Christian Geist

Christian Geist (c. 1640 – 27 September 1711) was a German composer and organist, who lived and worked mainly in Scandinavia.

He was born in Güstrow, where his father, Joachim Geist, was cantor at the cathedral school. From 1665–1666 and 1668–1669 he was a boy member of the court orchestra conducted by Daniel Danielis (1635-1696) of Duke Gustav Adolph of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. He was a bass singer at the Danish court music ensemble in Copenhagen in 1669 and in June 1670 moved to the Swedish court orchestra under Gustaf Düben the elder (ca. 1628-1690), a position he held until June 1679, having applied unsuccessfully for the position of choirmaster of St. John's in Hamburg in 1674. He became organist of the German church in Gothenburg, and in November 1684 moved to Copenhagen, where he succeeded J.M. Radeck as organist of the Helligaandskirke, a post he held to his death, and also the Trinitatis Church, after marrying his widow Magdalena Sibylla in May 1685 (a practice by no means rare). He succeeded Johann Lorentz as organist of the Church of Holmen in Copenhagen in 1689. He died, with his third wife and all their children, of the bubonic plague.

Sixty of his vocal works have survived, all but two of a sacred nature, with Latin texts; they were probably composed during his time in Stockholm. Most are intended for court performance, and one third for use in church services, but he also wrote larger works for royal ceremonies; Quis hostis in coelis and Domine in virtute were written for Charles XI's accession to the throne in 1672.

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