The April 2018 issue of Choral Journal features an article from Margaret Boudreaux on the relationship between German composer Michael Praetorius (1571- 1621) and Duchess Elisabeth of Braunschweig- Wolfenbüttel (1573-1626).
“Elisabeth’s support became essential in Praetorius’s final years after the patron who brought him to Wolfenbüttel, Elisabeth’s husband, Duke Heinrich Julius (1564-1613), died. The immediately following years saw economic and political situations collapse, leading to the Thirty Years War in 1618.
“Elisabeth’s continued interest and support in those years has led several scholars to suggest that Duchess Elisabeth and Praetorius shared a closer affinity than would normally be expected between the nobility and a person in his position. This article more deeply explores evidence of their shared piety and belief in music’s power to elevate the human soul, and ways in which that affinity affected Praetorius’s later productivity in the face of dwindling resources.”
Read the entire article in the April issue of Choral Journal here.
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