Constantin Christian Dedekind (2 April 1628 – 1715) was a German poet, dramatist, librettist, composer and bass singer of the Baroque era .
5-647: Dedekind was born in Reinsdorf, Thuringia into a musical family, the son of musician Stefan Dedekind (1595–1636) and the grandson of composer Henning Dedekind (1562–1626). He was educated at Quedlinburg Abbey . From about 1647 he lived in Dresden . Early recognition of his poetic talent came in 1652 when Johann Rist , in his role of Imperial Count Palatine , awarded him the Dichterkrone (equivalent to making him Poet Laureate ). A few years later Dedekind became
10-656: A member of the Elbschwanenorden (Order of Elbe Swans), Rist's poetical society. He also pursued a musical career. From 1654 he was a bass singer in the Kapelle of Johann Georg II, Elector of Saxony in Dresden. From 1666 to 1675 he held the position of Konzertmeister there; however, he directed only the German singers within the Kapelle , a grouping referred to as the kleine deutsche Musik , as distinct from
15-751: The Italian ones. He himself had requested this split in a letter of 1666 to Johann Georg II. His resignation of the position in 1675 seems to have been an eventual outcome of this rivalry. However, becoming a tax collector for the Elector enabled him to accumulate a fortune. He was also a publisher, mainly of musical scores, though not a very successful one. Dedekind's wide circle of friends in Dresden included composers such as Heinrich Albert , Adam Krieger and Heinrich Schütz , as well as poets like Johann Joseph Beckh , Michael Kongehl , Christoph Kormart and David Schirmer . His 1657 songbook Aelbianische Musen-Lust
20-457: The most important German artists of his time in sacred drama. His significance in that field was emphasised by the Nuremberg poet Sigmund von Birken in his Teutschen Rede-bind- und Dicht-Kunst (1679). He and Dedekind exchanged correspondence for many years. In 1680 the outbreak of plague caused Dedekind to flee Dresden for Meissen . In his last years he composed much less; his late work
25-801: Was a large collection of musical settings of German strophic poetry, for solo voice. It featured a wide selection of poets from across Germany, including Martin Opitz , Paul Fleming , Simon Dach , Gottfried Finckelthaus , Johann Rist , David Schirmer, Andreas Tscherning and Georg Neumark , as well as Dedekind himself. He also created a very large number of sacred songs and dramas. His 1673/74 collection Musicalischer Jahrgang und Vesper-Gesang alone includes 120 sacred concertos, for two voices and continuo . The works Neue geistliche Schauspiele (1670) and Heilige Arbeit über Freud und Leid der alten und neuen Zeit (1676) were sacred collections containing operatic libretti and texts for cantatas . He counts as one of
#931068