Matthias Claudius (15 August 1740 – 21 January 1815) was a German poet and journalist, otherwise known by the pen name of “Asmus”.

Life

Claudius was born at Reinfeld, near

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...

, and studied at

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

. He spent the greater part of his life in the town of Wandsbeck, where he earned his first literary reputation by editing from 1771 to 1775, a newspaper called ''Der Wandsbecker Bote'' (The Wandsbeck Messenger) (''Wandsbeck'' until the year 1879 still written with "ck". Today only with "k".), in which he published a large number of prose essays and poems. They were written in pure and simple German, and appealed to the popular taste; in many there was a vein of extravagant humour or even burlesque, while others were full of quiet meditation and solemn sentiment. In his later days, perhaps through the influence of

Klopstock Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (; 2 July 1724 – 14 March 1803) was a German poet. His best known work is the epic poem ''Der Messias'' ("The Messiah"). One of his major contributions to German literature was to open it up to exploration outside ...

, with whom he had formed an intimate acquaintance, Claudius became strongly pietistic, and the graver side of his nature showed itself. In 1814 he moved to

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

, to the house of his son-in-law, the publisher Friedrich Christoph Perthes, where he died on 21 January 1815.

Work

Claudius's poem ''Death and the Maiden'' was used by composer

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...

in 1817 for one of his most celebrated

songs A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...

, which in turn became the basis for the 1824

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinist ...

of the same name. Claudius's collected works were published under the title of ''Asmus omnia sua secum portans, oder Sämtliche Werke des Wandsbecker Boten'' (8 vols., 1775–1812; 13th edition, by C. Redich, 2 vols., 1902). His biography has been written by Wilhelm Herbst (4th ed., 1878). See also M. Schneidereit, ''M. Claudius, seine Weltanschauung und Lebensweisheit'' (1898).

Poems

*''Abendlied'' ("Evening Song"), aka "

Der Mond ist aufgegangen "Der Mond ist aufgegangen" (German for "The moon has risen") is a German lullaby and evening song by Matthias Claudius, one of the most popular in German literature. Also known under the name Abendlied (German for "evening song") it was first rele ...

" ("The moon has risen") *"Der Mensch lebt und bestehet", set to music by Max Reger *"Christiane" *"Die Sternseherin Lise" (Lise the astrologer) *"Die Liebe" (Love) *"Der Tod (Death) *"Ein Wiegenlied bei Mondschein zu singen" (A lullaby to sing in moonlight) *"Täglich zu singen" (To be sung every day) *"" (Song of war) *"Der Frühling. Am ersten Maimorgen" (The Spring. On the first morning in May) *"Der Säemann säet den Samen" (The sower sows the seeds), set to music by

Ernst Krenek Ernst Heinrich Krenek (, 23 August 1900 – 22 December 1991) was an Austrian, later American, composer of Czech origin. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including ''Music Here and Now'' (1939), a study ...

(''Drei gemischte a-cappella-Chöre'', Opus 22 ) *"Der Tod und das Mädchen" (The Death and the maiden), set to music by Schubert *"

Wir pflügen und wir streuen "Wir pflügen und wir streuen" (We plough and sow) is a sacred song about thanksgiving for harvest, with text by Matthias Claudius. It was first published in 1783 as ''Das Bauernlied'' (The peasants' song). It became a hymn, with melodies by Johan ...

" ( We plough the fields and scatter - sung in Germany and England as a harvest festival hymn)

Honours

* Asteroid 7117 Claudius was named after him.

References

* * Reinhard Görisch: ''Matthias Claudius oder Leben als Hauptberuf''. Marburg: Francke ²2014. * ''Jahresschriften der Claudius-Gesellschaft'', Kiel: Stamp media 1992ff.

External links

* *
Settings of Matthias Claudius' poetry in the Choral Public Domain Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Claudius, Matthias People from the Duchy of Holstein German Lutherans German poets University of Jena alumni 1740 births 1815 deaths German male poets German-language poets