Resinarius, Balthasar 01/01/1486 - 04/12/1544

Balthasar Resinarius (1486?-1546?), German composer, is possibly, but not certainly, identified with Balthasar Harzer or Hartzer. He was born in Tetschen, Bohemia. He took holy orders and became Bishop of Laipa in Bohemian in about 1543. He had been a chorister under Isaac in Maximilian I's court chapel. He became a Catholic priest in the service of Hans von Salhausen, but was an early convert to Lutheranism and an important member of the first generation of Protestant composers. He was also appointed Bishop of Leipa.

Georg Rhaw issued in Wittenberg in 1543 Balthasar Resinarius' Responsorium numero orctoginta de tempore et festis… libri duo. These 80 responsories were Latin pieces intended for the Lutheran schools, and he was generously represented in Rhaw's chorale collection of 1544 by some thirty settings, on the whole conservative in their cantus firmus style, imitative writing, and old-fashioned (under-third) cadences. One of these works is a Te Deum for two choirs in alternation.

Source: HOASM Website; Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1952 Edition)