Homilius, Gottfried August
Homilius, Gottfried August
Homilius, Gottfried August, eminent German composer and organist; b. Rosenthal, Feb. 2, 1714; d. Dresden, June 5, 1785. He went to Leipzig to study composition and keyboard playing with Bach, where he also studied law at the Univ. In 1742 he settled in Dresden as organist of the Frauenkirche. In 1755 he was made cantor of the Kreuzkirche and teacher at the Kreuzschule, as well as music director of the Kreuzkirche, Frauenkirche, and Sophienkirche. After the Kreuzkirche was destroyed in 1760 in the wake of the Thirty Years’s War, he concentrated his activities at the Frauenkirche. Homilius was a notable composer of German Protestant church music, producing more than 200 cantatas, some 60 motets, Magnificat settings, oratorios, and passion music. He also distinguished himself as a composer of organ music, especially in his esteemed chorale preludes.
Bibliography
R. Snyder, The Choral Music of G.A. H. (1714–1785) (diss., Univ. of Iowa, 1970); H. John, G.A. H. und die evangelische Kirchenmusik Dresdens im 18. Jahrhundert (diss., Univ. of Halle, 1973).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire