Michael Praetorius (1571-1621); DEU

Michael Praetorius (1571–1621) was a German composer, organist, theorist, and Kapellmeister born in Creuzburg. He entered the service of Duke Heinrich Julius of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and eventually became Kapellmeister, later working extensively at other German courts. Active at a moment when Italian musical innovations were spreading northward, Praetorius became an important mediator between Lutheran musical traditions and the emerging Baroque style.

Praetorius composed an enormous quantity of Protestant church music, much of it based on Lutheran chorales, and explored varied combinations of voices and instruments. His best-known collection is Musae Sioniae, while the dance compilation Terpsichore preserves hundreds of instrumental dances. His three-volume theoretical treatise Syntagma Musicum is an indispensable source on early-seventeenth-century instruments and performance practice, especially its celebrated illustrations in De Organographia.

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Read biography at allmusic.com.