Johann Stobäus (6 July 158011 September 1646) was a composer and

lutenist A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" commonly r ...

Life

Stobäus was born at Graudenz in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. From 1599 to 1608 he was a pupil of

Johannes Eccard Johannes Eccard (1553–1611) was a German composer and kapellmeister. He was an early principal conductor at the Berlin court chapel. Biography Eccard was born at Mühlhausen, in present-day Thuringia, Germany. At the age of eighteen he went t ...

, the

Kapellmeister ( , , ), 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 ...

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

(in the

Duchy of Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (, , ) or Ducal Prussia (; ) was a duchy in the region of Prussia established as a result of secularization of the Monastic Prussia, the territory that remained under the control of the State of the Teutonic Order until t ...

). In 1601 he joined the princely ''Kapelle'' as a bass singer, and in 1602 he became ''Kantor'' at

Königsberg Cathedral Königsberg Cathedral (; ) is a Brick Gothic-style monument in Kaliningrad, Russia, located on Kneiphof island in the Pregolya river. It is the most significant preserved building of the former city of Königsberg, which was largely destroyed in ...

. In 1626 he succeeded Eccard as Kapellmeister, remaining in the post until his death. He died at

. Stobäus, known as Stobaeus Grudentinus Borussus for his birthplace, wrote music for liturgical use, as well as songs and compositions for lute. Much of his manuscript music was lost in World War II; what remains is largely held at the

Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin The Berlin State Library (; officially abbreviated as ''SBB'', colloquially ''Stabi'') is a universal library in Berlin, Germany, and a property of the German public cultural organization the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (). Founded i ...

. Stobäus's ''Commonplace Book,'' containing songs, instrumental music and drawings of instruments, is preserved at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

(Sloane MS 1021).

Works

* Cantiones Sacrae 5–10. v. item Magnificat, Frankfurt/Oder 1624 * Geistliche Lieder auf gewöhnliche Preußische Kirchenmelodien, Danzig 1634 * Erster und Ander Theil der Preußischen Fest-Lieder, 5-8 voices (incomplete), Elbing 1642 and Königsberg 1644, including a motet " Such, wer da will, ein ander Ziel" with his own melody

Recordings

* Stobaeus, Johann: "Lob- unnd Danck Lied (Gott ist und bleibt der König)", and "Ein anderes auf denselben von Gott gnädigst verliehenen sechsjährigen Stillstand. Anno 1630". Königsberg: Lorentz Segebad, 1630.Motet for 6 voices (SSATTB), Text: Georg Weissel, 5 verses. Reprinted in: Eccard/Stobaeus: Preussische Festlieder auf das ganze Jahr (1642 und 1644), edited by G. W. Teschner, Leipzig 1858, pp. 62–65. In ''Friedens-Seufftzer und Jubel-Geschrey'' - Music for the

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire ...

. Weser-Renaissance Ensemble Bremen dir.

Manfred Cordes Manfred Cordes (born 1953) is a German conductor of early music, musicologist and teacher. He is professor at the Hochschule für Künste Bremen and was its rector from 2007 to 2012. Publications * ''Die lateinischen Motetten des Iacobus Reg ...

. cpo

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stobaus, Johann 1580 births 1646 deaths Baroque composers 17th-century Prussian people Emigrants from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth People from Grudziądz 17th-century classical composers Lutenists Male classical composers 17th-century male musicians 17th-century composers