Johann Christoph Schmügel

Johann Christoph Schmügel (baptized January 13, 1727 in Pritzier / Mecklenburg; † October 21, 1798 in Mölln / Lauenburg) was a German composer and organist .

Life

In 1720, his father Johann Christoph Schmügel (who had the same name) took up his post as organist in Pritzier, Mecklenburg . There he worked on an instrument that had been built in 1680 by a student of the famous organ builder Friedrich Stellwagen , possibly Michael Briegel . Johann Christoph was probably born on January 12, 1727, the second of at least six children. He received his first music lessons from his father. In Pritzier it was customary for the organist's son to stand by his father when he was around 16 and thus acted as “junior organist”. The son Johann Christoph Schmügel worked in this function until around 1750. He then went to Hamburg , where he studied composition with Georg Philipp Telemann . Although he described Schmügel in a letter of recommendation to the St. Johannis Church in Lüneburg as "one of his best disciples that he would have ever informed in composing" , it was only in 1758 that there was an opportunity to fill this position. Schmügel gave lessons to Johann Abraham Peter Schulz in Lüneburg from 1758 to 1765 and maintained contact with Hamburg. Due to various difficulties with his office, Schmügel left Lüneburg in 1766 to take the position of organist at the Nikolaikirche in Mölln. In 1784 he was also cantor. The father held his office in Pritzier until the end of his life in 1771. He also oversaw the construction of the new organ by the Lüneburg organ builder Johann Georg Stein in the St. Trinitatis branch church in Warlitz , for whose inauguration the son composed a cantata. Johann Christoph Schmügel died of a stroke while playing the organ in the church service.

meaning

Today Johann Christoph Schmügel can be considered one of the most important composers of the transitional style between Baroque and Early Classical. His style is very similar to that of his teacher Telemann, but without sacrificing quality. Furthermore, Schmügel clearly takes up elements of the so-called “ gallant style ” and develops a very special peculiarity, especially concerning his joints, which all have a similar structure. His student Johann Abraham Peter Schulz accepted much of Schmügel's influence, but later consciously distanced himself from his first composition teacher by considering him to be “ unbachisch ”.

Works (selection)

• Choral setting Bless God, with fresh life , Lüneburg 1760
• Cantata Your kings on earth and all people , Lüneburg 1763
• Singing and playing areas. Leipzig 1762.
• Christmas Cantata Celebratory Christmas Song , 1768
• Preludes, Fugues and Other Organ Pieces , 1778
• Several church symphonies, string quartets and trios

literature

• Georg Karstädt: Schmügel, Johann Christoph. In: The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians . 2nd ed. Edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. Oxford University Press, 2001, ISBN 978-0-19-517067-2
• Georg Karstädt: Schmügel, Johann Christoph. In: Music in the past and present . 1st ed. By Friedrich Blume. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1949–1986