Johan Helmich Roman

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Johan Helmich Roman (born October 26, 1694 in Stockholm , † November 20, 1758 in Ryssby socken near Kalmar ) was a Swedish composer of the Baroque period .

Life

Johan Helmich Roman received his first music lessons from his father, a member of the royal Swedish court orchestra. He became a member of the court orchestra himself before 1711. King Charles XII. allowed him to study in England from 1715 to 1721, where he continued his education with Johann Christoph Pepusch and Attilio Ariosti . During this time he had a job with the Duke of Newcastle and met important musicians such as George Frideric Handel , Francesco Geminiani , Giovanni Battista Bononcini and others. After his return in 1721, he became vice conductor of the court orchestra and from 1727 its director.

Since he was the first Swedish composer who achieved greater importance, he is called the "father of Swedish music" or "the Swedish Handel". Roman was a friend of the lighter Italian baroque music. Musically, he followed the example of the graceful, rather less polyphonic style of Domenico Scarlatti and Giovanni Pergolesi .

His best-known composition is the Drottningholmsmusik from 1744, a large suite in 24 movements. He composed it on the occasion of the marriage of the Swedish heir to the throne Adolf Fredrik with the sister of Frederick II of Prussia, Louise Ulrike (Lovisa Ulrika). In Sweden he became known in particular for his reform of church music, which replaced the Latin language with Swedish.

Roman's work includes suites, solo concerts and symphonies as well as diverse works in the field of chamber and church music . His 12 flute sonatas are particularly well known. He was a virtuoso violinist , as well as an oboist and conductor . During his work as first court conductor, he made great educational achievements and arranged the first public concerts in Stockholm.

Roman had five children with his wife, who was about 20 years his junior and who died at the age of only 24. The last years of his life were clouded by increasing hearing loss. He retired from Stockholm to the Lilla Haraldsmåla estate in southern Sweden, where he eventually succumbed to cancer.

Roman's compositions have been cataloged by Ingemar Bengtsson and are usually given the so-called BeRI number.

Works

Festival music

For orchestra
  • The Golovin Music , BeRI 1
  • The Drottningholmsmusik , BeRI 2 (1744)
For voices and orchestra
  • 13 cantatas for court celebrations, coronations, etc.

Other works

Instrumental works
  • 23 symphonies
  • 6 overtures
  • 5 orchestral suites
  • 2 concerti grossi (including one with harpsichord obbligato )
  • 5 violin concerts
  • 1 concerto for oboe d'amore, BeRI 53
  • 17 trio sonatas (mostly with figured bass)
  • XII Sonate a flauto traverso, violone e harpsichord (printed in 1727, dedicated to Ulrika Eleonora )
  • 1 sonata for flute and harpsichord
  • Piano pieces (including 12 suites and 12 sonatas)
  • Violin sonatas and exercises (including Assaggio à Violino solo , BeRI 301, printed 1740)
  • Violin duos
Vocal works
  • Swedish mass for solos, choir and orchestra
  • Cantatas ( Dixit Dominus , Jubilate , Oh God, we praise you )
  • Hymns (e.g. Beati omnes )
  • David's psalms for one or more voices with orchestra
  • Approx. 80 sacred chants (with texts especially from the Psalms of David) for one or more voices with basso continuo or with violin and basso continuo, some with larger scoring.
  • Several chants for secular texts, including several for poems by Jakob Frese, Olof von Dalin and others.

Arrangements by other composers

  • Svite ur Drottningholmsmusiken , arranged for wind orchestra by Stig Gustafson

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Clive Unger-Hamilton, Neil Fairbairn, Derek Walters; German arrangement: Christian Barth, Holger Fliessbach, Horst Leuchtmann, et al .: The music - 1000 years of illustrated music history . Unipart-Verlag, Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-8122-0132-1 , p. 80 .
personal data
SURNAME Roman, Johan Helmich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish composer
DATE OF BIRTH October 26, 1694
PLACE OF BIRTH Stockholm
DATE OF DEATH November 20, 1758
Place of death Haraldsmåla