Elias Nathusius

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Elias Nathusius (* 1628 in Gießmannsdorf near Naumburg am Queis ; † November 29, 1676 in Leipzig ) was cantor at Leipzig's Nikolaikirche and master's degree in philosophy .

Life

Nathusius was the son of the cantor Jeremias Nathusius (* around 1590) and a nephew of his older brother Elisäus Nathusius (* around 1590). Since his father Jeremias lived as a cantor in Lübben and probably also in Priebus in poor conditions, Elias Nathusius was given to his uncle Elisäus, a respected schoolmaster and rector in Lübben, as a child.

education

Nathusius attended schools in Lübben, Görlitz and Lauban as well as the grammar school in Bautzen . With a scholarship from the city of Leipzig, he studied at the local university from 1648 to 1652. He was a student of Professors Heinrich Müller, Friedrich Leibnütz , Johannes Hornschuch , Andreas Rivinus , Gottfried Schlüter , Johannes Ittig , Hieronymus Kromayer and Georg Weigel . His thesis was entitled Disputatio de qualitatibus occultis in genere . He completed his master's degree on January 28, 1652. He submitted his dissertation, also in Leipzig, on August 21, 1652 and defended it “with fame”: De Musica Theoretica .

He received his first solid musical education at the grammar school in Bautzen from the local cantor Samuel Becker . Studies with David Cichorius followed. During his studies in Leipzig in 1649/1650, Nathusius finally took private composition lessons with Thomas Cantor Tobias Michael .

job

While still a student, he was appointed cantor of the St. Nikolai city school on August 23, 1650 . He held this office until his death 27 years later. His successor as Nikolaikantor on March 31, 1677 was Gottfried Vopelius , the author of the famous New Leipzig Hymnbook , who held the position until 1715.

Excerpt from Elias Nathusius's application for the Thomaskantorat in Leipzig from 1657 (last page)

Until 1755, the Nikolaikirche in Leipzig was the city's official main church. Then it was replaced by the Thomaskirche , where Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) had worked as cantor. The Nikolai School, founded in 1395, was the school of the wealthy Leipzig bourgeoisie. The position of Nikolaikantor was correspondingly prestigious. The cantor's professional duties included training choir singers as well as holding scientific lessons in the higher school classes. The rector of the Nikolaischule at that time was Johannes Hornschuch, another teacher was Jakob Thomasius (1622–1684). His son Christian Thomasius (1655–1728), who later became a philosopher and enlightener, was a student of Nathusius. The later scholar Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) also belonged to his students . His aunt Dorothea Elisabeth Leibniz was the wife of Tertius at the Thomas School and godmother of one of Nathusius's children. Another Nathusius child was godfathered in 1659 by Sebastian Knüpfer , cantor of St. Thomas' Church, with whom Nathusius was friends.

Among other things, Nathusius composed nine madrigals that were created between 1650 and 1657 on the occasion of weddings, magisterial or funeral ceremonies. In addition, other works were written by him, as well as some of the mourning poems customary at the time for deceased, close dignitaries of the city of Leipzig or the surrounding area, such as Richard Nehrhof von Holtzenberg (1612–1660), Canonicus of the collegiate church in Zeitz, Johann Hülsemann (1602–1661) , Canonicus, university professor and pastor or Johannes Hornschuch (1599–1663), university professor and rector at the St. Nikolai Council School in Leipzig.

Letter of application for the Thomaskantorat

Nathusius is of particular importance for the music and church history of Leipzig, as his application for the position of cantor of the Thomas Church has been completely preserved after the death of the previous job holder Tobias Michael in June 1657. In this letter, Nathusius not only presents his own career in great detail, but also gives a unique insight into the Leipzig music scene of that time. Among other things, this letter contains the only information about the Collegium Musicum of the Leipzig lawyer and councilor Sigismund Finkelthaus , one of the earliest verifiable private music organizations in the city of which Nathusius himself was a member.

family

On June 7, 1653, Nathusius married Maria Magdalena Rahn († 1694), daughter of Peter Rahn, a cooper master, with financial support from the city of Leipzig. The couple lived in the "New House in Brühl", which belonged to the Leipzig Women's College, and had ten children (Dorothea, Jeremias, Margaretha, Maria Magdalena, Katharina, Elisäus, the legal scholar Christian , Petrus Paul, Isaac Michael and Adam Gottfried). Nathusius died at the age of 48 and was buried in a burial place (No. 34) of the University of Leipzig in the old Johannisfriedhof in Leipzig.

Works

see literature

  • How beautifully the morning star shines , 1652 (church piece)
  • I know for what, whoever fears God will be comforted after the challenge (church play)
  • Get up, north wind, and come, south wind , probably 1658 (church piece)
  • Disputatio de musica theoretica

literature

  • Paul Benndorf: The old Johannesfriedhof in Leipzig . P. 40
  • Robert Eitner : Biographical-bibliographical source lexicon of musicians and music scholars of the Christian era up to the middle of the 19th century . 10 volumes, 1900–1904
  • Albert Forbiger : Contributions to the history of the Nikolaikirche in Leipzig
  • Ernst Ludwig Gerber : New historical-biographical lexicon of the Tonkünstler . 4 volumes, 1812–1814
  • Otto Kaemmel: Nikolaischule in Leipzig . In: Overview of the historical development of the grammar schools . First part, p. 178
  • Michael Maul : Elias Nathusius. A Leipzig composer of the 17th century . In: Standing Conference Central German Baroque Music . Yearbook 2001, p. 70 ff.
  • Martin Nathusius: Nathusius, A journey of discovery through 450 years of family history (1548–1997 ). Saint-Sulpice, VD, 1997
  • Richard Needon : The students of the New Bautzen Council School 1642–1679 . P. 7
  • City archive Braunschweig: funeral sermons . Pp. 1622, 1645, 2783 and 3166.
  • Leipzig City Archives : Letter of application from Elias Nathusius for the position of the Thomaskantorat , title (F), VII B 116, f (93/137)
  • Reinhard Vollhardt : History of the Cantors and Organists from the cities in the Kingdom of Saxony . 1899, p. 179
  • Arnold Schering : From the autobiography of a German cantor (Elias Nathusius, † 1676) . In: Festschrift Max Schneider for his 60th birthday . Halle-Eisleben 1935, pages 84–91

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alberto Basso: Frau Musika: la vita e le opere di JS Bach , EDT srl, 1992, ISBN 88-7063-028-5 , page 18 ( digitized version )
  2. ↑ The corresponding burial entry in the council corpse book 1676–1680, p. 118 reads: Tuesday, Dec. 5, 1676. A man HM Elias Nathusius, former cantor of St. Nicolas and oldest Collegiata B. Mariae Virginis, st. Wednesday [11/29/1676], inventory of the Leipzig City Archives, 1.2.1.4, Leichenschreiberei – Leischr, 1595–1879
  3. ↑ Nathasius, Elias. In: Johann Heinrich Zedler : Large complete universal lexicon of all sciences and arts . Volume 23, Leipzig 1740, column 900 f.
  4. ↑ Stadtarchiv Leipzig, Tit. (F), VII. B.116, printed in: Martin Nathusius: A journey of discovery through 450 years of family history (1548–1997), see bibliography
  5. ↑ Michael Maul, p. 82 ff.
personal data
SURNAME Nathusius, Elias
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Cantor of the Leipzig City School St. Nikolai
DATE OF BIRTH 1628
PLACE OF BIRTH Gießmannsdorf near Naumburg am Queis , Lower Silesia
DATE OF DEATH November 29, 1676
Place of death Leipzig