerings

The religious and political turmoil of the Thirty Years’ War significantly impacted the performance and preservation of sacred Baroque music in the German lands. Conflict between the Catholics and Protestants created an unstable social environment, which resulted in a myriad of responses from composers and performers. Leading composers including Heinrich Schütz, Michael Praetorius, Thomas Selle, and Heinrich Scheidemann, expressed their values either overtly or implicitly depending upon their occupational, geographical, political, and religious positions. Research indicates that the influences of the Thirty Years’ War created an ideal environment for the flourishing of the following German music in the late Baroque …