Nicolaus à Kempis

Nicolaus à Kempis (* around 1600 ; † August 11, 1676 in Brussels ) was a Dutch-Belgian organist and composer.

Life

Kempis' place of birth is unknown, the German-American musicologist Willi Apel suspected Florence as the place of birth. Current research is considering the possibility that Kempis was never in Italy and that he only came into contact with the then new Italian violin music through the migration of other musicians caused by the wars of religion.

The first useful biographical data mention his appointment in 1626 as organist of the Saint Gudula Cathedral in Brussels, as successor to Anthoen van den Kerckhoven . Between 1644 and 1649 he published several collections with Pierre Phalèse in Antwerp with a total of 96 instrumental works and eight motets. This makes Kempis one of the composers who published most of the sonatas in the first half of the 17th century. The instrumental works include both solo works for violin and basso continuo and trio sonatas up to six-part works. His style is clearly Italian. In terms of violin technique, many of his sonatas, known as Symphonia , are significant works in the style of Salamone Rossi , Marco Uccellini or Biagio Marini , who stayed in Brussels in 1626. They are therefore important examples of early Baroque Italian violin music.

The son Joannes Florentinus à Kempis (1635 to after 1711) followed his father in 1670 as organist of the Brussels Cathedral.

Works

• Symphoniæ unius, duorum, trium violinorum. Authore Nicolao à Kempis,… Antwerpiæ, Apud Heredes Petri Phalesij ad insigne Davidis Regis, 1644.
• Symphoniæ unius, duorum, trium, IV. Et V. instrumentorum adjunctæ quatuor 3. instrumentorum & duarum vocum. Auctore Nicolao à Kempis,… Operis secundi liber primus. … Antwerpiæ, Apud Magdalenam Phalesia ad insigne Davidis Regis, 1647.
• Symphoniæ unius, duorum, trium, IV. Et V. instrumentorum adjunctæ quatuor 3. instrumentorum & duarum vocum. Auctore Nicolao à Kempis,… Opus tertium et ultimum. … Antwerpiæ, Apud Magdalenam Phalesia ad insigne Davidis Regis, 1649.
• Symphoniæ unius, duorum, trium, IV. V. et VI. instrumentorum. Auctore Nicolao à Kempis,… Opus quartum. … Antwerpiæ, Apud Magdalenam Phalesia ad insigne Davidis Regis, 1649. (Lost except for one viol part.)
• A fifth opus with masses and motets has been lost.

literature

Willi Apel: Italian violin music in the 17th century. Franz Steiner Verlag 1983, ISBN 3-515-03786-1 .