Born: c1553 - Lichtenstein, near Zwickau
Died: in or after 1610

Philipp Avenarius [Habermann] was a German composer and organist. He is first heard of as an organist at Amorbach, Odenwald, in 1570 and until February 1571. The dedication of his Cantiones sacrae (1572) was written from Falkenau, Bohemia, where his father was working. According to Gerber he was later an organist at Altenburg and then, until 1610, at the Michaeliskirche, Zeitz. He was one of a number of minor composers working in Saxony and Thuringia in the latter half of the 16^th century. His output was less varied than, for example, that of Johann Steurlein, but the pieces in his Cantiones sacrae were highly regarded by his contemporaries, as is shown by the praise accorded them by Christoph Schultze. The style of his motets is conservative, as was his preference for Latin texts.

Works

Cantiones sacrae, 5vv (Nuremberg, 1572)
Devota acclamatio novis honoribus, 6vv (Jena, 1608)
20 other sacred works D-Bsb, Rp, Z, PL-WRu

Source: Grove Music Online, © Oxford University Press 2006, acc. 9/7/06 (Author: August Scharnagl)
Contributed by Thomas Braatz (August 2006)

Use of Chorale Melodies in his works

Title

Chorale Melody

Year

Vater unser im Himmelreich A Setting for 5 Voices

Vater unser im Himmelreich

Links to other Sites

Bibliography

GerberNL
A. Werner: Städtische und fürstliche Musikpflege in Zeitz bis zum Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts (Bückeburg and Leipzig, 1922)
E.F. Schmid: Die Orgeln der Abtei Amorbach (Buchen, 1938)
R. Quoika: ‘Christoph Harant von Polschitz und seine Zeit’, Mf, vii (1954), 414–29, esp. 419
R. Quoika: Die Musik der Deutschen in Böhnen und Mähren (Berlin, 1956)
G. Pietzsch: ‘Orgelbauer, Orgeln und Orgelspiel in Deutschland bis zum Ende des 16. Jahrhunderts’, Mf, xi (1958), 307–15, esp. 311