(b Vacha, 1501; d Mainz, 16 Feb 1573). German theologian. He studied theology in Erfurt from 1516 to 1517, and in 1520 he continued his studies in Wittenberg with Luther. He was ordained in Merseburg and received a curacy in his home community of Vacha. When in 1524 he became a Lutheran and married, he forfeited his ecclesiastical office and worked as town clerk in Vacha. For some years he was a Lutheran pastor in Wenigen-Lupitz and in Niemegk. However, intensive study of the writings of the Church Fathers caused him to turn away from Lutheranism, and by 1533 he was a Catholic preacher in Eisleben. Many apologetic writings followed in which he supported the Old Church and its service. He was summoned to the court in Dresden by the Catholic Duke Georg the Bearded of Saxony, but lost this appointment with the death of the duke and the ensuing Reformation in Dresden in 1539. A move to Brandenburg, where he had been summoned by Joachim II, was short-lived because of the rapid progress made by Lutheranism in the Brandenburg lands. At the end of 1540 he had to leave Berlin. Johann von Henneberg, abbot of Fulda, appointed Witzel councillor, in which capacity he took part in many imperial diets. After 1553 he was a theologian at the newly founded Mainz University. Emperor Ferdinand I appointed him Imperial Councillor and he took his doctorate of theology in Mainz. Emperor Maximilian II granted him an annual pension and he was buried in St Ignaz, Mainz. His many theological writings (some 150 titles) are concerned mainly with pastoral theology, and include sermons and writings on the Catechism, and with studies on the Church Fathers. His dearest wish was to reunite the German church by reforming the Catholic service. In his contributions to Michael Vehe’s hymnbook (1537) and his hymnological writings he advocated the revival of the hymns of the common people in the vernacular. He sought to incorporate into the Catholic liturgy not only German hymns, but also the German language for psalms and the Mass.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ADB (P. Tschakert)
P.Wackernagel: Bibliographie zur Geschichte des deutschen Kirchenliedes im XVI. Jahrhundert (Frankfurt, 1855/R), 175–6, 234–5, 571–2, 591ff
P.Wackernagel: Das deutsche Kirchenlied von der ältesten Zeit bis zu Anfang des 17. Jahrhunderts (Leipzig, 1864–77), i, 757, 760, 835ff; v, 923ff
W.Bäumker: Das deutsche Kirchenlied in seinen Singweisen (Freiburg, 1886–91), i, 65–6, 129ff; iii, 359–60
W.Trusen: ‘Witzel, Georg’, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. M. Buchberger (Freiburg, 1930–38, 3/1993–7)
J.Lortz: Die Reformation in Deutschland (Freiburg, 1939, 4/1962)
W.Trusen: Georg Witzel (diss., U. of Göttingen, 1950)
M.Härting: ‘Die kirchlichen Gesänge in der Volkssprache’, Geschichte der katholischen Kirchenmusik, i, ed. K.G. Fellerer (Kassel, 1972), 453–63, esp. 456
WALTHER LIPPHARDT
Witzendorf, Adolph Othmar.
Proprietor of Austrian music publishing company, 1844–68. SeeCappi.
Witzthumb, Ignaz.
SeeVitzthumb, Ignaz.
Wixell, Ingvar
(b Luleå, 7 May 1931). Swedish baritone. He studied in Stockholm, and made his début there in 1955 as Papageno, remaining a member of the Swedish Royal Opera until 1967. During the company's visit to Covent Garden in 1960 he sang Silvano (Ballo in maschera) and Ruggiero (Alcina). In 1962 he sang Guglielmo at Glyndebourne and at the Deutsche Oper, Berlin, where he was subsequently engaged. In 1967 he made his US début as Belcore (L'elisir d'amore) at San Francisco. In 1971 he first appeared at Bayreuth, as the Herald (Lohengrin). His Covent Garden début, as Boccanegra, followed in 1972, and his Metropolitan début, as Rigoletto, in 1973. He was an admired interpreter of most of the major Verdi baritone roles – Amonasro, Don Carlo (La forza del destino), Germont, Posa, Renato, Luna and Falstaff – as well as of such parts as Pizarro, Yevgeny Onegin, Mandryka (Arabella) and Scarpia. Wixell's firm, dark-toned voice and powerful stage presence combined to make him a highly dramatic performer. Among his recordings are Count Almaviva, Don Giovanni, Renato and Scarpia, all with Colin Davis.
ELIZABETH FORBES
Wizel, Georg.
SeeWitzel, Georg.
Wizlâv [Wizlaw von Rügen]
(flc1300). German Minnesinger. 13 Minnelieder and 14 Sprüche are attributed to him in the Jena manuscript; 17 of them have melodies in this source. The Minnelieder are composed of traditional formulae and motifs, while religious and moralizing topics predominate in his Spruch poetry. He stated that he had learnt the art of poetry from ‘der Ungelârte’, none of whose poetry survives. A member of a later generation of poets, he seems to have emulated the forms and themes of other masters, notably Gottfried von Neifen, Steinmar, Ulrich von Winterstetten and Reinmar von Zweter. In rhythm and metre and in melodic style his poems exhibit an independently artistic and highly developed formal sense. His melodies, some of which are characterized by rich melismas, justify substantial study.
Since the beginning of the 19th century he has been identified with Wizlâv III, Prince of Pomerania and Rügen (d 1325). However, more recently objections to the identification have been raised; Seibicke has suggested that the author of these works is more likely to have been a professional singer than a high-ranking nobleman.
WORKS
Editions: Des Fürsten von Rügen Wizlaw’s… Sprüche und Lieder, ed. L. Ettmüller (Quedlinburg, 1852/R) [critical text edn]Die Jenaer Liederhandschrift, ed. G. Holz, F. Saran and E. Bernoulli (Leipzig, 1902/R) [texts and melodies]Ausgewählte Melodien des Minnesangs, ed. E. Jammers (Tübingen, 1963)The Songs of the Minnesinger Prince Wizlaw of Rügen: with Modern Transcriptions of his Melodies and English Translations of his Verse, ed. W. Thomas and B.G. Seagrave (Chapel Hill, 1967)Die Jenaer Liederhandschrift in Abbildung, ed. H. Tervooren and U. Müller (Göppingen, 1972) [facs.]
All Wizlâv’s songs appear uniquely in D-Ju El.f.101 [Jenaer Liederhandschrift], ff.72v–80v.
Ich wil singen in der nuwen wise (unascribed, see Thomas and Seagrave, 87)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
F.Gennrich: ‘Zu den Melodien Wizlavs von Rügen’, ZDADL, lxxx (1943), 86–102
R.J.Taylor: ‘A Song by Prince Wizlav of Rügen’, Modern Language Review, xlvi (1951), 31–7
H.de Boor: Die höfische Literatur: Vorbereitung, Blüte, Ausklang, 1170–1250, Geschichte der deutschen Literatur, ed. H. de Boor and R. Newald, ii (Munich, 1955, rev. 11/1991 by U. Hennig) [incl. bibliography]
S.Werg: Die Sprüche und Lieder Wizlavs von Rügen: Untersuchung und kritische Ausgabe der Gedichte (Hamburg, 1969)
E.Jammers: ‘Anmerkungen zur Musik Wizlaws von Rügen’, Quellenstudien zur Musik: Wolfgang Schmieder zum 70. Geburtstag, ed. K. Dormüller and G. von Dadelsen (Frankfurt, 1972), 103–14
W.Seibicke: ‘“Wizlau diz scrip” oder: wer ist der Autor von J. fol. 72v–80v’, Jb des Vereins für niederdeutsche Sprachforschung, ci (1978), 68–85
C.Händl: ‘Wizlav (von Rügen?)’, Literaturlexikon: Autoren und Werke deutscher Sprache, ed. W. Killy (Gütersloh, 1988–93)
E.Hages: ‘“Snel hel ghel scrygh ich dinen namen”: zu Wizlauws Umgang mit Minnesangtraditionen des 13. Jahrhunderts’, Lied im deutschen Mittelalter: Überlieferung, Typen, Gebrauch: Chiemsee 1991, ed. C. Edwards, E. Hellgardt and N.H. Ott (Tübingen, 1996), 157–76