Johann Hermann Schein

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Johann Hermann Schein in 1620

Johann Hermann Schein (* January 20 July / January 30,  1586 greg. In Grünhain ; † November 19 July / November 29,  1630 greg. In Leipzig ) was a German composer and songwriter of the early Baroque . He was Thomaskantor from 1616 to 1630 .

Life

First training in Dresden

Johann Hermann Schein was born as the fifth child of the evangelical pastor Hieronymus Schein from Dresden and spent the first years in Grünhain in the Ore Mountains.

After the father's death in 1593, the mother and her son moved back to their parents' house in Dresden , because on the one hand the parsonage was needed for the new pastor, and on the other hand she could hardly make a living in the small town. In Dresden, Johann Hermann was able to develop his singing talent as an alumnus in the boys' choir of the Dresden court orchestra under Rogier Michael of the electoral choir and was a discantist until 1603 . When he broke his voice, Schein was sent to the Saxon Princely School in Pforta for further training , where he was accepted on May 18, 1603. Here he acquired an excellent basic musical knowledge, but returned to Dresden in April 1607.

Law studies and musical offices

Schein had already registered as a student at the University of Leipzig in 1603 , but could not begin until 1608. He studied law and liberal arts here and received a scholarship as a former member of the Electoral Choir . Although he was a serious student of law and graduated in 1612, his interest turned more to poetry and music, he began to compose. In 1609 he published his first musical work under the title Das Venus Kräntzlein , a work on secular music-making for choirs with five to eight voices and with instrumental pieces.

In 1613 Schein became a music teacher with Gottfried von Wolffersdorf , whom he had met at the Princely School, in Weißenfels , after which he got a position as house music director. He had not given up composing, however, so that in 1614 the Latin-German motet work Cymbalum Sionium appeared, a pure church music. In autumn 1616 Schein was appointed to succeed Sethus Calvisius as Thomaskantor of the Thomas School and city music director in Leipzig. The activity as cantor and music director of the Thomas School with appearances in the Nikolaikirche and Thomaskirche , as well as accompanying weddings, baptisms, funerals and events of the city council, put his health on a strong note.

Starting a family

In Weimar he married Sidonia, daughter of the electoral Saxon rent secretary Eusebius Hösel. Three daughters died in the first years of life, Sidonia died in 1624 giving birth to a third daughter; only the two sons survived the father.

In 1625 he married Elisabeth von der Perre, daughter of the painter Johann von der Perre. Of the five children born from this marriage, four died in infancy. In Scheins Cantional from 1629 - including the second edition of this collection from 1645 - 58 funeral chants composed by him, some of which he also wrote, including the funeral of his first wife and seven of his children.

He himself was often ailing. Despite suffering from lung disease and kidney stones, he continued to work as a school teacher, choir director, organist and composer. Two cures in Karlsbad brought him no relief. He died not yet 45 years old. On the occasion of Schein's funeral, Heinrich Schütz composed the funeral song That is certainly ever true . Schein was buried in his hometown, in the local St. Nicolai Church there is an epitaph in the altar niche . In front of the church a memorial obelisk commemorates the famous son of the place.

plant

Historical classification

He is in the row of the "three big Sch" next to Samuel Scheidt (in Halle ) and Heinrich Schütz (in Dresden), with whom he had a lifelong friendship. From central Germany these three composers (who were born in the consecutive years 1585, 1586 and 1587) had a major impact on the music of their time.

Scheins Cantional (1629) is one of the most important hymn books. What is remarkable in his Leipzig church music is the incipient development of the cantata through the independent use of instruments. Main works are the Cymbalum Sionium ( motet collection , 1615), the sacred concerts of Opella nova (1618 and 1626), his sacred madrigals Israelsbrünnlein (1623), which are related and wrongly in the shadow of the sacred choral music of Schütz, and the secular forest songs and Venus Krntzlein . Schein is considered to be one of the co-founders of the secular German song .

Contemporary reception

Schein enjoyed a high reputation in musical circles around him. The bond with his native town and its inhabitants prompted him to write compositions about the life of miners and in the monastery. The personal blows of fate led to extensive death songs. He was celebrated as a Thomaskantor and music poet. Gottfried Vopelius adopted 98 of his cantional movements in the New Leipzig Hymnal . He maintained a friendly relationship with Heinrich Schütz, the Dresden court music director. But only the next generation with composers like Heinrich Albert fully appreciated its importance.

Works (selection)

  • Song do with me God according to your goodness ; A total of 77 chorale melodies have been handed down by Schein
  • 1609: Venus-Kräntzlein , Wittenberg
  • 1615: Cymbalum Sionium , Leipzig
    • therein motets Verbum caro factum est , O Domine, Jesus Christ , Isn't Ephraim my dear son and others
  • 1618: Opella nova. First (-other) part of ecclesiastical concerts . 2 parts of Leipzig; a second part appeared in 1626
  • 1621: Musica boscareccia, forest songs . Leipzig
  • 1623: Fontana d'Israel. Israelis well . Leipzig (collection of 26 sacred madrigals, including the madrigal The sow with tears, famous for its chromatic radicalism)
  • Diletti pastorali German madrigals
Work editions
  • 1617: Banchetto musicale (banquet and table music)
  • 1621, 1626, 1628: Musica Boscareccia or Waldliederlein with love songs, drinking songs (three parts)
  • 1623: Israel's little fountain (collection of motets)
  • 1627/1645: Cantional or hymn book of Augsburg confession, church hymn book (286 German and Latin chants)

Literature (selection)

  • Gerhard Dünnhaupt : Johann Hermann Schein (1586–1630) . In: Personal bibliographies on Baroque prints . Vol. 5. Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-7772-9133-1 , pp. 3557-3593.
  • Irmgard Hueck: The artistic development of Johann Hermann Schein . Dissertation, University of Freiburg im Breisgau 1943
  • Heinz Linnerz : The drinking song in German poetry from Johann Hermann Schein to Viktor von Scheffel . Dissertation [masch.], Cologne 1952.
  • Martin Petzoldt (Ed.): St. Thomas / zu Leipzig . Leipzig 2000
  • Arthur Prüfer : Johann Hermann Schein and the secular German song of the 17th century . Leipzig 1908
  • Arthur Prüfer: On the family history of the Leipzig Thomas Cantor Joh. Herm. Appearance. In: Monthly Issues for Music History 30 (1898), pp. 141–145
  • Hermann Rauhe : Poetry and music in the secular vocal work of Johann Hermann Schein . Dissertation, University of Hamburg 1960
  • Walter Reckziegel : The “Cantional” by Johann Hermann Schein . Berlin 1963
  • Robert Eitner :  Schein, Johann Hermann . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 30, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1890, pp. 715-718.
  • Bernhold Schmid :  Schein, Johann Hermann. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 22, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-428-11203-2 , p. 637 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • R. Hinton Thomas: The Transition of the Continuo Lied: Johann Hermann Schein , in: ders., Poetry and Song in the German Baroque , Oxford 1963, pp. 21–33

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Flyer Johann Hermann Schein - a son of Grünhain ; ed. from the Church History Sponsorship Association in Grünhain; 2004.
  2. ^ A b c d Manfred Blechschmidt, Klaus Walther: Bergland-Mosaik. A book from the Erzgebirge. Greifenverlag zu Rudolstadt; 1st edition 1969; Pp. 82-86

Web links

Commons : Johann Hermann Schein  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Schein, Johann Hermann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German composer and songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH January 30, 1586
PLACE OF BIRTH Grünhain
DATE OF DEATH November 29, 1630
Place of death Leipzig