Knefelius, Joannes (EN)

Knefelius, Knefel, Knöfel, Knöbel, Knöpflin, Joannes, Johann, *ca. 1530 Lauban (now Lubań), †after 1616, Silesian composer. In the 1550s or the 1560s was a cantor at the Latin school in Goldberg (now Złotoryja), where he taught string, wind, and keyboard instruments, among other things. By 1569 at the latest, he had taken up the position of magister chori at the court of Henry V of the Piast dynasty, Duke of Brzeg and Legnica. In 1579 (or 1578), he moved to the court of the Elector Palatine Louis VI, in Heidelberg, where he also became Kapellmeister. He probably returned to Silesia in 1583. In 1592, he was organist and cantor at St Henry’s Church in Prague, where he had already settled. 

Knefelius’ sacred music is closely linked to the Lutheran liturgy, in which the composer was an advocate of retaining Latin and connections with Gregorian chant. On the title pages of Melodiae and both collections of Cantiones, he also emphasises that the motets contained therein were created with both vocal and vocal-instrumental performance in mind. Knefelius combines imitative texture, often very free, with chordal texture, always ensuring good declamation of the text.  Knefelius’ mass belongs to the missa parodia type and is based on O. di Lasso’s motet In me transierunt. Cantus choralis, dedicated to the Wrocław Senate, contains seven mass cycles for the most important feasts of the liturgical year. The cycles always include the Introit, Kyrie, Gloria, alleluia verse, and sequence, and the first two also include the Sanctus and Agnus Dei. At the end, the composer adds the Te Deum, a prayer for the defence of the Church and a prayer for peace. Some Glorias, as well as other parts, show how the alternatim practice was used in Silesia. In the Christmas cycle, Knefelius includes a choice of two Kyrie compositions and two sequence arrangements, 6-part with Latin text and 5-part with German text. Knefelius’ secular songs are written to reflective, panegyric and entertaining texts. In addition to imitation and free polyphony, they feature chordal fragments, mainly in triple metre, of a dance-like character. The last piece in the collection is a dialogue for two 4-voice choirs.

Literature: G. Bossert Die Hofkantorei unter Herzog Ludwig von Würtemberg, “Württembergische Vierteljahrshefte für Landesgeschichte” IX, 1900; H.A. Sander Ein Orgelbuch der Breslauer Magdalenenkirche aus dem 17. Jahrhunderts, in: Festschrift Max Schneider zur 60. Geburtstag, ed. H.J. Zingel, Halle 1935; H.A. Sander Geschichte des lutherischen Gottesdienstes und der Kirchenmusik in Breslau, Wrocław 1937; W. Scholz Zu Johannes Knöffel, “Archiv für Musikforschung” VII, 1942; F. Feldmann Der Laubaner Johannes Knöfel, insbesondere sein “Cantus choralis” in: Die Schlesische Kirchenmusik im Wandel der Zeiten, “Das evangelische Schlesien” VI, vol. 2, Lubeka 1975; J. Šebesta Johannes Knefelius a literátské bratrstvo u sv. Jindřicha jako centrum intelektuálů v Praze kolem roku 1590, in: Město a intelektuálové. Od středověku do roku 1848, red. S.O. Fejtová, Prague 2008; J. Šebesta Joannes Knefelius a jeho stopy ve střední Evropě, w: Hudobnohistorický výskum na Slovensku začiatkom 21. storočia, Bratislava 2007, ed. M. Hulková, Bratislava 2010; C. Leitmeir Lutheran Propers for Wrocław/Breslau: The Cantus Choralis (1575) of Johannes Knöfel, in: The Musical Culture of Silesia before 1742. New Contexts – New Perspectives, ed. P. Gancarczyk, L. Hlávková-Mráčková and R. Pośpiech, Frankfurt am Main 2013.