Johannes Schmidlin (22 May 1722 – 5 November 1772) was a Swiss composer. He was born in Zürich on 22 May 1722, the son of Margaretha Vogel and a ship captain, Jakob. He studied theology at the Collegium Carolinum and is thought to have received music lessons from

Johann Caspar Bachofen Johann Caspar Bachofen (December 26, 1695 – June 23, 1755) was a Swiss music teacher and hymn composer. He was born in Zurich. In 1718 he became singing-master in the Latin school, and cantor of the Grossmünster church. In 1742, he succeeded Joh ...

. He became a Protestant clergyman in 1743 and was a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

in Dietlikon between 1744 and 1754. He then became a minister in Wetzikon, where he established a choir to encourage psalm singing (1755) and created a Collegium Musicum (1769). He produced a number of

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, odes and religious songs, which were at the time performed at collegia and known in the wider population. Their popularity continued for decades. He also contributed to the patriotic ''Schweizerlieder'', which were solo songs, in 1769 (these were based upon Johann Kaspar Lavater's verses from 1767). He died in Wetzikon on 5 November 1772. His choir would survive until 1825. Three of his songs remain the hymnbook of the

Swiss Reformed Church The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), (EKS); french: Église évangélique réformée de Suisse (EERS); it, Chiesa evangelica riformata in Svizzera (CERiS); rm, Baselgia evangelica refurmada da la Svizra (BRRS) formerly named Federation o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidlin, Johannes Swiss classical composers 1722 births 1772 deaths Swiss male composers