Constantin Christian Dedekind

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Constantin Christian Dedekind

Constantin Christian Dedekind (born April 2, 1628 in Reinsdorf , Anhalt-Köthen , † before September 2, 1715 in Dresden ) was a German poet and composer of the Baroque period .

Life

As the grandson of the composer Henning Dedekind (1562–1626) and son of the musician Stefan Dedekind (1595–1636), the young Constantin was born into a Thuringian musical dynasty. Nothing is known about his childhood, only the school days in the Reichsabbey Quedlinburg are documented . The abbess of the imperial abbey, Landgravine Anna Sophia von Hessen, promoted his education . From around 1647 he lived in the Saxon capital Dresden . His reputation as a poet had already reached Johann Rist in Hamburg, who crowned him Poeta laureatus in 1652 .

In Dresden, too, Dedekind pursued his dual talent as a composer and poet. He was in contact with composers such as Heinrich Albert , Adam Krieger and Heinrich Schütz , as well as with poets such as Johann Joseph Beckh , Michael Kongehl , Christoph Kormart and David Schirmer , to name just a few names from his large circle of friends.

In 1654 Dedekind was appointed bassist in the Electoral Saxon band and about 5 years later he became a member of the Elbe Swan Order . For a long time, Dedekind was in correspondence with the famous Nuremberg poet Sigmund von Birken , who in his Teutsche Rede-bind- und Dicht-Kunst (1679) emphasized the special importance of the Dedekind for communicating Christian values ​​in the art of acting.

From 1666 to 1675 he worked in Dresden as Electoral Saxon concertmaster. He created a large number of sacred songs and plays, as well as some secular songs (his musical year and Vespers song alone consists of 120 concerts), with both the texts and the compositions coming from himself. He is considered one of the most important German artists of his time in this field.

As a Saxon tax collector, Dedekind made quite a fortune; as a publisher - mostly of sheet music - he recorded more failures. In 1680 he fled from Dresden to Meissen from the plague . In his last years Dedekind hardly composed anything; the late work consists almost exclusively of sacred poems.

He was married to Anna Elisabeth Müller and his second marriage to Maria Dorothea Weber. Dedekind had a total of 5 children from both marriages.

Dedekind probably died in Dresden at the end of August 1715 and was buried on September 2nd.

Works (selection)

  • The Aelbian muse lust . Dresden 1657. (Reprint: Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1991, ISBN 3-261-03967-1 )
  • Davidic heart lust, ie singing harp sound . Nuremberg 1669.
  • New spiritual plays. 1670. (Reprint: (Rarissima Litterarum, 9). Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-7772-0235-5 .

List of works and references

  • Gerhard Dünnhaupt : Constantin Christian Dedekind (1628–1715). In: Personal bibliographies on Baroque prints. Volume 2, Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-7772-9027-0 , pp. 1231-1255.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wolfram Steude : 3. Constantin Christian. In: The music in the past and present (MGG) . 2., rework. Output. Person part 5, Bärenreiter (Kassel), Metzler (Stuttgart), 2001, ISBN 3-7618-1110-1 , column 651 ff.
  2. ^ Wolfram Steude: Dedekind, Constantin Christian . In: Institute for Saxon History and Folklore (Ed.): Saxon Biography .
personal data
SURNAME Dedekind, Constantin Christian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German poet and composer
DATE OF BIRTH April 2, 1628
PLACE OF BIRTH Reinsdorf , Anhalt-Koethen
DATE OF DEATH before September 2, 1715
Place of death Dresden