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Matthias Weckmann (''Weckman'') (''c''.1616 24 February 1674) was a German musician and composer of the
Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
period. He was born in Niederdorla (
Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...
) and died in
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
.


Life

His musical training took place in
Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
(as a chorister at the Saxon Court, under the direction of
Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque music, Baroque composer and organ (music), organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and one of the most important composers of ...
), then in Hamburg where he worked with the famous organist Jacob Praetorius at the Saint Peter's church (Petrikirche). He was introduced to the Italian concertato, polychoral and monodic styles — because Schütz had journeyed in Italy when a young man and he had met
Giovanni Gabrieli Giovanni Gabrieli (/1557 – 12 August 1612) was an Italian composer and organist. He was one of the most influential musicians of his time, and represents the culmination of the style of the Venetian School (music), Venetian School, at the t ...
and Monteverdi — as well as the style of Sweelinck's pupils, some of whom had settled in Hamburg. Weckmann travelled to
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
in 1637 with Schütz, became organist in Dresden at the Electoral Court of Saxony from 1638 to 1642, and returned to Denmark until 1647 (during the
Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
). During a new (and his last) stay in Dresden from 1649 to 1655, he met Johann Jakob Froberger during a musical competition which had been organized by the Elector. They remained friends and in correspondence with each other. In 1655, after a competition, he was named titular organist at Saint James church (Jakobkirche) in Hamburg, and spent his remaining life there. He founded a renowned orchestral ensemble, the so-called '' Collegium Musicum'' in Hamburg. This was the most productive period of his life: his compositions of this time include a collection of 1663, which set sacred texts mentioning the terrible plague which killed his first wife and many of his colleagues in Hamburg that year, including Heinrich Scheidemann. He died in Hamburg and was buried in a family grave in St. James's Church beneath the organ.


Works

Weckmann composed chorale preludes and music for the organ and
harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...
that mixes Italian and French influences, various
sonatas In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the Music history, history of music, designating a variety of ...
for three or four instruments, and orchestral and vocal sacred music. Stylistically, he mostly followed the progressive tendencies of Schütz, including the concertato idiom and the trend to increasing
chromaticism Chromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic scale, diatonic pitch (music), pitches and chord (music), chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. In simple terms, within each octave, diatonic music uses o ...
and
contrapuntal In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous Part (music), musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and Pitch contour, melodic contour. The term ...
and motivic complexity. In this regard, he went against the prevailing trends of the time towards simplification, much of which can be seen in Schütz's later music. Weckmann is a good example of a composer whose works would have been completely lost to history, had it not been for the 19th century interest in researching the predecessors of J.S. Bach.


See also

* 7587 Weckmann, an asteroid


References

* * Manfred Bukofzer, ''Music in the Baroque Era''. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1947. ()


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weckmann, Matthias 1610s births 1674 deaths 17th-century German classical composers German Baroque composers German male classical composers German classical organists Organists and composers in the North German tradition Pupils of Heinrich Schütz 17th-century German male musicians German male classical organists