Walliser, Christoph Thomas

Walliser, Christoph Thomas, important Alsatian composer; b. Strasbourg, April 17, 1568; d. there, April 26, 1648. After attending the Protestant Gymnasium in Strasbourg, he pursued his training in the liberal arts and sciences in Bohemia, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany. Upon his return to Strasbourg in 1598, he was made musicus Ordinarius at the Gymnasium; he also was active at the Thomaskirche (from 1600). With the coming of the Thirty Years’ War, he lost his post at the Gymnasium (1634) and spent his last years in poverty. He was the foremost Alsatian composer of his time, excelling particularly in music for the church.

Works

(all publ. in Strasbourg unless otherwise given) Teutsche Psalmen for 5 Voices (Nuremberg, 1602); Hexastichon for 6 Voices (Liegnitz, 1610); Choris musici...in Andromeda Tragoedia for 3 to 6 Voices (1612); In festum nativitatis Domini for 5 Voices (1613); Ecclesiodiae for 4 to 6 Voices (1614); Te Deum laudamus for 6 Voices (1617); Ecclesiodiae novae for 4 to 7 Voices (1625); Herrn Wilhelmus Salusten von Barias Triumph des Glaubens for 5 Voices (1627); Chorus musicus…D. Leopoldo Austria Archduci for 3 Voices (1628); Fons Israelis for 8 Voices (1641); also motets in contemporary collections, and madrigals.

Bibliography

U. Klein, CT. W. (1568-1648): Ein Beitrag zur Musikgeschichte Strassburgs (diss., Univ. of Tex., 1964).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire