Johann Georg Neidhardt

Johann Georg Neidhardt (* around 1680 in Bernstadt , Silesia ; † January 1, 1739 in Königsberg ) was an organist , composer and theorist of the Baroque period .

Life

Neidhardt studied at the universities in Wittenberg , Jena and Königsberg , and took lessons from Johann Nikolaus Bach . In 1720 he became court conductor in Königsberg.

plant

Little is known of his musical and literary works. It is above all his writings on the musical mood that have contributed to its significance in music history.

Neidhardt propagates a so-called "equal temperament" with reference to the necessity of unrestricted transposition possibilities in all keys . He received encouragement in this from Johann Kuhnau and Johann Mattheson , among others , and especially from Andreas Werckmeister , who in his Musicalische Paradoxal-Discoursen, published posthumously in 1707, claims to have been the first "who made this suggestion" and who himself now feels encouraged by "righteous people" like Neidhardt to "statute" the same temperature as well.

Over the years Neidhardt proposed different temperature models (“for a big city”, “for a small town”, “for the village”), which should be adapted to the local quality standard and the musical abilities of the musicians. Based on the lowest standard in the village churches, Neidhardt uncompromisingly demanded the use of equal temperature in court music.

reception

The concrete evidence of certain well-tempered tunings of the late 17th and 18th centuries in historical organs, namely during the lifetime of their respective authors (such as Andreas Werckmeister or Neidhardt), has not yet been made despite numerous assumptions. This also applies to Neidhardt's proposals, whose concrete implementation in organ building during his lifetime has not been proven. He himself had probably still worked on medium-tone instruments in Konigsberg, as statements passed down by himself suggest.

In Naumburg (Saale) , Zacharias Hildebrandt tuned the organ of the St. Wenzel town church, which he completed in 1746, presumably in a temperature “after Neidhardt”. This comment leaves open whether Hildebrandt followed exactly one of Neidhardt's suggestions or whether he just followed its principles in general followed.

The organ building of the late 20th century, on the other hand, knows numerous examples in which the restoration of historical instruments or new constructions led to temperatures that led to Neidhardt's suggestions and principles.

Examples:

Altenburg Castle Church , Castle Church, Trost Organ (1736–1739). The tuning “for a big city” published by Neidhardt in 1724 was tuned in during the restoration (1974–1976) of this organ. According to the current state of research, it originally had a modified mean-tone temperature, even if temperatures according to Neidhardt were discussed during construction.
Organ in the Martinikerk in Groningen (NL), Arp-Schnitger - organ . During the restoration by Jürgen Ahrend in 1984, this organ was given a temperature that is similar to Neidhardt's system “for a large city”.
Evang. Parish church of St. Peter and Paul zu Görlitz , "sun organ", new building 1994–1997 by the organ building company Mathis behind the restored prospectus of the Casparini organ (1703).

Theoretical writings

Best and lightest temperature of the Monochordi. Jena, 1706.
Compositio harmonice problematice tradita. Königsberg around 1715, unpublished.
Sectio canonis harmonici. Koenigsberg 1724.
Completely exhaustive, mathematical sections of the Monochordi. Königsberg 1732. ( digitized version )
Nature of the diatonic-chromatic octave, derived from the order of the natural numbers. Koenigsberg 1734.
Canon monochordus. Koenigsberg 1734.
Systema generis diatonico-chromatici. Koenigsberg 1734.

literature

Hans Michael Schletterer: Neidhardt, Johann Georg . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 23, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1886, p. 399 f.
City administration Altenburg, castle administration (ed.): The consolation organ in the castle church Altenburg. Altenburgica issue 6. 1998, ISBN 3-9806235-1-3 .
Günter Lade (Ed.): The sun organ of the Protestant parish church of St. Peter and Paul in Görlitz. Festschrift for the organ consecration. Goerlitz 1997.
In: Alfred Baumgartner: Propylaea world of music - The composers - A lexicon in five volumes . Propylaen Verlag, Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-549-07830-7 , pp. 154, volume 4 .

Web links

Neidhart's works in the Munich digitization center

Individual evidence

↑ Willem Kroesbergen, Andrew Cruickshank: 18th Century Quotes on JS Bach's Temperament , here p. 12f.
^ Andreas Werckmeister: Musical Paradoxal Discourse. Quedlinburg 1707, p. 112.
↑ Ibo Ortgies : The practice of organ tuning in northern Germany in the 17th and 18th centuries and its relationship to contemporary music practice , Diss. Göteborg: Göteborgs universitet, 2007 (revised version), pp. 209–210.
^ Ibo Ortgies: Johann Sebastian Bach and Temperament , § 265. In: Hans Fidom (Hrsg.): The New Baroque Organ at the Orgelpark. (= Hans Fidom [Ed.]: Orgelpark Research Reports , Vol. 5/1), § 224-270. First publication in German: Temperatur . In: Siegbert Rampe (Ed.): Bach Handbook 4: Piano and Organ Music . Laaber: Laaber-Verlag, 2007, pp. 623-640. (= Reinmar Emans, Sven Hiemke and Klaus Hofmann (eds.): Bach Handbook , Vol. 4 [two part volumes 4/1 and 4/2]). On Naumburg cf. P. 639.
↑ Felix Friedrich: The organ builder Heinrich Gottfried Trost. Life, work, achievement . Leipzig: VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik, 1989, 49–52.
^ Ibo Ortgies: Johann Sebastian Bach and Temperament , § 141-147. In: Hans Fidom (Ed.): The New Baroque Organ at the Orgelpark. (= Hans Fidom [Ed.]: Orgelpark Research Reports ), Vol. 5/1, § 224-270. First publication in German: Temperatur . In: Siegbert Rampe (Ed.): Bach Handbook 4: Piano and Organ Music . Laaber: Laaber-Verlag, 2007, pp. 623-640. (= Reinmar Emans, Sven Hiemke and Klaus Hofmann (eds.): Bach Handbook , Vol. 4 [two part volumes 4/1 and 4/2]).

personal data
SURNAME	Neidhardt, Johann Georg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Neidhard, Johann Georg; Neidhart, Johann Georg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Prussian organist, composer and music theorist
DATE OF BIRTH	around 1680
PLACE OF BIRTH	Bernstadt , Silesia
DATE OF DEATH	January 1, 1739
Place of death	Königsberg (Prussia)

[1] Willem Kroesbergen, Andrew Cruickshank: 18th Century Quotes on JS Bach's Temperament , here p. 12f.

[2] Andreas Werckmeister: Musical Paradoxal Discourse. Quedlinburg 1707, p. 112.

[3] Ibo Ortgies : The practice of organ tuning in northern Germany in the 17th and 18th centuries and its relationship to contemporary music practice , Diss. Göteborg: Göteborgs universitet, 2007 (revised version), pp. 209–210.

[4] Ibo Ortgies: Johann Sebastian Bach and Temperament , § 265. In: Hans Fidom (Hrsg.): The New Baroque Organ at the Orgelpark. (= Hans Fidom [Ed.]: Orgelpark Research Reports , Vol. 5/1), § 224-270. First publication in German: Temperatur . In: Siegbert Rampe (Ed.): Bach Handbook 4: Piano and Organ Music . Laaber: Laaber-Verlag, 2007, pp. 623-640. (= Reinmar Emans, Sven Hiemke and Klaus Hofmann (eds.): Bach Handbook , Vol. 4 [two part volumes 4/1 and 4/2]). On Naumburg cf. P. 639.

[5] Felix Friedrich: The organ builder Heinrich Gottfried Trost. Life, work, achievement . Leipzig: VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik, 1989, 49–52.

[6] Ibo Ortgies: Johann Sebastian Bach and Temperament , § 141-147. In: Hans Fidom (Ed.): The New Baroque Organ at the Orgelpark. (= Hans Fidom [Ed.]: Orgelpark Research Reports ), Vol. 5/1, § 224-270. First publication in German: Temperatur . In: Siegbert Rampe (Ed.): Bach Handbook 4: Piano and Organ Music . Laaber: Laaber-Verlag, 2007, pp. 623-640. (= Reinmar Emans, Sven Hiemke and Klaus Hofmann (eds.): Bach Handbook , Vol. 4 [two part volumes 4/1 and 4/2]).