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[Johan]

(b Brussels, 1550; d Venice, 1610). Flemish copperplate engraver. One of a family of engravers, he worked in several German cities, notably Munich, and in Italy. His works include a number of devotional music publications (1584–90; some ed. in Organum, 1st ser., xix–xx, Leipzig, 1930). These engravings, sometimes known as ‘picture-motets’, show angels or biblical figures singing and playing from partbooks and may have been published in support of the Counter-Reformation. Their popularity is demonstrated by the fact that the earliest example, C. Verdonck’s Ave gratia plena (Antwerp, 1584), was reprinted at Rome in 1586 and at Antwerp in 1587. The composers, artists and engravers were all Flemish and these fine engravings, with the music complete and legible, bear witness to the thriving artistic life in Antwerp at the end of the 16th century. Although their influence on Verovio is largely conjectural, they are important in their own right as particularly beautiful and unusual examples of early music engraving. One of the finest, Pevernage’s ...

(b Hadamar, July 26, 1502; d Frankfurt, Feb 9, 1555). German printer. He enrolled as a student at the University of Mainz in 1516, probably remaining there until 1519. In 1528 he established a printing business in Strasbourg. In 1530 he moved to Frankfurt, where he was accepted as a citizen in the same year and began printing in 1530 or 1531. During the years 1538–43 he also maintained a subsidiary firm in Marburg where he was official university printer. He soon left this branch in the hands of his assistant, Andreas Kolbe, and returned to Frankfurt. After his death the firm was continued by his widow Margarethe until 1572, when she divided it among his heirs, who continued publishing under the name Egenolff until 1605.

Egenolff was the first printer of any importance in the city of Frankfurt, which was to become one of the main centres of the trade in the later 16th century. His production of about 500 works was large for his time; it included works in a great variety of fields such as medicine, science, history and the classics. His music publications, though a very small part of the total output, reflect his close ties to the humanistic movement and to the leaders of the Reformation. The earlier edition of Horatian odes (...

(b Eisfeld an der Werre, Suhl, 1488; d Wittenberg, Aug 6, 1548). German publisher. Working in Wittenberg, removed from the main centres of music publication, he became one of the most important music publishers, particularly for the Reformation church. He studied at the University of Wittenberg (1512–14), and then worked for four years in the publishing house of Johann Rhau-Grunenberg (presumably his uncle). In 1518 he left Wittenberg to become Kantor of the Thomasschule and Thomaskirche in Leipzig, a position he held until at least 1 May 1520. On 18 September 1518 he also joined the faculty of the University of Leipzig, lecturing in music theory.

Rhau may have been associated with the circle of theologians surrounding Luther in Wittenberg; as a resident of that city at the time of the nailing of the 95 theses, he was certainly aware of Luther’s position. In June 1519...