Johann Gottfried Walther

(1684 - 1748)

Johann Gottfried Walther

German composer and theorist. He entered the lower school of Erfurt in 1691 and studied organ with Johann Bernhard Bach and Johann Andreas Kretschmar. After studying at the Ratsgymnasium he became organist at the Thomaskirche at Erfurt in 1702. He then devoted himself to music, reading the treatises of Werckmeister, Fludd, and Kircher, and studying composition with Buttstett. In 1706 he studied with Wilhelm Hieronymus in Nuremberg, and was appointed organist at the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Weimar, in 1707; he remained there until his death. In Weimar he also taught music to Duke Wilhelm Ernst and Prince Johann Ernst and befriended J. S. Bach. In 1721 he joined the duke's court orchestra as Hof-musicus. He wrote sacred vocal works and numerous organ pieces, consisting mostly of chorale preludes. His theoretical works include the Musicalisches Lexicon oder Musicalische Bibliothec (Leipzig, 1732), the first dictionary of musicians and musical terms, and the Praecepta der musicalischen Composition.





XIE: Bach's Pupils and his Legacy