Christoph Bernhard (1 January 1628 – 14 November 1692) was born in Kolberg,

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

, and died in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

. He was a German Baroque composer and musician. He studied with former Sweelinck-pupil

Paul Siefert Paul Siefert (variants: Syfert, Sivert, Sibert; 23 May 1586 – 6 May 1666) was a German composer and organist associated with the North German school. Biography He was born in Danzig (Gdańsk), Royal Prussia (a fief of the Crown of Poland) to ...

in Danzig (now Gdańsk) and in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. By the age of 20 he was singing at the electoral court in Dresden under

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as one of the most important composers of the 17th century. He ...

and composed some of the music for the Master's funeral. He then spent a year in

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to study singing with

Agostino Fontana Agostino may refer to: *Agostino (name) * ''Agostino'' (film), an Italian film directed by Mauro Bolognini * ''Agostino'' (novel), a short novel by Alberto Moravia *, an Italian coaster See also *Agostini (disambiguation) *D'Agostino (disambiguati ...

. After his appointment as assistant '' kapellmeister'' in Dresden in 1655, Bernhard made two sojourns to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

to further his musical education. When he was 35, he moved to

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to work as the director of music for the Johanneum and for civic musical events. The next ten years were a golden age in the musical tradition of Hamburg: Bernhard and his good friend

Matthias Weckmann Matthias Weckmann (''Weckman'') (''c''.1616 24 February 1674) was a German musician and composer of the Baroque period. He was born in Niederdorla (Thuringia) and died in Hamburg. Life His musical training took place in Dresden (as a chorister ...

performed together and directed the latest compositions from Italy and

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, as well as composing an important collection of music in finely-wrought counterpoint. The

Elector of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony (German: or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356–1806. It was centered around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. In the Golden Bull of 1356, Emperor Charles ...

recalled Bernhard to Dresden in 1674, where he returned as assistant ''kapellmeister.'' Six years later, the large - and primarily Italian - musical establishment in the city was greatly reduced, until Bernhard remained the only ''kapellmeister'' at court. He continued composing, directing and caring for the music library in Dresden until his death in 1692, at the age of 64. Bernhard left behind many sacred vocal works, a few secular compositions, and three important treatises on music, the most famous of which is the ''Tractatus compositionis augmentatus'' (ca. 1657), which was the source of the term '' passus duriusculus''. In the 21st century Bernhard was suggested as one of three possible composers of the Kyrie–Gloria Mass for double choir, BWV Anh. 167.

Bach Digital Bach Digital (German: ), developed by the Bach Archive in Leipzig, is an online database which gives access to information on compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach and members of his family. Early manuscripts of such compositions are a major foc ...

Work at

website

Sources

*''Wohl dem, der den Herren fürchtet'' , by Christoph Bernhard (Garri Editions, Frankfurt am Main, 2005) Dr. Alejandro Garri, Ed. *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernhard, Christoph 1628 births 1692 deaths 17th-century classical composers German Baroque composers German classical composers German male classical composers German music theorists Pupils of Heinrich Schütz 17th-century male musicians