Johann Nicolaus Hanff

Mattheson was a composition and keyboard student of Hanff in Hamburg. Hanff was a court organist to the Prince-bishop of Lubeck before 1696. He returned to Hamburg in 1705 and took the position of the cathedral organist at Schleswig in 1711. The only compositions that survive are three church cantatas and three organ choral preludes. In the body of the cantatas, Hanff contrasted the chorus with soloists and the chorales were modeled after Buxtehude. One of the preludes contains two-parts, finishing with a chorale fugue. This particular prelude was more consistent with middle-German musical customs. © Keith Johnson /TiVo