Sun of composers
The source for the Sun of composers was the music magazine “Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung” (no. 5, vol. 1, 1799) –
Founded by Friedrich Rochlitz (1769-1842) and edited by him until 1818 after which he contributed articles until 1835. Subsequent editors were Gottfried Fink, C. F. Becker, Moritz Hauptmann, and Johann Christian Lobe, among others. A weekly periodical, it was one of the most esteemed topical publications in the field of music. In addition to reviews, articles, (covering a wide range of interest -history, musicians, composers, instruments, etc.) there are musical scores of well known composers published for the first time. Beethoven (amongst others) was a subscriber.
The actual “sun” was designed and engraved by Augustus Frederick Christopher Kollman.
What interested me mostly was that most of the composers were completely obscure, and have now completely faded from our musical culture. Then many composers of the time that we now regard highly are not mentioned (e.g. Purcel. Scarlatti – father and son – Monteverdi, etc.).
Here is the “sun”:
At the very centre, he places the name of Johann Sebastian Bach, inside a triangle.
The idea that somehow Bach fell into obscurity after his death only to be “rediscovered” by Mendelssohn 60 years later, has of course been discredited for a while now. Sure, the “public” may not have known about him, but this would have been true during his lifetime anyway. Most of the “public” nowadays probably still does not know who he is (I asked a number of teenagers at my daughter’s school, and some had heard of Beethoven. Bach drew a blank on most of them. On the other hand they knew a lot of musicians and composers I had not the faintest idea who they were talking about – Sean Paul, Katie Melua, Daniel Powter, etc.)
On each side of the triangle he placed the names of
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809)
Georg Friedrich Handel (1685 – 1759)
And ( I have done a little research on the more obscure of these composers)
Carl Heinrich Graun (1704 – 1759) – A tenor and composer, Graun entered the service of Crown prince Frederick and when he became king, Graun was made conductor of the Berlin Opera, for which he wrote 26 italian operas (with librettos by the king himself). According to CPE Bach (who was also at the service of the king), J.S Bach valued his works highly. Graun also composed organ works, cantatas, passions and concertos.
From the triangle emanated the several rays of the sun:
- Wolfgang Mozart (1756 – 1791)
- Leopold Kozeluch (1747 – 1818) Composer and teacher to the Viennese aristocracy. Succeeded Mozart as Court composer in Prague; wrote operas, ballets, symphonies, and piano works. His cousin Jan (1738 – 1814) was an organist and Kapellmeister in Prague, but I believe it is Loepold who is referred to in the “sun” since there seems to be a Viennese bias.
- Christoph Willibald von Gluck (1714 – 1787)
- Johann Baptist Wanhall (Van Hall) (1739 – 1813) – Violinist, organist and composer, was a teacher in Vienna (Pleyel was one of his pupils). Often played cello in a string quartet with Haydn, Mozart and Ditterstdorf. Wrote 70 symphonies, 100 string quartets, 60 masses, concertos and many chamber works.
- Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752 – 1814) – Court composer and conductor to Frederick the Great and Frederick II (eventually he was kicked out for being a sympathiser of the French Revolution). Besides authoring several books on composition, he composed 12 operas, and 1500 songs plus chamber music.
- Johann Gottfried Schwanenberger (1737-1804) – Not much information on this one, except that he composed a number of Italian operas.
- Heinrich Schutz (1585 – 1672) – Apart from Bach, the only non-contemporary (or almost) composer in the list. Organist and composers, generally considered the greatest of Bach’s predecessors. Wrote mostly religious (sacred) music.
- Johann Gottlieb Naumann (1741 – 1801) – He was Court composer of sacred music in Dresden, then went to Stockolm to reform the Court orchestra and conduct opera. Eventually he returned to Dresden as Oberkapelmeister. He composed 24 operas, 13 oratorios, 21 masses, 18 Symphonies, and much chamber music.
- Johann Adam Hiller (1728 – 1804) – Considered the creator of the Singspiel (a kind of opera where spoken dialogue is used and which is generally comic). Composed mostly church music. He succeeded Bach at Leipzig.
- Ignaz Pleyel (1757 – 1831) – Violinist and pianist who founded the Pleyel piano factory. He was a pupil of Haydn and composed 24 symphonies, 45 String quartets, 18 flute quartets, 2 violin concertos, 4 cello concertos, 2 piano concertos and 6 piano sonatas, plus several other minor works.
- Georg Antonin Benda (1722 – 1795) Oboist, keyboard player and composer. Founded melodrama (a kind of opera where spoken dialogue is accompanied by musical commentary).
- Johann Heinrich Rolle (1716 - 1785) – Music director at Magderburg.
- Georg Phillip Telemann (1661 – 1767)
- C.P.E. Bach (1714 – 1788)
- Seidelmann (sp.?) Couldn’t find any information on this one.
- Karl Friedrich Abel (1723 – 1787) played viola da gamba forwhich instrument he is an important composer.He studied under J. S Bach at the Leipzig Thomasschule; played for ten years under A. Hasse in the band formed at Dresden by the elector of Saxony; and then, in 1759 went to Engalnd and became chamber-musician to Queen Charlotte. He was friends with Bach’s son Johann Christian and both played together in the famous “Bach-Abel concerts” which went on for over ten years.
- Johann Christian Fisher (1733 – 1800) – An oboist at the Dresden Court Orchestra, in 1768 he went to London eventually marrying Gainsborough’s daughter. He left London in 1786 disappointed that he had not been appointed Master of the King’s Band, but returned in 1790, and died there.
- Gottfried Heinrich Stolzel (1690 – 1749) was court composer at Gotha from 1719 until his death. Renowned during his lifetime as an opera composer, most of Stölzel's surviving oeuvre was written for the court church and most of it has been lost - the very famous aria “Bist Du Bei Mir” (If Thou Art Near) which is often attributed to Bach (it is part of the Anna Magdalena Notebook) is actually by Stolzel.
- Johann Georg Pisendel (1687 – 1755) – considered the leading German violinist of his day, Pisendel belonged to J. S. Bach’s circle of friends. He composed little mostly for the violin.
- Johann Joachim Quantz (1697 – 1733) – Mostly a flautist, he taught the flute to Prince Frederick of Prussia, who on becoming king made him Court composer and director of Royal concerts. Wrote a classical textbook on flute playing (I have it!) and invented several new features for the flute. Composed 300 flute concertos and 200 other pieces involving the flute for Frederick to play (apparently he was an excellent flautist).
- Johann Adolph Hasse (1699 – 1783) – A German tenor and opera composer, who spend time in Italy and was friends with Alessandro Scarlatti.. In 1730 he married the famous singer Faustina Bordogni and they eventually moved back to Dresden. In between 1733 and 1739 Hasse travelled to Italy and England, but settled in Dresden until his retirement from Court service in 1763. He then went to Vienna where in 1771 he met the 14 year old Mozart. From there, agreeing to the wishes of his wife, the couple moved to Venice (her birth place) where he died. He composed 120 operas plus oratorios, cantatas, masses and a variety of instrumental music.
- Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (1736 – 1809) – He was one of Beethoven’s composition teachers and wrote an important textbook on the subject. He was organist at the Vienna Court.
- Johann NikolausForkel (1749 – 1818) – mostly known today as the first biographer of Bach, he wrote a number of theoretical works and composed cantatas, oratorios and instrumental works.
- Haefsler (Hassler?) – Could this be referring to Hans Leo Hassler (1564 – 1612)?
- Friedrich Gottlob Fleischer (1722 – 1806) – Court Musician and composer, teacher of Princess Anna Amalia (niece of Frederick II) – she was also a pupil of Wolf.
- Daniel Gottlob Turk (1756 – 1813) - Turk studied music under G.A. Homilius, a student of J.S. Bach. Turk wrote a celebrated treatise on keyboard playing and much pedagogical material besides music popular in his time but now completely forgotten.
- Ernst Wilhelm Wolf (1735 – 1792) – As student of Hiller (see above) Having studied with Bach’s successor Johann Adam Hiller at Leipzig, he later taught music at Naumburg. In 1768 he was appointed him court Kapellmeister in Weimar. In 1770 he married Maria Carolina Benda, the daughter of the Georg Antonín Benda (see above). Frederick the Great offered him a position as successor Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach as the king’s chamber harpsichordist, but his pupil, Princess Anna Amalia convinced him to decline the post. He wrote 25 concertos (20 for keyboard and orchestra), symphonies, chamber music (string quartets, music for strings and winds, clavier quintets and clavier trios) and piano sonatas and sonatinas plus sacred works, mainly cantatas and oratorios for protestant church music.
- Karl Ditters (1739 – 1799) – Austrian composer and violinist. Prolific, his works include 40 operas, 120 symphonies, 35 concerts, 12 string quintets, 14 string trios, 17 violin sonatas, 30 piano sonatas, and a lot of church music.
[to be continued…]
Topic: Guess who were the best composers in 1799