Michael Praetorius was born on September 28, 1571, and died on February 15, 1621. He was a German composer, organist, and music theorist. He was one of the most talented composers of his time and played an important role in creating new musical forms using Protestant hymns.

Life

Michael Praetorius was born Michael Schultze, the youngest child of a Lutheran pastor, in Creuzburg, which is now part of Thuringia. He attended school in Torgau and Zerbst before studying religion and philosophy at the University of Frankfurt (Oder). He was able to speak many languages. After completing his musical training, he became an organist at the Marienkirche church in Frankfurt in 1587. From 1592 or 1593, he worked at the court in Wolfenbüttel under Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He was part of the duke's State Orchestra, first as an organist and later, starting in 1604, as Kapellmeister, which means court music director.

His first musical compositions appeared around 1602 or 1603. These works were published with the support of the court in Gröningen, showing the court's interest in music. The motets in this collection were the first in Germany to use new Italian musical techniques, which helped Praetorius gain recognition as a skilled composer.

These "modern" pieces marked the end of his middle creative period. The nine parts of his Musae Sioniae (1605–1610) and the 1611 collection of religious music, including masses, hymns, and magnificats, followed the German Protestant chorale style. These works were created at the request of a group of orthodox Lutherans and were performed under the leadership of Duchess Elizabeth, who ruled the duchy when the duke was away.

After the duke died in 1613 and was replaced by his son, Frederick Ulrich, Praetorius kept his position in Wolfenbüttel. He also began working as Kapellmeister von Haus aus (a nonresident music director) for John George I, Elector of Saxony, in Dresden. There, he was responsible for music at celebrations and was exposed to the latest Italian music, including the polychoral works of the Venetian School. His development of the chorale concerto, especially the polychoral type, was directly influenced by the music of Italian composers like Giovanni Gabrieli. The solo-voice, polychoral, and instrumental music he created for these events marked the peak of his artistic creativity.

Eyewitness accounts, such as Gottfried Staffel's description of Praetorius conducting music at the 1614 Princes’ Convention in Naumburg, and an epigram by Matthias Hoë von Hoënegg describing how Praetorius's music impressed Emperor Matthias and other princes during a visit to Dresden in 1617, show how famous Praetorius was at the time. In Dresden, Praetorius also worked with Heinrich Schütz from 1615 to 1619.

It appears that Praetorius's job in Wolfenbüttel was not renewed by Trinity Sunday in 1620. He was likely very ill in Wolfenbüttel by that time. He died there on February 15, 1621, at the age of 49. His body was buried in a tomb beneath the organ of the Marienkirche on February 23.

Name

The German family name appears in several forms, such as Schultze, Schulte, Schultheiss, Schulz, and Schulteis. Praetorius was the common Latin version of this name. In German, Schultze means "village judge or magistrate." In Latin, Praetorius means "related to a magistrate or someone with the rank of a magistrate."

Works

Michael Praetorius was a very productive composer. His music was influenced by Italian composers and by Heinrich Schütz, who was his younger contemporary. During his time as Kapellmeister to Duke Heinrich Julius of Wolfenbüttel from 1605 to 1613, Praetorius published 17 volumes of music. His nine-part collection called Musae Sioniae (1605–1610) included chorales and music in the local language for Lutheran church services with 2 to 16 voices. He also published a large collection of Latin music for church services called Liturgodiae Sioniae. Terpsichore, a book with more than 300 instrumental dances, is his most well-known and recorded work today. It is the only surviving secular piece from a planned series called Musae Aioniae.

Many of Praetorius’ choral compositions were written for several smaller choirs in different parts of the church, similar to the style of Venetian polychoral music by Giovanni Gabrieli.

Praetorius composed the familiar harmonization of Es ist ein Ros entsprungen (Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming) and the motet En natus est Emanuel, both published in 1609 in Musae Sioniae VI.

• Musae Sioniae I (Lutheran chorales, 8 voices, 1605)
• Motectae et Psalmi Latini (Latin motets and psalms, 8 voices, 1607)
• Musae Sioniae II (Lutheran chorales, 8 voices, 1607)
• Musae Sioniae III (Lutheran chorales, 8–12 voices, 1607)
• Musae Sioniae IV (Lutheran chorales, 8 voices, 1607)
• Musae Sioniae V (Lutheran chorales, 2–8 voices, 1607)
• Musae Sioniae VI (Lutheran chorales for church festivals, cantionale style hymnal, 4 voices, 1609)
• Musae Sioniae VII (Lutheran chorales for everyday use, including four organ chorales, cantionale style, 4 voices, 1609)
• Musae Sioniae VIII (Lutheran chorales for the Christian life, including chorales for death and Tischgesange for home use, cantionale style, 4 voices, 1609)
• Musae Sioniae IX (Lutheran chorales for use in church or home, 2–4 voices, 1610)
• Missodia Sionia (Latin mass settings, 1611)
• Hymnodia Sionia (Latin hymn settings, 2–8 voices, several organ verses, 1611)
• Eulogodia Sionia (Latin settings, including the Salve Regina, Rex Christe etc., 2–8 voices, 1611)
• Megalynodia Sionia (Magnificat settings, Latin with some vernacular interpolation, 1611)
• Terpsichore (Courtly dances, 1612)
• Urania (chorales set for congregation and up to 4 choirs, 1613)
• Polyhymnia caduceatrix (Lutheran chorales for choir, soloists, and instrumentalists in the new Italianate style; 1619)
• Polyhymnia exercitatrix (Latin Halelujah settings and Lutheran chorales for choir, soloists, and instrumentalists in the Italianate style, 1620)
• Puericinium (settings for children, 1621)

• Christ, unser Herr, zum Jordan kam – Fantasia (Musæ Sioniæ VII, 1609)
• Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott – Fantasia (Musæ Sioniæ VII, 1609)
• Wir glauben all an einen Gott – Fantasia (Musæ Sioniæ VII, 1609)
• Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren – 2 Variationen (Musæ Sioniæ VII, 1609)
• Alvus tumescit virginis – Advent-Hymnus « Veni redemptor gentium » (Hymnodia Sionia, 1611)
• A solis ortus cardine – Weihnachts-Hymnus (Hymnodia Sionia, 1611)
• Summo Parenti gloria – (v8. A solis ortus cardine) (Hymnodia Sionia, 1611)
• Vita sanctorum – Oster-Hymnus (Hymnodia Sionia, 1611)
• O lux beata Trinitas – Dreifaltigkeits-Hymnus (Hymnodia Sionia, 1611)
• Te mane laudum carmine – (v2. O lux beata Trinitas) (Hymnodia Sionia, 1611)

Musical writings

Michael Praetorius was a music scholar whose writings were widely read by other musicians in the 17th century. While his own original ideas about music theory were fewer than those of some other writers of his time, such as Johannes Lippius, Christoph Bernhard, and Joachim Burmeister, Praetorius created a detailed record of the musical practices of his era. He made some improvements to methods used in music notation and tuning. However, his most important contributions to scholars of the 17th century were his descriptions of how instruments and voices were typically used in ensembles, the standard pitch used during that time, and the state of musical theories related to modes, rhythms, and fugues. His careful documentation of 17th-century musical practices was extremely valuable to musicians who later studied and revived early music in the 20th century.

Praetorius’s major work, Syntagma Musicum, was published in three volumes (plus an appendix) between 1614 and 1620. The first volume, Musicae Artis Analecta (1614), was mostly written in Latin and discussed music from ancient times and the church. The second volume, De Organographia (1618), focused on musical instruments, especially the organ, and was one of the first theoretical works written in the common language of the time. The third volume, Termini Musicali (1618), written in German, explained different types of music and technical details for professional musicians. An appendix to the second volume, Theatrum Instrumentorum seu Sciagraphia (1620), included 42 detailed drawings of instruments from the early 17th century, grouped by type and shown to scale. A fourth volume about composition was planned with the help of another writer, Baryphonus, but it was never completed after Praetorius’s death. Gustave Reese, an American music expert who studied medieval and Renaissance music, called Syntagma Musicum one of the most important sources for understanding 17th-century music history.

Praetorius wrote in a detailed and elaborate style, often including long explanations, debates, and wordplay, which were common in scholarly writing of his time. As a deeply religious person, he often expressed regret for not becoming a clergy member, though he wrote several theological works that are now lost. As a Lutheran, he helped shape the use of the German language in church services. However, he also admired Italian methods of composing music, performing, and using notation with numbers to indicate harmony.