Adam Drese

(b Thuringia, c 1620; d Arnstadt, 1701). German composer and viola da gamba player. While music director to Duke Wilhelm IV at Weimar he compiled a catalogue (1662) of his music which shows that he played an important role in transmitting the Italian style from region to region (he had studied in Warsaw, Regensburg and Dresden, under Schütz). By 1663 he was Kapellmeister at the Jena court, also directing opera, but on Duke Bernhard's death (1678) he moved to the Schwarzburg court where he came into contact with the Bach family. His surviving music includes songs, funeral music and dances.