Credits:

Mozart

Description:

Wolfgang Carl Briegel was an organist and composer of the German Baroque period. As a boy he sang in the choir of the Frauenkirche in Nuremberg, and through Johann Erasmus Kindermann, the organist here, he was exposed to the latest Italian compositional styles of the time. In 1650, Ernst I, Duke of Saxony-Altenburg, took him on as court musician in Gotha, where he was eventually promoted to court music director. Maria, wife of Count Ludwig VI of Hesse-Darmstadt, invited him to Darmstadt. There are records of his activities there as well. He wrote many religious works, publishing 24 volumes of music from 1654 to 1709, as well as occasional and secular works. 12 Religious Madrigales (12 Madrigale-like Songs of Solace), composed in 1671, is a collection of songs for five or six voices and bass clef. The music is based on biblical phrases, and the words "all's well that ends well" are placed in the dedication. The collection was dedicated to Ernst I as a parting gift on the occasion of his resignation from his post as court music director at Gotha, a post he held for more than 20 years. The fugue for organ, which uses eight church melodies, is a very short piece, but the theme is varied and the characteristics of the church melody are expressed to the fullest. Naxos Japan