Christian Friedrich Witt

Christian Friedrich Witt (* before 1665 in Altenburg ; † April 3 or 13, 1717 in Gotha ) was a German church musician and composer .

Live and act

Christian Friedrich Witt was the son of the Altenburg court organist Johann Ernst Witt and was probably trained by his father. The Gothaer Hof made it possible for him to stay in Salzburg and Vienna “for further education in art” . In 1685 and 1686 he stayed in Nuremberg , where he received lessons from Georg Caspar Wecker .

In June 1686 he became chamber organist at the court of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg in Gotha , alongside the court organist Nicolaus Körner , with a salary of 142 guilders. In 1688 he was again at Wecker in Nuremberg for a while. In 1694 he was appointed Kapelldirektor, where he worked almost on a par with Kapellmeister Wolfgang Michael Mylius (1636-1712). After his death in 1713 Witt received the position of Kapellmeister. Georg Philipp Telemann describes Witt in Johann Mattheson's Fundamentals of an Honor Gate (1740) as a "skillful Kapellmeister". His well-known students include a. Hieronymus Florentinus Quehl .

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Witt wrote more than 70 cantatas and published the Psalmodia Sacra in 1715 , which contains 762 hymns, of which Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg wrote that it was "the best musical hymn book that I know" . He has also composed piano music and instrumental works, including several concerti, overtures and suites in the French style and seven concerti grossi in the Italian style , known as sonatas . Witt wrote the melody of the hymn Adorns the Festival with Maien ( EG 135).

His composition “Passacaglia in d” was considered a work by JS Bach until the 19th century (BWV Anh. 182).

literature

Max Seiffert : Witt, Christian Friedrich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 43, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1898, pp. 571-573.
Peter Wollny: Witt, Christian Friedrich. In: MGG Online (subscription required).

Individual evidence

↑ Baptized in Altenburg on November 8, 1665 according to the church book.
↑ Biographical data from: Ahrens, Christian: New sources on JS Bach's relationships with Gotha. In: Bach Yearbook 2007, pp. 45–60, here p. 46. According to biographical information in the Evangelical Hymnbook , edition Rhineland / Westphalia / Lippe: 1660–1716.

Web links

Sheet music and audio files by Christian Friedrich Witt in the International Music Score Library Project

personal data
SURNAME	Witt, Christian Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German church musician and composer of the Baroque era
DATE OF BIRTH	around 1660
PLACE OF BIRTH	Altenburg
DATE OF DEATH	April 3, 1717 or April 13, 1717
Place of death	Gotha

[1] Baptized in Altenburg on November 8, 1665 according to the church book.

[2] Biographical data from: Ahrens, Christian: New sources on JS Bach's relationships with Gotha. In: Bach Yearbook 2007, pp. 45–60, here p. 46. According to biographical information in the Evangelical Hymnbook , edition Rhineland / Westphalia / Lippe: 1660–1716.