Johann Praetorius

Johann Praetorius (1595-1660) was an organist and composer.

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No organ compositions by Johann Praetorius survive. However, he has been at the center of a decades-long controversy surrounding the attribution of some pieces (some anonymous, some with initials such as J. P.), mainly by Klaus Beckmann.

Life

Johann Praetorius was born on November 25, 1595, the youngest son of Hieronymus and Anna Praetorius. He initially studied with his father, and he became so talented that he studied with [Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck]] starting in 1608 or 1609.

He returned to Hamburg in 1612 and became the organist at St. Nikolai, a position he held until his death on July 25, 1660.

Compositions

Johann Praetorius is known to have composed and published several wedding motets from 1615-1635. These don't survive, but there are some surviving transcriptions of three of them.

No organ music securely attributed to him has survived.

Attributions

HELP WANTED! This section needs a lot of help, bringing in more arguments from more of the articles in the bibliography

Starting around 1990, a few pieces from the North-German Organ School have become associated with the Hamburg organist. This resulted in a debate between Klaus Beckmann and other related musicologists, and the pieces were mainly either anonymous or attributed to Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck found in D-B Ms. Lynar A 1, B 2, and other similar manuscripts.

Klaus Beckmann

When the Zellerfeld Organ Tablatures were discovered by Gustav Fock, the name Johan. P. was connected with Sweelinck. However, Beckmann noted that it was likely derived from a different (perhaps Hamburg-ish) name.

The provenance of the manuscript has been a topic of debate, opinions have varied. Werner Breig stated it may have been a student of Delphin Strunck, Pieter Dirksen, first that it was written in Hamburg by a Sweelinck student and later that it was written by Hieronymus Jordan (a Strunck student), and Ibo Ortgies, by Matthias Weckmann.

With the proposed years that the manuscript was written and the birth years of the other composers that are included in mind (Heinrich Schütz, Jakob Praetorius, Heinrich Scheidemann), it seems more likely that a piece by Johann Praetorius would be included than one by Sweelinck.

However, Beckmann states that before the question of the provenance of this manuscript can be conclusively identified, the stylistic analysis is more important. On this topic, Beckmann pointed to evidence that this piece was more likely to be composed by a Sweelinck student, such as repeating cadential figures (the possibility of the composer being a Sweelinck-student, was also mentioned by Dirksen and Vogel in the introduction to their Sweelinck Edition).

Moving on to the pieces found in D-B Ms. Lynar B 2, Beckmann pointed out three pieces labeled "auf 2 Clavieren" (one of which is labeled J.P.). Here, it was found that the Cantus firmus was actually based on a German setting in the Lobwasser psalter. Another German characteristic of these pieces are their titles, and the label "auf 2 Clavieren" is a characteristic of a North-German composer, not of the Dutch composer Sweelinck.

Perhaps the most controversial part of the Johann Praetorius argument is the the question of the composer Johann Peters in D-B Ms. Lynar A 1. This manuscript is written in Dutch-style 6- and 7-line staffs. However, it has been theorized that it was written by the German organist and Sweelinck-student Andreas Düben Jr. With this in mind, Beckmann said that it would be unlikely for a direct student of the composer to badly misspell his name (Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck -> Johann Peters?).

Pieter Dirksen

On the topic of D-B Ms. Lynar A 1, Dirksen and Harald Vogel wrote in the introduction of the Breitkopf & Härtel edition of the complete keyboard works by Sweelinck:

On the other hand, it is also impossible to ascribe to another composer works from Sweelinck's substantiated output through a listing of correspondences with compositions from the Sweelinck School. Klaus Beckmann undertook this endeavor, and in two editions he attributed well-known Sweelinck works to the Hamburg organist Johann (Johannes) Praetorius, who had studied in Amsterdam, just as his brother Jacob Praetorius. Unfortunately, he misjuddged the provenance of the main source LyA1, which invalidates one of the major grounds for his argumentation. This source has no transmission link to Hamburg.

They continued: "Without sufficient research into their respective provenance, the various forms of the name in the sources do not justify changing the attribution from the teacher to a pupil who has yet to emerge with an independent profile."

Works

In 2004, Klaus Beckmann published the 7th volume of the Meister der Norddeutschen Orgelschule series, of the organ works attributed to Johann Praetorius, containing the following works.

Works attributed to Johann Praetorius

Source	Title	Incipit	Notes	Ref.
Zellerfeld Organ Tablatures I p.133-138	Allein zu / dir Herr / Jesu Christ / Johan. P. / Manual:
D-B Ms. Lynar A 1 p.201-204 I-Tn Collezione Foa, Ms. 8 f.133v-137r A-Wm Ms. VIX/714 f.223v-224r	[A 1:] Christe quj lux / es et dies / Johann Peters.
D-B Ms. Lynar A 1 p.133-139 D-B Mus.ms. 40316 f.26v-28r	[A 1:] Da pacem Domine / in dieb nostris. / Joann. Pieters.
D-B Ms. Lynar A 1 p.117-120 Zellerfeld Organ Tablatures II p.36-37 Zellerfeld Organ Tablatures II p.38-41 I-Tn Collezione Giordano, Ms. 5 f.130v-136r	[A 1:] Erbarm dich mein / o Herre Gott. / Joann Pieters.
I-Tn Collezione Giordano, Ms. 5 f.125v-131r	Versus / J. P. S.		Es sind doch selig alle
D-B Ms. Lynar B 2 f.23v-25r Eckelt Tablature f.45v-46r Zellerfeld Organ Tablatuers I p.236-239 Zellerfeld Organ Tablatures II p.54-57	[B 2:] Es spricht der / unweisen Mundt / woll
Zellerfeld Organ Tablatures I p.20-25/179-184	Herr Christ / d einige Got= / tessohn
D-B Ms. Lynar A 1 p.205-210 H-Bmnm Bartfai gyüjtemeny Ms. 27 f.25v-27r	[A 1:] Ich ruff zu dir / Herr Jesu Christ / Johann Peters.
Zellerfeld Organ Tablatures I p.14-17	Jesuß Christus / unser Heiland
D-B Ms. Lynar A 1 p.120-123 A-Wm Ms. XIV-714 f.223v-224r	[A 1:] Nu freut euch lieben / Christen gemein, / Joann: Pieters.
D-B Ms. Lynar A 1 p.211-213	Puer nobis / nascitur / Johann Peters.
H-Bmnm Bartfai gyüjtemeny Ms. 27 f.15r-16r Zellerfeld Organ Tablatures II p.58-61	[H-Bmnm:] Cantic: Sacr: Vater unser im Himmelreich / Joan Pet. Sch: Amb. Org.
Zellerfeld Organ Tablatures I p.149-152 D-Lr Mus.ant.pract. K.N. 208/2 f.47v-48r	[Ze:] Vom himmel / hoch da kim / ich her. p.
D-B Ms. Lynar A 1 p.140-149 I-Tn Collezione Giordano, Ms. 5 f.135v-140r	[A 1:] Wir glauben all / an einen Gott. / Joann Pieters.
D-B Ms. Lynar B 2 f.19v-21r	P 23 / Main hütter vnndt / mein hirtt / auf 2 Clauiren
D-B Ms. Lynar B 2 f.15v-17r	Psalm ii6 / J. P.
D-B Ms. Lynar A 1 p.166-172	Mein Junges Leben / hat ein Endt, / Johann. Pieters.
D-B Ms. Lynar B 2 f.18v-19r	O Gott du / unser Vater / bist / Auff 2 Clauiren

Chronological Bibliography

Klaus Beckmann. "Echtheitsprobleme im Repertoire des hanseatischen Orgelbarocks". In Ars Organi 37, 1989. p.150-162.

Klaus Beckmann. "Der Fall 'Johan. P.'. Die Rehabilitierung des Hamburger Nicolai-Organisten Johann Praetorius (d. 1660) und ihre Folgen für das Orgeloeuvre Jan Pieterszoon Sweelincks". In Der Kirchenmusiker 41 (1990). p.16-22.

Klaus Beckmann. "Der Fall 'Johan. P' (II). Die Rehabilitierung des Hamburger Nicolai-Organisten Johann Praetorius (d. 1660) und ihre Folgen für das Orgeloeuvre Heinrich Scheidemanns." in Der Kirchenmusiker 41 (1990) p.215-222.

Pieter Dirksen. "Sweelinck versus Praetorius." in Het Orgel 86 (1990) p.279-286.

Klaus Beckmann. "Der Fall 'Johan. P' (III). Die Rehabilitierung des Hamburger Nicolai-Organisten Johann Praetorius (d. 1660) und ihre Folgen für das Orgeloeuvre Heinrich Scheidemanns." in Der Kirchenmusiker 42 (1991) p.51-58.

Klaus Beckmann. "Johannes redivivus Praetorius." in Der Kirchenmusiker 42 (1991) p.95-101.

Pieter Dirksen. "Nogmals: De zaak Johannes Praetorius." in Het Orgel 87 (1991) p.41-50.

Barbara Stirn. "Die Orgeltabulaturen der Calvörschen Bibliothek zu Clausthal-Zellerfeld..." Hausarbeit zur Erlangung des Magistergrades (M.A.) Göttingen 1991.

Frederick K. Gable. "Praetorius, Johannes." Grove Music Online, 2001. [1] Accessed 17 May, 2024.

Klaus Beckmann Johann Praetorius: Sämtliche Orgelwerke. Meister der Norddeutschen Orgelschule 7. Mainz: Schott, 2004.

Ibo Ortgies. "Zur Diskussion um die Zellerfelder Orgeltabulatur in Concerto Nr.207/208." in Concerto 209. Köln: Concerto 2006. p.22-24.

Pieter Dirksen. "Der Entstehungshintergrund der Zellerfelder Orgeltabulaturen. Neue Erkenntnisse." in Concerto 207. Köln: Concerto 2006. p.23-27

Harald Vogel and Pieter Dirksen. Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck: Sämtliche Werke für Tasteninstrumente. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 2006.

Beckmann, Klaus, Die Norddeutsche Schule. Teil II: Blütezeit und Verfall. Mainz: Schott, 2009. p.166-172.