Adlung, Jakob
Adlung, Jakob
Adlung, Jakob, distinguished German music scholar and organist; b. Bindersleben, near Erfurt, Jan. 14, 1699; d. Erfurt, July 5, 1762. He began his music studies with his father, the teacher and organist David Adlung. While matriculating at the Erfurt Gymnasium (1713), he stayed with Christian Reichardt, who taught him organ. He then studied theology, philosophy, philology, and other subjects at the Univ. of Jena (graduated, 1726), and concurrently received further training in organ from Johann Nikolaus Bach. From 1727 until his death he was organist of Erfurt’s Prediger church. He also was a prof. of languages at the Erfurt Gymnasium, a teacher of organ, and builder of keyboard instruments. Adlung was an important writer on music theory and aesthetics. His valuable books are Anleitung zu der musikalischen Gelahrtheit (Erfurt, 1758; 2nd ed., rev, 1783, by J. Hiller), Musica medianica organoedi (ed. by J. Albrecht; Berlin, 1768), and Musikalisches Siebengestirn. Das ist: Sieben zu der edlen Tonkunst gehôrige Fragen (ed. by J. Albrecht; Berlin, 1768).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire