Augustin Reinhard Stricker

Augustin Reinhard Stricker (* around 1680 ; † 1718/19 ? In Heidelberg ) was a German cantatas and opera composer and Bach's predecessor as Kapellmeister at the Fürstenhof in Köthen .

Life

Stricker's youth are still shrouded in darkness. He may have spent some time in Italy, as the preface to his Italian cantatas suggests a stay abroad. The first verifiable date is his service as "Cammer Musicus" in the Berlin court orchestra of King Frederick I of Prussia from February 1702.

In 1705 he married the singer Catharina Elisabeth Müller in Berlin, who accompanied him to his later places of work and performed there as a soloist. In December 1706, the premiere of his opera “Victory of Beauty over Heroes” took place on the occasion of the wedding of the later “Soldier King” Friedrich Wilhelm . The text edition by the Berlin court poet and master of ceremonies Johann von Besser reports that Stricker not only composed part of the music, but also played on stage as the god Neptune. Another great festival opera by Besser, "Alexanders und Roxanen Heyrath" , appeared for the third marriage of Frederick I in November 1708. This time the entire composition was by Stricker. Prince Leopold von Anhalt-Köthen, who was only 14 at the time, took part as a dancer. Georg Philipp Telemann attended both performances; and Johann Mattheson reported later.

After the death of Frederick I in 1713, the Berlin court orchestra was dissolved and some of the musicians immediately moved to Leopold's court in Köthen (Anhalt) , where Stricker followed them in 1714 to become the first conductor of the newly founded court orchestra. Stricker spent three years here and in 1715 published a volume of secular cantatas. At the beginning of 1717 he left Anhalt again. In the same year Johann Sebastian Bach signed the contract as his successor in office.

In May 1717 we met Stricker for a short time at the court in Gotha , but in July he was already working as a “Cammer-Compositeur” in Neuburg an der Donau on a pasticcio “Crudeltà consuma amore” . Another pasticcio was made here in March 1718. In the same year he moved with his family to Heidelberg, where his son was baptized in December 1718. Apparently he died soon after in Heidelberg.

Works

• Victory of beauty over heroes (opera, text by Besser). Berlin 1706
• Alexanders and Roxanen Heyrath (opera, text by Besser). Berlin 1708
• Opera great. First part, consisting of 6 Italian cantatas à voce sola, to which Violino or Hautbois Solo accompagniret. Componiret by Augustino Reinhardo Stricker, HochFürstl. Anhalt Capell Master. Cöthen: Anton Löffler 1715
• Crudeltà consuma amore (pasticcio). Neuburg 1717
• L'amicizia in terzo overo il Dionigio (pasticcio). Neuburg 1718
• One concerto and four sonatas are also known of instrumental works.

literature

• Renate Brockpähler : Handbook on the history of baroque opera in Germany . Emsdetten 1964
• Gerhard Dünnhaupt : Personal bibliographies on the prints of the Baroque , Volume I, Stuttgart: Hiersemann 1990, p. 542. ISBN 3-7772-9013-0
• GM Grohs: August Reinhold Stricker, Hofkapellmeister before JS Bach: New Findings in Bach's Environment in Koethen , in: Concerto 20 (2003), 26–30
• Ulrich Leisinger : Vocal chamber music in the Köthner environment ... in the context of Stricker's Italian cantatas , in: Cöthener Bach Hefte 11 (2003), 28–40
• Curt Sachs : Music and opera at the Kurbrandenburg court . Berlin 1910
• Hans-Joachim Schulze: From Weimar to Köthen - Risks and opportunities of a change of office , in: Cöthener Bach Hefte 11 (2003), 9–27
• MGG Volume 16, Col. 173-174 (2006)

Web links

• Sheet music and audio files by Augustin Reinhard Stricker in the International Music Score Library Project