Christian Geist (c. 1650 – 27 September 1711) was a German composer and

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational ...

, who lived and worked mainly in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

Biography

He was born in

Güstrow Güstrow (; la, Gustrovium) is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is capital of the Rostock district; Rostock itself is a district-free city and regiopolis. It has a population of 28,999 (2020) and is the seventh largest town in Me ...

, where his father, Joachim Geist, was

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

at the cathedral school. From 1665–1666 and 1668–1669 he was a boy member of the court orchestra conducted by

Daniel Danielis Daniel Danielis (Visé near Liège 1635- Vannes 1696) was a Belgian composer. He studied at Maastricht and was organist at Saint Lambert's Church. Between 1661 and 1681 he served as ''Kapellmeister'' at the court of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. In 1684 h ...

(1635-1696) of Duke Gustav Adolph of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. He was a bass singer at the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

court music ensemble in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

in 1669 and in June 1670 moved to the Swedish court orchestra under

Gustaf Düben Gustaf Düben (also spelt Gustav) (1624/1628December 19, 1690) was a Swedish organist and composer. Personal life Early life Düben was born in the 1620s in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of the German-born Andreas Düben, an organist, and A ...

the elder (ca. 1628-1690), a position he held until June 1679, having applied unsuccessfully for the position of choirmaster of St. John's in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

in 1674. He became organist of the German church in Gothenburg, and in November 1684 moved to

, where he succeeded J.M. Radeck as organist of the Helligaandskirke, a post he held to his death, and also the

Trinitatis Church The Trinitatis Church (''Trinitatis Kirke'') is located in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is part of the 17th century Trinitatis Complex, which includes the Rundetårn astronomical observatory tower and the Copenhagen University Library, in add ...

, after marrying his

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can ...

Magdalena Sibylla in May 1685 (a practice by no means rare). He succeeded Johann Lorentz as organist of the

Church of Holmen The Holmen Church ( da, Holmens Kirke) is a Parish church in central Copenhagen in Denmark, on the street called Holmens Kanal. First built as an anchor forge in 1563, it was converted into a naval church by Christian IV. It is famous for having ...

in 1689. He died, with his third wife and all their children, of the

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the plague bacterium ('' Yersinia pestis''). One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and vomiting, as ...

Music

Sixty of his vocal works have survived, all but two of a

sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or godd ...

nature, with

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

texts; they were probably composed during his time in Stockholm. Most are intended for court performance, and one third for use in church services, but he also wrote larger works for royal ceremonies; ''Quis hostis in coelis'' and ''Domine in virtute'' were written for

Charles XI Charles XI or Carl ( sv, Karl XI; ) was King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period of Swedish history known as the Swedish Empire (1611–1721). He was the only son of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden and Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein ...

's accession to the

throne A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign on state occasions; or the seat occupied by a pope or bishop on ceremonial occasions. "Throne" in an abstract sense can also refer to the mon ...

in 1672. His vocal works are related in form and style to the contemporary Italian concerted

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Marga ...

; indeed, he called them ''motetto.'' They are generally in sections which alternate in texture and scoring, and include

arioso In classical music, arioso (also aria parlante ) is a category of solo vocal piece, usually occurring in an opera or oratorio, falling somewhere between recitative and aria in style. Literally, arioso means ''airy''. The term arose in the 16th ce ...

s or

aria In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...

s for solo voice. The simple counterpoint and expressive harmonic and melodic nature of these works is typically Italian, while his extravagant use of the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

and

viol The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitc ...

is rooted in the German tradition. His music is somewhat similar to that of

Marco Giuseppe Peranda Marco Giuseppe Peranda (Macerata, c. 1625 – 12 January 1675 in Dresden) was an Italian musician and composer active in Germany. Life He was one of the most notable Italian musicians in Germany during the early Baroque alongside Vincenzo Albrici ...

and

Vincenzo Albrici Vincenzo Albrici (26 June 1631 in Rome - 7 September 1687 in Prague) was an Italian composer, brother of Bartolomeo and nephew of Fabio and Alessandro Costantini. Albrici was born as the son of singer who settled from Marche in Rome. In 1641 h ...

Kaspar Förster Kaspar Förster (also Caspar Foerster) (baptized 28 February 1616 in Danzig – 2 February 1673 in Oliva, near Danzig) was a German singer and composer. Förster studied music under his father Kaspar (1574-1652) and then under Marco Scacchi ...

, and

Dieterich Buxtehude Dieterich Buxtehude (; ; born Diderik Hansen Buxtehude; c. 1637 – 9 May 1707) was a Danish organist and composer of the Baroque period, whose works are typical of the North German organ school. As a composer who worked in various vocal ...

. The

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced ...

s of his compositions reside in the library of the

University of Uppsala Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance durin ...

, and some have been published as ''C. Geist: 15 Ausgewählte Kirchenkonzerte'', edited by B. Lundgren, in ''Das Erbe deutscher Musik'', 1st series, XLVIII (1960). Six vocal works on

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

texts were written during his time as organist of the German church in Gothenburg; they are typical of German

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

works;

chorale Chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of " Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one of the ...

settings, sacred arias, and a concerto with aria. Three

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

works of doubtful authorship have been published as ''Tre koralförspel'', ed. Lundgren (Stockholm, 1943); these are chorale preludes on "

Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr "" (Alone to God in the highest be glory) is an early Lutheran hymn, with text and melody attributed to Nikolaus Decius. With the reformers intending church service in German, it was intended as a German version of the Gloria part of the Latin mas ...

" (All glory be to God on high); ''

Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir "" (From deep affliction I cry out to you), originally "", later also "", is a Lutheran hymn of 1524, with words written by Martin Luther as a paraphrase of Psalm 130. It was first published in 1524 as one of eight songs in the first Lutheran h ...

'' (From deep affliction I cry out to you), using the melody by

Wolfgang Dachstein Wolfgang Dachstein (1487–1553) was a German organist, composer, and lyricist. He was born in Offenburg. From 1503 Dachstein studied Music and Theology with Martin Luther at Erfurt. He entered the Dominican convent in Strasbourg and in 1 ...

rather than the more well-known one by

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Luther ...

, and ''

Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ "" ("Praise be to You, Jesus Christ") is a Lutheran hymn, written by Martin Luther in 1524. It was first published in 1524 in the . For centuries the chorale has been the prominent hymn (Hauptlied) for Christmas Day in German speaking Lutheranism, ...

'' (Praise to you, Jesus Christ). These works fall into the tradition of the

North German school The 17th century organ composers of Germany can be divided into two primary schools: the north German school and the south German school (sometimes a third school, central German, is added). The stylistic differences were dictated not only by teach ...

of organ music.

Sources

Kerala J. Snyder Kerala Johnson Snyder is an American musicologist and educator. She is Professor Emerita of Musicology and Affiliate Faculty of Organ, Sacred Music and Historical Keyboards at the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester. She previously ta ...

/Lars Berglund: 'Geist, Christian', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 2007-06-07), http://www.grovemusic.com/ *

Friedhelm Flamme Friedhelm Flamme (born 1963) is a German organist, choral director, musicologist, music educator. Life and achievements Born in Volkmarsen, Flamme who has been associated with church music since his youth, was already active as an organist w ...

: notes to recording ''Organ Works of the North German Baroque III'',

cpo records CPO may refer to: Occupations * Certified Professional Organizer * Certified Protection Officer, a professional certification for security officers from the International Foundation for Protection Officers * Chief people officer, a corporate o ...

777 246-2

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Geist, Christian German Baroque composers German classical organists Organists and composers in the North German tradition German male organists 18th-century deaths from plague (disease) Infectious disease deaths in Denmark 1650s births 1711 deaths 18th-century keyboardists 18th-century classical composers German classical composers German male classical composers 18th-century German composers 18th-century German male musicians Male classical organists

Biography

Music

Further reading

Sources

External links