Andreas Nicolaus Vetter (; October 1666 – 13 June 1734) was a German

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

and

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 ...

Biography

He was born in

Herschdorf Herschdorf is a village and a former municipality in the district Ilm-Kreis, in Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the town Großbreitenbach. References

Former municipalities in Thuringia Ilm-Kreis Schwarzburg-Rudolst ...

, in present-day

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

. In his ''Zur Geschichte des Orgelspiels'' (1884),

August Gottfried Ritter August Gottfried Ritter (25 August 1811 – 26 August 1885) was a German romantic composer and organist. Biography Co-creator, together with Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, of the first example of Romantic Organ Sonata (the first one was composed ...

gives 30, Oct. 1660 as birth date, and "nach 1740" as time of death. Vetter first studied

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

with

Georg Caspar Wecker Georg Caspar Wecker (baptized 2 April 1632 – 20 April 1695) was a German Baroque organist and composer. A minor composer of the Nuremberg school, Wecker is now best remembered as one of Johann Pachelbel's first teachers. Wecker was born an ...

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

and was a student at the

Rudolstadt Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, with the Thuringian Forest to the southwest, and to Jena and Weimar to the north. The former capital of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the town is built along the River Saale inside a wide va ...

Gymnasium from 1683 to 1688. He then moved to

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

to study with

Johann Pachelbel Johann Pachelbel (baptised – buried 9 March 1706; also Bachelbel) was a German composer, organist, and teacher who brought the south German organ schools to their peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secularity, secular music, and h ...

, succeeding him as organist of the Predigerkirche when he left for

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

in 1690; during this time, he may have attended the

University of Erfurt The University of Erfurt (german: Universität Erfurt) is a public university located in Erfurt, the capital city of the German state of Thuringia. It was founded in 1379, and closed in 1816. It was re-established in 1994, three years after Germ ...

. He was succeeded by J.H. Buttstedt in July 1691, when he went to Rudolstadt to take up a position as

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

organist; he was later honoured with the appointments of Government Advocate, Church

Procurator Procurator (with procuracy or procuratorate referring to the office itself) may refer to: * Procurator, one engaged in procuration, the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency * ''Procurator'' (Ancient Rome), the title of ...

and Master Over The Page Boys. His surviving compositions are now few, since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

led to the destruction of all his free organ compositions and a work for

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

and

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

entitled ''Zum frohen Empfang Grossherzogs Carl Fürsten Primas''. The manuscript ''Mus.40035'' of the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, gave his name as the composer of variations three and eight of the organ

partita Partita (also ''partie'', ''partia'', ''parthia'', or ''parthie'') was originally the name for a single-instrumental piece of music (16th and 17th centuries), but Johann Kuhnau (Thomaskantor until 1722), his student Christoph Graupner, and Johann ...

on "

Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr "" (Alone to God in the highest be glory) is an early Lutheran hymn, with text and melody attributed to Nikolaus Decius. With the reformers intending church service in German, it was intended as a German version of the Gloria part of the Latin mass ...

", BWV 771, formerly attributed to

J. S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

; he may most probably have been the composer of all seventeen verses. His other surviving organ works, which are

chorale Chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one of the t ...

settings in the tradition of the South German school, appear in the modern editions ''Orgelchoräle um Joh. Seb. Bach'', ed. G. Frotscher (

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, 1937), and ''Andreas Nicolaus Vetter (1666–1734): Koraalbewerkingen'', ed. E. Kooiman (

Hilversum Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...

, 1989). The

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

s of many of these works were lost or destroyed in

Selected works

Chorale prelude In music, a chorale prelude or chorale setting is a short liturgical composition for organ using a chorale tune as its basis. It was a predominant style of the German Baroque era and reached its culmination in the works of J.S. Bach, who wrote 46 ...

s settings for organ on the following hymns: * Ach Gott und Herr *

Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein "" ("Oh God, look down from heaven") is a Lutheran chorale of 1524, with words written by Martin Luther paraphrasing Psalm 12. It was published as one of eight songs in 1524 in the first Lutheran hymnal, the Achtliederbuch, which contained four son ...

(2 verses &

fughetta In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the co ...

) * Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr ( Choral-Partita), 17 variations; formerly attributed to J. S. Bach as BWV 771. *

Christ lag in Todesbanden "" (also ""; "Christ lay in death's bonds") is an Easter hymn by Martin Luther. Its melody is by Luther and Johann Walter. Both the text and the melody were based on earlier examples. It was published in 1524 in the Erfurt ''Enchiridion'' and in ...

(prelude & fughetta) *

Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, der den Tod überwand "Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, der den Tod überwand" ( en, Jesus Christ, our Saviour, who conquered death) is a hymn for Easter by Martin Luther. The text originated in 1524. Johannes Zahn listed three hymn tunes for it. Two of these, Zahn No ...

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 ...

Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott "" ("Come, Holy Ghost, Lord God") is a Lutheran hymn for Pentecost, with words written by Martin Luther based on " Veni Sancte Spiritus, reple tuorum corda fidelium". The hymn in three stanzas was first published in 1524. For centuries the chorale ...

* Lobt Gott, ihr Christen allzugleich *

Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland 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 ...

Vater unser im Himmelreich "" (Our Father in Heaven) is a Lutheran hymn in German by Martin Luther. He wrote the paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer in 1538, corresponding to his explanation of the prayer in his (''Small Catechism''). He dedicated one stanza to each of the sev ...

Sources

* Hugh J. McLean, 'Vetter, (Andreas) Nicolaus'
Grove Music Online
ed. L. Macy (Accessed 2007-06-08)

Wolfgang Rübsam Wolfgang Friedrich Rübsam (born October 16, 1946, in Gießen) is a German-American organist, pianist, composer and pedagogue. Biography After his musical training with Erich Ackermann in Fulda, Germany, Rübsam studied at the Musikhochschule ...

, organ {{DEFAULTSORT:Vetter, Nicolaus 1666 births 1734 deaths People from Ilm-Kreis German Baroque composers German classical organists Organists and composers in the South German tradition German male organists People from Schwarzburg-Sondershausen 18th-century keyboardists 18th-century classical composers German male classical composers 18th-century German composers 18th-century German male musicians Male classical organists

Biography

Selected works

Sources

External links