Christoph Praetorius (died 1590) was an author, choirmaster and composer. He entered the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...

in 1551. Christoph was born in Bunzlau,

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

, but the date of his birth is unknown. His earliest composition, a funeral motet, appears to be from around 1560, which was the date of the first of four collections consisting of sacred music for vocalists. He served as Kantor at the

Lüneburg Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also called ...

Johannisschule from 1563 until 1581. He was obliged to resign as Kantor because he had become deaf, yet he continued his compositional activity as evidenced by a wedding motet written for Euricius Dedekind’s wedding. He published two books on music theory between 1563 and 1581. The last of his sacred vocal volumes appeared in 1581. He died in Lüneburg in 1590. His compositions have not been deemed masterworks, but his writings on music were widely quoted. They included the use of the 12 Glarean modes, coloratura training, and the use of ‘voces fictae’. He was the uncle of

Michael Praetorius Michael Praetorius (probably 28 September 1571 – 15 February 1621) was a German composer, organist, and music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of musical forms ba ...

Published works

Prose

* ''Erotemata renovatae'', Wittenberg, 1574 * ''Erotemata renovatae musicae, Ülzen, 1581

Music

* ''De obitu'', Wittenberg, 1560 * ''Melodia epithalamia composite in nuptiis'', Wittenberg, 1561 * ''Fröliche und liebliche Ehrnlieder'', Wittenberg, 1581 * ''Der ander Teil: frölicher und lieblicher Ehrnlieder'', Wittenberg, 1581 * ''Carmen nuptial in honorem'', Ülzen, 1581

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Praetorius, Christoph Renaissance composers 1590 deaths People from Bolesławiec Year of birth missing University of Wittenberg alumni