Johann Balthasar König

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Johann Balthasar König (baptized January 28, 1691 in Waltershausen ; buried April 2, 1758 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a German composer and Protestant church musician of the Baroque period .

Life

König was a son of the citizen of Waltershausen and white tanner Johann Jakob König . (The house where he was born was at Borngasse 17.) He came to Frankfurt am Main in 1704 and became a chorister at the municipal grammar school . Under Georg Philipp Telemann , who took over the management of the town band in 1711, König was accepted into the chapel as a musician.

In 1717 he married Anna Maria Pfaff, the daughter of a master tailor. For their son Georg Philipp , born in 1718 , Telemann took over the sponsorship , an indication of the friendly relationship between König and Telemann. In 1718, King became head of the chapel at the Katharinenkirche .

König stayed in Frankfurt when Telemann went to Hamburg in 1721 . He continued to perform Telemann's works both in church services and in town concerts. In 1727 he was appointed city conductor as the successor to Johann Christoph Bodinus (1690–1727). At the same time he was granted Frankfurt citizenship .

König composed numerous hymns himself, as well as cantatas and operas. One of the regular duties of the Frankfurt city music director was u. a. also the composition of cantatas for the birthdays of the emperor and the empress. In particular, Charles VII, who died in 1745 , stayed in Frankfurt for a long time. 23 of his cantatas, plus two wedding cantatas for Frankfurt citizens, are preserved in the collection of the Frankfurt City and University Library .

Congregational singing was particularly close to his heart, as his memorandum, published in 1724, shows, “Insignificant suggestion on how to remedy the evil singing in the Frankfurt churches”. The respective organist was imposed "that to avoid the disharmony in singing that has often occurred up to now, he should prelude the melody of the song to be sung at any time before the beginning of the song, so that the cantor as well as the community can act accordingly", as from a protocol of the Lutheran consistory of 1744.

His most important work is the “Harmonische Liederschatz”, published in 1738, the most extensive choral collection of the 18th century. Of the 1913 melodies it contains, 358 have not been published anywhere before. Many of them are likely to be your own compositions. Two of them can also be found in today's Evangelical Hymnal , namely

König remained in office until his death in 1758. In his later years he was criticized by his Frankfurt music colleagues as proud and haughty. However, this can also be a consequence of his position of power, which he held through the bundling of the offices of Kapellmeister and Cantor.

Works

Choral collection

  • Harmonious song treasure or general evangelical chorale book: which contains the melodies of those chants from our Germany that are so old as new that have been introduced here ...; Furthermore, there are the melodies of those hundred and fifty psalms of David, such as those sung in the parishes of the Reformed Church, together with the French songs ... anbey provided with a modern general bass throughout ... brought to light by Johann Balthasar König , Franckfurt am Mayn, 1738 ( urn : nbn: de: bvb: 12-bsb10525210-4 ).

Cantatas

  • Oh, Jesus goes to his torment (Sunday Estomihi)
  • All who want to live godly (Sunday after New Year 1718)
  • On to lust, you happy notes (wedding cantata)
  • Happy meeting of connected friends
  • Give thanks to the Lord, preach his name (1729)
  • The truth is a heavenly light (Sunday Judica )
  • This is the day the Lord made
  • Marriages are to be called happy ( marriage cantata )
  • Just like a deer screams for fresh water
  • God is our confidence (Fourth Sunday after Epiphany )
  • Lord Jesus Christ, you wonderful (Sunday after Christmas )
  • Lord send the creator of virtue (second day of Pentecost )
  • I'm not afraid (Sunday after New Years)
  • I lift up my eyes ( Psalm 121 )
  • I scream, God, to you (Sunday Reminiscere , 1731)
  • Beloved, let's love one another (13th Sunday after Trinity )
  • Come to me all (Second Sunday after Trinity)
  • Come to the Lord's Supper ( Communion Cantata )
  • Let us fear the Lord our God ( Thanksgiving Day , 1733)
  • My light of faith is weak and small (Sunday Quasimodogeniti , 1727)
  • My Jesus Passion must bring me all blessings (1730)
  • O holy time where heaven, earth and air ( Christmas )
  • Rest softly in your crypt ( funeral aria )
  • Our Father in the Kingdom of Heaven (Sunday Rogate )
  • One looks in vain for the Ruh (funeral cantata)
  • Whoever loves me will keep my word (first day of Pentecost)

literature

Unprinted sources

  • Thuringian State Archives Gotha, Upper Consistory Generalia Loc. 19 No. 65

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Christiana Jungius: Telemanns Frankfurter Kantatenzyklen. Bärenreiter, Kassel 2008, ISBN 978-3-7618-1998-2 , pp. 73-84.
personal data
SURNAME King, Johann Balthasar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German composer and church musician
DATE OF BIRTH baptized January 28, 1691
PLACE OF BIRTH Waltershausen
DATE OF DEATH buried April 2, 1758
Place of death Frankfurt am Main