Heinrich Faber

Heinrich Faber (also Fabri; * 1490 in Lichtenfels ( Upper Franconia ), † February 26, 1552 in Oelsnitz ( Vogtland) ) was a German pedagogue and musicologist.

Life

Faber was first mentioned in 1515 as an alto in Copenhagen, where he remained until 1523. In 1538 he became a teacher at St. George's School in Naumburg. There he stood with Nicholas Medler in conjunction, like he was a representative of the initiated by Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon school reform. In May 1542 Faber enrolled at the University of Wittenberg and acquired in February 1545 the degree of Master of Arts.

He returned to Naumburg, but had from there due to a dispute with the bishop Julius von Pflug, which broke down the school, soft. Together with Medler he went to Brunswick in 1548 and wrote there musical treatises, which were intended for the Gymnasium at Hof (Saale ). Faber returned to Naumburg back again in 1549 and accepted the rectorship of the city school of St. Wenceslas, held in 1551 lectures on music at the University of Wittenberg, and afterwards worked as a rector in Oelsnitz.

Faber, who wrote with a Medler design an ideal school regulations for eight classes, set out as a music theorist a name. In brief catechism -like shape his Compendium musicae remained until the 17th century the widespread elementary music textbook in Germany. The work is really just an excerpt from the introductio of 1550, in which he used examples of himself and of Ludwig Senfl, Heinrich Isaac, Josquin Desprez and Pierre Moulu. He put in his works emphasis on a broad exposition of the theory of music, where he put his theory of proportion with many examples.

From his humanistic view music he interpreted the character of the Ars musica as a mathematical theory of art, which is conceived not only as part of the quadrivium, but is aimed at the realized work. He coined as a new style pattern at the beginning of the 16th century. From his four-part motets and a number of liturgical pieces are known.

Writings

• Ad musicam practicam introductio. Nuremberg 1550, Mühlhausen 1571st
• Musica Poetica. Hof 1548.
• Compendium musicae. Leipzig 1552, 1605; Nuremberg 1572, 1586, 1618; Augsburg in 1591, 1681 (bilingual); Jena 1610; Erfurt 1665; later under the title brevissima Rudimenta.