Johannes Eccard was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 and kapellmeister

Kapellmeister

Kapellmeister is a German word designating a person in charge of music-making. The word is a compound, consisting of the roots Kapelle and Meister . The words Kapelle and Meister derive from the Latin: capella and magister...

. He was an early principal conductor at the Berlin court chapel.

Biography

Eccard was born at Mühlhausen

Mühlhausen

Mühlhausen is a city in the federal state of Thuringia, Germany. It is the capital of the Unstrut-Hainich district, and lies along the river Unstrut. Mühlhausen had c. 37,000 inhabitants in 2006.-History:...

, Thuringia

Thuringia

The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. At the age of eighteen he went to Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

, where he became the pupil of Orlando Lasso. In his company, Eccard is said to have visited Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, but in 1574, he was again at Mühlhausen, where he resided for four years. There he, together with Johann von Burgk, edited his first master, a collection of sacred songs, called Crepundia sacra Helmboldi (1577). Soon afterwards he obtained an appointment as musician in the house of Jacob Fugger

Jacob Fugger

Jacob Fugger , sometimes known as Jacob Fugger the Rich, was a German banker and a member of the Fugger family.- Biography :...

, the Augsburg

Augsburg

Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...

 banker.

In 1583 he became assistant conductor, and in 1599 conductor at Königsberg

Königsberg

Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...

 to Georg Friedrich, Margrave

Margrave

A margrave or margravine was a medieval hereditary nobleman with military responsibilities in a border province of a kingdom. Border provinces usually had more exposure to military incursions from the outside, compared to interior provinces, and thus a margrave usually had larger and more active...

 of Brandenburg-Anspach

Principality of Ansbach

The Principality of Ansbach or Brandenburg-Ansbach was a reichsfrei principality in the Holy Roman Empire centered on the Bavarian city of Ansbach...

, the administrator of the Duchy of Prussia. In 1608 he was called by Joachim Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg

Joachim Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg

Joachim III Frederick , of the House of Hohenzollern, was Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1598 until his death.-Biography:...

 as principal conductor in Berlin

Berlin State Opera

The Staatsoper Unter den Linden is a German opera company. Its permanent home is the opera house on the Unter den Linden boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, which also hosts the Staatskapelle Berlin orchestra.-Early years:...

, but this post he held only for three years, owing to his death at Königsberg in 1611.

Eccard's works consist exclusively of vocal compositions, such as songs, sacred cantata

Cantata

A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....

s and chorale

Chorale

A chorale was originally a hymn sung by a Christian congregation. In certain modern usage, this term may also include classical settings of such hymns and works of a similar character....

s for four or five, and sometimes for seven, eight, or even nine voices. Their polyphonic structure is a marvel of art and still garners the admiration of musicians. At the same time his works are instinct with a spirit of true religious feeling. His setting of Martin Luther

Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...

's words Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (A Mighty Fortress Is Our God) is still regarded by the Germans as their representative national hymn.

Eccard and his school are inseparably connected with the history of the Protestant Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

. Of Eccard's songs a great many collections are extant such as those published in Der Evangelische Kirchengesang (1843) by Baron

Baron

Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...

 Karl Georg August Vivigens von Winterfeld.

Selected works

• Nun schürz dich, Gretlein, schürz dich
• Übers Gebirg Maria geht
• Christ ist erstanden
• Es rühmt die Heilige Schrift (1591)
• Nachdem die Sonn beschlossen (1600)
• Maria wallt zum Heiligtum (also sung in English: "When to the temple Mary went")

External links