Friderici, Daniel

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Friderici, Daniel

Friderici, Daniel, German composer and music theorist; b. Klein-Eichstedt, near Querfurt, 1584; d. Rostock, Sept. 23, 1638. He pursued his musical training in various German cities, his principal mentors in composition being Friedrich Weissensee in Magdeburg and Valentin Haussmann in Gerbstedt; he also attended the Univ. of Rostock (1612). He was in the service of Count Anton Gunther of Oldenburg (1614–18) before settling in Rostock as cantor at the Marienkirche, a post he held until his death from the plague; he also was Kapellmeister of all of the churches there from 1623. In 1618 he was in charge of the musical celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the Univ. of Rostock, which awarded him an M.A. degree in 1619. Friderici composed a large body of sacred and secular music. E. Schenk and W. Voll ed. his sacred music in Das Erbe Deutscher Musik, 2nd series (1942). His important treatise Musica figuralis oder newe…Unterweisung des Singe Kunst (Rostock, 1618; 7 subsequent eds.) placed special significance on singing and the use of modes.

Bibliography

W. Voll, D. F.: Sein Leben und seine geistlichen Werke (Kassel and Hannover, 1936).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire