Biography
Most of his creatively active years as a German composer and organist unfolded in Italy, where he produced a wealth of instrumental and vocal music. Rosenmüller stands out as one of the rare German figures who composed on the peninsula yet achieved widespread recognition back home by transplanting Italian idioms northward. While serving as organist and instructor in Leipzig he created numerous works for the instrument. In 1658 he joined the trombone section at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice, remaining in Italy until his return to Germany around 1682. From 1645 to 1682 he issued four collections of instrumental music that extended from straightforward Italian dance suites to intricate consort sonatas. The suites themselves offered little structural innovation, although debate persists over his distinctive pairing of pavans. The twelve sonatas of 1682 feature extensive fugal writing. Beyond these publications he left roughly two hundred sacred vocal pieces, among them Latin Masses and Psalms. Rosenmüller showed particular skill in shaping vocal lines to convey emotion with clarity.