Editing Leonhard Lechner

{{short description|German composer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Leonhard Lechner
| image = 
| caption = 
| birth_date = c. 1553
| birth_place = [[South Tyrol]]
| death_date = 9 September {{death year and age|1606|1553}}
| death_place = [[Stuttgart]]
| other_names = {{plainlist|
* Leonard Lechner
* Leonhard Lechner Athesinus
}}
| education = 
| occupation = {{plainlist|
* Singer
* [[Kapellmeister]]
* Composer
}}
| organizations = 
| awards = 
}}
'''Leonhard Lechner''' (also '''Leonard''', {{circa}} 1553{{spnd}}9 September 1606) was a German composer, [[kapellmeister]], [[tenor]] and music editor who was taught by [[Orlando de Lassus]]. He added '''Athesinus''' to his signature, referring to his origin in today's [[South Tyrol]]. His last positions were at the court of [[Stuttgart#Early Modern era|court of Stuttgart]]. He is regarded as a "leading German composer of choral music in the later 16th century".<ref name="Grove">{{cite web |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000016220 |title=Lechner, Leonhard [Lechnerus, Leonardus Athesinus] |last=Ameln |first=Konrad |author-link=Konrad Ameln|website=Grove Music Online |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.16220 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |access-date=3 September 2020}}</ref> While many of his works are lost, a [[Passion (music)|Passion]], many expressive songs, and a song cycle are extant. The complete works were published by [[Bärenreiter]] in 14 volumes.

== Life ==
Lechner was born in [[South Tyrol]] in 1553.<ref name="Grove"/>

Lechner was originally Catholic but became a Protestant as an adult. As a boy, he sang in the Bayrische Kantorei in [[Landshut]], led by [[Orlande de Lassus]].<ref name="Heilige" /> It was a group of the Bavarian Hofkapelle (court chapel). He was regarded as Lassus' "most distinguished pupil and a great creative force in German music".<ref name="WBAI"/>

Lechner was probably in Italy during the 1570s. From 1575, he taught at a school in [[Nuremberg]].<ref name="Heilige" /> He led an association of upper-class music lovers, {{lang|de|Ehrbare musikalische Gesellschaft}}, which sponsored the publication of religious and secular works.<ref name="Heilige" /> He married a [[Burgher (title)|burgher]]'s daughter in Nuremberg and his intent was to live there with his wife. From 1582, he was responsible for music in the town.<ref name="Heilige" />

In 1584, he was appointed as {{lang|de|[[kapellmeister]]}} by [[Eitel Friedrich IV, Count of Hohenzollern]] in Hechingen. As the count supported the [[Counter-Reformation]], Lechner left his employment after one year due to their religious differences. He then asked [[Louis III, Duke of Württemberg]], for protection. Lechner became a [[tenor]] singer at the [[Stuttgart#Early Modern era|court of Stuttgart]], later becoming a court composer and then a court {{lang|de|kapellmeister}}, and church musician at the [[Stiftskirche (Stuttgart)|Stiftskirche]].<ref name="Heilige" />

Lechner was ill for years.<ref name="WBAI">{{cite web |url=http://www.hoasm.org/IVH/Lechner.html |title=Leonhard Lechner |last=Whent |first=Chris |website=Here Of A Sunday Morning |publisher=[[WBAI]] |access-date=3 September 2020}}</ref> He died on 9 September 1606 in Stuttgart.<ref name="Grove"/>

==Works==
[[File:Newe Teutsche Lieder, mit fünff vnd vier Stimmen, Basis.jpg|thumb|Cover of New German Songs, for Bass, Leonhard Lechner, 1582]]
Lechner published twelve [[part song|part-song]] collections during the 1570s.<ref>{{cite book|last=Eccard|first=Johann|title=Newe Deutzsche Lieder: Newe Deutzsche Lieder|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xZfkgsiaIzMC&pg=PR12|date=1 January 2002|publisher=A-R Editions, Inc.|isbn=978-0-89579-445-1|page=xii}}</ref> In 1593, he composed a [[Passion (music)|Passion]], ''Historia der Passion and Leidens unsers einigin Erlösers und Seligmachers Jesu Christi'', in Württemberg. The 1593 work has five [[Movement (music)|movements]] and is for a [[SATB|four-part]] mixed choir with a German text based on the four Gospels. Barely any of his compositions were printed during his lifetime. Some manuscripts are extant while many of his works are lost. His [[swan song]] was ''[[Deutsche Sprüche von Leben und Tod]]'' (German sentences of life and death).<ref name="WBAI"/>

His works have been published from the 1920s, including the Passion, the ''Deutsche Sprüche'', and his setting of the [[Song of Songs]].<ref name="Heilige" /> A complete edition of his extant works was commissioned by the Heinrich Schütz Society and completed in 14 volumes by [[Bärenreiter]] edited by [[Konrad Ameln]].<ref name="Bärenreiter">{{cite web |title=Leonhard Lechner (um 1553–1606) / Works |url=https://www.baerenreiter.com/en/catalogue/complete-editions/lechner-leonhard/ |website=[[Bärenreiter]] |language=de |access-date=8 September 2020}}</ref>

==Reception==
''The Larousse Encyclopedia Of Music'' stated, "His music is remarkable for its dramatic power and emotional intensity, qualities particularly evident in the fifteen ''Deutsche Sprüche von Leben und Tod'', which reveal his sure command of techniques ranging from fluent [[polyphony]] to [[Chord (music)|chordal]] writing."<ref>{{cite book |date=1981 |title=The Larousse Encyclopedia Of Music |publisher=Excalibur Books |page=120 |isbn=0896731014}}</ref> John C. Hughes of ''The Choral Journal'' wrote, "Upon deeper investigation, one finds Lechner's Passion not only to be a well-constructed work of art ... but also a strong influence upon later contributions to the Passion genre."<ref>{{cite journal |last=C. Hughes |first=John |date=September 2005 |title=Leonhard Lechner's Passion (1593): Origins, Importance, and Dramatic Meaning |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/6b90bb832fd7ddc8ac6c0ca9664c91a1/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=47671 |journal=The Choral Journal |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=45 |access-date=3 September 2020}}</ref>

He is listed as an ecumenical saint.<ref name="Heilige">{{cite web |title=Leonhard Lechner |url=https://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienL/Leonhard_Lechner.html |website=Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon |language=de |access-date=8 September 2020}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMSLP|Lechner, Leonhard|Leonhard Lechner}}
* {{ChoralWiki}}
* [http://www.bmlo.uni-muenchen.de/l0275 Leonhard Lechner] (in German) Bayerisches Musik-Lexikon Online
* {{AllMusic|id=mn0001358438}}
* [https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz49613.html Lechner, Leonhard] Deutsche Biographie
* [https://kantorei.it/index.php/biographie-l-lechner/ Leonhard Lechner (1553–1606)] (in German) kantorei.it
* John Charles Hughes: [https://doi.org/10.17077/etd.17doppon Leonhard Lechner's Passion (1593): cultural contexts, musical analysis, and historical implications] (dissertation) iro.uiowa.edu Fall 2014

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lechner, Leonhard}}
[[Category:1550s births]]
[[Category:1606 deaths]]
[[Category:16th-century classical composers]]
[[Category:17th-century German classical composers]]
[[Category:German male classical composers]]
[[Category:17th-century German male musicians]]
[[Category:16th-century German composers]]