Editing Martin Agricola

{{Short description|German Renaissance composer and music theorist (1486–1556)}}
'''Martin Agricola''' (6 January 1486 &ndash; 10 June 1556) was a German [[composer]] of [[Renaissance music]] and a [[music theory|music theorist]].<ref>His German name was '''Sohr''' or '''Sore''' {{harv|Chisholm|1911}}</ref><ref name=Four-Agricola group=lower-alpha/>

==Biography==
Agricola was born in [[Świebodzin]], a town in Western [[Poland]], and took the name Agricola later in life, a common practice among Lutherans often meant to emphasize humble, peasant origins.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hettrick |first1=William E. |title=The 'Musica Instrumentalis Deudsch' of Martin Agricola: A Treatise on Musical Instruments |date=1994 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York |page=xiii |ref=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hollaway |first1=William W. |title=Martin Agricola's Musica Instrumentalis Deudsch: A Translation |date=1972 |publisher=North Texas State University |location=Denton |page=iii}}</ref> From 1524 until his death, he lived in the German city of [[Magdeburg]], where he was a teacher or cantor in the [[Protestantism|Protestant]] school.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} [[Georg Rhau]], a publisher and senator in [[Wittenberg]], was Agricola's close friend and publisher.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} 

Agricola's theoretical writing was valuable in expounding the change from the old to the new system of [[musical notation]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} His ''Musica instrumentalis deudsch'' (English: ''German Instrumental Music''), published in 1528, 1530, 1532 and 1542, and then heavily revised in 1545, was one of the most important early works in [[organology]] and on the [[elements of music]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hettrick |first1=William E. |title=The 'Musica Instrumentalis Deudsch' of Martin Agricola: A Treatise on Musical Instruments |date=1994 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York |page=xiv }}</ref>{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Agricola was the first to [[Harmonization|harmonize]] in [[Four-part harmony|four parts]] [[Martin Luther]]'s famous [[chorale]], "[[A Mighty Fortress Is Our God|Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott]]" (English: "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God".{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha |refs=
<ref name=Four-Agricola>
Four other Agricolas ([[Alexander Agricola|Alexander]], died 1506; Johann, flor. 1600; Wolfgang Christoph, flor. 1630; and [[Georg Ludwig Agricola|Georg Ludwig]], 1643–1676) are known as composers between the end of the 15th century and the middle of the 17th.<br />
In the 18th century [[Charles Burney]], in the course of his tour in Germany (1772), was much impressed by [[Johann Friedrich Agricola]] (1720–1774), court composer and director of the royal chapel to Frederick the Great {{harv|Chisholm|1911}}.
</ref>
}}
{{Reflist}}

==References==
;Attribution
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Agricola, Martin|volume=1}}

==Further reading==
*[https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc501174/ Translation of Musica Instrumentalis Deudsch]
*[http://www.classical-composers.org/comp/agricola_martin Classical Composers Database]
*{{IMSLP|id=Agricola, Martin}}
*{{ChoralWiki|Martin Agricola}}

{{Renaissance music}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agricola, Martin}}
[[Category:1486 births]]
[[Category:1556 deaths]]
[[Category:16th-century German composers]]
[[Category:German classical composers of church music]]
[[Category:German Renaissance composers]]
[[Category:German male classical composers]]
[[Category:German music theorists]]
[[Category:Silesian-German people]]
[[Category:People from Świebodzin]]


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