Lorenz Christoph Mizler von Kolof (also known as Wawrzyniec Mitzler de Kolof and Mitzler de Koloff; 26 July 1711 – 8 May 1778) was a German

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

, historian, printer,

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

Baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Classical music, Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance music, Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Class ...

composer, and precursor of the

Enlightenment in Poland The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment in Poland were developed later than in Western Europe, as the Polish bourgeoisie was weaker, and szlachta (nobility) culture ( Sarmatism) together with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth political system (Go ...

."Mitzler de Kolof, Wawrzyniec," ''Encyklopedia powszechna PWN'' WN Universal Encyclopedia volume 3, p. 144."Mitzler de Kolof, Wawrzyniec," ''Encyklopedia Polski'' ncyclopedia of Poland p. 417.

Family of origin

Mizler was born Lorenz Christoph Mizler von Kolof in Heidenheim,

Middle Franconia Middle Franconia (, ) is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia, Germany, in the west of Bavaria bordering the state of Baden-Württemberg. The administrative seat is Ansbach; the most populous and largest city is Nuremberg. Subdi ...

to Johann Georg Mizler, a court clerk to the

Margrave of Ansbach The Principality or Margraviate of (Brandenburg) Ansbach ( or ) was a principality in the Holy Roman Empire centered on the Franconian city of Ansbach. The ruling House of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern princes of the land were known as margraves, a ...

at Heidenheim, and Barbara Stumpf, of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Education

His first teacher was N. Müller, a minister from Obersulzbach,

Lehrberg Lehrberg is a market town in the district of Ansbach (district), Ansbach, Mittelfranken, Bavaria, Germany. Villages There are districts mentioned below: References External links

Ansbach (district) {{Ansbachdistrict-geo-stub ...

, from whom Mizler learned the

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

and

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

. From 1724 to 1730, Mizler studied at the

Ansbach Ansbach ( , ; ) is a city in the Germany, German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk, administrative region of Mittelfranken, Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränk ...

Gymnasium with Rector Oeder and

Johann Matthias Gesner Johann Matthias Gesner (9 April 1691 – 3 August 1761) was a German classical scholar and schoolmaster. Life He was born at Roth an der Rednitz near Ansbach. His father, Johann Samuel Gesner, a pastor in Auhausen, died in 1704, leaving the fam ...

, who became director of the

St. Thomas School, Leipzig St. Thomas School, Leipzig (; ) is a co-educational and public boarding school in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1212 and is one of the oldest schools in the world. St. Thomas is known for its art, language and m ...

, from 1731 to 1734. Mizler enrolled at

Leipzig University Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

on 30 April 1731, where he studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

. His teachers there included Gesner,

Johann Christoph Gottsched Johann Christoph Gottsched (2 February 1700 – 12 December 1766) was a German philosopher, author, critic and grammarian of the Enlightenment. Biography Early life He was born at Juditten (renamed Mendeleyevo in 1947) near Königsberg (K ...

, and Christian Wolff. He earned a BS in December 1733 and a MS in March 1734. During this time, he also pursued the study of

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

and had some association with

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

, whom, he wrote, he had the honor to call his "good friend and patron." Mizler moved to

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 1735 to study

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

and

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

; returning to Leipzig in 1736.

Career

From May 1737, Mizler began lecturing on music history and

Johann Mattheson Johann Mattheson (28 September 1681 – 17 April 1764) was a German composer, critic, lexicographer and music theorist. His writings on the late Baroque and early Classical period were highly influential, specifically, "his biographical and the ...

's ''Neu-eröffnete Orchestre'' ewly Published Orchestrahe was the first to lecture on music at a German university in 150 years. He also began a monthly publication, the ''Neu eröffnete musikalische Bibliothek'' ewly Published Musical Libraryin 1738. At about this time, Mizler began a music publishing business; and he returned school to take a doctorate of medicine at Erfurt University in 1747.

Move to Poland

In 1743 he left

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

and settled permanently in Poland. Mitzler de Kolof (his ''

nom de guerre A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war. In Ancien régime, ''ancien régime'' Kingdom of France, France it would be adopted by each n ...

'' in Poland) became secretary, teacher, librarian and court mathematician to Count

Małachowski Małachowski (feminine Małachowska) is a Polish surname, it may refer to: * Adrian Małachowski (born 1998), Polish footballer * Godzimir Małachowski (1852–1908), Polish lawyer * Jacek Małachowski (1737–1821), Polish nobleman and politici ...

Końskie Końskie () is a town in south-central Poland with 20,328 inhabitants (2008), situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. Historically, Końskie belongs to the province of Lesser Poland, and since its foundation, until 1795 (see Partitions of P ...

, from whom he learned

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

and with whom he studied

Polish history The history of Poland spans over a thousand years, from Lechites, medieval tribes, Christianization of Poland, Christianization and Kingdom of Poland, monarchy; through Polish Golden Age, Poland's Golden Age, Polonization, expansionism and be ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

. In 1747 Mizler moved to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. Mitzler also began a medical practice, which included consulting as a court physician to King

August III Augustus III (; – "the Saxon"; ; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire where he was known as Frederick Augustus II (). He w ...

. When he became court physician, this afforded him time to study the

natural science Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

s. Mizler established the publishing house 'Mizlerischer Bücherverlag, Warschau und Leipzig' in 1740.

Honors

Mitzler became a member of the Erfurt Academy of Sciences in 1755, and received

Polish nobility The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...

in 1768.

Publisher

In association with the

Załuski Library The Załuski Library (, ) established in Warsaw in 1747 by Józef Andrzej Załuski and his brother, Andrzej Stanisław Załuski, both Roman Catholic bishops, was a public library nationalized and renamed upon its founders' death into the Załus ...

, Mitzler published and edited Poland's first scientific periodicals: ''Warschauer Bibliothek'' (1753–55), ''Acta Litteraria...'' (1755–56), ''Nowe Wiadomości Ekonomiczne i Uczone'' conomic and Learned News 1758–61 and 1766–67). From 1765 he published the ''

Monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, Wes ...

'' (1765–85), which had been founded at the initiative of King

Stanisław August Poniatowski Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, and as Stanisław August Poniatowski (), was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuani ...

, from 1773 until 1777 as its editor. In 1756 he set up a printing establishment, which in 1768 he conveyed (together with a

type foundry A type foundry is a company that designs or distributes typefaces. Before digital typography, type foundries manufactured and sold metal and wood typefaces for hand typesetting, and matrices for line-casting machines like the Linotype and ...

) to Warsaw's Corps of Cadets, while retaining the business' directorship. At this printing establishment, Mitzler published scholarly editions of historic sources (a collection of

chronicle A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...

s, ''Collectio magna'', 1761–71), literary works, and textbooks for the Corps of Cadets. He also operated a bookstore. Mitzler de Kolof promoted new ideas, including the emancipation of Poland's townspeople. From 1743 he was the chief advocate, in Poland, of Christian Wolff's philosophical doctrines.

Władysław Tatarkiewicz Władysław Tatarkiewicz (; 3 April 1886 – 4 April 1980) was a Polish philosopher, historian of philosophy, historian of art, esthetician, and ethicist. Early life and education Tatarkiewicz began his higher education at Warsaw University ...

, ''Zarys dziejów filozofii w Polsce'' Brief History of Philosophy in Poland n the series:Historia nauki polskiej w monografiach istory of Polish Learning in Monographs olumeXXXII, Kraków, Polska Akademia Umiejętności ; 1948; pp. 11–12. Note: This monograph draws from pertinent sections in earlier editions of the author's ''Historia filozofii'' istory of Philosophy

Death

Mitzler died in Warsaw in 1778.

Music

Mitzler, an amateur composer, was deeply interested in

music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...

, advocating the establishment of a musical science based firmly on

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

;

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

; and the imitation of nature in music. He translated

Johann Joseph Fux Johann Joseph Fux (; – 13 February 1741) was an Austrian composer, music theorist and pedagogue of the late Baroque era. His most enduring work is not a musical composition but his treatise on counterpoint, '' Gradus ad Parnassum'', which ha ...

's ''

Gradus ad Parnassum The Latin phrase means "a step towards Parnassus". It is sometimes shortened to . '' Parnassus'' is the prominence of a mountain range in central Greece, a few kilometres north of Delphi, of which the two summits, in Classical times, were called ...

'' into German (the original was in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

), having written of it that "this methodical guide to musical composition samong all such works the best book that we have for practical music and its composition." Mitzler was a

polymath A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...

: his interests encompassed music, mathematics, philosophy, theology, law, and the natural sciences. He was influenced in philosophy by the ideas of Wolff,

Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Isaac Newton, Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in ad ...

, and Gottsched. The journal ' usical library which he published between 1736 and 1754, is an important document of the musical life in Germany at the time, and includes reviews of books on music written from 1650 up to its publication. Mizler himself contributed commentaries and criticisms on the writings of

Wolfgang Printz Wolfgang Caspar Printz (10 October 1641 – 13 October 1717), normally referred to as Wolfgang Printz (with sometimes the variation of Kaspar), was a German composer who studied theology and was appointed cantor at Promnitz, Triebel and Sor ...

Leonhard Euler Leonhard Euler ( ; ; ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss polymath who was active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, logician, geographer, and engineer. He founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made influential ...

Johann Adolf Scheibe Johann Adolph Scheibe (5 May 1708 – 22 April 1776) was a German-Danish composer and significant critic and theorist of music. Though much of his theoretical work survives, most of his compositions are lost, though the extant ones demonstrate a ...

Johann Samuel Schroeter Johann Samuel Schroeter or Schröter (2 March 1753 – 2 November 1788) was a German pianist and composer, active in London from 1772. Life Schröter was born in Guben to Johann Friedrich Schröter (1724–1811), an oboist for Augustus III of Po ...

, , Gottsched, and Mattheson; especially the latter two's ''Critische Dichtkunst'' (1729) and ''Vollkommene Capellmeister'' (1739). His essays were detailed and perceptive and offer a useful musicological resource for present-day scholars of

Musical society

He founded the orresponding Society of the Musical Sciencesin 1738. Its aim was to enable musical scholars to circulate theoretical papers in order to further musical science by encouraging discussion of the papers via correspondence. Many of the papers appear in the ''Musikalische Bibliothek''. The entry requirements of this society resulted in both the famous 1746/1748 Haussmann portrait of Bach and his Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her" for

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

BWV The (, ; BWV) is a Catalogues of classical compositions, catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990 and the third edition in ...

769. Membership was limited to twenty. Belonging to the society were: *1738: **Giacomo de Lucchesini **L. C. Mizler (permanent secretary) ** *1739 **

Christoph Gottlieb Schröter Christoph Gottlieb Schröter (10 August 169920 May 1782), was a German composer and organist, who is best known for his contributions to the tangent piano, which in 1717 he invented a keyboard instrument whose strings were not plucked, but struc ...

Heinrich Bokemeyer The Bokemeyer collection is a large music collection, which is housed in the Berlin State Library. It contains about 1,800 scores of music. It includes an important body of German Protestant vocal music. The collection was primarily created by co ...

** G. P. Telemann ** G. H. Stölzel *1742: **Georg Friedrich Lingke *1743: ** **Georg Venzky *1745: **

G. F. Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, Han ...

**Udalricus Weiss *1746: ** C. H. Graun *1747: ** J. S. Bach ** G. A. Sorge ** *1748: ** J. C. F. Fischer *1751: ** *1752: **Johann Georg Kaltenbeck *1755: ** L. Mozart (invitation declined)

Compositions

*''Sammlung auserlesener moralischer Oden, zum Nutzen und Vergnügen der Liebhaber des Claviers'' I (Leipzig, 1740), II (Leipzig, 1741), III (Leipzig, 1743). Facsimiles published (Leipzig, 1971)

Writings

*''Dissertatio quod musica ars sit pars eruditionis philosophicae'' (Leipzig, 1734) *''Lusus ingenii de praesenti bello'' (Wittenberg, 1735) *''De usu atque praestantia philosophiae in theologia, jurisprudentia, medicina'' (Leipzig, 1736) *''Neu eröffnete musikalische Bibliothek, oder Gründliche Nachricht nebst unpartheyischem Urtheil von musikalischen Schriften und Büchern'' (Leipzig, 1739) *''Musikalischer Staarstecher, in welchem rechtschaffener Musikverständigen Fehler bescheiden angemerket, eingebildeter und selbst gewachsener sogenannter Componisten Thorheiten aber lächerlich gemachet werden'' (Leipzig, 1739–1740) *''Anfangs-Gründe des General-Basses nach mathematischer Lehr-Art abgehandelt'' (Leipzig, 1739) *''Gradus ad Parnassum, oder Anführung zur regelmässigen Composition, aus dem Lateinischen ins Deutsche übersetzt, und mit Anmerkungen versehen'' (Leipzig, 1742), translation of J. J. Fux: ''

'' (Vienna, 1725)

References

Notes Sources
pdf Online-Version

External links

Lorenz Christoph Mizler website

Works by Lorenz Christoph Mizler
in digital library

Polona Polona is a Polish digital library, which provides digitized books, magazines, graphics, maps, music, fliers and manuscripts from collections of the National Library of Poland and co-operating institutions. It began its operation in 2006. Colle ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mizler, Lorenz Christoph 1711 births 1778 deaths 18th-century German mathematicians German music historians German music theorists German musicologists 18th-century German physicians German publishers (people) People from the Principality of Ansbach 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian philosophers 18th-century Polish historians Polish male non-fiction writers 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian mathematicians 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian physicians 18th-century Polish nobility Leipzig University alumni University of Wittenberg alumni University of Erfurt alumni German male non-fiction writers 18th-century German composers 18th-century German male musicians People from Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen 18th-century German male writers Emigrants from the Holy Roman Empire Immigrants to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth