Johann Abraham Schmierer
Johann Abraham Schmierer (also Schmirer, Schmicerer, Schmicorer, Schmikerer ) (* 1661 in Augsburg ; † June 11, 1719 ibid) was a German composer of the Baroque .
life and work
Nothing is known about its origin. From 1673 to 1680 Schmierer was a “discantist” (choirboy) in Augsburg Cathedral . He then studied with a scholarship of the chapter first at the University of Dillingen philosophy and then at the University of Salzburg Law , where he is to the doctor doctorate was. An application for the post of Kapellmeister at Augsburg Cathedral was unsuccessful. He later became director of the Fugger Foundation in Augsburg.
Its importance lies in the collection of a total of six balletical parthyas (today to be referred to as “dance suites”) for violin, violet , viola and violone or harpsichord , which were published under the title Zodiaci musici in XII Partitas balleticas, veluti sua Signa divisi Pars I published in Augsburg in 1698. A second part with the "remaining" six Parthyen was to appear in 1710; nothing of it has survived or is even known.
As author one was JAS called, there was no evidence of who is behind this pseudonym hid (which was then unusual).
In the new edition of the Zodiaci in the series Monuments of German Tonkunst (DDT), the editor Ernst von Werra, following Albert Göhler, put forward the thesis that Schmierer is hiding behind JAS, which is still the general opinion today. Michael Robinson enlarged a question mark (already mentioned by von Werra), supported it with new considerations and named the Augsburg cathedral organist Johann Speth (of whom the only work Ars magna consoni et dissoni Augsburg 1693 is known and preserved) as a possible composer . Unless new documents are unlikely to emerge, the question should remain unsolved, which is no detriment, since both “candidates” are equally practically unknown.
The six parts are structured as follows (title according to DDT):
I. in F major: Ouverture - Entrée - Passacaille - Menuet - Ballet - Gique - Gavotte - Rondeau
II. In D minor: Ouverture - Allemande - Rondeau - Bourrée - Menuet - Gavotte - Gique - Plainte
III. in D major: Ouverture - Entrée - Chaconne - Courante - Sarabande - Bourrée alternativement avec le Trio - Air
IV. in D major: Ouverture - Allemande - Courante - Sarabande - Bourrée - Air - Ballet - Rondeau
V. in B flat major . Overture - Allemande - Chaconne - Bourrée - Menuet - Gavotte - Gique - Rondeau
VI. in G minor: Ouverture - Entrée - Menuet - Bourrée - Melody - Gavotte - Gique - Air .
meaning
Like Johann Sigismund Kusser , Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer , Agostino Steffani , Georg Muffat and Johann Fischer (who, like Schmierer, came from Augsburg), Schmierer belongs to the so-called “Lullists” who spread Jean-Baptiste Lully's style of composition and made it popular in Germany; Although he is one of the least known in this series, he was nonetheless a “capable composer”.
The Zodiaci are also important for the history of the suite in Germany because - unlike some others - they are carefully and clearly laid out. Each part begins with an overture , followed by an entrée or an allemande . In between there are also - typical for the suite - individual deviations, for example the plain or the melody .
literature
- Adolf Layer : Schmierer, Johann Abraham. In: Friedrich Blume (Hrsg.): The music in past and present (MGG). First edition, Volume 11 (Rasch - Schnyder von Wartensee). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 1963, DNB 550439609 , Sp. 1867–1868 (= digital library volume 60, pp. 67.146–67.148)
- SL: Schmierer, Johann Abraham. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 14 (Riccati - Schönstein). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 2005, ISBN 3-7618-1134-9 , Sp. 1462 ( online edition , subscription required for full access)
- Adolf Layer: Keyword “Schmierer” In: The New Grove, Dictionary of Music and Musicians . 16th volume. London and New York 1980, p. 676 (in the second edition from 2001 the entry has been omitted).
- Michael Robertson: The Courtly Consort Suite in German-Speaking Europe, 1650–1706. Farnham / GB and Burlington / USA, 2009, p. 143 ff.
Web links
- Johann Abraham Schmierer in the Bavarian Musicians' Lexicon Online (BMLO)
- Johann Abraham Schmierer in the Augsburger Stadtlexikon
- Sheet music and audio files by Johann Abraham Schmierer in the International Music Score Library Project
- Digitized version of the Zodiaci with title page of the print and preface in the series Monuments of German Tonkunst (DDT) Volume 10, 1902 by MDZ
Individual evidence
- ↑ In the “New Grove”, Adolf Layer gives the personal data as shown here; The MGG² (2005), on the other hand, follows Layer's older article from 1963, which specifies the dates with “* around 1660, † probably after 1700”.
- ↑ Robinson does not answer the question of why Speth, who was a musician by profession and had a work printed in 1693, should have hidden behind a pseudonym. With Schmierer, who was an “administrative officer” and a doctor of law, this makes more sense.
- ^ Robertson p. 143
- ↑ See Robertson, p. 143
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Schmierer, Johann Abraham |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Schmikerer, Johann Abraham; Schmirer, Johann Abraham; Schmicerer, Johann Abraham; Schmicorer, Johann Abraham |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German composer of the baroque |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1661 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | augsburg |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 11, 1719 |
| Place of death | augsburg |