Heinrich Schütz was a German composer and organist known as one of the best composers of the 17th century early Baroque period. Born to a wealthy bourgeois German family, Heinrich was interested in music from an early age. He was spotted by Moritz, the landgrave, at the age of 12 who told his parents that Heinrich was a young musical prodigy. Heinrich received his training in music in Venice, from Giovanni Gabrieli. Heinrich returned to Germany and was appointed at the court in Dresden as the court musician. He mostly composed sacred music that was in the polychoral style which involved multiple singers performing the chorus. Some of his most celebrated works are Psalmen Davids, Cantiones sacrae (Opus 4), books of Symphoniae sacrae and Die sieben Worte Jesu Christi am Kreuz among others. He was the pioneer of bringing the highly revered Italian music influences into German music, which was the beginning of a new era in Germany. Most of his surviving works have been religious in nature, though he also composed secular music as well. Along with Johann Sebastian Bach, Heinrich is widely regarded as one of the best German composers of all time.
