|
He was composer, hymn-writer, music arranger, schoolmaster
and author born Melchior Fuchs in Wasungen, Thuringia, Germany. He came from a poor family and he
and one of his brothers Latinised their given surname to it's Latin version
of Vulpius. He studied at the
Lateinschule in Wasungen under the pastor and hymn-writer Johann Steurelein
and later he moved to Speyer where he was a pupil and instructor of musica
poetica to Christoph Thomas Walliser. He was asked back to Speyer in 1592 as a supernumerary teacher
even though he had never received a university education and he taught at
the Lateinschule at Schleusingen.
He would take on the duties of Kantor where he was expected to write
hymns and music for the Lutheran services and in 1596 he would become Municipal
Kantor at the Lateinschule in Weimar.
Although an accomplished tutor he was more often though of as a
composer and his works were regularly heard in the churches of Wasungen. A prolific composer who had much
popularity in his day, his compositions include 400 hymns and 200 motets, a
Passion oratorio, and the publications Cantiones sacrae and Spruche,
and he was the first to use balletto rhythms in German hymn tunes. He is known to have made a
harmonisation to the carol "Es ist ein Ros ensprungen" (Lo How a Rose is Blooming)
around the same time as the better known re-working by Michael Praetorius. As a writer on the subject of music
he published Compendolium musicae in 1604 and Musicae compendium
in 1610. He died in
Weimar in 1615 aged 55.
Es ist ein Ros entsprungen/Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming recordings
Leroy Anderson
and His Orchestra
Decca B0003552-02 (CD: A Leroy Anderson Christmas)
Sources:
- http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Vulpius.htm
- http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/v/u/vulpius_m.htm
- http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Notes_On_Carols/lo_how_a_rose_eer_blooming.htm
|
