Praetorius

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Praetorius. Latinized form of Schulz or Schultz adopted by several Ger. musicians in 16th and 17th cents. Among them are: Hieronymus Praetorius (b Hamburg, 1560; d Hamburg, 1629). Comp. church mus., wedding songs, etc., much of it pubd. in 5 vol. Opus musicum novum et perfectum (1622–5). Michael Praetorius (b Kreuzberg, 1571; d Wolfenbüttel, 1621). Prolific composer and important mus. historian. Began career as organist, 1604, to Duke of Brunswick. His Syntagma musicum (1614–20, 3 vols.) is a wide survey of mus., the 2nd vol. being a prime source of information on mus. instr. of the time.