(b Creuzburg an der Werra, 15 Feb ?1571; d Wolfenbüttel, 15 Feb 1621). German composer and theorist, nephew of Christoph Praetorius. The son of a strict Lutheran, he was educated at Torgau, Frankfurt an der Oder (1582) and Zerbst (1584). He was organist of St Marien, Frankfurt (1587-90), before moving to Wolfenbüttel, where he was court organist from 1595 and Kapellmeister from 1604. He temporarily served the Saxon court (1613-16), chiefly at Dresden, where he met Schütz and got to know the latest Italian music, and he worked in many other German cities. The most versatile German composer of his day, he was also one of the most prolific. His 21 extant sacred vocal publications include over 1000 Protestant hymn-based works (e.g. Musae Sioniae, 9 vols., 1605-10), many for multiple choirs, as well as Latin music for the Lutheran service, motets, psalms and instrumental dances (Terpsichore, 1612). His encyclopedic treatise Syntagma musicum (3 vols. pubd 1614-20), with detailed information on instruments and performing practice, is of immense documentary value. (For an illustration from this book, seeEarly music.)
The German composer and theorist Michael Praetorius (ca. 1571-1621) was a devout Lutheran who believed that music was the "handmaiden of theology." He composed a comprehensive musical repertory for the Evangelical Church.
Born in Creuzburg (Thuringia), Michael Praetorius was raised in Torgau, a small town famous for its Lutheran school. He studied at the University of Frankfurt an der Oder, and for part of the time he was organist of the university church. In 1595 he entered the service of Heinrich Julius, Duke of Brunswick, at the courts of Gröningen and Wolfenbüttel. At first installed as organist and subsequently advanced to music director (1604), Praetorius composed music for all court activities until the duke's death in 1613.
During the next 7 years Praetorius had no fixed post but was employed intermittently by several north German courts (Magdeburg, Kassel, Halle, Dresden) as musical consultant and director of musical festivities. In 1620 he was recalled to Wolfenbüttel; he died the following year.
Praetorius's voluminous output only partly reveals his overall plan for a complete corpus of secular and sacred music for all occasions. Of his secular works only one volume of dances, Terpsichore (volume 5 of his projected Musa Aonia), has come down to us. Thousands of sacred pieces are extant, most constructed on Lutheran hymn texts and tunes known as chorales. The contents of his 9-volume Musae Sioniae (1605-1610) range from simple bicinia, or two-part pieces, to enormous polychoral works for as many as 12 voices.
Baroque pieces with basso continuo, concertizing instruments, and separate choirs for soloists and chorus are first noted in Praetorius's late publications Polyhymnia caduceatrix (1619), Polyhymnia exercitatrix (1620), and Puericinium (1621). These mature compositions underscore his importance in transmitting Italian concerted music to Germany. Although these works are modeled on examples by Giovanni Gabrieli and Claudio Monteverdi, Praetorius, ever bound to the German chorale, rarely employed the affective style favored by the Italian innovators.
As a pendant to his music, and in part to explain its performance, Praetorius wrote a three-volume treatise, Syntagma musicum (1615-1620), which deals with three subjects: the history of ancient sacred and secular music, the nature and construction of musical instruments, and the performance practices of his time. Especially valuable are his definitions and explanations of early-17th-century terms and practices. In the second volume, De organogrpahia, he discusses the history and construction of musical instruments. Unparalleled for its time is the appendix to this volume, the Theatrum instrumentorum, or pictorial atlas of instruments.
Further Reading
Praetorius's work is discussed in Manfred F. Bukofzer, Music in the Baroque Era (1947), and in the New Oxford History of Music, vol. 4 (1968). The background of the baroque musical style is treated in Paul Henry Lang, Music in Western Civilization (1941).
Praetorius, Michael (Creuzburg, 1571-1621, Wolfenbüttel), master of music to the Duke of Brunswick from 1604, was one of the most eminent composers of the 17th c. His work consists largely of religious music, hymns, psalms, and motets. He is the composer of the well-known four-part setting of ‘Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen’.
Praetorius, Michael (prētôr'ēəs), 1571-1621, German composer and musicographer, whose name originally was Schultheiss. He was a prolific composer, his Musae Sioniae (9 vol., 1605-11) alone containing 1,244 choral works. Now he is remembered chiefly for his Syntagma musicum (3 vol., 1615-19), which minutely describes the musical practices and the instruments of his day.
Born: February 15, 1571 in Creuzburg an der Werra, Germany
Died: February 15, 1621 in Wolfenbüttel, Germany
Genres: Choral Music, Miscellaneous Music
Biography
Michael Praetorius was not only one of the most versatile and prolific German composers of the early seventeenth century (only the remarkable, slightly younger Heinrich Schütz is of comparable importance) but also the author of Syntagma musicum, a historically significant theoretical treatise on music. The exact year of Praetorius' birth remains unknown; February 15, 1571, is the generally accepted date, selected on the basis of two contemporary sources which claim that Praetorius died on his 50th birthday. After schooling at the University of Frankfurt an der Oder and at the Lateinschule at Zerbst, Anhalt, during his teens, Praetorius was appointed organist of St. Marien Church in Frankfurt in 1587. Praetorius later wrote that he left the position after three years, and, while it remains unclear what his activities during the early 1590s might have been, by 1595 he reappears in the historical record as organist for Duke Heinrich Julius of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. After 1604, Praetorius combined his duties as organist with the more demanding position of kapellmeister at the court, often traveling with the duke and his court musicians. The following several years were a very productive time during which most of the composer's published collections of music appeared.
After Duke Heinrich Julius' death in 1613 Praetorius, though officially still attached to the new Duke at Wolfenbüttel, was invited to serve for two years at the court of Elector John Georg of Saxony, and he maintained a close relationship with the Saxony court even after the appointment ended. Indeed, from 1615 on, Praetorius spent more time away from Wolfenbüttel than he did attending to his duties as kapellmeister, and by 1620 Praetorius' frequent absence and poor health had caused so drastic a decline in the quality of music at Wolfenbüttel that he was dismissed from the position. He died just one year later, leaving his sizeable fortune to charity.
Praetorius' father and grandfather were both Lutheran theologians, and the composer inherited their deep religious sentiment, composing over 1,000 sacred compositions based on Protestant hymns and the Latin liturgy used in the Lutheran service. By comparison, only one small collection of secular compositions -- a group of instrumental dances -- survives. While such early works as Megalynodia Sionia, a collection of parody madrigals based on the music of Orlando di Lassus, among others, fail to display a real individuality of musical style. By the time of the Polyhymnia caduceatrix of 1619, Praetorius had embraced a remarkably forward-looking musical aesthetic in which the highly ornamented Italian vocal style of the times, and a dense scoring employing as many as 16 voices are all expressive possibilities at his disposal. Praetorius' Syntagma musicum, while never completed (the final section, intended to provide instruction in actual composition, remains missing), is one of the most important systematic compilations of early seventeenth century musical thinking. ~ Blair Johnston, All Music Guide
Michael Praetorius (probably February 15, 1571 – February 15, 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 Protestanthymns.
He was born Michael Schultze, the youngest son of a Lutheran pastor, in Creuzburg, Thuringia. After attending school in Torgau and Zerbst, he 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.
His family name in German appears in various forms including Schultze, Schulte, Schultheiss, Schulz and Schulteis. Praetorius is the Latinized form of the family name.
Works
Illustration from Syntagma Musicum
Praetorius was a tremendously prolific composer, with his music showing the influence of Italian composers as well as his younger contemporary Heinrich Schütz. 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; and Terpsichore (1612), a compendium of over 300 instrumental dances, which is both his most widely-known work, as well as his sole surviving secular work. His three volume treatise Syntagma Musicum, published between 1614–20 (including de Organographia at the end of volume II), are detailed texts on contemporary musical practices and musical instruments, and are important documents in musicology, organology and the field of authentic performance.
