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Sebastian Ochsenkun

German composer and luth player

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 5, 2025
Entity authorityQ105867 ↗
Source-derived summary

Sebastian Ochsenkun, known also as Sebastian Ochsenkhun (born 6 February 1521 in Nuernberg; † 20 August 1574 in Heidelberg), was a German Lutenist and composer.

Life

Ochsenkun‘s father was a barber who also made cornets. He was a student of Hans Vogel.

He was lutenist at the court of Otto Henry in Pfalz-Neuburg before moving on practice at the court of Heidelberg when Otto Henry became Elector Palatine of Heidelberg. In 1558 Ochsenkun published, in a volume dedicated to Otto Henry, a collection of songs and motets titled Tabulaturbuch auff die Lauten that contained works from the musical collection of the court of Heidelberg. He was also entrusted with official functions in Heidelberg: as flour weigher he was responsible for the validation of all flour traded in Heidelberg.

His sons Friedrich and Christoph both studied at the Heidelberg University.

He is buried next to his wife, Sibylla Sebastiani Ochsenkuntz, who died September 1571.

Works

Tabulaturbuch auff die Lauten […]. Durch Sebastian Ochsenkhun […].

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Sebastian Ochsenkun” is german composer and luth player. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Sebastian, Ochsenkun and German, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1521, 1574, 1558, 1571—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1521-02-06. For this dossier, Sebastian, Ochsenkun and German is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “german composer and luth player” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 5, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q105867. VIAF identifies the subject as 37788814. The Library of Congress control number is nr89001149. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1521, 1574, 1558 and 1571.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Sebastian Ochsenkun”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Sebastian Ochsenkun primary sources, Sebastian Ochsenkun archive and Sebastian research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Sebastian Ochsenkun”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Sebastian Ochsenkun” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.