Thomas Stoltzer, also Stolczer, Scholczer (c.1480–1526) was a German composer of the

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 ...

Life

Nothing is known of Stoltzer's early life, though he is thought to have come from the same family as Clemens Stoltzer, who was a town clerk in Schweidnitz, and to have been born in Schweidnitz,

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

. Stoltzer may have studied with

Heinrich Finck Heinrich Finck (1444 or 1445 – 9 June 1527) was a German composer. He served as ''Kapellmeister'' first for Prince Alexander Jagiellon, Alexander of Lithuania, later King of Poland, before leaving Poland in 1510. He worked in Stuttgart before be ...

; while no concrete evidence of this association exists, he was at the least intimately familiar with Finck's work since he quotes from Finck's music copiously. He served as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

in Breslau from 1519, and was a supporter of the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, though he never made public his sentiments. Louis II appointed him '' magister capellae'' in

Ofen Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...

at the Hungarian court on May 8, 1522. Ludwig's wife, Mary, asked him to set

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

's translations of

psalm The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of H ...

s xii, xiii, xxxviii and lxxxvi, which he did between 1524 and 1526. One personal letter of Stoltzer's is still extant, dated February 23, 1526 and addressed to

Albert, Duke of Prussia Albert of Prussia (; 17 May 149020 March 1568) was a German prince who was the 37th grand master of the Teutonic Knights and, after converting to Lutheranism, became the first ruler of the Duchy of Prussia, the secularized state that emerged fr ...

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

; in this letter Stoltzer relates the news of a recently completed psalm setting and intimates that he would like to join Albrecht's court. On this letter, there is additional writing, dated March 1526, which refers to him as "the late Thomas". It was previously thought that he had died at the

Battle of Mohács The Battle of Mohács (; , ) took place on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, in the Kingdom of Hungary. It was fought between the forces of Hungary, led by King Louis II of Hungary, Louis II, and the invading Ottoman Empire, commanded by Suleima ...

in August 1526, but this is erroneous. He is thought to have died near

Znaim Znojmo (; ) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants. Znojmo is the historical and cultural centre of southwestern Moravia and the second most populated town in the South Moravian Region. The hi ...

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

Works

Stoltzer's extant works amount to some 150 pieces, gathered in 30 publications and 60 manuscripts. None of them date from Stoltzer's own lifetime. Stoltzer was most popular in

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

, in the areas most directly affected by the Reformation;

Georg Rhau Georg Rhau (Rhaw) (1488 – 6 August 1548) was a German publisher and composer. He was one of the most significant music printers in Germany in the first half of the 16th century, during the early period of the Protestant Reformation. He was pri ...

was one of his most dedicated printers, issuing at least 70 of Stoltzer's works in his publications. His works remained in general circulation 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 ...

-speaking countries up until the end of the 16th century. While he composed in all of the standard sacred forms of his day, he concentrated on

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. His early motets often make use of

numerological Numerology (known before the 20th century as arithmancy) is the belief in an occult, divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value, via an alphanumeric system, ...

signifiers of religious importance; later works show influence from the Netherlands school of composers, such as

imitation Imitation (from Latin ''imitatio'', "a copying, imitation") is a behavior whereby an individual observes and replicates another's behavior. Imitation is also a form of learning that leads to the "development of traditions, and ultimately our cu ...

and the use of multiple choirs. Among his most popular motets was ''O admirabile commercium'', which survives today in 11 sources. He composed four

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 ...

es, as well as fourteen

introit The Introit () is part of the opening of the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist for many Christian denominations. In its most complete version, it consists of an antiphon, psalm verse and '' Gloria Patri'', which are spoken or sung at the ...

s spanning the

church year The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year, ecclesiastical calendar, or kalendar, consists of the cycle of Christian liturgy, liturgical days and seasons that determines when feast days, including Calendar of saints, c ...

from

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

. His hymns were particularly beloved by Rhau, who printed 39 of them in 1542.

Editions

*''Newe deudsche geistliche Gesenge (1544)'', ed. J. Wolf, ''

Denkmäler deutscher Tonkunst ''Denkmäler deutscher Tonkunst'' (literally "Monuments of German musical art") is a historical edition of music from Germany, covering the Baroque and Classical periods. The edition comprises two series: the first appeared in sixty-five volum ...

'', 1908 *''Das deutsche Gesellschaftslied in Österreich von 1480–1550'', ed. L. Nowak, '' Denkmaler der Tonkunst im Österreich'', 1930 *''Thomas Stoltzer: Sämtliche lateinische Hymnen und Psalmen'', ed. H. Albrecht and O. Gombosi, ''Denkmäler deutscher Tonkunst'', 1931 *''Thomas Stoltzer: Ausgewählte Werke'', vol. i ed. H. Albrecht, ''Das Erbe deutscher Musik'', 1942; vols. ii-iii ed. L. Hoffmann-Erbrecht, 1969, 1983 *''Georg Forster:

Frische teutsche Liedlein Frische teutsche Liedlein is a five-part collection of songs, which was written and published in 1539-1556 by the doctor, composer and song collector Georg Forster (around 1510 in Amberg – 12 November 1568 in Nuremberg). It comprises 380 polyph ...

(1539–1556)'' ed.

Kurt Gudewill Kurt Gudewill (3 February 1911 – 29 July 1995) was a German musicologist and University lecturer. From 1952 to 1976 he was professor at the musicological institute of the University of Kiel, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel. He rendered o ...

, ', 1942 *''Georg Rhau: Sacrorum hymnorum liber primus'', ed. R. Gerber, ''Das Erbe deutscher Musik'', 1942–43 *''Georg Rhau: Vesperarum precum officia'', ed. H.J. Moser, ''Musikdrucke aus den Jahren 1538 bis 1545 in praktischer Neuausgabe'', 1960

References

*Lothar Hoffmann-Erbrecht, "Thomas Stoltzer". ''

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. *Grantley McDonald, ‘Thomas Stoltzer in Schweidnitz: New Evidence’. ''Neues Musikwissenschaftliches Jahrbuch'' 16 (2008–2009): 7–8.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stoltzer, Thomas 1526 deaths German Renaissance composers Year of birth uncertain German male classical composers