Johannes Werlin I

Life

Born: baptized 25 December 1588, Landsberg am Lech

Died: 29 Mai 1666, Seeon-Seebruck

Biography:

Johannes Werlin (I) was a German music anthologist, composer and poet. He studied at the monasteries of Diessen and Andechs in Bavaria. In 1609 he became a novice at the Benedictine monastery at Seeon. In 1625 he was appointed prior there and in 1634 choirmaster. The 17th century was a period of particularly rich musical activity in Bavarian monasteries, and Werlin was one of many monks appointed to compose and compile music for use in individual cloisters. To this end, along with antiphonaries and catalogues, he produced his main work, the six-volume Rhithmorum varietas: typi, exempla & modulationes rhythmorum opera & studia (MS, D-Mbs, 1646). It contains 2946 melodies, from simple folktunes to more sophisticated 16th- and 17th-century art songs (Gesellschaftslieder), all with thoroughbass accompaniment and systematically ordered for instruction in prosody and melodic writing. It is the most comprehensive collection of melodies of the Baroque era and important for its poems too.

View the German Wikipedia article on Johannes Werlin I. (English translation by Google)

List of choral works

• Es geht eine Dunkle Wolk herein

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