Christoph Urban

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Johann Christoph Urban (born January 18 or 30, 1671 in Kuhna; † April 19, 1756 in Görlitz ) was a German Protestant cantor and poet.

Life

Urban was a half-orphan from a very poor family, which resulted in a difficult childhood and adolescence. Sent from home to other places where he had to endure a lot, Urban ultimately came to Görlitz , where he was able to attend high school.

In 1694 he went to Leipzig to study. Here he was a student of the Thomaskantor Johann Schelle , who used him as a bassist in his choir. In order to earn a living, Urban contacted Nicolaus Adam Strungk , who had founded the first Leipzig Opera in 1693 and who, like many other poor students, used him as an actor in his operas. Nevertheless, Urban led a life of hardship at the time.

In 1697 he was a founding member of the "Görlitzer Collegium Poeticum", which in 1727 was renamed the "German Society in Leipzig". In 1698 Urban got a job as a cantor and teacher at the Latin school in Torgau . Now financially secure for the first time, he married Anna Elisabeth (1675–1742) in the same year, in which seven children were born. In Torgau, Urban contributed significantly to the popular public dramatic performances and the "Actus oratorii". Although he was very popular in school and the city, Urbahn accepted an offer in 1715 to work at the Gymnasium Görlitz, which had been his greatest dream since his youth.

Since, among other things, it was his duty as a cantor to constantly write new pieces of music, he wrote almost all of the music for the school rector Grosser for the texts he wrote. Urban retired in 1740.

Urban had to write texts and compositions for specific occasions for professional reasons. In addition to the texts mentioned under "Works", he also knows the farewell speech to the city of Torgau (1715), a letter of congratulations on the name day of Torgau Mayor Knorr from 1716 and a description of the Frauenkirche Görlitz from the same year. In his private life, Urban devoted himself to poetry, of which, however, very little remained; this includes the hymn "God knows the very best ways". In addition, he was passionate about handwriting.

Works

literature

personal data
SURNAME Urban, Christoph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Urban, Johann Christoph (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant cantor and poet
DATE OF BIRTH January 1671
PLACE OF BIRTH Kuhna
DATE OF DEATH April 19, 1756
Place of death Goerlitz