Born: c1649
Died: October 30, 1712

Erich Daniel was a German organist and composer. His family probably came from Lübeck, where his father, also Daniel, was a lutenist and maker of stringed instruments. In 1677 St Mary's Church bought a tenor viola da braccio from his father for Dietrich Buxtehude's use in concerted works from the choir loft. In these, the son played continuo on the positive organ from 1675 to 1679, strengthening Gerber's assertion that he was a pupil of the Lübeck master. Erich became organist of the parish church in Güstow, south of Rostock, where he was unsuccessful in persuading the church to have Arp Schnitger rebuild the organ. However, he gave the opening recital on the new organ Schnitger had built for the castle church at Dargun in 1700 and was celebrated in a poem written for the occasion: ‘So come then, Master Erich, thou son of Buxtehude in the fair art he has entrusted to you, come and display your fruit from this head of the muses on this organ which here has been built’.

Only a few of his chorale settings survive, each one adopting a different technique. Allein zu dir follows Buxtehude's practice of Vorimitation while Christum wir sollen loben schon, presumably a pleno setting, employs the chorale as a bass. Es ist das Heil is a three-part manualiter setting which dissolves the chorale melody in a much more abstract manner. The six verses to Von Gott will ich nicht lassen give ample proof that Erich was not only fluent in the keyboard idioms of his time, but also aware of the variation technique of his northern predecessors such as Samuel Scheidt.

Works

Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, org, CH-W, NL-DHgm; ed. K. Straube in Choralvorspiele alter Meister (Leipzig, 1907) [from an autograph of J.G. Walther's in Königsberg that was destroyed in 1945]
Christum wir sollen loben schon, org, US-NH
Es ist das Heil uns kommen her, org, Plauener Orgelbuch (1708); ed. F. Dietrich in Elf Orgelchoräle des siebzehnten Jahrhunderts (Kassel, 1932)
Von Gott will ich nicht lassen, org, NL-DHgm

Source: Grove Music Online, © Oxford University Press 2006, Acc. 1/18/06 (Author: Hugh J. McLean)
Contributed by Thomas Braatz (January 2006)

Use of Chorale Melodies in his works

Title

Chorale Melody

Year

Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, Chorale Prelude for Organ

Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ

Christum wir sollen loben schon, Chorale Prelude for Organ

Christum wir sollen loben schon

Es ist das Heil uns kommen her, Chorale Prelude for Organ for from his Plauener Orgelbuch

Es ist das Heil uns kommen her

1708

6 Variations (Chorale Preludes for Organ) on Von Gott will ich nicht lassen

Von Gott will ich nicht lassen

Links to other Sites

Bibliography

GerberL
M. Seiffert: ‘Das Plauener Orgelbuch von 1708’, AMw, ii (1920), 371–93
W. Haacke: ‘Der Buxtehudeschüler Daniel Erich und seine Orgel in Güstrow’, Musik und Kirche, xxxix (1969), 18–24
K.J. Snyder: Dieterich Buxtehude: Organist in Lübeck (New York, 1987)