Johann Crüger (9 April 1598 – 23 February 1662) was a German

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

of well-known

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn ...

s. He was also the editor of the most widely used

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

hymnal A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). Hymnals are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Chr ...

of the 17th century, '' Praxis pietatis melica''.

Early life and education

Crüger was born in Groß Breesen (now part of Guben) as the son of an innkeeper, Georg Crüger.Nummert, Dietrich
"Mit 24 schon Musikdirektor. Kantor und Lehrer Johann Crüger"
'' Berlinische Monatsschrift'', pp. 64–68 (April 1998) He was an ethnic Sorb, baptized as Jan Krygar.Zersen, David and Mellenbruch, Eric. “Najwuznamn-niši němski kěrlušer poreforma-ciskeje doby bě Serb”, Serbsky protyka, pp. 53–56 (2018) (In Sorbian) He studied at the nearby

Lateinschule The Latin school was the grammar school of 14th- to 19th-century Europe, though the latter term was much more common in England. Emphasis was placed, as the name indicates, on learning to use Latin. The education given at Latin schools gave gre ...

(then located in Guben) until 1613, and that school's teaching program included music and singing. He then traveled to Sorau and Breslau for further education, and finally to

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the ...

, where he received musical training from Paulus Homberger (1560–1634). In 1615 he traveled to Berlin, where he studied

theology 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 th ...

at the Berlinisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster. In 1616 he was engaged as a house tutor to the

von Blumenthal The von Blumenthal family are Lutheran and Roman Catholic German nobility, originally from Brandenburg-Prussia. Other (unrelated) families of this name exist in Switzerland and formerly in Russia, and many unrelated families (quite a few of them Je ...

family; his pupils included

Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal (1606 in Berlin – 1657 in Halberstadt) was a German nobleman. He was a diplomat and the founder of the Brandenburg-Prussian Army. The son of Christoph von Blumenthal and his wife Dorothea von Hacke, and the fi ...

. From 1620 he studied theology at 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 i ...

and trained himself further in music through private study.

Career

From 1622 to his death, a period of 40 years, he was simultaneously a teacher at the gymnasium ''Zum Grauen Kloster'' and cantor of the Nikolaikirche in Berlin. Crüger composed numerous concert works and wrote extensively on music education. In 1643 he became acquainted with the famous hymn writer

Paul Gerhardt Paul Gerhardt (12 March 1607 – 27 May 1676) was a German theologian, Lutheran minister and hymnodist. Biography Gerhardt was born into a middle-class family at Gräfenhainichen, a small town between Halle and Wittenberg. His father died in ...

, for whom he wrote the music for various hymns, including " Wie soll ich dich empfangen". In 1647 he edited the most important German Lutheran hymnal of the 17th century, '' Praxis pietatis melica'', which appeared in many more editions. Among the hymns for which he composed music is Johann Franck's "" (You, o beautiful building of the world). It is no longer in practical use, but one

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme and metrical schemes, but they are not required to have ei ...

, "" (Come, O death, to sleep a brother), was prominently used in Bach's solo cantata ''Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen'', BWV 56. He composed the tune for Rinkart's " Nun danket alle Gott", and for Franck's "

Jesu, meine Freude "" (; Jesus, my joy) is a hymn in German, written by Johann Franck in 1650, with a melody, Zahn No. 8032, by Johann Crüger. The song first appeared in Crüger's hymnal in 1653. The text addresses Jesus as joy and support, versus enemie ...

", which Bach used for a motet of the same name.

Personal life

In 1628, he married the widow of a city councilman. During the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

, Crüger and his family endured many hardships including hunger.Bautz, Friedrich Wilhelm
"Biografía de Crüger"
'' Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon'' He fell ill with

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

, and almost died of that disease, losing five children and his wife in 1636. In 1637, having recovered from the disease, he got married a second time, to the 17-year-old daughter of an innkeeper, with whom he had fourteen children, most of whom died at a young age. One of his daughters married the court painter

Michael Conrad Hirt Michael Conrad Hirt (1613–1671) was a German Baroque artist. Hirt became a court painter in Berlin, where he made portraits and paintings of historical subjects.Free scores
at the

Mutopia Project The Mutopia Project is a volunteer-run effort to create a library of free content sheet music, in a way similar to Project Gutenberg's library of public domain books. It started in 2000.Portal page at thInternet ArchiveRetrieved January 24, 2 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruger, Johann 1598 births 1662 deaths People from Guben German Lutheran hymnwriters German Lutherans German classical composers German male classical composers German Baroque composers Classical composers of church music University of Wittenberg alumni German music theorists German people of Sorbian descent 17th-century classical composers 17th-century male musicians