Ravn Hans Mikkelsen, Johannes Michaeli Corvinus, *ca. 1610 near Grenå (Jutland), †10 August 1663 Ørslev (Zealand), Danish music theorist, teacher and clergyman. Between 1631 and 1634, he studied theology at the University of Copenhagen (receiving his master’s degree in 1641), then taught at a school in Herlufsholm. From 1640, he was rector of the Latin school in Slagelse, and from 1652 until his death, he served as parish priest in Ørslev. Ravn is the author of the first work devoted to Danish music, Heptachordum danicum seu Nova Solmisatio (Copenhagen 1646). In it, he presented the history of Danish music and discussed Danish folklore and instruments. Based on the works of other theorists, including J. Burmeister, J. Crüger, J. Listenius, N. Lippius, M. Mersenne, M. Praetorius, G. Zarlino, Ravn also discussed the problems of musical notation, solmisation, chant, polyphony, harmony, tonality and the theory of rhetorical figures. Ravn’s works also include: Brevia et facilia praecepta componendi pro incipientibus Slagloensis (Copenhagen 1644) and Ex Rhythmologia Danica (Sorø 1649).
Literature: N.M. Jensen Musikalsk retorik i dansk tradition. Fra Hans Mikkelsen Ravn til Johann Adolf Scheibe, in Festschrift for J. Fafner, ed. P. Skyum-Nielsen and L. Rørbech, Copenhagen 1985.
Heptachordum danicum seu Nova Solmisatio, ed. B. Johnsson, Copenhagen 1977
