Staden, Johann 07/02/1581 - 11/15/1634

German organist and composer. By age eighteen he was active as an organist in Nuremberg, and by April 16, 1604 he was appointed court organist at Bayreuth. When Margrave Christian moved his court to Kulmbach in 1605, Staden apparently followed and published both his Neue teutsche Lieder and Neue teutsche geistliche Gesänge there in 1609. By the beginning of 1611 he was back in Nuremberg, and on June 20 he became organist at the Spitalkirche; he assumed the same position at St. Lorenz on November 19. In 1618 Staden obtained the position of organist at St. Sebald, where he remained for the rest of his life. Among his pupils were Kindermann and his son, Sigmund Theophil. Staden was the founder of the so-called Nuremberg school of the 17th century. His Harmoniae sacrae (1616) is notable for including some of the earliest sacred concertos in Germany, and his instrumental music is among the most important produced in Germany during his lifetime. He published attractive German dance songs, and motets in various styles: polyphonic and old-fashioned, Venetian polychoral, and modern concertato. These last use obbligato instruments and ritornellos, as well as basso continuo.