Hermesdorff, Michael

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Hermesdorff, Michael

Hermesdorff, Michael, German organist, musicologist, and composer; b. Trier, March 4, 1833; d. there, Jan. 1885. He entered the priesthood, and was appointed organist of Trier Cathedral. He founded the Choral Soc, chiefly for the exposition of Gregorian plainchant, on which he was an authority by virtue of his study of original sources. He ed. the Graduale ad usum Romanum cantus S. Gregorii (Leipzig, 1876-82, 10 nos.) in the monthly supplements of the Cäcilia journal, but died before its completion. He publ. a Kyriale, Harmonica cantus choralis a 4, a. Graduale, several anthems and Praefatio (prayers used in the Trier diocese), and 3 masses of his own.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire