Dietrich Ewald von Grotthuss

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Dietrich Ewald Freiherr von Grotthuss (born April 15, 1751 in Mitau , Duchy of Courland and Semgallia ; † September 29, 1786 in Geddutz near Bauske , Courland, today: Gedučiai in Lithuania ) was a Baltic German pianist and composer . He brought Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Silbermann - clavichord from Hamburg to Kurland.

Life

A Silbermann pianoforte (1746)
Grothusenhof
Rondo in C major by Ewald von Grotthuss, played on the clavichord by Joan Benson (1973)

Grotthuss came from the Courland noble family of the Barons Grotthuss . His parents were Johann Gebhard von Grotthuss and Charlotte Agnesa geb. from Müllenheim . Intended for the officer or civil service career, he served briefly in the Prussian Army ; but with his not very robust disposition he turned to music . He was on friendly terms with Johann Georg Witthauer , who taught him and the ducal family to play the piano . In 1773 he married Elisabeth Eleonore von Grotthuss from the Geddutz family. During one of his visits to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach in Hamburg in 1781, he bought his Silbermann clavichord . Bach mourned him by saying goodbye to the Silbermann piano ; he added the rondo to the instrument - "his darling". Grotthuss thanked him with the happy C major rondo of joy at the reception of the Silbermann piano . The two pieces were printed repeatedly. In 1999 they were on the program of a musicological conference in Frankfurt (Oder) . Bach corrected Grotthuss' motet Herr, listen to my words and performed them several times in Hamburg in 1781. In some works by C. Ph. E. Bach, Grotthuss is on the list of prenumerants . By repeatedly subscribing to several copies , he made C. Ph. E. Bach known in the Baltic countries.

Grotthuss was in contact with Johann Adam Hiller and Christian Felix Weisse , who in 1785 became the godfather of his son Theodor Grotthuss (1785–1822). His brother Johann Ulrich von Grotthuss (1753-1815) wrote poems and writings in Baltic regional studies . Grotthuss died at the age of 35. A two-part fugue in E minor and a Sonata in D minor for harpsichord (1777) have survived from his only few works . The Silbermann piano is lost.

literature

Leonidas Melnikas: C. Ph. E. Bachas ir Pabaltijys. Apie brolius Grotthusus [C. Ph. E. Bach and the Baltic States. About the Brothers Grotthuss]. Vilnius 1997 (Lithuanian, German) ( Review )

Web links

Commons : Dietrich Ewald von Grotthuß  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Baltic Historical Commission (ed.): Entry on Johann Gebhard v. Grotthuss. In: BBLD - Baltic Biographical Lexicon digital
  2. ↑ Silbermann was long considered the inventor of the hammer piano , but had only taken up and further developed the invention of Bartolomeo Cristofori .
  3. ↑ Steffenhagen & Son, Mitau 1916
  4. ^ Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Music Society
  5. ↑ Grete Ronge:  Grotthuss, Christian Johann Dietrich Freiherr von. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 7, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1966, ISBN 3-428-00188-5 , p. 171 f. ( Digitized version ).
  6. ^ Baltic Historical Commission (ed.): Entry on Johann Ulrich v. Grotthuss. In: BBLD - Baltic Biographical Lexicon digital
  7. ↑ Helmut Scheunchen (Kulturportal West-Ost) (The date of death is given here as September 29/26, 1786.)
personal data
SURNAME Grotthuss, Dietrich Ewald von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Grotthuss, Dietrich Ewald Freiherr von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Baltic pianist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH April 15, 1751
PLACE OF BIRTH Mitau , Duchy of Courland and Semigallia
DATE OF DEATH September 26, 1786 or September 29, 1786
Place of death Geddutz near Bauske , Duchy of Courland and Semgallia (today: Gedučiai , Lithuania )