Today’s date in 1621 marks the passing of a famous German composer of the Renaissance period, born Michael Schultze, or Schultheiss, but who Latinized his name to Praetorius, and under that name became one of the most popular composers of his time.
Praetorius died 64 years before the birth of J. S. Bach, the great German composer of the Baroque age. Praetorius was the son of a Lutheran minister, and like Bach, wrote a good deal of Lutheran church music, and his 1609 setting of the German hymn tune “Es Ist ein Ros Entsprungen” (“Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming”) is still sung by choirs today.
But Praetorius’ most enduring contribution to music was secular, not sacred. In 1612, he collected and harmonized more than 300 instrumental Renaissance dance tunes and published them in a compendium he titled Terpsichore, after the name of the Greek muse of the dance.
Praetorius included a list of instruments that could be used in performing these dances but does not specify which ones should play each dance. Not to worry, since Praetorius also published a work titled Syntagma Musicum, or The Syntax of Music, a detailed history and description of all known musical instruments from biblical times to the present — so take your pick!
Michael Praetorius (1571-1621): Dances from Terpsichore (New London Consort; Philip Picket, cond.) Decca/L’oiseau-lyre 4759101