Johann Crüger (9 April 1598 – 23 February 1662) 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 ...

of well-known

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

s. He was also the editor of the most widely used

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 ...

hymnal A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). Hymnals are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Chri ...

of the 17th century, ''

Praxis pietatis melica ''Praxis pietatis melica'' (''Practice of Piety in Song'') is a Protestant hymnal first published in the 17th century by Johann Crüger. The hymnal, which appeared under this title from 1647 to 1737 in 45 editions, has been described as "the most ...

''.

Early life and education

Crüger was born in Groß Breesen (now part of

Guben Guben (Polish and Sorbian: ''Gubin'') is a town on the Lusatian Neisse river in Lower Lusatia, in the state of Brandenburg, Germany. Located in the Spree-Neiße district, Guben has a population of 20,049. Along with Frankfurt (Oder) and Görlitz ...

) as the son of an

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

keeper, Georg Crüger.Nummert, Dietrich
"Mit 24 schon Musikdirektor. Kantor und Lehrer Johann Crüger"
''

Berlinische Monatsschrift The ''Berlinische Monatsschrift'' was a monthly magazine published by Johann Erich Biester and Friedrich Gedike (though the latter resigned his editorship in 1791). It served primarily as the mouthpiece for the Berliner Mittwochsgesellschaft (B ...

'', pp. 64–68 (April 1998) He was an ethnic Sorb, baptized as Jan Krygar.Zersen, David and Mellenbruch, Eric. “Najwuznamn-niši němski kěrlušer poreforma-ciskeje doby bě Serb”, Serbsky protyka, pp. 53–56 (2018) (In Sorbian) He studied at the nearby

Lateinschule The Latin school was the grammar school of 14th- to 19th-century Europe, though the latter term was much more common in England. Emphasis was placed, as the name indicates, on learning to use Latin. The education given at Latin schools gave gre ...

(then located in Guben) until 1613, and that school's teaching program included music and singing. He then traveled to Sorau and Breslau for further education, and finally to

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

, where he received musical training from Paulus Homberger (1560–1634). In 1615 he traveled to Berlin, where he studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

at the

Berlinisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster The Evangelisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster, located in suburban Schmargendorf, Berlin, is an independent school with a humanistic profile, known as one of the most prestigious schools in Germany. Founded by the Evangelical Church in West Berli ...

. In 1616 he was engaged as a house tutor to the

von Blumenthal The von Blumenthal family are Lutheran and Roman Catholic German nobility, originally from Brandenburg-Prussia. Other (unrelated) families of this name exist in Switzerland and formerly in Russia, and many unrelated families (quite a few of them Je ...

family; his pupils included

Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal (1606 in Berlin – 1657 in Halberstadt) was a German nobleman. He was a diplomat and the founder of the Brandenburg-Prussian Army. The son of Christoph von Blumenthal and his wife Dorothea von Hacke, and the fir ...

. From 1620 he studied theology at the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

and trained himself further in music through private study.

Career

From 1622 to his death, a period of 40 years, he was simultaneously a teacher at the gymnasium ''Zum Grauen Kloster'' and

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 ...

of the Nikolaikirche in Berlin. Crüger composed numerous concert works and wrote extensively on music education. In 1643 he became acquainted with the famous hymn writer

Paul Gerhardt Paul Gerhardt (12 March 1607 – 27 May 1676) was a German theologian, Lutheran minister and hymnodist. Biography Gerhardt was born into a middle-class family at Gräfenhainichen, a small town between Halle and Wittenberg. His father died in ...

, for whom he wrote the music for various hymns, including "

Wie soll ich dich empfangen "Wie soll ich dich empfangen" ("Ah! Lord, how shall I meet Thee", literally: How shall I receive you) is a Christian hymn for Advent by Paul Gerhardt. It was first published in 1653 in the fifth edition of the hymnal ''Praxis Pietatis Melica'' by J ...

". In 1647 he edited the most important German Lutheran hymnal of the 17th century, ''

'', which appeared in many more editions. Among the hymns for which he composed music is Johann Franck's "" (You, o beautiful building of the world). It is no longer in practical use, but one

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian language, Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or Indentation (typesetting), indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme scheme, rhyme and ...

, "" (Come, O death, to sleep a brother), was prominently used in Bach's solo cantata ''Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen'', BWV 56. He composed the tune for Rinkart's "

Nun danket alle Gott A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

", and for Franck's "

Jesu, meine Freude "" (; Jesus, my joy) is a hymn in German, written by Johann Franck in 1650, with a melody, Zahn No. 8032, by Johann Crüger. The song first appeared in Crüger's hymnal in 1653. The text addresses Jesus as joy and support, versus enemies ...

", which Bach used for a motet of the same name.

Personal life

In 1628, he married the widow of a city councilman. During the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

, Crüger and his family endured many hardships including hunger.Bautz, Friedrich Wilhelm
"Biografía de Crüger"
''

Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon The ''Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon'' (''BBKL'') is a German biographical encyclopedia covering persons related to the history of the church, philosophy and literature, founded 1975 by Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz Friedrich Wilhelm B ...

'' He fell ill with

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

, and almost died of that disease, losing five children and his wife in 1636. In 1637, having recovered from the disease, he got married a second time, to the 17-year-old daughter of an innkeeper, with whom he had fourteen children, most of whom died at a young age. One of his daughters married the court painter Michael Conrad Hirt, who made a portrait of Crüger in 1663. Crüger died in Berlin.

References

External links

* *
Free scores
at the

Mutopia Project The Mutopia Project is a volunteer-run effort to create a library of free content sheet music, in a way similar to Project Gutenberg's library of public domain books. It started in 2000.Portal page at thInternet ArchiveRetrieved January 24, 20 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruger, Johann 1598 births 1662 deaths People from Guben German Lutheran hymnwriters German Lutherans German classical composers German male classical composers German Baroque composers Classical composers of church music University of Wittenberg alumni German music theorists German people of Sorbian descent 17th-century classical composers 17th-century male musicians