Coelestin Jungbauer

Coelestin Ferdinand Jungbauer (Grattersdorf, Bavaria, 1747 – Ingolstadt, 1823) was a German priest and composer whose output lies at the transition between the Baroque religious tradition and the sensibility of the Enlightenment. The son of a church musician, he received his first musical training within the family before completing his education at the Benedictine monastery of Niederaltaich.

After studying philosophy and theology in Freising and Salzburg, he entered the Benedictine order in 1769 and was ordained a priest in 1772. His teaching career began at the Gymnasium in Straubing, where he taught poetry from 1781, and continued in Amberg in 1784. During this same period he served as parish priest in Dettingen, near Metzingen, in 1785, and later in Grossmehring, near Ingolstadt, in 1788. In 1817 he was appointed priest of the Liebfrauenmünster in Ingolstadt.

The majority of his vocal compositions, both sacred and secular, date from between 1785 and 1800. His religious works, inspired by those of Michael Haydn, set German texts and employ sentimental parallel thirds and sixths, features that reflect Enlightenment ideals. His works include masses, vespers and a Stabat mater, as well as the collections of German Lieder published in Nuremberg and Leipzig in 1782, although the exact dating of these is given with reservations, according to some sources.