Jacob Praetorius or Schultz (8 February 158621 or 22 October 1651) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

composer 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 ...

, and the son of

Hieronymus Praetorius Hieronymus Praetorius (10 August 1560 – 27 January 1629) was a Northern German composer and organist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque whose polychoral motets in 8 to 20 voices are intricate and vividly expressive. Some of his organ ...

. His grandfather, the father of Hieronymus,

Jacob Praetorius the Elder Jacob Praetorius (I) or Jacob Praetorius the Elder (c. 1520 in Magdeburg – 1586 in Hamburg) was a German organist and composer. He was the father of Hieronymus Praetorius and the grandfather of Jacob Praetorius the Younger, both also compose ...

(died 1586) was also a composer. As a student of

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck ( ; April or May, 1562 – 16 October 1621) was a Dutch composer, organist, and pedagogue whose work straddled the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Baroque eras. He was among the first major keyboard compo ...

, he was one of the most important organists and most respected pedagogues of the north German tradition before

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 1603 on he was organist at the Petrikirche in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. His most important pupil,

Matthias Weckmann Matthias Weckmann (''Weckman'') (''c''.1616 24 February 1674) was a German musician and composer of the Baroque period. He was born in Niederdorla (Thuringia) and died in Hamburg. Life His musical training took place in Dresden (as a chorister a ...

, studied with him from 1633 to 1636 and later joined him in Hamburg as organist at the

Jakobikirche St. James' Church (german: Hauptkirche St. Jacobi) is one of the five principal churches (''Hauptkirchen'') of Hamburg. In 1529, it became a Lutheran church. It is located directly in the city centre, has a 125 m tall tower and features a famous or ...

. His compositional style includes both traditional and progressive elements. His three surviving preludes show the kind of sectionalism and diversity of styles that would become one of the defining characteristics of the genre. That is to say, they contain a free, rhapsodic (though restrained) opening section that foreshadows the ''

stylus phantasticus The stylus fantasticus (or stylus phantasticus) is a style of early baroque music, especially for the instrumental music. Description and history The root of this music is organ toccatas and fantasias, particularly derived from those of Claudio ...

'' style of German composers later in the century (notably

Dieterich Buxtehude Dieterich Buxtehude (; ; born Diderik Hansen Buxtehude; c. 1637 – 9 May 1707) was a Danish organist and composer of the Baroque period, whose works are typical of the North German organ school. As a composer who worked in various vocal ...

), followed by an imitative,

fugal In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...

section that strictly adheres to traditional

contrapuntal In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

rules.

Notes

His family is ''not'' related to notable contemporary

Michael Praetorius Michael Praetorius (probably 28 September 1571 – 15 February 1621) was a German composer, organist, and music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of musical forms ba ...

. (See

Praetorius Praetorius, Prätorius, Prætorius was the name of several musicians and scholars in Germany. In 16th and 17th century Germany it became a fashion for educated people named "Schulze," "Schultheiß," or " Richter" (which means "judge"), to Latinise ...

for other members of the family.)

Works, editions and recordings

*The motets of Jacob Praetorius II ed. Frederick Kent Gable - 1994 *Jacob Praetorius: Motets & Organ Works, CD Weser-Renaissance, dir.

Manfred Cordes Manfred Cordes (born 1953) is a German conductor of early music, musicologist and teacher. He is professor at the Hochschule für Künste Bremen and was its rector from 2007 to 2012. Publications * ''Die lateinischen Motetten des Iacobus Regnar ...

CPO

External links

* 1586 births 1651 deaths German Baroque composers German classical organists Organists and composers in the North German tradition German male organists Musicians from Hamburg 17th-century classical composers German male classical composers 17th-century male musicians Male classical organists {{organist-stub