Jacobus Gallus

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Jacobus Handl Gallus dictus Carniolus (1590)

Jacobus Gallus (actually Jacob Handl * 31 July 1550 probably in Ribnica (Reifnitz), under Carniola , † 18 July 1591 in Prague ) was a composer of the Renaissance .

Life

Memorial plaque in Prague

Little is known about his life. The claim widespread in Slovenia that his name is actually Jakob Petelin (= Hahn) cannot be proven. Apart from the fact that he always had a German name, there is no evidence of his actual ethnicity. Between 1564 and 1566 he probably came to what is now Austria . Here he was first active as a choirboy in Melk Abbey , whose monastery school he also attended. His participation in the imperial court music band in Vienna cannot be proven. He then traveled through Bohemia , Moravia and Silesia and entered the service of the Bishop of Olomouc as Kapellmeister in 1580 . From 1586 he was cantor of St. Johann am Ufer in Prague, where he died in 1591 at the age of 40.

Jacob Handl composed both sacred and secular works, with a focus on church music. His compositional work includes masses , motets , passions and madrigals in Latin (Moralia). In his compositions, Gallus succeeded in combining Dutch and Venetian influences from the musical tradition of his time. His compositional opus is strongly influenced by the Cori-Spezzati technique . Jacobus Gallus was an extremely prolific Renaissance composer . His gigantic main work alone, the “Opus musicum”, a collection of motets for the entire church year, comprises 374 compositions.

Afterlife

Jacobus Gallus was depicted on the 200 tolar banknote in the banknote series issued by the Slovenian Central Bank in 1997 . This banknote was in circulation until the introduction of the euro in Slovenia on January 1, 2007.

Works

  • Masses "Selectiores qvaedam missae" (1580)
  • Motet collection "Opus musicum" (Prague 1586–1591)
  • 100 Latin madrigals "Harmoniae morales" (1589) and "Moralia" (posthumously 1596)
  • A modern edition of the works can be found in the Monumenta artis musicae Sloveniae , volumes 5–21, 26–28 and 55 (Ljubljana from 1985)

literature

Web links

Commons : Jacobus Gallus  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Gallus, Jacobus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Petelin, Jakob; Handl, Jakob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Renaissance composer
DATE OF BIRTH July 31, 1550
PLACE OF BIRTH Ribnica
DATE OF DEATH July 18, 1591
Place of death Prague