Johann Sebastiani (30 September 1622 – 1683) was a German baroque composer. Sebastiani was born in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

. He became Kantor at Königsberg cathedral in 1661, and court ''Kapellmeister'' from 1663 to 1679. He died in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was name ...

. His works include sacred and occasional pieces and songs; the most famous is his ''St Matthew Passion'' (before 1663, performed again 1672). He is the first composer to introduce chorale into oratorio passion. Within the St Matthew Passion, Sebastiani includes eight different chorale melodies and introduces thirteen chorale verses. This work is a development from the style of

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as one of the most important composers of the 17th century. He ...

which includes recitatives and arias but avoids a dramatic operatic idiom, and marks an intermediate position between Schütz and

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 wor ...

such as those of Johann Theile and

Johann Valentin Meder Johann Valentin Meder (baptised May 3, 1649 – July 1719) was a German composer, organist, and singer. (He is not to be confused with the German composer Johann Gabriel Meder, born in 1729 near Erfurt, and active in Amsterdam until 1800; nor is the ...

. Two violins accompany Christ, who is a bass; three viols accompany Evangelist, who is a tenor, Judas, who is an alto, and the other characters. In 1672 Sebastiani got married and from that point until the end of his life he was concerned primarily with the publication of his works. In 1672, he published a collection entitled ''Erster Theil Der Parnaß-Blumen, Oder Geist- und Weltliche Lieder''.

Recordings

* Matthäus-Passion 1672. Soprano Greta De Reyghere, countertenor Vincent Grégoire, tenors Stephan Van Dyck, Hervé Lamy, bass Max van Egmond,

Ricercar Consort The Ricercar Consort is a Belgian instrumental ensemble founded in 1980 together with the Ricercar record label of Jérôme Lejeune. The founding members were violinist François Fernandez, organist Bernard Foccroulle, and viola da gamba play ...

, dir. Philippe Pierlot. Ricercar ''Deutsche Barock-Kantaten Vol. XI'' 1996reissued 2CD with Heinrich Schütz: Die sieben Worte; Auferstehungshistorie; 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sebastiani, Johann 1622 births 1683 deaths German Baroque composers 17th-century classical composers German male classical composers 17th-century male musicians