MAC No. 14: Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich

Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg (1718 –1795) was a German music critic, music theorist and composer.

Little is known of Marpurg's early life. According to various sources, he studied "phi-losophy" and music. It is clear that he enjoyed a strong education and was friendly with various leading figures of the Enlightenment, including Winckelmann and Les-sing. In 1746, he travelled to Paris as the secretary for a General named either Rothenberg or Bodenberg. There, he became acquainted with intellectuals including the writer and philosopher Voltaire, the mathematician d'Alembert and the composer Jean-Philippe Rameau.

After 1746, he returned to Berlin where he was more or less independent. Marpurg's offer to write exclusively for Breitkopf & Härtel was declined by the firm in 1757. In 1760, he received an appointment to the Royal Prussian Lotteries, whose director he became in 1763, receiving the title of War Councillor. [Excerpted from Wikipedia]

The score is available on imslp.org