Michael Altenburg was a German theologian and composer.

Altenburg was born at Alach, near Erfurt

Erfurt

Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...

. He began attending school in Erfurt in 1590; he began studying theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 at the University of Erfurt

University of Erfurt

The University of Erfurt is a public university located in Erfurt, Germany. Originally founded in 1379, the university was closed in 1816 for the next 177 years...

 in 1598, and was awarded a bachelor's degree in 1599 and a master's in 1603. From 1600 he taught at the Reglerschule in Erfurt; he was Kantor

Kantor

People named Kantor include:* Isaiah Kantor , mathematician* Istvan Kantor, Hungarian-born Canadian performance artist* Jodi Kantor, New York Times journalist* MacKinlay Kantor, American novelist and screen writer...

 at St. Andreas from 1601 and rector

Rector

The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

 of the school at St. Andreas in Erfurt from 1607. In 1609 he quit teaching to become a pastor

Pastor

The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....

, moving to Tröchtelborn

Tröchtelborn

Tröchtelborn is a municipality in the district of Gotha, in Thuringia, Germany....

 and preaching there until 1621. During this period Altenburg published music, and was compared to Orlando di Lasso.

After 1621 he moved to Sömmerda, working at the Bonifaciuskirche. While he continued to publish and was respected for his compositions, the Thirty Years War sapped his efforts. In 1636 a massive plague wiped out most of his congregation, and his wife and ten of his children died before himself. He returned to Erfurt in 1637, where he remained as deacon

Deacon

Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...

 and, from 1638, minister at St Andreas.

Much of Altenburg's compositional output consists of vocal concerto

Concerto

A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...

s, motet

Motet

In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...

s and chorale

Chorale

A chorale was originally a hymn sung by a Christian congregation. In certain modern usage, this term may also include classical settings of such hymns and works of a similar character....

s.

External links

• Biography, Virtually Baroque