Rogier Michael

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Rogier Michael von Bergen (* around 1553 probably in Bergen-op-Zoom ; † after mid- 1623 in Dresden ) was a Franco-Flemish composer , singer and conductor of the late Renaissance .

Live and act

Rogier Michael came to Vienna as a child with his father Simon Michael († after 1566) ; the father worked here as "probably the best mechanic and musician" during the reign of Emperor Ferdinand I (1556–1564) and was listed as a tenor singer in the court orchestra directory under Emperor Maximilian II from 1564 to 1566 . Rogier probably lived through a time as a chapel boy in Vienna and came to the court orchestra of Archduke Charles II in Graz as a choirboy in 1564 . The direction of this chapel was initially Johannes de Cleve , later Annibale Padovano . The latter advised him to continue studying with Andrea Gabrieliin Venice , which he put into practice from 1569 to 1572. After his return to Germany in 1572 he took the position of tenor singer in Ansbach at the court orchestra of Margrave Georg Friedrich von Brandenburg-Ansbach , where he stayed until 1574.

On the recommendation of Aemilia von Sachsen , the sister of Elector August von Sachsen , Rogier Michael took up a position as a singer and musician at the Dresden court orchestra on February 1, 1575. The elector heard him himself, and the old conductor Antonio Scandello also tested his skills. The composer married in Dresden in 1578, and in the following years the seven sons Rogier, Tobias, Simon, Samuel, Christian, Georg and Daniel were born; four of them later also worked as a composer. In the directory of the "Cantorey" from 1580 he is listed as an alto with an annual salary of 144 guilders . As the successor to Antonio Scandello, Giovanni Battista Pinello (1544–1587) and Georg Forster , Rogier Michael reached the position of Elector Christian I of Saxony on December 12, 1587, under the reign of Elector Christian I of Saxony. His sons Tobias, Simon and Samuel worked in Dresden as a choirboy . Rogier Michael himself was able to sing altus , and his voice was described by Friedrich Beurhaus in his work Erotematum musicae (1591) as quite high and very noble. In 1611 Michael married Sarah Petermann for the second time, the daughter of the Dresden chaplain inspector Andreas Petermann .

When Johann Georg I of Saxony took office in 1611, the court chapel was initially largely dismissed and gradually rebuilt from 1612 onwards. Apparently, Rogier Michael was no longer taken into account in this rebuilding. When Elector Johann Georg traveled to Frankfurt with his entourage in 1612 for the election and coronation of Emperor Matthias , his name was not on the list of fellow travelers. Apparently Michael had been largely released from the service of Kapellmeister from 1612 with a full annual salary of 300 guilders. Michael Praetorius represented him several times (1613 and 1614/15), and Heinrich Schütz succeeded him in 1615 . But Rogier was still active at the Saxon court. In addition to his salary, money was temporarily added to support the chapel boys who lived with him. There is also evidence of the quarterly payment of 75 guilders on Trinity Day 1621. When Sarah, the composer's second wife, died in January 1623 and was buried, there was no reference to Michael's death in the funeral sermon and the author Burckhard Grossmann mentioned him in the Foreword to his publication “Angst der Hellen”, published in 1623, as someone who is still alive. In contrast, he was no longer listed as a member of the band in March 1624. The music historical researchers conclude from this that the composer died after mid-1623.

meaning

In view of his many years of activity as a musician at the Dresden court (1575–1612), his musical oeuvre is not very extensive. In contrast to his predecessors Scandello and Pinello, who are known composers, he cultivated the new Italian madrigal style in sacred music alongside the polyphonic stile antico , which was articulated in short quarter and eighth notes. His students then largely adopted this. With his two surviving historical compositions for the Conception of the Virgin Mary and for Christmas, Rogier Michael has deliberately tied in with the St. John Passion and the resurrection story by Antonio Scandello. Two other passions by him (based on Matthew and Luke?) Are lost. In these historical works, the acting individuals, depending on their importance, the verbatim speech is set unanimously or with several voices, while the framework and other internal clauses are several voices. In this way, the history compositions by Rogier Michael form an important link between the corresponding works by Antonio Scandello and Heinrich Schütz. In an inventory of the Dresden court church from 1666 a “little handbook of the conception, due, suffering and resurrection of Jesus Christ bound in black leather” is listed, which Scandello, Michael and Schütz could have served as a text template for their historical works. The 53 hymns in the second part of the Dresden hymn book from 1593 are written in a simple, homophonic way. In Michael's introits from 1603, only the antiphon parts are set to music in five parts in a motet-like manner, while the corresponding psalm texts in the simple Fauxbourdon movement appear in four parts , after which the antiphon is repeated.

The composer's pupils from 1599 to 1603 were the later Leipzig Thomaskantor Johann Hermann Schein and Michael's son Tobias Michael (1592–1657), Leipzig Thomaskantor from 1631 to 1657. His sons Christian, Daniel and Samuel Michael as well as the later Freiberger were among his pupils Superintendent Abraham Gensreff.

Works

  • Spiritual works
    • “The most common and foremost singing D. Mart. Luth. ", Dresden 1593
    • “Visita quaesumus Domine” with eight votes, 1596
    • "Te Deum: Lord God, we praise you" to six votes, 1595
    • 2 passions, before 1601, lost
    • "Teutsche Mess", before 1601, lost
    • “The Conception” and “The Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ” for one to six votes, 1602
    • Wedding music “Drey beautiful piece” for six voices, Dresden 1602
    • “Introitus dominicorum dierum ac praecipuorum festorum” with five voices, Leipzig 1603
    • Wedding chant “Purpureum ver flores protulit” for twelve voices, 1604
    • Wedding chant "Rejoice in the woman of your youth" with eight voices, Leipzig 1604
    • Wedding music “Illustri Rutae nobile ramum” for eight voices, Leipzig 1607
    • "I am happy about what has been spoken to me" to six votes (no year)
    • "Speculum voluntatis Dei" to four votes (without year)
    • Wedding song with six voices, Dresden 1611, lost
    • Psalm 116 “That is dear to me” to five voices, in Burckhard Grossmanns Angst der Hellen , Jena 1623
  • Secular works
    • “Fiamma d'amor” with five voices in the anthology Di Alessandro Orologio il secondo libro de madrigali , Dresden 1589
    • “Qualis uvidulis brasilica jugera”, congratulatory poem to Johann Georg I on the baptism of Prince Elector Johann Georg II, Dresden 1613

Literature (selection)

  • O. Kade: Rogier Michael, a German composer of the 16th century . In: Monthly Issues for Music History No. 2, 1870, pp. 3–18.
  • Moritz Fürstenau:  Michael, Rogier . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 21, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1885, pp. 674-676.
  • Reinhard Kade: The Dresden Kapellmeister Rogier Michael, approx. 1550-1619 . In: Vierteljahresschrift für Musikwissenschaft , No. 4, Leipzig 1889, pp. 272–289 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  • Joh. Frank: The Introitus compositions by Rogier Michael . Dissertation at the University of Giessen, 1937.
  • Helmut Federhofer: Adolescent and teacher Rogier Michaels . In: Archive for Musicology , No. 10, 1953, pp. 221–231.
  • Alfred Baumgartner: Propylaea World of Music - The Composers - A lexicon in five volumes . Volume 4. Propylaea, Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-549-07830-7 , p. 40.
  • M. Heinemann: Schütz 'History Conceptions: on the project of a ›Reception History‹ according to Rogier Michael . In: Musik und Kirche , No. 64, 1994, pp. 5–10.
  • Wolfram Steude: The Dresden court chapel between Antonio Scandello and Heinrich Schütz (1580–1615) . In: Hans-Günter Ottenberg, Eberhard Steindorf (ed.): The sound of the Saxon State Orchestra Dresden. Olms, Hildesheim u. a. 2001, ISBN 3-487-11454-2 , pp. 23-45.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Music in the past and present (MGG). Personal section, Volume 12. Bärenreiter and Metzler, Kassel / Basel 2004, ISBN 3-7618-1122-5
  2. ↑ Marc Honegger, Günther Massenkeil (ed.): The great lexicon of music. Volume 5: Köth - Mystical Chord. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau a. a. 1981, ISBN 3-451-18055-3 .
  3. ↑ Friedrich Blume : History of Protestant Church Music. Kassel 1965, p. 120.
personal data
SURNAME Michael, Rogier
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Michael of Bergen, Rogier
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Franco-Flemish composer and bandmaster of the Renaissance
DATE OF BIRTH around 1553
PLACE OF BIRTH Bergen-op-Zoom
DATE OF DEATH 1623
Place of death Dresden