Christoph Demantius

Influenced by Lassus musically and Praetorius theoreticaaly, Demantius forged an inimitable impression on the historical musical palatte. Being an adept and diverse composer, music flowed in his passion for sacred and secular pieces alike. In the latter he was one of the first to employ the use of Polish folk aspects in the scores of mausic and probably wrote the text to these works. The former compositions, a plethora of sacred pieces and forms, included motets, a Passion, hymns, choruses, and an interesting development in the Orders of service. The textual material for the Gospel motets in the service were taken from the daily pericopes. Having established himself at Freiberg, Demantius attempted to established his own voice in German music. Dance forms, textual illumination through verbal scoring and an abiding pathos were present in his music. Demantius also provided Germany with the first alphabatized musical dictionary in its native language. ~ Keith Johnson