Johann Gottfried Müthel

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Johann Gottfried Müthel

Johann Gottfried Müthel (born January 17, 1728 in Mölln , Lauenburg , † July 14, 1788 in Riga ) was a German harpsichordist , organist and composer .

Life

Müthel received his first musical training from his father, who was an organist in Mölln. His studies were then continued with the Lübeck organist Johann Paul Kuntzen , until Müthel finally took up a position as chamber musician and court organist in the chapel of Duke Christian Ludwig II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1747 . His duties there also included the education of the ducal children. To perfect his musical skills, Müthel was granted a one-year vacation. He began this as one of the last students of Johann Sebastian Bach , in whose household he also lived. Even if Bach died three months after his arrival, Müthel, as a copyist of the already blind master, was able to deal intensively with his work.

After Bach's death, Müthel deepened his training in Naumburg with his son-in-law Johann Christoph Altnikol , in Dresden through his acquaintance with Johann Adolf Hasse , at the court of Friedrich II in Berlin and Potsdam with Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach , with whom Müthel had a lifelong friendship with letters finally in Hamburg through the acquaintance of Georg Philipp Telemann . After the end of the vacation year, Müthel returned to the court of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The provinciality of the court could not satisfy his musical demands, however, and prompted him to accept an invitation from his brother to Riga, where he strengthened the house orchestra of the Livonian secret government councilor Otto Hermann von Vietinghoff . He was considered an important patron of the city, who promoted public cultural life by organizing evening music and societies. It was on these occasions that Müthel gained so much recognition for his technical ability that in 1767 he was given the position of organist at St. Peter's Cathedral. He held this position until his death. In Riga he was a member of the Masonic Lodge "Zum Schwert".

In the last years of his life, Müthel withdrew more and more from public life, but still seemed to feel at home in Riga because he turned down several offers from Germany. The anecdote became known that at last he only let himself be heard in public as a pianist in winter, since only then did the snow dampen the rattle of the passing cars to a level that the artist could tolerate.

meaning

Together with Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach , Müthel is one of the main representatives of the storm and stress in music. It is assigned to the pre-classical period, whose representatives consciously broke with the stylized forms of the baroque and its counterpoint . In contrast to many musicians who broke up at the break-up times of the pre-classical period, Müthel succeeded in developing a new, expressive personality style. As a well-traveled man, Müthel knew the musical style elements of his time and knew how to use them musically. Even if Müthel's work only achieved regional recognition in Riga during his lifetime, he was also valued by prominent contemporaries such as Charles Burney , Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart and Gottfried Herder for his musical and technical skills. Burney particularly emphasized Müthel's originality. Schubart described his music as “dark, gloomy, stubborn and indomitable against the fashion tastes of his contemporaries.” And about his playing technique: “Those who have heard him play cannot sufficiently admire the ease with which he overcomes mountains of difficulties. “The fact that Johann Sebastian Bach accepted Müthel as a student in his house in May 1750 - although he was already terminally ill - can speak for the extraordinary talent of the student.

plant

Müthel's musical oeuvre comprises a comparatively manageable number of compositions, only a few of which were published during the composer's lifetime. In addition to complete works, there are many technical exercises, improvisational approaches and cadences . His work is characterized by broken chords, tokata-like themes, polyphony and unison - in short, by the use of all technical possibilities, including the pedal solo. Instrumental compositions take up the main part, while he has only composed vocal works occasionally. Noteworthy is the small proportion of compositions for organ, which are only sketchily recorded, despite Müthel's activity as organist.

Organ works

  • Fantasy and Fugue in G major
  • Fantasy in G minor
  • Fantasy in E flat major
  • Fantasy in F major
  • Choral arrangement " Jesus, my joy "

Further instrumental compositions

  • some polonaises for two violins with and without flute and bass
  • a flute sonata
  • 44 short minuets and marches for music lovers
  • at least nine piano sonatas (partly disputed authorship)
  • two ariosi with twelve variations each
  • two duets for two pianos
  • six great piano concertos with orchestra (one without a traditional final movement)
  • a concerto for two bassoons and orchestra

Vocal compositions

  • a cantata
  • a four-part drinking song
  • 45 "Selected odes and songs by various poets"

literature

  • Booklet of the CD Johann Gottfried Müthel - Organ Works (LC 4298)
  • Booklet of the CD Müthel Concerts and Chamber Music (MDG 325 0452-2)
  • Booklet of the CD Ariosi, Sonatas, Duets (cantando 2016)
  • Booklet of the CD Concerti (cantando 2020)
  • Erwin Kemmler: Johann Gottfried Müthel and the north-east German musical life of his time (=  scientific contributions to the history and regional studies of East Central Europe . Volume 88 ). Johann Gottfried Herder Institute, 1970, ISSN  0510-7008 , DNB  720254027 , urn : nbn: de: bvb: 12-bsb00102912-8 ( ostdok.de - Simultaneously: Saarbrücken, Univ., Philos. Fac., Diss. 1965).
  • Erwin Kemmler:  Müthel, Johann Gottfried. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 18, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-428-00199-0 , p. 562 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • In: Alfred Baumgartner: Propylaea world of music - The composers - A lexicon in five volumes . Propylaen Verlag, Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-549-07830-7 , pp. 129/130, volume 4 .
  • Helmut Scheunchen : Lexicon of German Baltic Music. Harro von Hirschheydt publishing house, Wedemark-Elze 2002. ISBN 3-7777-0730-9 . Pp. 174-177.

Remarks

  1. ↑ quoted from: Booklet to CD Johann Gottfried Müthel - Orgelwerke . Karl Lorenz at the Jacob Scherer organ in Mölln, LC 4298.
  2. ↑ ibid

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Müthel, Johann Gottfried
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German organist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH January 17, 1728
PLACE OF BIRTH Mölln
DATE OF DEATH July 14, 1788
Place of death Riga