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Georg Neumark (Hymn-Writer, Composer)

Born: March 16, 1621 - Langensalza, Thuringia, Germany
Died: July 18, 1681 - Weimar, Germany

Georg Neumark was educated at the Gymnasiums in Schleusingen and Gotha. He received his certificate of dimission from the latter in September 1641. He left Gotha in the autumn of 1641, along with a number of merchants going to the Michaelmas Fair at Leipzig. He then joined a similar party going from Leipzig to Lübeck, planning to proceed to Königsberg and enroll at the university there. After passing through Magdeburg, they were attacked by bandits on the Gardelegen Heath, who robbed Neumark of all he had with him, except his prayer book and a little money sewed up in his clothes.

Georg Neumark returned to Magdeburg, but could not find a job there, nor in Lüneburg, Winsen, or Hamburg, to which in succession the friends he made passed him on. In the beginning of December he went to Kiel, where he found a friend in Nicolaus Becker, a fellow Thuringian and then chief pastor at Kiel. Day after day passed without an opening, till about the end of the month the tutor in the family of judge Stephan Henning fell into disgrace and fled from Kiel. On Becker’s recommendation, Neumark got the job, and this sudden end of his anxieties was the occasion of the writing of his hymn Wer nur den lieb­en Gott lässt walten.

Georg Neumark passed the time happily in the Henning home until he had saved enough to proceed to Königsberg, where he enrolled June 21, 1643, as a law student. He remained five years, also studying poetry under Dach and maintaining himself as a family tutor. During this time (in 1646) he again lost all his belongings, this time by fire. In 1648 he left Königsberg, was for a short time in Warsaw, and spent 1649-1650 at Thorn. He was then in Danzig, and September 1651 in Hamburg. By the end of 1651 he had returned to Thuringia, and was noticed by Duke Wilhelm II of Sachse-Weimar, the president of the Fruitbearing Society, the principal German literary organization in the 17th Century. The Duke, apparently in 1652, appointed Neumark as court poet, librarian, and registrar of the administration at Weimar; and finally secretary of the Ducal Archives. In September 1653 Neumark was admitted as a member of the Fruitbearing Society, of which he became secretary in 1656. In 1679, he also became a member of the Pegnitz Order. In 1681, he went blind, but was permitted to keep his posts until he died.

Georg Neumark’s works include: Fortgepflantzer Musikalisch Poetischer Lustwald, 1657; Der Neu-Sprossende Teutsche Palmbaum (Nürnberg & Weimar, Germany: 1668).

Source: Cyber Hymnal Website
Contributed by
Aryeh Oron (May 2003)

Texts of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

BWV 21, BWV 88, BWV 93, BWV 197 (after Neumark), BWV 434

Chorale Texts used in Bach’s Vocal Works

Title

Year

EKG

Zahn

Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten

Chorale Melodies used in Bach’s Vocal Works

Title

Year

EKG

Zahn

Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten

Links to other Sites

Georg Neumark (Cyber Hymnal)

George Neumarck (CCEL)

Bibliography

 


Biographies of Poets & Composers: Main Page | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
Bach & Other Composers




 

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Last update: Tuesday, June 20, 2017 23:37