Gottfried August Homilius (2 February 1714 – 2 June 1785) was a German

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

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 ...

and

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

.Dennis Shrock ''Choral Repertoire'' 2009 -- Page 303 "1714–1785 Homilius was born near Dresden, where he was educated and where he served as substitute organist at the ..." He is considered one of the most important church composers of the generation following

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

's, and was the main representative of the '' empfindsamer'' style.

Life

Homilius was born in Rosenthal,

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, the son of a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

pastor, and was educated at the Annenschule in Dresden. He then studied law at

Leipzig University Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), 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 ...

and the organ under

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

. From 1742 he was organist at the

Dresden Frauenkirche The Dresden Frauenkirche (german: Dresdner Frauenkirche, , ''Church of Our Lady'') is a Evangelical Church in Germany, Lutheran church in Dresden, the capital of the German state of Saxony. Destroyed during the Allied Bombing of Dresden in Wo ...

, and from 1755 until his death

at the

Kreuzkirche The Dresden Kreuzkirche (Church of the Holy Cross) is a Lutheran church in Dresden, Germany. It is the main church and seat of the ''Landesbischof'' of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony, and the largest church building in the Free State o ...

in Dresden with the associated responsibility of

music director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...

at the

, the

Sophienkirche The Sophienkirche (Saint Sophia's Church) was a church in Dresden. It was located on the northeast corner of the Postplatz (post office square) in the old town before it was severely damaged in the Dresden bombing in 1945 and subsequently destr ...

, and the Frauenkirche. After the destruction of the Kreuzkirche during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

he worked mainly at the Frauenkirche.

Works

Homilius predominantly composed

church music Church music is Christian music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. History Early Christian music The onl ...

: more than 10 passions (one printed in 1775; his St. Matthew Passion, particularly outstanding in the preclassical style of C.P.E. Bach and an extremely worthy successor of J.S. Bach's best-known work of the same name, has been recorded on CD), an

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

for

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

(1777) and one for

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

, over 60

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 Margar ...

s, more than 150

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

s (six

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 accompanime ...

s from these appeared in 1786),

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 t ...

s, preludes, and choral works. He composed also organ music: 36 Chorale preludes for organ. His students included eminent composer

Daniel Gottlob Türk Daniel Gottlob Türk (10 August 1750 – 26 August 1813) was a German composer, organist, and music professor of the Classical period. Biography Born in Claußnitz, Saxony, Türk studied organ under his father and later under Johann Adam Hille ...

as well as

Johann Adam Hiller Johann Adam Hiller (25 December 1728, in Wendisch-Ossig, Saxony – 16 June 1804, in Leipzig) was a German composer, conductor and writer on music, regarded as the creator of the Singspiel, an early form of German opera. In many of these operas ...

. His vocal compositions enjoyed great popularity through the 19th century, as witnessed by the large number of copies still extant. A complete worklist and edition is in preparation at

Carus Verlag Carus-Verlag is a German music publisher founded in 1972 and based in Stuttgart. Carus was founded by choral conductor Günter Graulich and his wife Waltraud with an emphasis on choral repertoire. The catalogue currently includes more than 26,0 ...

; the Homilius-Werkverzeichnis numbers (HoWV) follow the dissertation of Karl Feld and the new edition of

Uwe Wolf Uwe Wolf (born 10 August 1967 in Neustadt an der Weinstraße) is a German football coach and former professional player. Honours Necaxa * Primera División de México: 1995–96 References External links * 1967 births Living p ...

Passions and oratorios

* HoWV 1.2 Passionskantate "

Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld "Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld" (A Lambkin goes and bears the guilt) is a Lutheran Passion hymn in German by Paul Gerhardt. The hymn text was first published in Johann Crüger's ''Praxis Pietatis Melica'', starting from the lost 1647 ...

"/"Siehe das ist Gottes Lamm..."/Mit väterlicher Stimme" * HoWV 1.3 Matthäuspassion "Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld"/"Und es begab sich"/"Erfüllt mit göttlich ernsten Freuden" * HoWV 1.4 Johannespassion "Der Fromme stirbt" * HoWV 1.5 Lukaspassion "Du starker Keltertreter" * HoWV 1.10 Markuspassion * Weihnachtsoratorium. "Die Freude der Hirten"

Organ music

* Gottfried August Homilius: Choralvorspiele für Orgel / herausgegeben von Christoph Albrecht., Leipzig : Breitkopf & Härtel, 1988.

References

*Hans John, "Homilius, Gottfried August," Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 13 December 2006
(subscription access)

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Homilius, Gottfried August 1714 births 1785 deaths 18th-century classical composers 18th-century male musicians 18th-century keyboardists 18th-century German people Classical composers of church music German classical composers German male classical composers German classical organists German male organists German Lutherans Organists and composers in the North German tradition People from the Electorate of Saxony People from Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge Pupils of Johann Sebastian Bach Male classical organists