Herbst, Johann Andreas
Herbst, Johann Andreas
Herbst, Johann Andreas, German violinist, music theorist, and composer; b. Nuremberg (baptized), June 9, 1588; d. Frankfurt am Main, Jan. 24, 1666. He received training in Nuremberg. He was Kapellmeister at the courts of Butzbach (1614–18) and Darmstadt (1618–23), and then in Frankfurt am Main (1623–36). After serving in that capacity in Nuremberg (1636–44), he again held that post in Frankfurt am Main from 1644 until his death. His extant theoretical works comprise Musica practica (Nuremberg, 1642; 2nd ed., 1653 and 3rd ed., 1658 as Musica moderna prattica) and Musica poetica (Nuremberg, 1643), the latter being the first book in the German language on the composer’s art. Herbst was one of the earliest German composers to adopt the use of the basso continuo and the concertato style. His works were ed. by J. Muller-Blattau in Das Erbe Deutscher Musik, 2nd series, I (1937).
Bibliography
A. Allerup, Die “Musica Practica” des J.A. H. (Kassel, 1931).
—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire