Michael Praetorius
German composer, organist, and music theorist / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Praetorius (born Creuzburg an der Werra, near Eisenach 15 February 1571? ; died Wolfenbüttel, 15 February 1621) was a German composer, organist and music theorist. He was one of the most important composers of his day and he wrote lots of different kinds of music. A lot of his music is based on hymns of the Protestant church.
We are not quite certain about the date of his birth. He was born at a time when there was a lot of argument about religion in Germany. His father was a strict Lutheran and lost his job more than once because of his beliefs. We know very little about the life of Praetorius. He seems to have gone to the Lateinschule (“Latin School”) in Torgau where he had music lessons from Michael Voigt. He probably never had music lessons after he left school. Then he went to the University of Frankfurt an der Oder. There Praetorius graduated in divinity. Afterwards he found a job as organist to the Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. He soon earned a good salary. He married in 1603 and had two sons.
Although he had his job in Wolfenbüttel for many years he also worked a lot in Dresden where he met Heinrich Schütz and in Magdeburg where he met Samuel Scheidt. His health was not good, possibly because he worked so hard. When he died he left a lot of money to the poor.