Lorenz Christoph Mizler von Kolof (also known as Wawrzyniec Mitzler de Kolof and Mitzler de Koloff; 26 July 1711 – 8 May 1778) was a German

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, historian, printer,

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

, Baroque music composer, and precursor of the Enlightenment in Poland."Mitzler de Kolof, Wawrzyniec," ''Encyklopedia powszechna PWN'' WN Universal Encyclopedia volume 3, p. 144."Mitzler de Kolof, Wawrzyniec," ''Encyklopedia Polski'' ncyclopedia of Poland p. 417.

Family of origin

Mizler was born Lorenz Christoph Mizler von Kolof in Heidenheim, Middle Franconia to Johann Georg Mizler, a court clerk to the

Margrave of Ansbach The Principality or Margraviate of (Brandenburg-)Ansbach (german: Fürstentum Ansbach or ) was a principality in the Holy Roman Empire centered on the Franconian city of Ansbach. The ruling Hohenzollern princes of the land were known as margrave ...

at Heidenheim, and Barbara Stumpf, of

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website = ...

, Switzerland.

Education

His first teacher was N. Müller, a minister from Obersulzbach, Lehrberg, from whom Mizler learned the flute and

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

. From 1724 to 1730, Mizler studied at the

Ansbach Ansbach (; ; East Franconian: ''Anschba'') is a city in the German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränkische Rezat, ...

Gymnasium with Rector Oeder and

Johann Matthias Gesner Johann Matthias Gesner (9 April 1691 – 3 August 1761) was a German classical scholar and schoolmaster. Life He was born at Roth an der Rednitz near Ansbach. His father, Johann Samuel Gesner, a pastor in Auhausen, died in 1704, leaving the fa ...

, who became director of the St. Thomas School, Leipzig, from 1731 to 1734. Mizler enrolled at

Leipzig University Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...

on 30 April 1731, 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 ...

. His teachers there included Gesner,

Johann Christoph Gottsched Johann Christoph Gottsched (2 February 1700 – 12 December 1766) was a German philosopher, author and critic of the Enlightenment. Biography Early life He was born at Juditten (Mendeleyevo) near Königsberg (Kaliningrad), Brandenburg-Pr ...

, and Christian Wolff. He earned a BS in December 1733 and a MS in March 1734. During this time, he also pursued the study of

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

and had some association with

Johann Sebastian 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 wo ...

, whom, he wrote, he had the honor to call his "good friend and patron." Mizler moved to

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; 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 River Elbe, north o ...

in 1735 to study

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

and

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

; returning to Leipzig in 1736.

Career

From May 1737, Mizler began lecturing on music history and

Johann Mattheson Johann Mattheson (28 September 1681 – 17 April 1764) was a German composer, singer, writer, lexicographer, diplomat and music theorist. Early life and career The son of a prosperous tax collector, Mattheson received a broad liberal education ...

's ''Neu-eröffnete Orchestre'' ewly Published Orchestrahe was the first to lecture on music at a German university in 150 years. He also began a monthly publication, the ''Neu eröffnete musikalische Bibliothek'' ewly Published Musical Libraryin 1738. At about this time, Mizler began a music publishing business; and he returned school to take a doctorate of medicine at Erfurt University in 1747.

Move to Poland

In 1743 he left

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 ...

and settled permanently in Poland. Mitzler de Kolof (his '' nom de guerre'' in Poland) became secretary, teacher, librarian and court mathematician to Count Małachowski of Końskie, from whom he learned Polish and with whom he studied

Polish history The history of Poland spans over a thousand years, from medieval tribes, Christianization and monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political l ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. In 1747 Mizler moved to

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. Mitzler also began a medical practice, which included consulting as a court physician to King

August III Augustus III ( pl, August III Sas, lt, Augustas III; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire where he was known as Frederick Augu ...

. When he became court physician, this afforded him time to study the natural sciences. Mizler established the publishing house 'Mizlerischer Bücherverlag, Warschau und Leipzig' in 1740.

Honors

Mitzler became a member of the Erfurt Academy of Sciences in 1755, and received Polish nobility in 1768.

Publisher

In association with the

Załuski Library The Załuski Library ( pl, Biblioteka Załuskich, la, Bibliotheca Zalusciana) established in Warsaw in 1747 by Józef Andrzej Załuski and his brother, Andrzej Stanisław Załuski, both Roman Catholic bishops, was a public library nationalized ...

, Mitzler published and edited Poland's first scientific periodicals: ''Warschauer Bibliothek'' (1753–55), ''Acta Litteraria...'' (1755–56), ''Nowe Wiadomości Ekonomiczne i Uczone'' conomic and Learned News 1758–61 and 1766–67). From 1765 he published the '' Monitor'' (1765–85), which had been founded at the initiative of King Stanisław August Poniatowski, from 1773 until 1777 as its editor. In 1756 he set up a printing establishment, which in 1768 he conveyed (together with a

type foundry A type foundry is a company that designs or distributes typefaces. Before digital typography, type foundries manufactured and sold metal and wood typefaces for hand typesetting, and matrices for line-casting machines like the Linotype and M ...

) to Warsaw's Corps of Cadets, while retaining the business' directorship. At this printing establishment, Mitzler published scholarly editions of historic sources (a collection of chronicles, ''Collectio magna'', 1761–71), literary works, and textbooks for the Corps of Cadets. He also operated a bookstore. Mitzler de Kolof promoted new ideas, including the emancipation of Poland's townspeople. From 1743 he was the chief advocate, in Poland, of Christian Wolff's philosophical doctrines.

Władysław Tatarkiewicz Władysław Tatarkiewicz (; 3 April 1886, Warsaw – 4 April 1980, Warsaw) was a Polish philosopher, historian of philosophy, historian of art, esthetician, and ethicist. Early life and education Tatarkiewicz began his higher education at ...

, ''Zarys dziejów filozofii w Polsce'' Brief History of Philosophy in Poland n the series:Historia nauki polskiej w monografiach istory of Polish Learning in Monographs olumeXXXII, Kraków, Polska Akademia Umiejętności ; 1948; pp. 11–12. Note: This monograph draws from pertinent sections in earlier editions of the author's ''Historia filozofii'' istory of Philosophy

Death

Mitzler died in Warsaw in 1778.

Music

Mitzler, an amateur composer, was deeply interested in music theory, advocating the establishment of a musical science based firmly on mathematics; philosophy; and the imitation of nature in music. He translated

Johann Joseph Fux Johann Joseph Fux (; – 13 February 1741) was an Austrian composer, music theorist and pedagogue of the late Baroque era. His most enduring work is not a musical composition but his treatise on counterpoint, '' Gradus ad Parnassum'', which has ...

's ''

Gradus ad Parnassum The Latin phrase ''gradus ad Parnassum'' means "steps to Parnassus". It is sometimes shortened to ''gradus''. The name ''Parnassus'' was used to denote the loftiest part of a mountain range in central Greece, a few kilometres north of Delphi, of wh ...

'' into German (the original was in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

), having written of it that "this methodical guide to musical composition samong all such works the best book that we have for practical music and its composition." Mitzler was a

polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...

: his interests encompassed music, mathematics, philosophy, theology, law, and the natural sciences. He was influenced in philosophy by the ideas of Wolff,

Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of mathem ...

, and Gottsched. The journal ' usical library which he published between 1736 and 1754, is an important document of the musical life in Germany at the time, and includes reviews of books on music written from 1650 up to its publication. Mizler himself contributed commentaries and criticisms on the writings of Wolfgang Printz,

Leonhard Euler Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries in ma ...

, Johann Adolf Scheibe, Johann Samuel Schroeter, , Gottsched, and Mattheson; especially the latter two's ''Critische Dichtkunst'' (1729) and ''Vollkommene Capellmeister'' (1739). His essays were detailed and perceptive and offer a useful musicological resource for present-day scholars of Baroque music.

Musical society

He founded the orresponding Society of the Musical Sciencesin 1738. Its aim was to enable musical scholars to circulate theoretical papers in order to further musical science by encouraging discussion of the papers via correspondence. Many of the papers appear in the ''Musikalische Bibliothek''. The entry requirements of this society resulted in both the famous 1746/1748 Haussmann portrait of Bach and his Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her" for organ,

BWV The (BWV; ; ) is a catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990. An abbreviated version of that second edition, known as BWV2 ...

769. Membership was limited to twenty. Belonging to the society were: *1738: **Giacomo de Lucchesini **L. C. Mizler (permanent secretary) ** *1739 **

Christoph Gottlieb Schröter Christoph Gottlieb Schröter (10 August 169920 May 1782), was a German composer and organist, who is best known for his contributions to the tangent piano, which in 1717 he invented a keyboard instrument whose strings were not plucked, but stru ...

** Heinrich Bokemeyer ** G. P. Telemann ** G. H. Stölzel *1742: **Georg Friedrich Lingke *1743: ** **Georg Venzky *1745: ** G. F. Handel **Udalricus Weiss *1746: ** C. H. Graun *1747: ** J. S. Bach ** G. A. Sorge ** *1748: ** J. C. F. Fischer *1751: ** *1752: **Johann Georg Kaltenbeck *1755: ** L. Mozart (invitation declined)

Compositions

*''Sammlung auserlesener moralischer Oden, zum Nutzen und Vergnügen der Liebhaber des Claviers'' I (Leipzig, 1740), II (Leipzig, 1741), III (Leipzig, 1743). Facsimiles published (Leipzig, 1971)

Writings

*''Dissertatio quod musica ars sit pars eruditionis philosophicae'' (Leipzig, 1734) *''Lusus ingenii de praesenti bello'' (Wittenberg, 1735) *''De usu atque praestantia philosophiae in theologia, jurisprudentia, medicina'' (Leipzig, 1736) *''Neu eröffnete musikalische Bibliothek, oder Gründliche Nachricht nebst unpartheyischem Urtheil von musikalischen Schriften und Büchern'' (Leipzig, 1739) *''Musikalischer Staarstecher, in welchem rechtschaffener Musikverständigen Fehler bescheiden angemerket, eingebildeter und selbst gewachsener sogenannter Componisten Thorheiten aber lächerlich gemachet werden'' (Leipzig, 1739–1740) *''Anfangs-Gründe des General-Basses nach mathematischer Lehr-Art abgehandelt'' (Leipzig, 1739) *''Gradus ad Parnassum, oder Anführung zur regelmässigen Composition, aus dem Lateinischen ins Deutsche übersetzt, und mit Anmerkungen versehen'' (Leipzig, 1742), translation of J. J. Fux: ''

'' (Vienna, 1725)

References

Notes Sources
pdf Online-Version

External links

Lorenz Christoph Mizler website

Works by Lorenz Christoph Mizler
in digital library

Polona Polona is a Polish digital library, which provides digitized books, magazines, graphics, maps, music, fliers and manuscripts from collections of the National Library of Poland and co-operating institutions. It began its operation in 2006. Colle ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mizler, Lorenz Christoph 1711 births 1778 deaths 18th-century German mathematicians German music historians German music theorists German musicologists 18th-century German physicians German publishers (people) People from the Principality of Ansbach 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian philosophers 18th-century Polish historians Polish male non-fiction writers 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian mathematicians 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian physicians 18th-century Polish nobility Leipzig University alumni University of Wittenberg alumni University of Erfurt alumni German male non-fiction writers 18th-century German composers 18th-century male musicians People from Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen 18th-century German male writers