Georg Rhau

He was principally active in Wittenberg, Saxony, the town where Martin Luther is said to have nailed the Ninety-five Theses to the door of the Castle Church, initiating the Reformation.

[2] Born in the Thuringian town of Eisfeld, then part of Ernestine Saxony, Rhau from 1513 onwards studied philosophy at the newly established University of Wittenberg.

During Luther's Leipzig Debate, he performed his mass Missa de Sancto Spiritu for twelve voices on 27 June 1519.

In 1520 Rhau had to leave Leipzig, due to his favourable attitude towards the Reformation, and went on to serve as a schoolmaster in the Mansfeld town of Eisleben and in Hildburghausen.

Rhau published methodbooks and various significant prints of music by contemporary composers, such as Heinrich Finck, Thomas Stoltzer, Arnold von Bruck, and Ludwig Senfl.