Balthasar Resinarius

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Balthasar Resinarius , actually Balthasar Harzer (* around 1483 in Tetschen. Bohemia (today Děčín ); † April 12, 1544 in Böhmisch-Leipa (today Česká Lípa )) was a German composer, Protestant clergyman and Lutheran bishop of the Renaissance and one of the first Lutherans in Bohemia.

Live and act

Today it is considered proven that Resinarius, who is registered with the music publisher Georg Rhau , is identical to the composer Balthasar Harzer, who is also listed by Rhau. Balthasar Resinarius received his musical training as a choirboy in the court orchestra of King Maximilian I and was also a singing student of Heinrich Isaac . In 1515 he was enrolled as Baldassar Harczer at the University of Leipzig to study. From 1523 he worked on the initiative of Johann von Saalhausen (Hanuš ze Salhasenu) as a Catholic priest in his hometown. There he got into a violent argument with an immigrant Lutheran preacher, in the course of which he turned to the Bohemian king for help; the opposing party sought help from Martin Luther himself. It is not known whether this early and intensive examination of the new teaching led to a change in his denomination. In any case, he worked from 1534 with his Latinized name Resinarius as a Protestant pastor and bishop in Bohemian-Leipa until the end of his life.

After Resinarius' death, the humanist Georg Hansch , who lived in Leipa, published several commemorative writings ("Epitaphs") in memory of him; These portray him as a kind and friendly, helpful and gifted person with a beautiful voice. In particular, Hansch repeatedly praises his striking, outstanding speaking skills as well as his theological erudition and persuasiveness - with this he has won many followers for evangelical teaching.

meaning

As a composer, Balthasar Resinarius is considered one of the most important representatives of the first Protestant generation of clay composers. His works are only known through the publications of Georg Rhau. This inspired him directly to these works; He also introduced him, in the preface to his responsories , as an elderly and hitherto unknown master. In his publication “Encomion Musicae” (1551), the author Johannes Holtheuser counted the composer among the most famous masters of his time. Particularly noteworthy from the series of publications by Georg Rhau is the individual print from 1543 with compositions by Resinarius; In addition to a publication of the works of Sixt Dietrich, this is the only Rhaus publication with works by only one composer (individual print). Due to the publication by Georg Rhau in relevant manuscripts of the 16th century, these pieces by the master were widely distributed.

In terms of content and composition, Resinarius' works are in excellent shape with efforts to provide music for the services of the young Lutheran Church. The composer's stylistic means are rather conservative: a clear and concise text declamation based on the cantus firmus , a rhythmic and melodic balance, a frequently encountered parallel movement of the voices to one another and the absence of any contrapuntal artifice; these lead to an always clearly understandable text presentation with at times confessional urgency. Typical of his style many are beyond archaisms ( Landinoklauseln , cadences with double leading tone , and short sounds, etc.). The St. John Passion by Balthasar Resinarius is one of the few thoroughly composed passions from the first half of the 16th century that are strictly based on the liturgical Passion tone. It also reveals lyrically and musically, just like the St. Mark Passion by Johannes Galliculus , the model of the motet-like through-composed passions by Jacob Obrecht and Antoine de Longueval (around 1498 - 1525). If one compares them with the Passions of Longueval, for example, one notices the numerous internal cadences , some of which are superordinate to the structure of the text.

Works

The works of Balthasar Resinarius are exclusively vocal music and, with only one exception, are based on publications by Georg Rhau in Wittenberg .

  • 4 hymns with four voices: "Caeduntur gladiis", "Deus tuorum militum", "Jesus corona virginum" and "Urbs beata Jerusalem", 1542, under the name Balthasar Hartzer
  • Collection Responsoriorum numero octoginta de tempore et festis iuxta seriem totius anni, Libri duo. Primus de Christo, & regno eius, Doctrina, Vita, Passione, Resurrectione & Ascensione. Alter, de Sanctis, & illorum in Christum fide & Cruce to four voices, 1543, 2nd edition 1544, with 80 responsories and the St. John Passion
  • 30 chorales of four voices each, 1544, including “Oh God, look into it from heaven”, “Praise be to you, Jesus Christ” and “Now come, the Savior of the Gentiles”
  • Introit “Deus misericordiam” for four voices, 1545
  • 3 motets with four voices each: “Factum est autem”, “In principio erat verbum” and “Liber generationis”, 1545
  • 3 Versus with two voices each: "Eya inquit Paulus", "Tradiderunt" and "Vigilia te ergo", 1545 (not published by Georg Rhau)
  • Hymn “Beatus author saeculi” with four voices
  • 4 more hymns to four voices.

Literature (selection)

  • Robert Eitner: Hartzer, Balthasar , in: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB), Volume 10, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1879, p. 721
  • J. Haudeck: Music and songs in the Leipaer districts , in: Local history of the political district of Böhmisch-Leipa, Leipa 1904
  • W. Gosslau: The Religious Attitude in Reformation Music , Kassel 1933
  • G. Pietzsch: On the maintenance of music at the German universities , in: Archive for Music Research No. 3, 1938, pp. 302-330; No. 6, 1941, pp. 23-56 and No. 7, 1942, pp. 154-169
  • Inge-Maria Schröder: The responsory settings of Balthasar Resinarius , Bärenreiter, Kassel / Basel 1954
  • VH Mattfeld: Georg Rhaw's Publications for Vespers , Brooklyn / New York 1966
  • BM Fox: A Liturgical-repertorial Study of Renaissance Polyphony in Bártfa Mus. Pr. 6 (ad), National Széchényi Library, Budapest , dissertation at the University of Illinois 1977
  • Irmlind Capelle: On the use of the passion tone in the well-composed passions of the 16th century, especially in Leonhard Lechner's "Johannes Passion" , in: Festschrift für A. Forchert, ed. by G. Allroggen and D. Altenburg, Kassel et al. 1986, pp. 61-76
  • K. von Fischer: The Passion. Music between art and church , Kassel et al. 1997.

Web links

swell

  1. ↑ Capelle, Irmlind: Resinarius, Balthasar , in: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.), The Music in Past and Present , Second Edition, Person Part, Volume 13 (Pal-Rib), Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 2005, ISBN 3-7618 -1133-0 , columns 1564-1566
  2. ↑ Marc Honegger, Günther Massenkeil : The Great Lexicon of Music , Volume 7, Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1982, ISBN 3-451-18057-X


personal data
SURNAME Resinarius, Balthasar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Harzer, Balthasar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German composer
DATE OF BIRTH around 1483
PLACE OF BIRTH Tetschen , Bohemia
DATE OF DEATH April 12, 1544
Place of death Bohemian Leipa