Johann Christoph Demuth

Johann Christoph Demuth (born April 2, 1764 in Petersdorf near Sagan in Silesia , † May 30, 1831 in Flensburg ) was a German actor, singer, music director and town musician.

Life

Johann Christoph Demuth was the son of a school teacher from Petersdorf. His childhood and youth as well as his education are not documented. From around 1795 he worked as an actor and singer. He then worked as music director at the court theater in Schleswig, which belonged to Landgrave Karl von Hessen-Kassel . Here he succeeded Director Phanty in 1798.

On December 6, 1798, Demuth married the actress and singer Maria Catharina Henriette Groß (* around 1781 in Hamburg ). In 1804 he moved to Flensburg as town musician , but also stayed briefly in Schleswig.

On March 21, 1810 he married Dorothea Jansen from Stralsund for the second time . He had a son named Heinrich Rudolph Julius (born March 26, 1801 in Schleswig , † November 7, 1880 in Altona ), who after his father's death took over his position as theater music director and town musician. As the last town musician in Flensburg, he retired in 1858. He was particularly concerned with the theater and presented several of his own works here.

Working as a musician

In Flensburg, Demuth organized public concerts in the theater, played in the city's churches and created the “Concerts in Harmony”, which Flensburg residents founded in 1804 as a sociable association. He also played at open-air concerts in the Marienhölzung , the so-called "wood concerts". As Flensburg's town musician, he had to experience the decline of town musicians, which were considered to be outdated. Due to officially ordered cuts and increasing competition from military music, the reputation of his office and his pay fell considerably.

Demuth wrote many occasional compositions, mostly church music, of which only the lyrics are known.

literature

• Hans P. Detlefsen: Demuth, Johann Christoph . in: Schleswig-Holstein Biographical Lexicon . Volume 3. Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1974, p. 81