Composer: Michael Praetorius
From HymnsWithoutWords
Biography
Michael Praetorius (1571 – 1621) was a German composer, organist, and writer about music. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of musical forms based on Protestant hymns.
Born Michael Schultze, the youngest son of a Lutheran pastor, in Creuzburg, Germany. He attended school in Torgau and Zerbst and studied divinity at the University of Frankfurt (Oder). He served as organist at the Marienkirche in Frankfurt before working at the court in Wolfenbüttel as organist and (from 1604) as Kapellmeister. From 1613 to 1616 he worked at the Saxon court at Dresden, where he was exposed to the latest Italian music, including the polychoral works of the Venetian School. His subsequent development of the form of the chorale concerto, particularly the polychoral variety, resulted directly from his familiarity with the music of such Venetians as Giovanni Gabrieli. Michael Praetorius is entombed in a vault beneath the organ of St. Mary's Church in Wolfenbüttel, Germany.
Praetorius was a tremendously prolific composer, his works include:
- The nine volume Musae sioniae (1605-10);
- A collection of over a thousand chorale and song arrangements;
- Many other works for the Lutheran church;
- Terpsichore (1612), a compendium of over 300 instrumental dances, which is both his most widely-known work and sole surviving secular work.
- His three volume treatise Syntagma Musicum I and Syntagma Musicum de Organographia II (1614-20) are detailed texts on contemporary musical practices and musical instruments.
