Remarks No.1 to CD Volume 83 / DANIEL CRONER TABULATURAE _________________________ Daniel Croner (1656-1740) The history of organ playing and organ building goes far back into Transylvanian history. The first organists have survived anonymously or only with their names. Since the beginning of the 15th century, the organists and organ builders who worked in Transylvanian towns can be traced almost without gaps. For several of these organists and organ builders, especially of the 17th century, the origin from Germany or German settlement areas of Eastern Europe is proven. Daniel Croner, born in 1656 in Kronstadt (Brasov, Romania) is not the first known organist of Transylvania. Already in 1384 the organist service in Sibiu (today Sibiu, Romania) is mentioned. Since the beginning of the 15th century, the organists and organ builders who worked in Transylvanian cities can be traced almost without gaps. Croner's life is described relatively well in his own handwritten "Genealogia oder kurtze Beschreibung meines Herkommens und Lebenslauffs. However, there is not a word about musical occupations or a professional music practice of any kind. So there is still no record of where and whether Croner was an organist. From Croner's notes between 1674 and 1679 during his grammar school years in Kronstadt, it can be seen that as a student he was remarkably and intensively engaged in music. In Breslau (Poland), where he attended the "famous Gymnasium Mariae Magdalenaeum" in 1680-1681, he began to compile a music book with copies of organ pieces. It is also known that, in addition to studying Protestant theology from 1681 to 1683 at the "Album Akademicum" in Wittenberg (Saxony-Anhalt), he also took lessons for two years from the Wittenberg church music director Johann Ulich (1634-1712), who came from Leipzig and with whom he apparently also had a friendly relationship. In Wittenberg, Croner continued to make copies of musical works for his studies. After a serious illness, he returned to Kronstadt from Wittenberg at the beginning of 1684. After barely three years in the preaching office of St. John's Church (since 1691), he was appointed preacher at the Black Church in 1693, where he took the rank of archdeacon in 1696. The next station was from 1701 the parish office in Heldsdorf (north of Kronstadt), then in 1735 Daniel was elected dean of the Burzenland church district. The titles of the first two books (Tabulatura 1681 and 1682) are: "TABULATURA, Fugarum, Praeludiorum, Canzonatum, Tocatarum et Phantasiarum. Comparata Daniele Cronero, Coronense Transylvano. Anno: 1681, The 30th of January: Wratislavia." "TABULATURA Num: 12. Praeambulorum a Capriccio of even 12 variations; to be used by all claves and t onos on clavichordias and spinets, set by Johann George Kittelen (Johann Heinrich Kittel, 1652-1682), far-famed Churfürstlichen Hoforganisten in Dresden, Anno: 1682, Mense Majo." The book of 1682 closes with a composition signed by Croner and not mentioned in the title. It is the one on "Fugue in E". The importance of Daniel Croner lies in the fact that he was open to the latest musical developments in Germany and brought them to his native Transylvania through his musical copies. Some of them have been lost in their country of origin and have survived only in Croner's copies: in this way, he has preserved valuable evidence for the history of music in the inner-German region as well. _________________________ Jan Podbielski (c.1680-1730) Jan Podbielski was a composer active in northeast Mazovia (Poland). So far, no reliable information about his life and musical activity is known; he probably came from a family of musicians living in Königsberg (Prussia). The Warsaw organ tablature, which dates from the second half of the 17th century (around 1680) and was probably written in the Ostroleka region of Poland, contains a Praeludium, the only work signed with the name of the composer Joh[annis] Podbielski. The others are anonymous preludes, capriccios, canzonas, toccatas and fugues, as well as arrangements of songs with Polish texts. Thus, it is possible that some of these works were also by Podbielski. The Warsaw Organ Tablature was kept in the National Library in Warsaw until the outbreak of World War II. It was destroyed during the Warsaw Uprising in 1943. A copy of the Praeludium is now in the collection of the library of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan (Poland). _____________________
Wieder anmutig und abwechslungsreich eingespielt. Eine ideale Musiksammlung für ein entspanntes Orgelklang-Lauschen an frostigen Januartagen in der warmen Stube - Danke!
Very beautiful music. Do you know if it is possible to get the PDF files of Croner's tablatures as well other importants from Central Europe? I would like to know if there is some [almost] complete edition of the Warsaw tablature that was printed before 1943.
Thank you. Regarding your question: unfortunately I haven't found any pdf's for it - currently the sheet music is only available for purchase in paper edition at: pwm.com.pl "Pieces from the 17th-century Warsaw Organ Tablature" = note: only Extraits and stretta-music.com "Daniel Croner - Tabulaturae per liuto - Musica per la tastiera" = complete tablatures 1 and 2.
Remarks No.2 to CD Volume 83 / DANIEL CRONER TABULATURAE _________________________ Christian Michel (1590ca-1637) Toward the end of the 16th century, men like Elias Nicolaus Ammerbach (c.1530-1597) in Leipzig and Augustus Noermiger (c.1560-1613) in Dresden wrote keyboard music in central Germany. Simple chorale arrangements and dances make up the bulk of their works. Immediate successors are not known. The documented history of 17th-century Central German keyboard music begins with the works of Christian Michel (Michael), who was born around 1590 and died in Leipzig in 1637, where he served as organist at the Nikolaikirche. Christian came from a family of Belgian musicians whose original name was apparently Michel. His father, Rogier Michel, was the predecessor of Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) at the Dresden court chapel and teacher of Johann Herman Schein (1586-1630). Christian Michel's keyboard works are preserved in a beautifully engraved tablature print, published posthumously in 1645: "Tabulatura darinnen etzliche Praeludia, Toccaten und Curanten uff das Clavir Instrument gesetzt." As in other works from this period, e.g., Adam Steigleder's Ricercars of 1624, a modern awareness of tonality is evident in the fact that the pieces are no longer labeled according to church keys but according to keys, as in Michel's "Praeludium a 3 in D" or the "Toccata a 4 in E." A successful and impressive example of his miniature art, which is characteristic for the later development of Middle German keyboard music and served as a standard, can also be found in Croner's tablature: the "Praeludium ex E". ________________________ Giovanni Gabrieli (1557-1612) Giovanni Gabrieli is considered an important musical figure at the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque. He studied with his uncle, the composer Andrea Gabrieli (c.1532-1585), and with Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594) during his time in Munich. In 1584 or 1585 he was employed as second organist at the church of San Marco in Venice. In 1585-1606 he was also organist at the "Scuola San Rocco," Venice's charitable brotherhood, and after the death of his uncle Andrea in 1586 he also took over his position as composer and principal organist of San Marco. Giovanni spent the rest of his life in this prestigious position, which also brought him many students. Giovanni Gabrieli was an outstanding figure of the Venetian School. Renowned composers from all over Europe traveled to the artist to become acquainted with his music: it contained the development of a polyphonic concertante style, the novel use of the basso continuo as well as the tradition of Venetian polychoral music. This was a groundbreaking development in compositional technique that contributed decisively to the flowering of Protestant church music in the 17th century. Croner's tablature also contains a movement by Gabrieli: the "Fuga ex D", but without the technical difficulties of the original composition (Gabrieli's virtuoso passages are transcribed here to their half values). And in his tablature, Croner not only takes no note of the repetition of the first 16 measures, but significantly shortens the work, moreover, he closes it in a different key than the original composition shows. _________________________ Johann Erasmus Kindermann (1616-1655) A focal point of Croner's tablature book are the works from Johann Erasmus Kindermann's tablature book: the "Harmonia organica", published in 1645 in Nuremberg (Bavaria). Like this, Croner's tablature book is written in what is commonly referred to as "New German" notation. Johann Erasmus Kindermann came from a long-established Nuremberg family of comb makers. Erasmus received a varied musical education. At the age of 15 he already belonged to the musicians of the Frauenkirche. In 1634 or 1635 he then traveled to Italy for a study visit of about one year to study the new music at its source, for which the Nuremberg City Council granted him financial support. In January 1636, Kindermann returned to Nuremberg on the instructions of the councilors and was employed there as second organist at the Frauenkirche. In 1640 he became organist in Schwäbisch Hall (Baden-Württemberg). Kindermann took up this position as early as September 1640, but resigned from it the same month, proposing the Nuremberg organist Georg Dretzel (1626-1693) as his replacement and successor. Kindermann applied for the organist position at the Egidienkirche in Nuremberg in the same year, which he then held until his death. As a composer, Kindermann demonstrated unusual versatility. In addition to numerous chorale preludes and chorale arrangements intended for liturgical use and other compositions for the organ, he wrote many orchestral pieces and songs for the cultivation of music in the patrician families of Nuremberg. This shows him as an outstanding composer who was actively involved in the development of instrumental music in the middle 17th century. _________________________ Johann Heinrich Kittel (1652-1682) Johann Heinrich Kittel entered the service of the Elector of Saxony at the age of 14 as the second organist of the Dresden court chapel and was appointed by him in 1680 as the first court organist in Dresden. At the same time he was assigned to teach music to the local Kapellknaben. One of these was Johann Kuhnau (1660-1722). After Kittel's early death, his successor Johann Wilhelm Forcheim (c.1635-1682) took over as court organist in 1682. Among others, Kittel wrote the "twelve preludes with following capriccio" in Croner's Tabulatura seconda. They are one of the earliest examples of successive preludes "through all claves and tonos". In addition to the preludes, his following "Capriccio Brevem Bassum" is a sequence of twelve simple variations in b, a, g, f, es, d, c, and f. Since other works by Johann Heinrich Kittel have also survived in other sources, we can judge him to be a competent artist, who unfortunately died young, and who exerted a significant musical influence in the electoral city of Dresden. _________________________
Remarks No.1 to CD Volume 83 / DANIEL CRONER TABULATURAE
_________________________
Daniel Croner (1656-1740)
The history of organ playing and organ building goes far back into Transylvanian history. The first organists have survived anonymously or only with their names. Since the beginning of the 15th century, the organists and organ builders who worked in Transylvanian towns can be traced almost without gaps. For several of these organists and organ builders, especially of the 17th century, the origin from Germany or German settlement areas of Eastern Europe is proven.
Daniel Croner, born in 1656 in Kronstadt (Brasov, Romania) is not the first known organist of Transylvania. Already in 1384 the organist service in Sibiu (today Sibiu, Romania) is mentioned. Since the beginning of the 15th century, the organists and organ builders who worked in Transylvanian cities can be traced almost without gaps.
Croner's life is described relatively well in his own handwritten "Genealogia oder kurtze Beschreibung meines Herkommens und Lebenslauffs. However, there is not a word about musical occupations or a professional music practice of any kind. So there is still no record of where and whether Croner was an organist.
From Croner's notes between 1674 and 1679 during his grammar school years in Kronstadt, it can be seen that as a student he was remarkably and intensively engaged in music. In Breslau (Poland), where he attended the "famous Gymnasium Mariae Magdalenaeum" in 1680-1681, he began to compile a music book with copies of organ pieces. It is also known that, in addition to studying Protestant theology from 1681 to 1683 at the "Album Akademicum" in Wittenberg (Saxony-Anhalt), he also took lessons for two years from the Wittenberg church music director Johann Ulich (1634-1712), who came from Leipzig and with whom he apparently also had a friendly relationship. In Wittenberg, Croner continued to make copies of musical works for his studies.
After a serious illness, he returned to Kronstadt from Wittenberg at the beginning of 1684. After barely three years in the preaching office of St. John's Church (since 1691), he was appointed preacher at the Black Church in 1693, where he took the rank of archdeacon in 1696. The next station was from 1701 the parish office in Heldsdorf (north of Kronstadt), then in 1735 Daniel was elected dean of the Burzenland church district.
The titles of the first two books (Tabulatura 1681 and 1682) are:
"TABULATURA, Fugarum, Praeludiorum, Canzonatum, Tocatarum et Phantasiarum.
Comparata Daniele Cronero, Coronense Transylvano. Anno: 1681, The 30th of January: Wratislavia."
"TABULATURA Num: 12. Praeambulorum a Capriccio of even 12 variations;
to be used by all claves and t onos on clavichordias and spinets, set by
Johann George Kittelen (Johann Heinrich Kittel, 1652-1682), far-famed Churfürstlichen Hoforganisten in Dresden, Anno: 1682, Mense Majo."
The book of 1682 closes with a composition signed by Croner and not mentioned in the title. It is the one on "Fugue in E".
The importance of Daniel Croner lies in the fact that he was open to the latest musical developments in Germany and brought them to his native Transylvania through his musical copies. Some of them have been lost in their country of origin and have survived only in Croner's copies: in this way, he has preserved valuable evidence for the history of music in the inner-German region as well.
_________________________
Jan Podbielski (c.1680-1730)
Jan Podbielski was a composer active in northeast Mazovia (Poland). So far, no reliable information about his life and musical activity is known; he probably came from a family of musicians living in Königsberg (Prussia).
The Warsaw organ tablature, which dates from the second half of the 17th century (around 1680) and was probably written in the Ostroleka region of Poland, contains a Praeludium, the only work signed with the name of the composer Joh[annis] Podbielski. The others are anonymous preludes, capriccios, canzonas, toccatas and fugues, as well as arrangements of songs with Polish texts. Thus, it is possible that some of these works were also by Podbielski.
The Warsaw Organ Tablature was kept in the National Library in Warsaw until the outbreak of World War II. It was destroyed during the Warsaw Uprising in 1943. A copy of the Praeludium is now in the collection of the library of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan (Poland).
_____________________
Wieder anmutig und abwechslungsreich eingespielt. Eine ideale Musiksammlung für ein entspanntes Orgelklang-Lauschen an frostigen Januartagen in der warmen Stube - Danke!
Croners Notensammlung hat schon zu seiner Zeit guten Anklang gefunden - und klingt auch noch heute gut. Danke!
Very beautiful music. Do you know if it is possible to get the PDF files of Croner's tablatures as well other importants from Central Europe? I would like to know if there is some [almost] complete edition of the Warsaw tablature that was printed before 1943.
Thank you. Regarding your question: unfortunately I haven't found any pdf's for it - currently the sheet music is only available for purchase in paper edition at:
pwm.com.pl "Pieces from the 17th-century Warsaw Organ Tablature" = note: only Extraits
and
stretta-music.com "Daniel Croner - Tabulaturae per liuto - Musica per la tastiera" = complete tablatures 1 and 2.
Remarks No.2 to CD Volume 83 / DANIEL CRONER TABULATURAE
_________________________
Christian Michel (1590ca-1637)
Toward the end of the 16th century, men like Elias Nicolaus Ammerbach (c.1530-1597) in Leipzig and Augustus Noermiger (c.1560-1613) in Dresden wrote keyboard music in central Germany. Simple chorale arrangements and dances make up the bulk of their works. Immediate successors are not known. The documented history of 17th-century Central German keyboard music begins with the works of Christian Michel (Michael), who was born around 1590 and died in Leipzig in 1637, where he served as organist at the Nikolaikirche. Christian came from a family of Belgian musicians whose original name was apparently Michel. His father, Rogier Michel, was the predecessor of Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) at the Dresden court chapel and teacher of Johann Herman Schein (1586-1630).
Christian Michel's keyboard works are preserved in a beautifully engraved tablature print, published posthumously in 1645: "Tabulatura darinnen etzliche Praeludia, Toccaten und Curanten uff das Clavir Instrument gesetzt." As in other works from this period, e.g., Adam Steigleder's Ricercars of 1624, a modern awareness of tonality is evident in the fact that the pieces are no longer labeled according to church keys but according to keys, as in Michel's "Praeludium a 3 in D" or the "Toccata a 4 in E." A successful and impressive example of his miniature art, which is characteristic for the later development of Middle German keyboard music and served as a standard, can also be found in Croner's tablature: the "Praeludium ex E".
________________________
Giovanni Gabrieli (1557-1612)
Giovanni Gabrieli is considered an important musical figure at the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque. He studied with his uncle, the composer Andrea Gabrieli (c.1532-1585), and with Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594) during his time in Munich. In 1584 or 1585 he was employed as second organist at the church of San Marco in Venice. In 1585-1606 he was also organist at the "Scuola San Rocco," Venice's charitable brotherhood, and after the death of his uncle Andrea in 1586 he also took over his position as composer and principal organist of San Marco. Giovanni spent the rest of his life in this prestigious position, which also brought him many students.
Giovanni Gabrieli was an outstanding figure of the Venetian School. Renowned composers from all over Europe traveled to the artist to become acquainted with his music: it contained the development of a polyphonic concertante style, the novel use of the basso continuo as well as the tradition of Venetian polychoral music. This was a groundbreaking development in compositional technique that contributed decisively to the flowering of Protestant church music in the 17th century.
Croner's tablature also contains a movement by Gabrieli: the "Fuga ex D", but without the technical difficulties of the original composition (Gabrieli's virtuoso passages are transcribed here to their half values). And in his tablature, Croner not only takes no note of the repetition of the first 16 measures, but significantly shortens the work, moreover, he closes it in a different key than the original composition shows.
_________________________
Johann Erasmus Kindermann (1616-1655)
A focal point of Croner's tablature book are the works from Johann Erasmus Kindermann's tablature book: the "Harmonia organica", published in 1645 in Nuremberg (Bavaria). Like this, Croner's tablature book is written in what is commonly referred to as "New German" notation.
Johann Erasmus Kindermann came from a long-established Nuremberg family of comb makers. Erasmus received a varied musical education. At the age of 15 he already belonged to the musicians of the Frauenkirche. In 1634 or 1635 he then traveled to Italy for a study visit of about one year to study the new music at its source, for which the Nuremberg City Council granted him financial support. In January 1636, Kindermann returned to Nuremberg on the instructions of the councilors and was employed there as second organist at the Frauenkirche. In 1640 he became organist in Schwäbisch Hall (Baden-Württemberg). Kindermann took up this position as early as September 1640, but resigned from it the same month, proposing the Nuremberg organist Georg Dretzel (1626-1693) as his replacement and successor. Kindermann applied for the organist position at the Egidienkirche in Nuremberg in the same year, which he then held until his death.
As a composer, Kindermann demonstrated unusual versatility. In addition to numerous chorale preludes and chorale arrangements intended for liturgical use and other compositions for the organ, he wrote many orchestral pieces and songs for the cultivation of music in the patrician families of Nuremberg. This shows him as an outstanding composer who was actively involved in the development of instrumental music in the middle 17th century.
_________________________
Johann Heinrich Kittel (1652-1682)
Johann Heinrich Kittel entered the service of the Elector of Saxony at the age of 14 as the second organist of the Dresden court chapel and was appointed by him in 1680 as the first court organist in Dresden. At the same time he was assigned to teach music to the local Kapellknaben. One of these was Johann Kuhnau (1660-1722). After Kittel's early death, his successor Johann Wilhelm Forcheim (c.1635-1682) took over as court organist in 1682.
Among others, Kittel wrote the "twelve preludes with following capriccio" in Croner's Tabulatura seconda. They are one of the earliest examples of successive preludes "through all claves and tonos". In addition to the preludes, his following "Capriccio Brevem Bassum" is a sequence of twelve simple variations in b, a, g, f, es, d, c, and f.
Since other works by Johann Heinrich Kittel have also survived in other sources, we can judge him to be a competent artist, who unfortunately died young, and who exerted a significant musical influence in the electoral city of Dresden.
_________________________