Gustaf Düben (also spelt Gustav) (; 1624/1628December 19, 1690) was a Swedish

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 def ...

Early life

Born into the

Düben family The Düben family () is a noble family of German descent, originating in Saxony, Holy Roman Empire, whose members were elevated to the Swedish nobility, that rose to prominence with Andreas Düben (–1662), an organist to the German Church ...

, in the 1620s in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, he was the son of the German-born Andreas Düben, an

, and his wife, Anna Maria Gabrielen (1609-1690),

lady's maid A lady's maid is a female personal attendant who waits on her female employer. The role of a lady's maid is similar to that of a gentleman's valet. Description Traditionally, the lady's maid was not as high-ranking as a lady's companion, who wa ...

Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg (11 November 1599 – 28 March 1655) was Queen of Sweden from 1620 to 1632 as the wife of King Gustav II Adolph (''Gustavus Adolphus''). She was born a German princess as the daughter of John Sigismund, Elector of ...

. Düben was sent by his father to Germany for education in his youth. He was a student of Sweelinck. In 1654, Düben married Emerentia Standaert (d. 1679), the daughter of rich

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

merchant, Niclas Standaert (d. 1655) and his wife, Ursula de Neef (d. 1683). They had at least nine children.

Career

In 1647 Gustav became part of the Swedish royal court orchestra, the ''Kungliga Hovkapellet'', where he would succeed as

Hofkapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

in 1663 after the death of his father the previous year. Both of his sons would follow in their father's footsteps,

Gustav Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

( sv) holding the office from 1690 to 1698 and

Anders Anders is a male name in Scandinavian languages and Fering, Fering North Frisian, an equivalent of the Greek Andreas ("manly") and the English Andrew. It originated from Andres (name), Andres via metathesis (linguistics), metathesis. In Sweden, A ...

( sv) from 1698 to 1726. In addition to his court duties, he was organist at the German Church in

. Düben composed a few works in the North German style prevalent in his time, including both vocal music and instrumental music. However, these do not constitute the most important aspect of his contribution to music. From the 1640s, Düben begun compiling a manuscript collection of compositions from his time, some of which he had acquired from his travels in foreign lands. Named after him as the

Düben collection The Düben collection is a collection of musical manuscripts named after the original collector, Gustaf Düben, held in the Uppsala University Library. It includes much 17th-century baroque music, in particular the only surviving copies of many wor ...

, it is one of the most important sources for music of the 17th century, notably being the only surviving copy of many works by

Dieterich Buxtehude Dieterich Buxtehude (; born Diderich Hansen Buxtehude, ; – 9 May 1707) was a Danish composer and organist of the Baroque music, Baroque period, whose works are typical of the North German organ school. As a composer who worked in various vocal ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *

External links

Mss. of works collected by the family, the "Düben collection"
* 1624 births 1690 deaths 17th-century classical composers 17th-century Swedish musicians Swedish Baroque composers Swedish classical composers Swedish male classical composers Swedish people of German descent 17th-century male musicians {{organist-stub

Gustaf Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

Musicians from Stockholm