Michael Praetorius is known for his huge output and for the variety of the many works it contained. He was also an organist and one of the most important music theorists of his time. Praetorius based many of his compositions on Lutheran hymns and Lutheran Latin liturgical music. Among his most important efforts are the nine-part (mostly) vocal collection, Musae Sioniae (1605-1612) and the Polyhymnia caduceatrix (1619), whose music does not derive from Lutheran liturgical or hymnal sources. Though most of his compositions are in the sacred realm, his most well-known work today is his only surviving secular instrumental effort, Terpsichore, a set of arrangements of over 300 French dance melodies.

The first volume of the Musae Sioniae appeared in 1605, the next four in 1607, with the ensuing pair following in 1609, and the last two coming in the period 1610-1612. It should be noted that in the seventh book Praetorius included four pieces for organ. The hymns in the first four books are scored mostly in eight parts (in two choirs), though there are some 12-part hymns in No. 2, and 9- and 12-part hymns in No. 3. The Fifth Book features two- to eight-part items, while Books 6-8 contain mostly homophonically-scored hymns and the last volume is comprised of two- and three-part pieces. The individual hymns here derive from various Lutheran and other religious sources. The carol Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen is by the far most familiar item in the nine-book collection. Its mellow beauty and sunny spirit impart an of air sweet reverence. Vom Himmel kommt, from the First Book, has also achieved a measure of popularity.

Praetorius' style is in the early-Baroque German tradition, featuring lively and deft polyphonic activity in the multi-part hymns, though nowhere nearly as developed or complex as in Bach's music of a century later.

Collections in Praetorius' output similar in content and musical style to the Musae Sioniae are Urania and Kleine und Grosse Litaney, both appearing in 1613. The composer's early vocal efforts, like the Motectae et psalmi and Megalynodia Sionia, dating to 1602, are collections also based on pre-existing material (the latter having Italian sources). The aforementioned Polyhymnia caduceatrix, scored for one to 21 voices and basso continuo, is rather experimental in its vocal writing.

In the instrumental realm it is, of course, Terpsichore that stands as Praetorius' lone but substantial contribution. Containing many galliards, courantes, gavottes, and other French dances, this collection has appeared in excerpts on numerous recordings using various Baroque-era instruments.

© Robert Cummings, Rovi