Johann Georg Christoph Schetky

Johann Georg Christoph Schetky (born August 19, 1737 in Darmstadt ; † November 30, 1824 in Edinburgh ) was a German-Scottish cellist and composer .

Life

Johann Georg Christoph Schetky, son of the singer and violinist Ernst Gottlieb Schetky (1716–1767) and the singer Maria Elisabeth Eberhard (1714–1769) was initially trained by his father and by Johann Samuel Endler (in figured bass). Apart from one month of lessons with Anton Fils , he was largely self-taught as a cellist and composer . In 1768 he became a member of the chapel at the Darmstädter Hof. In 1770 he gave a concert in London and two years later he was hired in Edinburgh as the first cellist of the Edinburgh Musical Society , which was directed by Carl Friedrich Abel and Robert Bremner. Here he played a leading role together with his friend Thomas Erskine . In Edinburgh, Schetky married Maria Theresa Reinagle, the daughter of the trumpeter Joseph Reinagle senior, who was also of German descent. and sister of the cellist and composer Joseph Reinagle jun. Despite quarrels with the Edinburgh Musical Society , he remained their principal cellist and played, taught and composed at the same time.

Aftermath

Schetky's aftermath is primarily fed by his educational work. Already in the preface to his Twelve Duetts for two Violoncellos op.7 (1780) he mentioned Some Observations on, and Rules for Violoncello Playing . He emphasizes how important it is for a cellist to be able to play bass accompaniments well. In his opinion, young cellists pay far too much attention to playing solo than to playing a bass line well, which can be used to gain more respect. His Practical and Progressive Lessons for the Violoncello from around 1813 were important teaching material of the time. In these he gives instructions on how to play chords on the violoncello, in which he was considered a master himself. Schetky played for a long time with the previously common bow underhand grip, as reported in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung of October 1799, and apparently later switched to the bow overhand grip. In his Lessons from around 1813 he clearly describes this.

Works

Some manuscripts of his works (symphonies, sonatas, duets) are kept in the University and State Library Darmstadt and in the State Library Schwerin . Stylistically, his compositions belong to the Mannheim School , including a piano concerto , eight cello concertos, four symphonies , six string quartets , 10 piano and 23 trio sonatas and numerous works for cello with or without accompaniment. Some of his works were printed in London and Edinburgh.

His son George Schetky was also a cellist and became one of the first American composers.

Literature & sources

• Bertil H. van Boer : Historical Dictionary of Music of the Classical Period , Scarecrow Press, 2012, ISBN 978-0810871830 , p. 505
• Some musicians from older times. In: Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung No. 3, October 16, 1799, Sp. 34–37
• Ernst Ludwig Gerber: New historical-biographical lexicon of the Tonkünstler… Fourth Part SZ , A. Kühnel, Leipzig, 1814, Sp. 53–56

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lucie Fenner:  Reinagle. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 6 (Eames - Franco). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 2001, ISBN 3-7618-1116-0  ( online edition , subscription required for full access)