Johann Walter
Johann Walter, also known as Johann Walther or Johannes Walter (original name: Johann Blankenmüller) (1496 – 25 March 1570), was a Lutheran composer and poet during the Reformation period.
Life
Walter was born in Kahla, in present-day Thuringia, in 1496. According to a document filed with his will, he was born with the surname of Blanckenmüller, but adopted out of poverty by a citizen of Kahla, and given an education at Kahla and Rochlitz under his new name: Johann Walter.
He began his career as a composer and bass
Following the conclusion of his appointment to Frederick's chapel, Walter became cantor for the
Walter did not remain in Dresden very long, and by 1554 he had accepted a pension from the duke and returned to Torgau, where he remained for the rest of his life. He died on 25 March 1570.
St Matthew Passion
While in Dresden, Walter composed a responsorial
Finnish ensemble Kuninkaantien muusikot (Musicians of the King's Road) has performed the Passion as a part of its early passions cycle. The performance took place in Turku Cathedral in 2017, the year of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.[3]
Musical works
Walter wrote his motets and lieder, often of high quality, in two distinct styles. For the first style he employed a polyphonic manner derived from the
For the second style Walter rejected imitative or independent voice-leading for chorale writing in which each fragment of the cantus firmus rested simultaneously with the other parts. In a few such cases he placed the borrowed tune in the top voice, thereby inaugurating the favorite manner of chorale setting of the succeeding two centuries.
Some of his more famous chorale settings include:
- Allein auf Gottes Wort
- Christ ist erstanden
- Christ lag in Todesbanden
- Christum wir sollen loben schon
- Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott
- Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort
- Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ
- Joseph, lieber Joseph mein (Resonet in laudibus)
- Komm, Gott Schöpfer, Heiliger Geist
- Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott
- Laus Matrimonii ex Horatio (Felices ter)
- Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist
- Vater unser im Himmelreich
- Verbum caro factum est
- Wir glauben all an einen Gott
- Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält
Miscellaneous
The
References
- ^ Johann Walter; Martin Luther (1524). Geystliches gesangk buchleyn. Wittemberg. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
- ^ Buszin, Walter E. "Johann Walther – Composer, Pioneer, and Luther's Musical Consultant" (PDF). The Musical Heritage of the Church, Volume III. The Good Shepherd Institute. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
- ^ "Concerts | Musicians of the King's Road website". Archived from the original on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
Further reading
- ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. (subscription required)
External links
- Free scores by Johann Walter in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
- Johann Walther 1496–1570 (The Cyber Hymnal)
- Free scores by Johann Walter at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)