Johann Schein: An Analysis of Rhetoric and Word Painting in the Diletti Pastorali Collection

Abstract

The focus of this document is the use of rhetoric and word painting in the German madrigals of Johann Hermann Schein (1586-1630), particularly those in his Diletti pastorali Hirtenlust collection of 1624. As both the poet and composer of this collection, Schein displays a synthesis of Italianate and Germanic styles. Schein’s texts feature pastoral and mythological characters common in the works of Torquato Tasso (1544-1595), Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538-1612), and Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374). Like Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) and Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672), Schein combines mannerist word painting and rhetoric in these works. These Italianate features are especially interesting considering Schein’s lifelong residence in Germany. As a Leipzig church musician and predecessor to J.S. Bach, Schein is often recognized for his sacred compositions. His secular works, however, remain under-researched and under- performed in comparison. Schein’s madrigals provide a glimpse of popular musical trends in 1620s Leipzig and demonstrate the Italian madrigal’s popularity in Germany during Schein’s lifetime.