A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Walther, Johann

by George Grove

WALTHER, Johann, Luther's friend, and one of the earliest of the composers in the Reformed Church, was born 1496—according to his tombstone, at Gotha, near Cola, in Thuringia; in 1524 was singer in the choir at Torgau, and in the following year Capellmeister, or 'Sängermeister,' to the Elector of Saxony. In 1548 he was sent to Dresden to organise and lead a choir of singers for Moritz of Saxony, and remained till 1555, when he returned with a pension to Torgau, and there lived till his death in 1570.

In 1524 he was called to Wittenberg by Luther to assist him in framing the German Mass. The result of this was his 'Geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn' for 4 voices (1524), the earliest Protestant Hymnbook. His other works are 'Cantio Septem Vocum,' etc. (1544); 'Magnificat octo tonorum' (1557); 'Ein newes christliches Lied' (1561); 'Ein gar schöner geistlicher und christlicher Bergkreyen' (1561); 'Das christlich Kinderlied Dr. Martin Luthers, Erhalt uns Herr, bei Deinem Wort … mit etlichen lateinischen und deutschen Sangen gemehret' (1566). Other pieces are included in the collections of Rhaw and Forster, 'Montan-Neubers Psalmenwerk' 1538, and 'Motetten-sammlung' 1540.

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