Nicolaus Bruhns

Nicolaus Bruhns Sheet Music

  • Born: 1665
  • Died: 29th March 1697
  • Birthplace: Schwabstedt, Husum, Denmark

Nicolaus Bruhns was a Danish-German organist, violinist, and composer. He was one of the most prominent organists and composers of his generation. Bruhns' surviving oeuvre is unfortunately small: only 12 vocal and 5 organ pieces are extant. The vocal works include four sacred concertos that established a new level of virtuosity in the genre, and three sacred madrigal cantatas that represent a direct link with the next century and the work of Johann Sebastian Bach. Although the instrumental writing in most of these works suggests that Bruhns could only rely on musicians of average skill, there are movements, such as the opening sonatina of the solo cantata Mein Herz ist bereit, that feature highly developed, virtuosic textures. Bruhns almost certainly wrote chamber music, which may have been of the same high quality, but none of these works survive.

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