Johann Olearius (17 September 1611 – 24 April 1684) was a German

hymnwriter A hymnwriter (or hymn writer, hymnist, hymnodist, hymnographer, etc.) is someone who writes the text, music, or both of hymns. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the composition of hymns dates back to before the time of David, who is traditional ...

, preacher, and academic. Olearius taught

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at his ''

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

'', the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...

. He also served as a court preacher and chaplain. He compiled "one of the largest and most important German hymnals" of the 1600s. His hymn "Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott" is the base for the chorale cantata ''Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott'', BWV 129, by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

, who also included a stanza of "Tröstet, tröstet meine Lieben" (Comfort, comfort ye my people) in his

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

s ''Freue dich, erlöste Schar'', BWV 30.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olearius, Johann 1611 births 1684 deaths German Lutheran hymnwriters German chaplains University of Wittenberg alumni Academic staff of the University of Wittenberg 17th-century hymnwriters