Sethus Calvisius or Setho Calvisio, originally Seth Kalwitz (21 February 1556 – 24 November 1615), was a German

music theorist Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

, composer, chronologer,

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

, and teacher of the late

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

Biography

He was born into a peasant family at Gorsleben 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 ...

. By the exercise of his musical talents he earned money enough for the start, at

Helmstedt Helmstedt (; Eastphalian: ''Helmstidde'') is a town on the eastern edge of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is the capital of the District of Helmstedt. The historic university and Hanseatic city conserves an important monumental heritage of ...

, of a university career, which the aid of a wealthy patron enabled him to continue at

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 ...

. He became director of the music-school at

Pforta Pforta, or Schulpforta, is a school located in Pforta monastery, a former Cistercian monastery (1137–1540), near Naumburg on the Saale River in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The site has been a school since the 16th century. Notable p ...

in 1572. In 1594 he was transferred to Leipzig in the same post, including directing the

Thomanerchor The Thomanerchor (English: St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig) is a boys' choir in Leipzig, Germany. The choir was founded in 1212. The choir comprises about 90 boys from 9 to 18 years of age. The members, called ''Thomaner'', reside in a boarding scho ...

at the

Thomaskirche , native_name_lang = , image = Leipzig Thomaskirche.jpg , imagelink = , imagealt = , caption = , pushpin map = , pushpin label position = , pushpin map alt ...

.Motette in der Thomaskirche. Sonnabend, den 20 September 2008. Leipzig: Merkur. He retained this post until his death in

, despite the offers successively made to him of mathematical professorships at

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

and

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon language, Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the Ri ...

. Calvisius was also a significant astronomer: in his ''Opus Chronologicum'' (Leipzig, 1605, 7th ed. 1685) he expounded a system based on the records of nearly 300

eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...

s. An ingenious, though ineffective, proposal for the reform of the

calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a physi ...

was put forward in his ''Elenchus Calendarii Gregoriani'' (Frankfurt, 1612); and he published a book on

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 ...

, ''Melodiae condendae ratio'' (

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 ...

, 1592). He composed choral pieces including '' Unser Leben währet siebzig Jahr''.

Works

* ''Harmonia cantionum ecclesiasticarum, Kirchengesänge u. geistliche Lieder D. Lutheri u. andrer frommen Christen, Mit 4 Stimmen contrapunktweise richtig gesetzt.'' Leipzig 1597, 1598, 1604, 1612 and 1622 * ''Melopoiia sive melodiae condendae ratio.'' Erfurt 1592 and 1630 * ''Compendium musicae practicae.'' Leipzig 1594, also published in 1612 as Musicae artis praecepta * ''Exercitatio musica tertia.'' Leipzig 1611 * ''Exercitationes musicae duae.'' Leipzig 1600 * ''Hymni sacri Latini et Germanici.'' Erfurt 1594 * ''Der Psalter Davids.'', Cornelius Becker (ed.), Leipzig 1605 * ''Der 150. Psalm Davids.'' Leipzig 1615 * ''Opus chronologicum ex autoritate s. scripturae ad motum luminarium coelestium contextum.'' Leipzig 1605 (first edition), Frankfurt 1685 (6th edition) * ''Elenchus calendarii Gregoriani.'' Leipzig 1613 * ''Formula calendarii novi.'' Leipzig 1613 * ''Thesaurus latini sermonis.'' Leipzig 1614 * ''Enchiridion lexici Latino-Germanici.'' Leipzig 1614 * ''Tricinia, Auserlesene deutsche Lieder.'', Paul Rubardt (ed.), 1949 * 10 Motetten, Albrecht Tunger (ed.), 1965.
Biciniorum libri duo, Leipzig 1612

Notes

References

* This work in turn cites: ** V. Schmuck, ''Leichenrede'' (1615) ** J. Bertuch, ''Chronicon Portense'' (1739) ** F. W. E. Rost, ''Oratio ad renovendam S. Calvisii memoriam'' (1805) ** J. G. Stallbaum, ''Nachrichten über die Cantoren an der Thomasschule'' (1842) ** ** Poggendorff, ''Biog.-Litterarisches Handwörterbuch''

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Calvisius, Sethus 1556 births 1615 deaths Thomaskantors 17th-century German astronomers 16th-century German musicians 17th-century German musicians 16th-century classical composers 17th-century classical composers 16th-century German astronomers German classical composers German male classical composers Renaissance composers German music theorists Chronologists University of Helmstedt alumni Leipzig University alumni People from Kyffhäuserkreis 16th-century German writers 16th-century German male writers 17th-century German writers 17th-century German male writers 17th-century male musicians