Johannes Aal (c. 1500 – 28 May 1553) was a Swiss

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, composer and

dramaturg A dramaturge or dramaturg is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and printed programmes (or helps others with these tasks), consults auth ...

. Aal was born in Bremgarten, Switzerland, and was pastor there until 1529, then ''Leutpriester'' in

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...

until 1536. At the collegiate church of

Solothurn Solothurn ( , ; french: Soleure ; it, Soletta ; rm, ) is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare and on the foot of the Weissens ...

, he became preacher and choir leader in 1538. From 1544 to 1551, he was provost of the college of canons, where he died. He is the author of the tragedy ''Johannes der Täufer (St. John Baptist)'', first performed in 1549 in Bern. The piece is a folk play in two days with four acts each. It includes burlesques, romantic scenes and satirical elements. Its

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

derides all classes and the court as well as curiosity, passion for finery, loquacity and the art of seduction of women. As a musician, he composed a tune in 16 verses on

Saint Maurice Saint Maurice (also Moritz, Morris, or Mauritius; ) was an Egyptian military leader who headed the legendary Theban Legion of Rome in the 3rd century, and is one of the favorite and most widely venerated saints of that martyred group. He is the ...

and Saint Ursus of Solothurn.

*Gombert, Ludwig: ''Johannes Aals Spiel von Johannes dem Täufer und die älteren Johannesdramen.'' In: Germanistische Abhandlungen, 31. Hildesheim, New York 1977 (Nachdruck der Ausg. Breslau 1908). *Kully, Elisabeth: "Das ältere St. Ursenspiel". In: ''Jahrbuch für Solothurner Geschichte'' 55 (1982), S. 1–107. *Meyer, Ernst (Hg.): ''Tragoedia Johannis des Täufers von Johannes Aal in Solothurn, 1549.'' Halle an der Saale 1929 (=Neudrucke deutscher Litteraturwerke des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts, 263–267). *Ukena-Best, Elke: "''Aal, Johannes"''. In: ''Literaturlexikon'', edited by

Walther Killy Walther Killy (26 August 191728 December 1995) was a German literary scholar who specialised in poetry, especially that of Friedrich Hölderlin and Georg Trakl. He taught at the Free University of Berlin, the Georg-August-Universität Göttinge ...

Bd. 1, S. 25.

Sources

*''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie''
online version
* 1500s births 1553 deaths People from Bremgarten, Aargau 16th-century Swiss Roman Catholic theologians Swiss dramatists and playwrights Male dramatists and playwrights Swiss male writers Swiss composers Swiss male composers 16th-century composers {{Switzerland-composer-stub

Further reading

Sources