Adam Drese (1620 – 1701)

Adam Drese (1620 – 1701) was a German composer, kapellmeister and bass viol player of the baroque period, born in Thuringia.

He became a musician at the court of Duke Wilhelm IV of Saxe-Weimar before being sent by the duke to Warsaw to study with Marco Scacchi. On his return in 1652, he was appointed as the duke’s Kapellmeister.

With the duke’s death in 1662 his successor Wilhelm IV disbanded the Hofkapelle and, the duke’s son, duke Bernhard took Drese to Jena, where he appointed him as his Kapellmeister, secretary and also the town mayor from 1672 where he remained until 1683 when he found another post as Kapellmeister, to the Count of Schwarzburg at Arnstadt, a position he held until his death in 1701.