Johann Krieger

Organist and composer Johann Krieger was born in Nuremberg on 28 December 1651 into a family of rug makers. At St Sebaldus Church in Nuremberg he shared the same teacher as Johann Pachelbel - Heinrich Schwemmer, and sang in the choir. He studied keyboard with Georg Caspar Wecker, and composition at Zeitz. His elder brother, Johann Philipp Krieger, also a composer and organist, became Kapellmeister at Bayreuth and Johann Krieger became court organist there. He then worked as a chamber musician at Zeitz, and later became Kapellmeister at Greiz and then Eisenberg. His final position, held until his death on 18 July 1735, was as organist and choir master at Johanniskirche in Zittau.

He's widely considered as one of the most important German composers of the period, admired even by Handel. Much of his music survives in manuscript, and some collections, such as Neue musicalische Ergetzligkeit, Sechs musicalische Partien and Anmuthige Clavier-Übung were published, although many Krieger manuscripts were burnt when Zittau and its church were destroyed in 1757 during the Seven Years' War.