Happy Birthday, Johann Erasmus Kindermann (1616 - 1655)

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Today is Johann Erasmus Kindermann’s 400th birthday! The son of a comb maker, Kindermann worked as a teacher and organist at various churches in Nuremberg, a city in which he stayed his whole life. He wanted to leave, however, as evidenced by many compositions he wrote as part of applications for positions elsewhere. Some of these pieces included large-scale sacred vocal works for the Breslau city council (today’s Wrocław and a 2016 European Capital of Culture), Frankfurt, and Schwäbisch Hall. The manuscripts are written in Kindermann’s elaborate hand.

There are 74 sources for Kindermann in the RISM online catalog, divided between printed editions (31) and manuscripts (43). A number of Kindermann’s compositions were published during the composer’s lifetime and reflect a variety of music. His versatility is shown by compositions for organ, choral preludes for liturgical use, sonatas, dances, songs with continuo, and motets.

Though Kindermann could never break away from his hometown, musical life in Nuremberg benefited from Kindermann’s skills as a teacher and composer. By the end of the century, he could be described by Wolfgang Caspar Printz as “einen zu seiner Zeit sehr berühmten Nürnbergischen Componisten und Musicum” (in his day, a very famous Nuremberg composer and musician).

Hear why in this performance of Kindermann’s “Du sollst lieben Gott, deinen Herren” sung by the Windsbacher Knabenchor.

Image: Johann Erasmus Kindermann, Sonata in G minor for violin and bc. Universitetsbibliotek, Uppsala, Sweden (S-Uu), Instr. mus. i hs. 5:4, RISM ID no. 190014254.

Category: Musical anniversaries