Martin Janus

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Martin Janus (also Martin Jähn , Jahn or Jan ; * around 1620 in Merseburg , † around 1682 in Ohlau ) was a German Protestant clergyman and hymn composer .

Life

Jesus, my soul's delight in Schemelli's hymn book (Leipzig 1736), on which Bach contributed musically

Martin Janus was enrolled at the University of Königsberg on March 14, 1644 , where he had probably already received a musical education. After studying theology for several semesters, he became cantor in Steinau , which was part of the hereditary principality of Opole . Because of there after the Thirty Years' War pursued recatholicization he had in the Lower Lausitz flee. In Sorau , presumably with the support of Freiherr Siegmund Seyfried von Promnitz , he became music director of the two Protestant churches. After the death of his patron Promnitz in 1654, Janus went to Sagan , where he was rector and cantor at the city school. Around 1664 he also became a pastor in neighboring Eckersdorf. Martin Janus had to flee again because of the re-Catholicisation measures initiated under Duke Wenzel Eusebius von Lobkowicz in the Duchy of Sagan , which resulted in the expulsion of the evangelical preachers and teachers. After a long search, he found a job as cantor in Ohlau , where the Dowager Duchess Luise von Anhalt-Dessau resided. He died there around 1682.

plant

In 1652 Martin Janus had a collection of 50 four-part German Passion songs from the 17th century printed in Berlin . It is considered the first Protestant collection of passion songs. In 1663 he published another collection, this time with 200 songs ( Passionale melicum ). It was intended for household use, and many songs became familiar evangelical melodies. The song Du great pain man (text by Adam Thebesius ) is still preserved in the Evangelical Hymnal (EG 87) . He also wrote his own songs, although only one, which he presumably wrote when he fled from Eckersdorf in 1668, was distributed. But this was not included in his song collection. Other seals from him are considered lost.

Get has Jesus, my souls delight, Jesus, my best like (probably in 1668). Johann Sebastian Bach used the 6th and 17th stanza from it in his cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben (sentences 6 and 10, good for me that I have Jesus - Jesus remains my joy , musically identical). This arrangement is one of Bach's most famous melodies worldwide ( Jesus, joy of man's desiring ).

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Evangelical Hymnal - Edition for the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church . 4th revised edition. Lutherische Verlagsgesellschaft , Kiel 2007, ISBN 978-3-87503-099-0 , chap. 87 .
  2. ↑ Eckersdorf b. Sagan, now Bożnów in the rural municipality of Sagan
personal data
SURNAME Janus, Martin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jähn, Martin; Jahn, Martin; Jan, Martin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German evangelical clergyman and hymn composer
DATE OF BIRTH around 1620
PLACE OF BIRTH Merseburg
DATE OF DEATH around 1682
Place of death Oława