Christian Heinrich Postel

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Christian Heinrich Postel (born October 11, 1658 in Freiburg / Elbe ; † March 22, 1705 in Hamburg ) was a lawyer , epic poet and opera librettist .

Life

Christian Heinrich Postel was the son of the Protestant pastor Lorenz Postel († November 3, 1696) and his wife Dorothea Postel, b. Isentrut. His father was called to the Hamburg Heiliggeistkirche in 1675 . Due to the change of residence Christian Heinrich Postel now attended the Hamburg School of Academics of the Johanneum . In 1680 he enrolled at the University of Leipzig to study law under Christian Thomasius . A plague epidemic drove him to the University of Rostock , where he was able to complete his studies on May 10, 1683 as a licentiate in both rights. With his fellow student, the later theologian and historian Jacob von Melle , he toured the Netherlands, England and France for six months. Melle's travel diary, which was later printed, testifies to the varied interests of both students, especially for foreign universities and libraries.

Opera am Gänsemarkt, detail from Paul Heinecken's view of the city in 1726

After returning to Hamburg, Postel opened a legal practice with which he acquired wealth and recognition in society. His varied interests gave him the reputation of a private scholar. After the opening of the Opera on Gänsemarkt in 1678, he had the opportunity to work as a librettist. From 1688 to 1702 Postel wrote a total of 28 works for the opera house.

Postel undertook a second educational trip from January 17 to September 15, 1700, to Switzerland and Italy, where he made contact with the Italian academies and their scholars. After returning to Hamburg, he tried to finish his historical epic The Great Wittekind , but the death of his friend Gerhard Schott in 1702 weighed on him. The epic was only published posthumously by Christian Friedrich Weichmann in 1724 .

Christian Heinrich Postel died of consumption in 1705 .

position

Postel worked at a time in operatic history in the 17th century , which was dominated by the influence of Italian and French opera . Signs of this were the founding of the German venues in Hamburg (1678: Oper am Gänsemarkt), Braunschweig (1690: Opernhaus am Hagenmarkt ) and Leipzig (1693: Opernhaus Leipzig ). Postel was able - in the company of his colleagues Heinrich Elmenhorst , Barthold Feind and Christian Friedrich Hunold - to write a wealth of libretti in which he developed his own form and let the word recede.

Contemporary composers such as Johann Georg Conradi , Johann Philipp Förtsch , Reinhard Keizer , Johann Sigismund Kusser and Georg Philipp Telemann appreciated the elegant, easy-to-compose libretti : Christian Heinrich Postel was one of the most popular and most sought-after opera poets in Hamburg. His adaptation of Campistron's tragedy Achille et Polixène appears as a poetic virtuoso piece for the performance of the opera of the same name by Lully and Colasse in 1692; Such a close Franco-German adaptation is unique in the history of music.

Works (selection)

1688
  • Saint Eugenia, or the conversion of the city of Alexandria to Christianity . Composition by Johann Philipp Förtsch ; UA 1688. Printed in 1695
1689
  • Cain and Abel, or the desperate brother-murderer . Composition by Johann Philipp Förtsch; WP 1689.
  • Mournful and delighted Cimbria . Composition by Johann Philipp Förtsch; WP 1689.
  • Xerxes in Abydos .
1690
  • The Great Mighty Thalestris , or Last Queen of the Amazons . Composition by Johann Philipp Förtsch; WP 1690.
  • Bajazeth and Tamerlane . Composition by Johann Philipp Förtsch; WP 1690.
1691
  • The beautiful and faithful Ariadne .
  • Diogenes Cynicus .
1692
  • The destruction of Jerusalem. Part I (Conquest of the Temple) .
  • The destruction of Jerusalem. Part II (Conquest of the Castle) .
  • The unhappy love of Achilles and Polixena .
1693
  • The Great King of the African Wenden Gensericus .
  • The Royal Printz from Pohlen Sigismundus .
1694
  • The delighted Pygmalion .
  • The hard-working Scipio Africanus .
1695
  • Medea .
  • The happy-recovered Hermione .
1697
1698
1699
  • The wonderfully saved Iphigenia .
1701
  • The wonderful psyche .
1702
  • The death of the great Pan. A music of mourning for the death of Gerhard Schott .

Catalog raisonné

  • Gerhard Dünnhaupt : Christian Heinrich Postel (1658-1705) . In: Personal bibliographies on Baroque prints . Vol. 4, Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1991, pp. 3128-3144, ISBN 3-7772-9122-6

Literature (selection)

  • Jakob von Melle , Christian Henrich Postel: Description of a journey through north-western Germany, to the Netherlands and England in 1683. From a manuscript in the Lübeck city library edited by senior teacher Dr. Carl Curtius . Gebr. Borchers, Lübeck 1891 (Lübeck Catharineum program 1891), online .
  • Julius Elias :  Postel, Christian Heinrich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 26, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1888, pp. 465-473.
  • Dian Igor Lindberg: Literary Aspects of German Baroque Opera. History, theory, and practice. Christian Heinrich Postel and Barthold Feind . Diss. Univ. of California, Los Angeles 1964.
  • Solveig Olsen: Christian Heinrich Postel's contribution to German literature. Attempt of a representation (= Amsterdam publications on language and literature 7, ISSN  0169-0221 ). Rodopi, Amsterdam 1973.
  • Bodo Plachta:  Postel, Christian Heinrich. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 20, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-428-00201-6 , p. 656 ( digitized version ).
  • Erich Vilter: The epic technique in Chr. H. Postel's heroic poem "The great Wittekind". A contribution to the history of the Renaissance epics. Kaestner, Göttingen 1899 (dissertation, University of Göttingen, 1898).

Web links

Wikisource: Christian Heinrich Postel  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Julius Elias: Postel . In: Royal Academy of Sciences (ed.): General German Biography . 26th volume, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1888, p. 465.
  2. ^ Julius Elias: Postel . In: Royal Academy of Sciences (ed.): General German Biography . 26th volume, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1888, p. 466.
  3. ^ Fritz Martini : German literary history from the beginnings to the present . Kröner, Stuttgart, 12th edition / 1963, p. 154.
  4. ^ Julius Elias: Postel . In: Royal Academy of Sciences (ed.): General German Biography . 26th volume, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1888, p. 468.
personal data
SURNAME Postel, Christian Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German lawyer, epic poet and opera librettist
DATE OF BIRTH October 11, 1658
PLACE OF BIRTH Freiburg / Elbe
DATE OF DEATH March 22, 1705
Place of death Hamburg