Carolus Andreae

Carolus Andreae was a German composer of the early seventeenth century who lived and worked at the Benedictine abbey of Irsee, near Kaufbeuren, in the region of Swabia. His date of death is placed around 1627, although it is not known with certainty, so this should be treated with caution.

He was a monk of the abbey and, from 1610 until his death, served as abbot. Together with Johann Seytz and Gregor Stemmelius, he helped turn the monastery into a leading centre in southern Germany for the practice of liturgical music in the early seventeenth century. Several of his vocal works and organ transcriptions survive in manuscript.

Most of the pieces are signed "FCA" (Frater Carolus Andreae), which suggests that they date from before his election as abbot. A somewhat later work is the Magnificat, conceived for the new organ he had installed shortly after becoming abbot, probably in 1612. His Te Deum for eight voices follows the Venetian polychoral style.

His legacy lies above all in the abbey's religious music, whose role in the musical life of the region was studied at the end of the nineteenth century.