Moritz, Landgrave of Hessen-Kassel
Moritz, Landgrave of Hessen-Kassel
Moritz, Landgrave of Hessen-Kassel, German patron of the arts and composer, called Moritz “der Gelehrte” (the learned); b. Kassel, May 25, 1572; d. Eschwege, March 15, 1632. He succeeded his father in 1592, remaining as landgrave until abdicating in favor of his son during the 30 Years’ War in 1627. Having studied music with the court Kapellmeister Georg Otto, he took a deep interest in all the arts and gained a reputation as a great patron of enlightened views and noble generosity. He built the first court theater in Germany, the Ottoneum (1605), which he named for his Kapellmeister. He was the patron of Heinrich Schütz. In 1955 the musicological inst, in Kassel was named in his honor as the Landgraf-Moritz-Stiftung. He wrote much sacred music and some instrumental pieces, most of which have not survived.
Bibliography
E. Zulauf, Beiträge zur Geschichte der landgräflichhes-sischen Hofkapelle zu Cassei bis auf die Zeit M. des Gelehrten(Kassel, 1902).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis Mclntire