Crüger began stu­dy­ing the­ol­o­gy in Wit­ten­berg in 1620. In 1622, he be­came or­gan­ist of the Ni­ko­lai­kirche (St. Ni­ko­lai Church) in Ber­lin. He was a friend of Paul Ger­hardt, and wrote mel­o­dies for ma­ny hymns by Ger­hardt and others. Crüger com­posed sa­cred works for chor­al and in­stru­ment­al per­form­ances, and was al­so a mu­sic­ol­o­gist and wrote about the the­o­ry and prac­tice of mu­sic. In 1640, Crüger ed­it­ed a hym­nal, ti­tled (be­gin­ning with the 1647 edi­tion) Prax­is Pie­ta­tis Mel­i­ca. His other works in­clude:

• Synopsis Mu­si­ca, 1630
• Newes volk­köm­lich­es Ge­sang­buch Augs­burg­isc­her Con­fess­ion, 1640
• Geistliche Kirch­en­mel­o­dien, 1649
• Psalmodia Sac­ra, 1657
• Mu­sic­ae Prac­ti­cae Prae­cep­ta (Rules for Prac­tic­ing Mu­sic), 1660

• Frost, p. 668
• Julian, p. 271-72, 1558, 1626
• Nutter, p. 455
• Stulken, pp. 122-23
• Young, p. 737

1. Allmächtiger Gott
2. Auf, Auf, Mein Herz
3. Gräfenberg
4. Herr, Ich Habe Miss­ge­han­delt
5. Herzliebster Je­su
6. Ho­ly Ghost
7. Jesu, Meine Freude
8. Jesu, Meine Zu­ver­sicht
9. Luise
10. Nun Dank­et
11. O Je­su Christ, Dein Krip­plein
12. Obla­tion
13. Schmücke Dich
14. St. Mary Mag­da­lene
15. Wie Soll Ich
16. Zeuch Ein