Gottfried August Homilius


Gottfried August Homilius was a German composer, cantor and organist. He is considered one of the most important church composers of the generation following Bach's, and was the main representative of the empfindsamer style.

Life

Homilius was born in Rosenthal, Saxony, the son of a Lutheran pastor, and was educated at the Annenschule in Dresden. He then studied law at Leipzig University and the organ under Johann Sebastian Bach. From 1742 he was organist at the Dresden Frauenkirche, and from 1755 until his death cantor at the Kreuzkirche in Dresden with the associated responsibility of music director at the Kreuzkirche, the Sophienkirche, and the Frauenkirche. After the destruction of the Kreuzkirche during the Seven Years' War he worked mainly at the Frauenkirche.

Works

Homilius predominantly composed church music: more than 10 passions, an oratorio for Christmas and one for Easter, over 60 motets, more than 150 cantatas, chorales, preludes, and choral works. He composed also organ music: 36 Chorale preludes for organ. His students included eminent composer Daniel Gottlob Türk. His vocal compositions enjoyed great popularity through the 19th century, as witnessed by the large number of copies still extant. A complete worklist and edition is in preparation at Carus Verlag; the Homilius-Werkverzeichnis numbers follow the dissertation of Karl Feld and the new edition of Uwe Wolf.

Passions and oratorios