Ludecus, Matthäus

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Ludecus, Matthäus

Ludecus, Matthäus, German composer, public official, and churchman; b. Wilsnach, Prignitz, Sept. 21, 1527; d. Havelberg, Prignitz, Nov. 12, 1606. He was educated in Perleberg, Pritzwalk, and Frankfurt an der Oder. He was a clerk in Prignitz (1550–54), and then town clerk in Lüneberg, and subsequently in Prenzlau, Uckermark (1556). From 1560 to 1597 he served as collector of land taxes for Prignitz. In 1562 he was made canon of Havelberg Cathedral, where he was its dean from 1573 until his death. He publ. 4 significant collections of Lutheran liturgical works (1589), which include unharmonized Latin Passions and various Latin hymns.

—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire