Eccard was born at
Mühlhausen, in present-day
Thuringia,
Germany. At the age of eighteen he went to
Munich, where he became the pupil of
Orlando Lasso. In his company, Eccard is said to have visited
Paris, but in 1574, he was again at Mühlhausen, where he resided for four years. There he, together with
Joachim a Burck, edited some works of his first master, a collection of sacred songs, called
Crepundia sacra Helmboldi (1577). Soon afterwards he obtained an appointment as musician in the house of
Jacob Fugger, the
Augsburg banker. In 1583 he became assistant conductor, and in 1599 conductor at
Königsberg to
Georg Friedrich,
Margrave of
Brandenburg-Anspach, the administrator of the
Duchy of Prussia. In 1608 he was called by
Joachim Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg as principal conductor in
Berlin, but this post he held only for three years, owing to his death at Königsberg in 1611. Eccard's works consist exclusively of vocal compositions, such as songs, sacred
cantatas and
chorales for four or five, and sometimes for seven, eight, or even nine voices. Their
polyphonic structure is a marvel of art and still garners the admiration of musicians. At the same time his works are filled with a spirit of true religious feeling. Before the
First World War, his setting of
Martin Luther's words "
Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" ("A Mighty Fortress Is Our God") was regarded by the Germans as their representative national hymn. Eccard and his school are inseparably connected with the history of the
Protestant Reformation. Of Eccard's songs a great many collections are extant such as those published in
Der Evangelische Kirchengesang (1843) by
Baron Karl Georg August Vivigens von Winterfeld. ==Works==