Ich beschwöre euch, ihr Töchter zu Jerusalem

Ich beschwöre euch, ihr Töchter zu Jerusalem belongs to the genre of dialog compositions which were extremely popular in Protestant Germany in the 17th century because of their lively portrayal of biblical texts. Schütz set verses from the Song of Solomon; here, a high voice choir of four sopranos sings the words of Shulamite, and a three-part low voice choir represents the “Daughters of Jerusalem”; the two join together only at the end of the piece. In the high voice choir two of the four sopranos can be replaced by two violins. An exceptional piece for choirs with good soprano voices or soloists.

Scoring: SSSSATB, Bc (SSATB, 2 Vl, Bc)