Johann Gotthilf Jänichen

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Johann Gotthilf Jänichen , also Jaenichen or Jenichen , (born November 23, 1701 Halle ; † in Berlin ) was secretary at the court of Margrave Christian Ludwig von Brandenburg-Schwedt in Berlin. He was considered a good harpsichordist. Since Wilhelmine von Bayreuth's double jubilee in 2008/2009, Sabine Henze-Döhring has held him as the author of the harpsichord concerto in G minor , the author of which the Bayreuth margravine is repeatedly identified. This started a now public controversy about an early harpsichord concert , which was announced in May 2020 by the Bavarian radio as a concert by "Wilhelmine von Jänichen".

Life

Johann Gotthilf Jänichen was the son of the Halle pedagogue Johann Jänichen , who became known for poetry. In addition to his position as "secret secretary" at the court of Margrave Christian Ludwig von Brandenburg-Schwedt , the youngest brother of the Prussian King Friedrich I , he worked as a harpsichordist and probably also as a composer , especially in Berlin, where he is said to have died. However, his name does not appear in the list of Christian Ludwig's court musicians. Possibly Johann Gotthilf Jänichen is referring to, whom Georg Philipp Telemann personally names as “Jenichen in Berlin” in his self-engraved “Musique de table” (printed in 1733) as a subscriber.

For the harpsichord concert discussed, it is important that both Jänichen and the eight years younger Prussian Princess Wilhelmine were recognized as good harpsichord players; As a secretary in the service of Christian Ludwig von Brandenburg - Wilhelmine's great uncle - Jänichen must have met the princess regularly in the Berlin Palace .

Works attributed to him so far

An autograph by Jaenichen / Jenichen - both spellings in the printed Breitkopf catalog 1763 - has not yet been known. The following copies under his name have been known for a long time:

Johann Gotthilf or Stephan Jänichen?

The scores handed down under the family name “Jaenichen” (all manuscripts only use the spelling “ae”) are copies without a first name . This family name could theoretically refer to Stephan Jänichen , who was engaged as a chamber musician by the Saxon Electress Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth . He died in 1726 in their residence Pretzsch , where he is buried. On his tombstone he is called "a maitre of music [...]". Neither Johann Gotthilf nor Stephan Jänichen have received the term “composer”.

Controversial attribution

  • Concerto à harpsichord concertato […] [G minor], parts. Originally passed on anonymously without a title. Above right old number 7 G. Subsequent title inscription in a different font, with number 1 and in a different choice of words than the voice title. Later assignment to "Foerster" (crossed out) or (from another hand :) "Jaenichen". Duchess Anna Amalia Library , Weimar, Mus. IIIc: 120 (burned in 2004).
  • The other version of the concerto with assignment by Wilhelmine see under The two versions of the harpsichord concerto in G minor

The two versions of the harpsichord concerto in G minor

  • Concerto á harpsichord obligato […] di Wilhelmine , parts (harpsichord part missing, cuts to difficult passages, etc., see text part of the music edition). Notes and titles with the assignment “di Wilhelmine” are the copy of an authentic Bayreuth copyist, written in one go. There are later performance entries in the voices. Duke August Library Wolfenbüttel, Cod. Guelf. 67 Mus. Handschr .
  • [Number:] 1 Concerto à cembalo concertato […] , parts. Completely preserved version, copy by two unknown scribes (1: solo part, string parts Vl. II, Va, cello; 2: Vl.I. (different, large format)). Probably originally without title inscription, only with serial number at the top right on the front cover page 7 G. Probably a later inscribed title label with reference to “Foerster”, later corrected “Jaenichen”. Duchess Anna Amalia Library Weimar, Mus. IIIc: 120 (original burned in 2004, modern edition Furore-Verlag, Kassel 2000).

Attributions by authors of the harpsichord concerto in G minor

Modern catalogs:

Old catalogs (before 2000):

  • Breitkopf catalog (printed catalog 1763) Incipit and title: Concerto di Jenichen a Cl. ob. c. 2 viol. VB , p. 20.
  • Music catalog by Erich Vogel (printed 1890) of the Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel : under Friederike Sophie Wilhelmine .
  • Musicals from the estate of HRH Grand Duchess Marija Pawlowna Romanowa (1786–1859) in the Grossh. [Educational] library (complete catalog of music in the Duchess Anna Amalia Library, Weimar, in the 19th century, Mss 2 vol.): Concert for Pianoforte in G minor: Jaenichen , Duchess Anna Amalia Library Weimar.
  • Card catalog of the Duchess Anna Amalia Library, Weimar: "Jaenichen [Forester?]".

For the discussion about the authorship of the harpsichord concerto in G minor

Sabine Henze-Döhring regards the entry of the concert in the Breitkopf catalog 1763 under “Jenichen” as confirmation of her thesis that Johann Gotthilf Jänichen was the author of the harpsichord concerto in G minor. This is countered by the fact that the Breitkopf catalog is not suitable as an attribution catalog if the sources are unclear, since the author Breitkopf, as he regrets in the afterword, did not want / could not vouch for the correctness of his author's information; see Wikipedia article Breitkopf catalog . In contrast, the Wolfenbüttel manuscript of the concert ("di Wilhelmine") within the collection of the Duchess Philippine Charlotte von Braunschweig shows an authentic tradition in family ownership. Henze-Döhring's finding that the Prussian princess always marked her works with her sovereign title "da Sua Altezza Reale la Margravia regnante" (from Her Royal Highness the ruling Margravine) only applies to libretto prints, not to her two only surviving musical autographs. Henze-Döhring's stylistic finding about the genre and composition-specific location of the harpsichord concerto in G minor, which she considers old-fashioned, does not apply either, because the concerts by Adam Falckenhagen and Paul Charl Durant (as well as by their German contemporaries) at the Bayreuth court Georg Philipp Telemann and Georg Friedrich Händel ) have their own face that stands out from the Italian concert fashion.

References and comments

  1. ↑ Baptismal register St. Marien Halle 1701, p. 439.
  2. ^ Johann Christoph von Dreyhaupt: Pagus Neletizi et Nudzici , 2nd part. Emanuel Schneider, Hall 1749/50. Reprint :fly head, Halle 2002, pp. 642–643.
  3. ↑ Sabine Henze-Döhring: Margravine Wilhelmine and the Bayreuther Hofmusik , Bamberg 2009.
  4. ↑ https://www.br-klassik.de/programm/radio/ausrichtung-2039112.html
  5. ↑ Only one list of musicians is known from the year of Christian Ludwig's death (1734), see Mary Oleskiewitcz: The Court of Brandenburg-Prussia . In: Music at German Courts 1715–1760 (edited by Samantha Owens, Barbara M. Reul and Janice B. Stockigt, ISBN 978-1-84383-598-1 , pp. 129/130).
  6. ↑ Hans-Joachim Böttcher: Christiane Eberhardine, Princess of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, Electress of Saxony and Queen of Poland, wife of August the Strong , Dresdener Buchverlag, 2011, page 308.
  7. ↑ Johann Christoph von Dreyhaupt describes JG Jänichen in Pagus Neletizi et Nudzici (see literature) as a good harpsichordist (pp. 642–643). For Stephan Jänichen, the title Maitre of Music is handed down on his tombstone, a title that could include the function of a composer in the Baroque era.
  8. ↑ See text part with illustration in the sheet music edition Wilhelmine von Bayreuth, Concerto in G for harpsichord obligato and strings . Furore Verlag, Kassel 2000.
  9. ↑ Further notes Bayreuth Court Music in the same manuscript is owned by the Bayreuth City Archives, Flotow Collection.
  10. ↑ Facsimile pages and description in the music edition Furore Verlag 2000.
  11. ↑ RISM-OPAC database : online Jänichen, Förster Jänichen, allegedly Wilhelmine .
  12. ↑ See Breitkopf's apology for the unreliability of the composer's names he reproduced in his catalog .
  13. ^ Sabine Henze-Döhring: Margravine Wilhelmine and the Bayreuth court music. 1st edition. Bamberg 2009, ISBN 978-3-89889-146-2 , pp. 42-52.
  14. ↑ See Robert Dearling: Annotations to The Breitkopf Thematic Catalog and Supplements. In: Haydn Yearbook IX , Vienna 1975, pp. 256–302.
  15. ↑ Wilhelmine's sister.
  16. ↑ Notes, title and author's information, written in one go, come from a Bayreuth court copyist (see inside title facsimile and epilogue p. 29 f of the modern sheet music edition, Furore Verlag, 2000). The fact that the manuscript is shortened and not completely preserved does not reduce its authenticity. Erich Vogel arranged the ducal music of the House of Braunschweig and published his catalog in 1890 (Dr. Erich Vogel: The manuscripts together with older printed works in the music department of the Herzogl. [Ichen] library in Wolfenbüttel. 1890, p. 15). He cataloged the concert according to its title under Friederike Sophie Wilhelmine ( Wilhelmine von Brandenburg-Kulmbach-Bayreuth ). The collection, which also contains Wilhelmine / Bernasconi's opera L'Huomo - written by the same copyist as the harpsichord concerto - passed through his hands as a whole.
  17. ↑ Henze-Döhring 2009, p. 49.
  18. ↑ Your only surviving musical autographs so far
    • A) unsigned (score of the opera Argenore, see also facsimile pages of your manuscript in the edition of Schott-Verlag, Mainz).
    • B) titled Wilhelmine (Flute Sonata in A minor, see facsimile page in the edition of Furore-Verlag, Kassel).
  19. ↑ Henze-Döhring 2009, p. 50 f.
  20. ↑ On Paul Charl Durant (this name spelling according to the Bayreuth court calendar) see [1] .
  21. ↑ They often show more than three movements as well as dance movements. See complete editions and catalog raisonnés by Joachim Domning (Adam Falckenhagen, Concerts op. IV; Paul Charl Durant; editions see Trekel-Verlag Hamburg). Siegfried Kross, The Instrumental Concert with Georg Philipp Telemann , Tutzing 1969, Thematic Bibliographical Directory , pages 121–172: z. B. [No.] 1, 3, 5; Pp. 127, 139, 167; Handel, Organ Concerts Op. IV, 3 (1738) (the last movement of which corresponds in form and content to the last movement of the harpsichord concerto in G minor, Gavotte I and II, and is literally titled "Gavotte" in another version) and Concerts op. VII.

literature

  • Hans-Joachim Böttcher: Christiane Eberhardine, Princess of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, Electress of Saxony and Queen of Poland, wife of August the Strong , Dresdener Buchverlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-941757-25-7 .
  • Johann Christoph von Dreyhaupt: Pagus Neletizi et Nudzici, or detailed diplomatic-historical description of the former primacy and Ertz-Stifft, but now secularized by the Duchy of Magdeburg, which belongs to the Duchy of Magdeburg, and of all the cities, palaces, offices, Manors, aristocratic families, churches, monasteries, parishes and villages, especially the cities of Halle, Neumarckt, Glaucha, Wettin, Löbegün, Cönnern and Alsleben; From Actis publicis and credible ... news, collected diligently, reinforced with many unprinted documents, adorned with copperplate engravings and abstracts, and provided with the necessary registers. Part 2. Emanuel Schneider, Hall 1749/50. Reprint: Fly Head, Halle 2002, ISBN 3-930195-70-4 , pp. 642–643.
  • Frank Piontek: Harpsichord concerto not by Wilhelmine. Nordbayerischer Kurier, December 30, 2008, p. 15.
  • Wilhelmine von Bayreuth: Concerto in G for harpsichord obligato, strings and basso continuo . Furore-Verlag Kassel, 2000 (with facsimile pages and afterword).

Web links

Interview with Henze-Döhring. Thesis that Wilhelmine's authorship at the harpsichord concerto is “obsolete”.

personal data
SURNAME Jänichen, Johann Gotthilf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jaenichen, Jenichen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German composer and secretary at the court of Christian Ludwig von Brandenburg-Schwedt
DATE OF BIRTH November 23, 1701
PLACE OF BIRTH Hall
DATE OF DEATH 18th century
Place of death unsure: Berlin