Crato Butner

Crato Bütner (also: Büttner , * 1616 in Sonneberg ( Thuringia ), † 1679 in Danzig ) was a German composer of the Baroque .

Life

Little is known about Crato Bütner's life. There are no reliable records of his origin or his training. Johann Gottfried Walther states in his Musicalischen Lexicon published in 1732 that Bütner comes from Sonneberg ( Thuringia ), and in a print dedicated to Georg Neumark it says about Gotha from Thür , but no archival evidence for this information can be found anywhere.

From 1650 to (in all probability) after 1654 Bütner was organist and school journeyman at the Danzig suburban church St. Salvator (Petershagen) . In 1652 or 1654 he moved to the most important church in Gdańsk, St. Katharinen in the old town, as the successor to Christoph Werner , where he remained active as cantor and director of music until his death. Butner remained unmarried.

In addition to the lessons at the Katharinenschule, which he had to complete in his position as cantor, he was responsible for the maintenance of figural music in the Katharinenkirche, for which he had an average of six vocalists and eight instrumentalists. Under his leadership, Protestant church music in Gdansk flourished unprecedented, and the church music performances in the Katharinenkirche became known far beyond the city limits.

The tradition of his works testifies to a certain degree of awareness and popularity of Bütner. His sacred concerts can be found in the large musical collections of the late 17th century: the Dübensammlung , which is now kept in the Uppsala University Library (Sweden), the library of the Michaeliskirche Erfurt (today owned by the Berlin State Library - Prussian cultural property ) and the The Jacobi collection, which was formerly in Grimma and is now owned by the Saxon State Library in Dresden .

plant

A large part of Bütner's work has been lost. His preserved, mostly relatively large-scale works with above-average compositional skills. Bütner also became known through his work on Georg Neumark's Lustwäldchen and Johann Franck's ecclesiastic Sion .

Works available in Berlin (Berlin State Library - Prussian Cultural Heritage):

• O quanta in coelis laetitia. (8 voices and 5 instruments)
• Missa Germanica. (Soprano, alto, tenor bass, violin or zinc, 2 violas or trombones, violon or trombone and continuo)

Works available in Dresden (Saxon State Library):

• Bataglia Spiritualis: Today the Son of God triumphs. (Bass, 2 violins and continuo or bass, 2 violins, viola, bassoon and continuo)
• Decorate the festival with May. (14 and more votes)
• See it has overcome. (12 voices, for SSATTB concertato, SATB ripieno, 2 violins, 2 cornettini, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, bass viola, Bombard Grosso)

Works available in Uppsala (Carolina Rediviva University Library):

• Oh, you pious and faithful servant. (2 sopranos, 2 olds, 2 tenors, 2 basses, 2 violins, 3 violas or trombones and continuo), published: Verlag C. Hofius, Ammerbuch
• Rejoice you righteous. (8 parts in 2 choirs, 3 violins, 3 trombones and continuo), published: Verlag C. Hofius, Ammerbuch
• Rejoice with your hands. (12 parts in 2 choirs, 2 trumpets / prongs, 2 violins, 4 trombones and continuo), published: Verlag C. Hofius, Ammerbuch
• I searched at night. (Soprano, 2 violins, continuo) [Druck, Danzig 1652], published: Verlag Musica Poetica, Basel
• Come Holy Spirit Lord God. (8 parts in 2 choirs, 2 violins, 3 violas or trombones, violetta or trombone, violone and continuo), published: Verlag C. Hofius, Ammerbuch
  • You holy heat, sweet consolation. (Soprano, alto, tenor, bass, 2 flutes, 2 violins, 2 violas, violetta and continuo)
• Laudate pueri dominum. (Soprano, 2 violins, viola and continuo), published: Verlag C. Hofius, Ammerbuch
• Nisi Dominus aedificaverit domum. (Soprano, alto, bass, 2 violins and continuo), published: Verlag C. Hofius, Ammerbuch
• Now all thank God. (2 sopranos, bass, 2 violins, bassoon and continuo), published: Verlag C. Hofius, Ammerbuch
• We thank you Lord Jesus Christ. (8 parts in 2 choirs, 2 violins, 2 violas, violone and continuo), published: Verlag C. Hofius, Ammerbuch
• Where is your sting now, oh death. (2 sopranos, alto, tenor, bass, 2 violins, 3 trombones and continuo), published: Verlag C. Hofius, Ammerbuch
• If you want to know, I should report it. (Soprano, 2 violins and continuo) [Druck, Danzig 1654], published: Verlag C. Hofius, Ammerbuch
• From heaven up there I come. (8 parts in 2 choirs, 3 violins, 2 trombones, violone and continuo), published: Verlag C. Hofius, Ammerbuch
• God is our confidence and strength. (Soprano, alto, 2 tenors, bass, 2 violins or tines, 2 trombones, bassoon and continuo)

Songs

• 4 melodies in: Georg Neumark: Poetisch- u. Musical pleasure forest. Hamburg 1652. And this: Fortgepflantzter Mus.-Poetischer Lustwald , 3 parts. Jena 1657. (vocals and continuo)
• 1 melody in: C. Stieler: The horned Venus. Hamburg 1660. (vocals and continuo)
• 2 melodies in: Johann Franck, Geistliches Sion. Guben 1674. (vocals and continuo)

Other works

• Concerto We live, so we live in the Lord. (2 strings, 5 voices, continuo)
• The Lord has commanded his angels over you. à 9 (4 strings, 4 voices, continuo)
• Deus in adjiutorium meum intende à 7, 12. (SSATB in concerto , SSATB in ripieno or 2 cornetti & 3 trombones, 2 violins, 2 cornettini, 2 viola, viola basso, Bombard grosso.)
• See, it has overcome à 14.18. (SSATTB in concerto , SATB in ripieno , 2 violins, 2 cornettini, 2 trombettae, 3 trombones, viola basso, Bombard grosso.)
• Sacred concerts, Hamburg 1651.
• Psalm 147, Danzig 1661.
• Te Deum. (12 voices) Danzig 1662. (SSATB, SATB, ATTB, 2 violins, viola, 2 cornetti, 2 trumpets, timpani, 4 trombones, violone, basso continuo)

expenditure

• Indeed, he bore our disease. Edited by Ms. Keßler. Hänssler Verlag, Stuttgart 1966. (now Carus Verlag)
• I searched at night. Edited by Cosimo Stawiarski . Edition Musica Poetica, Basel 2006. (= musical monuments of the early modern era, single editions of vocal music, volume 4)
• Cast your request on the Lord. Edited by Ms. Keßler in: Danziger Kirchenmusik. Hänssler Verlag, Stuttgart (now Carus Verlag).

literature

• Johann Gottfried Walther : Musical Lexicon or Musical Library… Leipzig (with Wolffgang Deer) 1732, reprint, ed. by Richard Schaal, Kassel 1953 and 4th ed. Kassel and Basel 1986.
• Hermann Rauschning : History of Music and Music Maintenance in Danzig. From the beginning to the dissolution of the church chapels. Danzig Vlgsges. Rosenberg, Danzig 1931. (= sources and representations on the history of West Prussia ; 15)
• CB Güttler: Crato Bütner. In: Old Prussian Biography Vol. I , 1941, p. 92.
• Robert Eitner : Biographical-bibliographical source lexicon of musicians and music scholars of the Christian era up to the middle of the 19th century. 11 vols. Graz 1959/602; Vol. 2; P. 229.
• Friedhelm Krummacher : Crato Bütner. In: Music in the past and present . 2., rework. Edition, Person Part Vol. 3, Col. 1420–1422. Bärenreiter, Kassel and others; JB Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar.
• Danuta Szlagowska: Crato Bütner and the Concertato Style in Gdansk in the 17th Century. In: Ekkehard Ochs (Ed.): Musica Baltica. Interregional musical and cultural relations in the Baltic Sea area. Conference report Greifswald - Gdańsk, November 28 to December 3, 1993. Sankt Augustin 1996, pp. 179–182. (= German music in the east; 8.)
• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Butner (Bythner), Crato. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 803.
• Georg Brückner:  Butner, Crato . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, p. 660.
• Gotthold Frotscher:  Bütner, Crato. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, ISBN 3-428-00184-2 , p. 5 f. ( Digitized version ).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} http://www.verlag-hofius.de/buetner.php
2. ↑ ^{a b} Werner Braun: Berlin church music in the last third of the 17th century - addendum.

Web links

• Sheet music and audio files by Crato Bütner in the International Music Score Library Project
• Paul Siefert - Crato Bütner program of the Abendmusiken Basel under Jörg-Andreas Bötticher in the Predigerkirche Basel , October 14, 2018