H. Walter: Musikgeschichte der Stadt Lüneburg vom Ende des 16. bis zum Anfang des 18. Jahrhunderts (Tutzing, 1967)
MARTIN RUHNKE
Jacobi, Samuel
(b Grossgrabe, Upper Lusatia, 1652; d Grimma, 26 June 1721). German copyist and composer. After studying at the Kreuzschule in Dresden from 1671 and, from 1675, at Leipzig University, he obtained on 8 March 1680 the post of quartus and Kantor at the Fürstenschule of St Augustine at Grimma, Saxony, a post which he held until his death. His importance lies not in his compositions (26 short Evangelienkonzerte in D-Dlb, motets) but in his activity as copyist of a large collection of church music, now in the Sächsische Landesbibliothek, Dresden. It stands beside the Bokemeyer (Berlin) and Düben (Uppsala) collections in its importance in preserving sources of the German and Latin sacred Konzerte of German and Italian composers of the generation after Heinrich Schütz and of the early church cantata. The copies, most of which bear dates of performances, attest to the highly developed cult of church music under Jacobi’s direction at the Grimma Fürstenschule.