Michael Praetorius

PRAETORIUS, Michael. b. Creuzberg, 15 February 1571; d. Wolfenbüttel, 15 February 1621. Michael Praetorius was born in Creuzburg on the Werra River near the city of Eisenach. His father, also Michael, was a teacher at the famous Latin school at Torgau where he was a colleague of Johann Walter*, the first cantor of the Lutheran Church who, together with Martin Luther*, was responsible for the Geystliche gesangk Buchleyn (1524), the first collection of choral settings of the early Lutheran chorales. Michael’s father, after a period of study in Wittenberg with Luther and Philipp Melanchthon*, became a pastor, one of his charges being Creuzburg where young Michael was born. The family later...