Weib, was weinest du

Weib, was weinest du
by Heinrich Schütz
Mary Magdalene recognizing Jesus, workshop of Peter Paul Rubens
CatalogueSWV 443
GenreSacred vocal music
Text
LanguageGerman
VocalSSAT or SSTB choir
Instrumentalcontinuo

Weib, was weinest du (Dialogo per la Pascua) (Woman, why are you crying,[1] Easter dialogue), SWV 443, is a sacred choral work by Heinrich Schütz. It was composed not later than 1625 and is scored for four voices and basso continuo.[2]

The text is a dialogue based on the episode, narrated in the Gospel of John, of Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene (John 20:13–17). It is concluded by Martin Luther's Eastern hymn "Christ ist erstanden von dem Tod".[1]

Musical means were taken from the composer's 1623 Historia of the Resurrection, which includes the same Gospel text. A review of a recording notes: "A setting of Mary Magdalene's recognition of the risen Jesus, it is notable in its expressive intensity and in its retention of motives and harmonic gestures from the earlier "Resurrection History."[3]

In 1922 the piece was included in the first festival of the Heinrich-Schütz-Gesellschaft in Dresden, together with the Christmas Story and other selected works.[4]

A manuscript is kept in the library of the University of Kassel. Its date is assumed to be between 1627 and 1632.[5] It was part of an exhibition in 2010, celebrating the 425th anniversary of the composer's birth by showing manuscripts, librettos, first prints, documents and instruments.[6]

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