Sethus Calvisius
Illustration — Sethus Calvisius Sethus Calvisius or Setho Calvisio, originally Seth Kalwitz (21 February 1556 – 24 November 1615), was a German music theorist, composer, chronologer, astronomer, and teacher of the late Renaissance.
Sethus Calvisius
Melchior Haffner II · Portraitindex.de · Public domain
- Born
- 1556.
- Died
- 1615.
- Nationality
- Germany.
- Occupation
- composer, astronomer, mathematician, musicologist, choir director, conductor and musician.
- Movements
- German Renaissance.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Illustration — Sethus Calvisius Sethus Calvisius or Setho Calvisio, originally Seth Kalwitz (21 February 1556 – 24 November 1615), was a German music theorist, composer, chronologer, astronomer, and teacher of the late Renaissance.
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gnd · 6147517-8 · museum · d2f6f640-cbeb-4efc-8c65-33dfdf5179b8 · wikidata · Q65356 · wikipedia · Sethus Calvisius
In this article
Biography
Biography
He was born into a peasant family at Gorsleben in present-day Thuringia. By the exercise of his musical talents he earned money enough for the start, at Helmstedt, of a university career, which the aid of a wealthy patron enabled him to continue at Leipzig. He became director of the music-school at Pforta in 1572. In 1594 he was transferred to Leipzig in the same post, including directing the Thomanerchor at the Thomaskirche. He retained this post until his death in Leipzig, despite the offers successively made to him of mathematical professorships at Frankfurt and Wittenberg. Calvisius was also a significant astronomer: in his Opus Chronologicum (Leipzig, 1605, 7th ed. 1685) he expounded a system based on the records of nearly 300 eclipses. An ingenious, though ineffective, proposal for the reform of the calendar was put forward in his Elenchus Calendarii Gregoriani (Frankfurt, 1612); and he published a book on music, Melodiae condendae ratio (Erfurt, 1592). He composed choral pieces including Unser Leben währet siebzig Jahr.
Works
Works
• Harmonia cantionum ecclesiasticarum, Kirchengesänge u. geistliche Lieder D. Lutheri u. andrer frommen Christen, Mit 4 Stimmen contrapunktweise richtig gesetzt. Leipzig 1597, 1598, 1604, 1612 and 1622 • Melopoiia sive melodiae condendae ratio. Erfurt 1592 and 1630 • Compendium musicae practicae. Leipzig 1594, also published in 1612 as Musicae artis praecepta • Exercitatio musica tertia. Leipzig 1611 • Exercitationes musicae duae. Leipzig 1600 • Hymni sacri Latini et Germanici. Erfurt 1594 • Der Psalter Davids., Cornelius Becker (ed.), Leipzig 1605 • Der 150. Psalm Davids. Leipzig 1615 • Opus chronologicum ex autoritate s. scripturae ad motum luminarium coelestium contextum. Leipzig 1605 (first edition), Frankfurt 1685 (6th edition) • Elenchus calendarii Gregoriani. Leipzig 1613 • Formula calendarii novi. Leipzig 1613 • Thesaurus latini sermonis. Leipzig 1614 • Enchiridion lexici Latino-Germanici. Leipzig 1614 • Tricinia, Auserlesene deutsche Lieder., Paul Rubardt (ed.), 1949 • 10 Motetten, Albrecht Tunger (ed.), 1965. • Biciniorum libri duo, Leipzig 1612
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1615
Sethus Calvisius died at Leipzig.
Catalogued output
Works and catalogued output
Sethus Calvisius [Kallwitz].
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Sethus Calvisius”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q65356: Sethus Calvisius
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
Institutional database
- MusicBrainz artist record for Sethus Calvisius
Scholarly · MetaBrainz Foundation
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.So der Titel der 5. Ausgabe, 1650, Erstausgabe Frankfurt/Main 1601; es folgten sechs weitere Ausgaben, vgl. Houzeau-Lancester 12831, dort allerdings falsche Angabe des Druckorts: Frankfurt/Oder.
- 2.ADB, Band III, S. 716.
- 3.Martin Steiger: Eine Gedenktafel gibt es seit 1956. Der Thomaskantor aus Gorsleben. Post vom 31. Juli 2023. In: Glaube und Heimat. meine Kirchenzeitung.
References
Citations
References
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Institutional database
MusicBrainz artist record for Sethus CalvisiusMetaBrainz Foundation
Verifiedreference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q65356: Sethus CalvisiusWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolved
A further 1 witness is held back from this article because the person or object named in it is not yet resolved to this record. They are kept, not discarded, and return once the identity is established.
Further particulars
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Further particulars
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Sethus Calvisius studied at Leipzig University and University of Helmstedt. He trained under Nikolaus Selnecker and Moritz Valentin Steinmetz. Each of those relationships is stated by the authority record rather than inferred from style.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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