Martin Gotthard Schneider (26 April 1930 – 3 February 2017) was a German

theologian 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 ...

, church musician, ''Landeskantor'' (state cantor), songwriter, and academic teacher. He is known for prize-winning songs of the genre ''

Neues Geistliches Lied ''Neues Geistliches Lied'' (, ''new spiritual song''), abbreviated NGL, is a music genre of songs in German intended for church usage, and based on contemporary lyrics and with music by contemporary composers. History The idea to reach youn ...

'', such as " Danke" and "Ein Schiff, das sich Gemeinde nennt".

Career

Born in

Konstanz Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...

, Schneider studied Protestant theology and church music in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...

and

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

. From 1958 he worked in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population o ...

, first as a vicar at the Ludwigskirche, and from 1960 to 1970 as teacher of religion at the Kepler Gymnasium. During these years he began to build a wide-ranging church music work. He temporarily was a part-time church musician at two churches, the Christuskirche and the Pauluskirche, and became ''Bezirkskantor'' (regional cantor) in the church district of Freiburg. In 1958, he won a prize for organ improvisation at the International Improvisation Competition (

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

). In 1961, he founded the concert choir Heinrich-Schütz-Kantorei. In 1970, Schneider was appointed

Kirchenmusikdirektor Kirchenmusikdirektor (KMD, director of church music) is a German title for professional church musicians (' who have responsibility for not only a parish but a larger region, in both Protestant and Catholic church music. The title is also sometimes ...

(church music director). From 1970 to 1995, he held the position of church musician at the Ludwigskirche and the Pauluskirche, and from 1975 to 1995 the office of ''Landeskantor'' for Southern Baden. From 1963 to 1997, he lectured at the

Musikhochschule Freiburg A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

, appointed professor in 1980.

Work

Schneider's compositional work is oriented towards the practice of church music and includes choral and organ music. Above all, Schneider has emerged as an author of the genre ''

''. His hymn " Danke" earned him the first prize in the song competition of the

Evangelische Akademie Tutzing The ' (Protestant Academy of Tutzing) is an education and conference center in Tutzing, Bavaria, run by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. It was founded in 1947. The main building is Schloss Tutzing on Lake Starnberg. The academy awards ...

in 1961. In 1963, it reached the German charts (''Hitparade'') and stayed for six weeks. It was the only sacred song to make the charts, and it was translated into 25 languages. "Ein Schiff, das sich Gemeinde nennt" (second prize in 1963) is also well known. Schneider's songbook ''Sieben Leben möcht ich haben'' appeared in 1975. Organ improvisations and choral music with Schneider are available on CDs. The Protestant hymnal '' Evangelisches Gesangbuch'' (EG) includes six of his hymns, including "Danke" as EG 334.

References

External links

Heinrich-Schütz-Kantorei Freiburg (Chorleiterportrait)

Martin Gotthard Schneider / 1930

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 26,00 ...

Martin Gotthard Schneider
evangelisch.de 2015

liebesgedichte-geschichten.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Schneider, Martin Gotthard 1930 births 2017 deaths German male composers Sacred music composers German Protestant hymnwriters Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg Organists and composers in the South German tradition German male organists People from Konstanz Kirchenmusikdirektor Male classical organists