Heinrich Compenius the Elder

Heinrich Compenius the Elder (* between 1530 and 1540 in Fulda ; † May 2, 1611 Nordhausen ) was a German organ builder , organist and composer.

life and work

Compenius (also: Cumpenius , the spelling of the family until 1606) was born in the 1530s as the son of a Protestant craftsman family Cumpen / Cumpan . It is said that he was involved in the funeral service for Martin Luther as organist in Eisleben in 1546 , but this has not been proven and is probably a legend. Heinrich Compenius is the founder of one of the most influential family of organ builders in Central Germany during the Renaissance and Early Baroque periods. More than a dozen nationally important organ builders have emerged from the family in three generations.

Between 1550 and 1560 Compenius moved to Eisleben, where he became the organist of St. Andreas. There he married the daughter of pastor Andreas Görteler (1510–1553), Barbara Görteler (* between 1540 and 1545 in Eisleben; † 1603 in Nordhausen). With her he had four sons who all became organ builders: Timotheus Compenius , Esaias Compenius the Elder , Heinrich Compenius the Younger and Jacob Compenius (son or cousin?). The daughter Dorothea was baptized on February 7th, 1571 in St. Andreas, Eisleben and married Michel Hecklauer, the father of the organist Johannes Heckelauer. It is not clear whether there was another daughter, unknown by name, who was married to Hans Hirschfelder.

Compenius held the position in Eisleben until at least 1572. There he wrote a treatise in 1567 with the title Musica Teusch . For the council election in Erfurt in 1572 he composed the five-part cantata “Gib Glück und Heil, Herr Jesu Christ”. Around 1576 the family moved to Erfurt, where Compenius is proven to be the tenant of the house "Zum schwarzen Horn" in Michaelsstrasse, and from around 1580 to Nordhausen.

As an organ builder, he preferred the spring drawer system , while his talented son Esaias Compenius the Elder favored the slide drawer. The exclusive use of the spring drawer indicates a Dutch influence. In 1589, when the organ in Hettstedt was rebuilt, he broke up with his son, who had worked with him until then. It is unclear whether the different views on the wind chest were the cause. It has been proven that father and son disagreed and the angry father withdrew from the building.

Heinrich Compenius has been verified on various occasions when organ inspections were carried out, for example in 1596 at the legendary organists' meeting on the occasion of the examination and inauguration of the Gröninger organ and in the same year in Eisleben, St. Andreas, where the organ was rebuilt, in 1603 in Sondershausen. In 1606 he applied to be an organist in Frankenhausen, " while I was otherwise determined to make the organ ".

Proven works

year	place	church	image	Manuals	register	Remarks
1576	Gebesee	Laurentiuskirche				not received
1579	Erfurt	Preacher Church				1647–1649 pedal towers and Rückpositiv supplemented by Ludwig Compenius; Housing received
1580-1582	Cönnern	St. Wenceslas		II / P	16	not received
1587	Harbke	St. Levin		I / P	12	Replaced in 1621 by a new building by Gottfried Fritzsche
1589	Hettstedt	St. Jacobi Church				Reconstruction and new Rückpositiv, together with his son; not received
1588-1590	Fritzlar	Fritzlar Cathedral		II / P	27	together with Timotheus Compenius; not received
1593	Altenburg	Altenburg Castle , Castle Church				Repair; not received

literature

• Gerhard Aumüller , Helga Brück, Ernst Bittcher: The Compenius organ of the Prediger Church in Erfurt. The Cumpenius / Compenius family and central German organ building in the 17th century . In: Messages of the association for the history and antiquity of Erfurt . 73 (NF 20). Gütersloh 2012, p. 185–207 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
• Gerhard Aumüller, Wolf Hobohm, Dorothea Schröder : Harmony of tonal and appearance. The importance of the organ-building families Beck and Compenius for the Central German organ art of the time before Heinrich Schütz . In: Schütz yearbook . tape 32 , 2010, p. 51-105 .
• Gerhard Aumüller: Heinrich Cumpenius and his grandson Johannes Heckelauer. Two important organ builders in the north of the late Renaissance and early baroque periods . In: Nordhäuser Geschichts- und Altertumsverein, Stadtarchiv and Museum Tabakspeicher (ed.): Contributions to the history of the city and district of Nordhausen . tape 36 . Neukirchener, Nordhausen 2011, p. 7-32 .
• Salomon Kümmerle: Compenius, family . In: Encyclopedia of Protestant Church Music . tape 1 . Gütersloh 1888, p. 286 f .
• Compenius . In: Uwe Pape (Hrsg.): Lexicon of North German Organ Builders. Vol. 1: Thuringia and the surrounding area . Pape, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-921140-86-4 , pp. 42-44 .
• Winfried Schlepphorst: Compenius, family . In: Music in the past and present 2 . Person part, band 4 . Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel / Stuttgart 2000, Sp. 1438–1446.
• Thekla Schneider: The Compenius family of organ builders . In: Archives for Music Research . tape 2 , 1937, pp. 8-76 .

Web links

• The Compenius family

Individual evidence

1. ^ Schlepphorst: Compenius, family. 2000, col. 1439.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Aumüller, Brück, Bittcher: The Compenius organ of the Prediger Church in Erfurt. 2012, p. 186 ( limited preview in Google Book search)
3. ^ Pape: Compenius. 2009, pp. 42-44.
4. ↑ In older literature Timotheus is referred to as Heinrich's brother, for example Schlepphorst: Compenius, Familie. 2000, Col. 1438. He is documented as a son by Günter Dippold: Timotheus Compenius (mentioned 1585–1608). Organ builder and organist . In: Günter Dippold, Alfred Meixner (Hrsg.): Staffelsteiner Lebensbilder. Staffelstein 2000, pp. 51–54 (Staffelsteiner Schriften 11) ( online ( memento of the original dated September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and remove then this note. , PDF file, viewed December 31, 2012). 
5. ↑ Aumüller, Brück, Bittcher: The Compenius organ of the Prediger Church in Erfurt. 2012, p. 189 ( limited preview in Google Book search)
6. ^ Pape: Compenius. 2009, p. 42.
7. ^ Schlepphorst: Compenius, family. 2000, col. 1438.
8. ^ Organ in Harbke , seen December 28, 2012.