Augustus Frederick Christopher Kollmann

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Augustus Frederick Christopher Kollmann , actually August Friedrich Christoph , (born March 21, 1756 in Engelbostel , today Langenhagen , † April 19, 1829 in London ) was an organist, music theorist and composer.

origin

Kollmann comes from a musical family: his father was an organist and teacher in Engelbostel, his son George Augustus Kollmann (* 1789) became a composer and pianist. Kollmann himself learned to play the organ in Hanover with Johann Christian Böttner (1731–1800) and was inspired by the music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750).

life and work

Kollmann's diagram of Bach as a sun, 1799

In 1784 Kollmann was appointed teacher and sexton to the German community in London. Here he took over the post of organist in the German chapel of King George III in 1792 . (1736–1820) from the House of Hanover (His Majesty's German Chapel at St. James). Due to the family ties between the House of Hanover, which had ruled London since 1714, and the Kingdom of Hanover, there was a lively cultural exchange between the two kingdoms and many German musicians such as Georg Friedrich Handel emigrated to England.

In 1796 Kollmann published his first work, "An Essay on Musical Harmony". Numerous other music-theoretical treatises and in some cases practical textbooks followed. His treatises are still considered fundamental today, especially for understanding Bach's work. While his music theory treatises are still received, his compositions have largely been forgotten.

literature

  • James Rose: New general biograhipical Distionary. London 1848.
  • Erwin R. Jacobi: Augustus Frederic Christopher Kollmann as theoretician. In: Archives for Musicology. Issue 3/4, 1956.
  • Michael Kassler: The English Bach Awakening: Knowledge Of JS Bach And His Music In England 1750-1830. Aldershot, England 2004.
  • Michael Kassler: AFC Kollmann's Quarterly Musical Register (1812): An Annotated Edition with an Introduction to his Life and Works. Aldershot, England 2008.
  • Bettina Reimann: AFC Kollmann from Engelbostel has a career in London in 1782. In: Langenhagen city magazine. Issue 6, March 31, 2011.
  • Ulrich Leisinger:  Kollmann, August Friedrich Christoph. In: MGG Online (subscription required).
  • Timo Evers: "... to rescue the science of music from the mysterious darkness in which it was wrapped." August Friedrich Christoph Kollmann and his writings. Biography, theory and expertise in the context of musical knowledge transfer around 1800 (Göttingen Studies in Musicology 8), Hildesheim, Zurich, New York 2018.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Kollmann, Augustus Frederick Christopher
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kollmann, August Friedrich Christoph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-British organist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH March 21, 1756
PLACE OF BIRTH Engelbostel
DATE OF DEATH April 19, 1829
Place of death London