Christoph Bernhard
Christoph Bernhard (born January 1, 1628, presumably in Kolberg , † November 14, 1692 in Dresden ; also Christoph Bernhardi , Christophorus Bernhardus ) was a German singer ( tenor ), composer , conductor and music theorist .
Life
He received his first musical instruction in Danzig ; His teachers here are mainly Sweelinck students Paul Siefert and Christoph Werner . In 1648 (appointment decree of August 1, 1649) he became a singer at the Dresden court orchestra. Around 1650 he made a one-year trip to Italy. Here he made the acquaintance of Giacomo Carissimi , the conductor at the Collegium Germanicum in Rome. After his return he was appointed vice conductor in Dresden in 1655. He held this position until 1664. In 1656 he went to Italy again, this time for nine months.
In 1664 he took over the position of music director and cantor at the Johanneum in Hamburg . Here he succeeded Thomas Selle .
In 1674 he went back to Dresden, again took over the position of Vice Kapellmeister and also worked as educator and music teacher for Prince Johann Georg and his brother Friedrich August , who later became August the Strong . In 1680 he was appointed court conductor.
Christoph Bernhard is one of Heinrich Schütz's master students . Bernhard was commissioned by him, for example, to compose a motet for his funeral . He also created a funeral motet for Johann Rist . Furthermore, songs , arias and church music are among his works.
Bernhard is the author of important music treatises. They mainly deal with the topics of counterpoint, mode theory, ornamentation and figure theory as well as the theory of style . They are considered a reflection of Schütz's theory of composition.
Works
Compositions
- Da pacem domine
- Reminiscere, miserationum tuarum Domine
- I love you dearly, Lord
- I see doing everything
- Today Christ rose from the dead
- Happy those who fear the Lord
Fonts
Bernhard published four works on music theory, of which neither the year nor even the order in which they were composed are known:
- From the double contrapuncts
- Detailed report on the use of the consonants and dissonants
- Tractatus compositionis augmentatus ( composition tract based on the teachings of Heinrich Schütz)
- About the art or manner of singing
literature
- Arrey von Dommer : Bernhard, Christoph . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, pp. 456-458.
- Gisela Jaacks : Bernhard, Christoph . In: Franklin Kopitzsch, Dirk Brietzke (Hrsg.): Hamburgische Biographie . tape 5 . Wallstein, Göttingen 2010, ISBN 978-3-8353-0640-0 , p. 48-48 .
- Joseph Müller-Blattau: Bernhard, Christoph. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1955, ISBN 3-428-00183-4 , p. 117 ( digitized version ).
- Irenäus Totzke: Christoph Bernhard (1627 / 28-1692). A Schütz student from Gdansk . In: Westpreußen-Jahrbuch, Vol. 58 (2008), ISSN 0511-8484 , pp. 35-48.
- Stephen Rose: A Lübeck music auction, 1695 . In: Schütz-Jahrbuch 30 (2008), 171–190
Web links
- Short biography on the Bach Cantatas Website (English)
- Literature by and about Christoph Bernhard in the catalog of the German National Library
- Sheet music and audio files by Christoph Bernhard in the International Music Score Library Project
- Wolfram Steude: Christoph Bernhard (1612–1692) . In: Institute for Saxon History and Folklore (Ed.): Saxon Biography .
- Christoph Bernhard at Operissimo on the basis of the Great Singer Lexicon
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas Selle |
Cantor et Director chori musici in Hamburg 1664–1674 |
Joachim Gerstenbüttel |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bernhard, Christoph |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bernhardi, Christoph; Bernhardus, Christophorus |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German singer (tenor), composer, conductor and music theorist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 1, 1628 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | uncertain: Kolberg |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 14, 1692 |
| Place of death | Dresden |