König, Johann Balthasar

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König, Johann Balthasar

König, Johann Balthasar, German composer; b. Waltershausen, near Gotha (baptized), Jan. 28, 1691; d. Frankfurt am Main (buried), April 2, 1758. About 1703 he became a chorister in the Frankfurt am Main municipal Kapelle. In 1721 he was made director of music at the Katharinenkirche but remained with the Kapelle, where in 1727 he was made Kapellmeister. König was esteemed for his cantatas for municipal and church occasions. He also prepared the important chorale book Harmonischer Lieder- Schatz (Frankfurt am Main, 1738; 2nd ed., aug., c. 1750), which contains almost 2, 000 melodies with basso continuo, 300 of which appear to be by him. It also includes all those for the Geneva Psalter.

—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire