Michael Praetorius

Michael Praetorius (1571-1621) was a German composer of the late Renaissance known for composing over 1,000 sacred choral works published as Musae Sionae and a smaller collection of instrumental dances titled Terpsichore. Praetorius came from a devout Lutheran background, which informed his decision to become a church musician, and his settings of hymns are still in use today, most notably the popular Christmas carol Es ist ein' Ros' entsprungen. Praetorius employed most of the techniques of his time, and his erudition qualified him to write one of the most impressive books of music theory, his unfinished Syntagma Musicum.