ECCARD, JOHANN (1553-1611), German composer of church music, was born at Muhlhausen, Thuringia, in 1553. He studied at Munich, under Orlando Lasso, in whose company he is said to have visited Paris. In 1583 he became assistant conductor, and in 1599 conductor, at Konigsberg, to Georg Friedrich, mar grave of Brandenburg-Anspach, and in 16o8 he was called by the elector Joachim Friedrich to Berlin as chief conductor. He died at Konigsberg in 1611. Eccard's works consist exclusively of vocal compositions, such as songs, sacred cantatas and chorales for four or five, and sometimes for seven, eight, or even nine voices. Their polyphonic structure is remarkable and still excites the admiration of musicians. At the same time his works are instinct with a spirit of true religious feeling. Eccard and his school are inseparably connected with the history of the Reformation and "Ein' f este Burg" is only one of many Lutheran hymns for which he provided memorable settings.
See K. G. A. von Winterfeld, Der Evangelische Kirchengesang (1843) ; and G. Reichmann, Joh. Eccards weltliche Werke (Heidelberg, 1922).