Adam of Fulda (c. 1445 – 1505) was a German composer and music theorist of the second half of the 15th century. He was born in

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the city hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...

and died in

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

. In

Heinrich Glarean Heinrich Glarean also styled Henricus Glareanus (born as Heinrich Loriti on 28 February or 3 June 1488 – 28 March 1563) was a Swiss music theorist, poet, humanist, philosopher and cartographer. He was born in Mollis (in the canton of Glarus, he ...

's ''Dodecachordon'' he is described as ''Francum Germanum'', i.e., of German origin. Adam of Fulda calls himself at times ''musicus ducalis'' (musician of the Court). He also mentions

Guillaume Dufay Guillaume Du Fay ( , ; also Dufay, Du Fayt; 5 August 1397 – 27 November 1474) was a composer and music theorist of early Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered the leading European composer of h ...

(1400–1474) as his contemporary.

Biography

Adam of Fulda was born approximately 1445. He was educated at the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

Monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

at Vornbach Abbey, where he wrote his ''De musica''. After leaving the monastery, he was a lecturer at the

Wittenberg University Wittenberg University (officially Wittenberg College) is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio. It has 1,326 full-time students drawn from 33 states and 9 foreign countries. Wittenberg University is associated with the Evangelical ...

Torgau Torgau () is a town on the banks of the Elbe in northwestern Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district Nordsachsen. Outside Germany, the town is best known as where on 25 April 1945, the United States and Soviet Armies first met near ...

, where he was one of the scholars involved with Renaissance humanism. From 1490 he was choir director.

Writings

Three writings of his are known. ''De musica'' is a four-part manuscript written in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, dated 4 November 1490. It deals in 7 chapters with an explication, invention and praise of music; in 21 chapters with the human hand, the

chant A chant (from French ', from Latin ', "to sing") is the iterative speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of no ...

, the voice, the

clef A clef (from French: 'key') is a musical symbol used to indicate which notes are represented by the lines and spaces on a musical staff. Placing a clef on a staff assigns a particular pitch to one of the five lines or four spaces, whic ...

s, the

mutation In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, ...

and the keys; in 13 chapters with mensural music and in 8 chapters with proportions and consonances. He wrote "Ein ser andechtig Cristenlich Buchleī aus hailigē schrifften vnd Lerern von Adam von Fulda in teutsch reymenn gesetzt" (A very pious and Christian booklet from the Holy writings and studies by Adam of Fulda set in German rhymes), published in Wittenberg in 1512 (reprinted, Berlin, 1914). Fulda began another work which was to be a history of Saxony. It was completed by

Johannes Trithemius Johannes Trithemius (; 1 February 1462 – 13 December 1516), born Johann Heidenberg, was a German Benedictine abbot and a polymath who was active in the German Renaissance as a Lexicography, lexicographer, chronicler, Cryptography, cryptograph ...

after Adam's death in 1514 as ''Annales Hirsaugiensis''. Klaus Wolfgang Niemöller, "Adam von Fulda," ''Oxford Music Online'' retrieved 31 October 2011.

Musical works

Most of Adam's musical works are liturgical settings or secular songs. He wrote one mass, and several liturgical works. Niemöller lists 3 secular songs.

Recordings of works by Adam of Fulda

''Ach hülf mich leid'' and other works by Adam of Fulda have been recorded by the German

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

-music vocal group " Stimmwerck".

Notes

References

*''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' �
online version

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adam of Fulda 1440s births 1505 deaths German male classical composers German music theorists Musicians from Hesse People from Fulda 15th-century German composers