Thomas Elsbeth (? – after 1624) was a German composer. Details of Elsbeth's life are few and vague. Elsbeth was born in Neustadt,

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

; his birth date is totally unknown, although he did refer to himself as "poor and old" in 1616. Since his early publications were issued in

Frankfurt an der Oder Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Marchian dialects, Central Marchian: ''Frankfort an de Oder,'' ) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after Potsdam, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel. With a ...

, he is thought to have been an acquaintance of

Bartholomäus Gesius Bartholomäus Gesius (also: ''Göß'', ''Gese'', – 1613) was a German theologian, church musician, composer and hymn writer. He worked at Schloss Muskau and in Frankfurt (Oder) and is known for choral Passions in German and Latin and for t ...

, the '' kantor'' there. He may have attended

Viadrina University European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) () is a university located at Frankfurt (Oder) in Brandenburg, Germany. It is also known as the University of Frankfurt (Oder). The city is on the Oder River, which marks the border between Germany ...

in Frankfurt, though modern scholars have been unable to substantiate this with archival research. He dedicated a publication to the city councilmen of Breslau, and may have spent time there. He also published several books of works in

Liegnitz Legnica (; , ; ; ) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River and the Czarna Woda. As well as being the seat of the county, since 1992 the city has been the seat of the Diocese of Legnica. L ...

after 1606, and so it is probable that he lived there for some time. However, he is not listed in any of the surviving city payrolls. He is presumed to have lived in Jauer from 1616, and probably died there in or after 1624, the date of his last publications. Elsbeth left a significant body of extant

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 preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...

s and

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

s. Elsbeth's songs, of which there are about 100, are for three to five voices; some are in a

homophonic Homophony and Homophonic are from the Greek language, Greek ὁμόφωνος (''homóphōnos''), literally 'same sounding,' from ὁμός (''homós''), "same" and φωνή (''phōnē''), "sound". It may refer to: *Homophones − words with the s ...

style and others are set in a

polyphonic Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ...

chorale style. He never took up use of the ''

basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...

'', despite its increasing popularity via Italy in the beginning of the 17th century. Of about 150 motets, most of the early works are 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 ...

and most of the later in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

. His ''Evangelien'' collections are calendrical settings of the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

s, which together cover the entire church year. The settings contain the text of the gospel reading for the day as well as a short introductory phrase which summarizes or sets the stage for the actual Biblical passage.

Works

;Published *''Neue ausserlesene deutsche und lateinische Lieder'' (Frankfurt an der Oder, 1599, 26 works, 3 voices) *''Neue geistliche zu christlicher Andacht bewegende Lieder'' (Frankfurt an der Oder, 1599, 36 works, 5 voices) *''Neue ausserlesene weltliche Lieder'' (Frankfurt an der Oder, 1599, 26 works, 5 voices) *''Selectissimae & novae cantiones sacrae'' (Frankfurt an der Oder, 1600, 26 works, 6 voices) *''Dritter Theil neuer ausserlesener geistlicher und weltlicher Lieder'' (Coburg, 1602, 20 works, 3 voices) *''Selectissimae & novae cantiones sacrae'' (Liegnitz, 1606, 20 works, 4 voices) *''Neue ausserlesene Lieder'' (Liegnitz, 1607, 20 works, 5 voices) *''Selectissimae & novae cantiones sacrae'' (Liegnitz, 1608, 8 pieces, 6 and 8 voices) *''Selectissimae & novae cantiones sacrae'' (Liegnitz, 1610, 12 pieces, 5 voices) *''Festorum paschalis et pentecostes officium … introitus, missae, sequentiae'' (Liegnitz, 1615, 5 voices) *''Hochzeitlicher Gesang'' (Erfurt, 1615, 5 voices) *''Der 150. Ps Davids'' (Liegnitz, 1616, 7 voices) *''Erster Theil sontäglicher Evangelien … von Advent biss auff Cantate'' (Liegnitz, 1616, 30 pieces, 5 voices) *''Ander Theil sontäglicher Evangelien … von Cantate biss auff Advent'' (Liegnitz, 1621, 30 pieces, 5 voices) *''Ein schöner Spruch aus dem Hohen Lied'' (Liegnitz, 1621, 6 voices) *''Etliche trostreiche Text a. d. Psalmen und Jesus Sirach'' (Breslau, 1623, 8 voices) *''Melpomene sacra … das ist ausserlesene geistliche Gesänge auff alle vornehme Fest durchs gantze Jahr'' (Breslau, 1624, 16 pieces, 6 voices) *''Von Gott mir ist erkohren, wedding motet'' (Freiburg, 1624, 5 voices) *''Der 128. Psalm Davids'' (Liegnitz, no date, 6 voices) ;Published/copied elsewhere *1

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

*12 motets, 4, 5, and 6 voices *6 sacred lieder, 5 voices *6 secular songs, 5 voices

References

Feldmann/Scott. "Thomas Elsbeth". ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...

'' online.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elsbeth, Thomas Year of birth missing German Renaissance composers European University Viadrina alumni German male classical composers 17th-century German composers 16th-century German composers People from Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim 17th-century German male musicians