Matthias Greitter, also Matthäus Greiter, (ca. 1495 – 20 December 1550) was a German priest,

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 ...

and composer.

Life

Greitter was born in

Aichach Aichach (; Central Bavarian: ''Oacha'') is a town in Germany, located in the Bundesland of Bavaria and situated just northeast of Augsburg. It is the capital of the district of Aichach-Friedberg. The municipality of Aichach counts some 20,000 inh ...

. He became priest and cantor at

Strasbourg Cathedral Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, or ''Cathédrale de Strasbourg'', german: Liebfrauenmünster zu Straßburg or ''Straßburger Münster''), also known as Strasbourg ...

. In 1524 he joined the new

Reformed Church Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...

. In 1538 he accepted a position of music teacher at the Collegium Argentinense (later

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

). In 1549 he moved back to the Catholic religion and founded a Catholic school of singing, but he died the following year in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

, presumably from the plague.

Works

Sacred works

* Domine non secundum, motet, 2 parts, 1545 * Passibus ambiguis/Fortuna desperata, motet, 4 parts * Christ ist erstanden/Christus surrexit, motet, 5 parts * 7 psalms * Kyrie * Gloria * Credo * Alleluia

Secular works

* 16 songs, 4–5 parts

References

Sources

* * * Hans-Christian Mueller and Sarah Davies's article in

New Grove Dictionary of Music ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

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:Greitter, Matthias 1490s births 1550 deaths Year of birth uncertain People from Aichach Clergy from Strasbourg 16th-century German composers Musicians from Strasbourg