Johann Michael Nicolai

Johann Michael Nicolai (* 1629 probably in Ulrichshalben near Weimar ; † January 26, 1685 in Stuttgart ) was a German violonist and composer .

Life

Johann Michael Nicolai was the son of a school clerk, nothing is known about his musical training. However, his works show that he must have grown up in the Thuringian musical tradition. Until 1655 he was a member of the court orchestra of the Duke of Saxony-Lauenburg, whose musicians were often invited to play for the Margrave of Brandenburg. From October 11, 1655 until his death, Nicolai was an instrumentalist in the Hofkapelle Stuttgart for 30 years , where he played the great violone , among other things . He also worked as a teacher for the choirboys. According to contemporary records, members of the court orchestra regularly met in his house for an exercitium musicum . He was friends with the composer Philipp Friedrich Böddecker , the organist of the Kollegiatenkirche.

In 1675 he dedicated the first part of his instrumental items to Margrave Christian Ernst of Brandenburg .

His son Johann Christoph Nicolai (1683–1753) was the mayor of Cannstatt . His grandson Ferdinand Friedrich von Nicolai (1730–1814) was a Württemberg officer and minister of war.

Works

Nicolai's Spiritual Harmonies consist of three parts of ten German and two Latin psalm texts, which were obviously intended for the Protestant liturgy. The handwritten cantatas of the Evangelical Harmonies were intended for liturgical use according to the church year and range from the first Sunday in Advent through the first two months of the church year. In many of his instrumental works, the lower instruments such as the bass viol and the bassoon compete with the violins and violas independently of the basso continuo. The sonatas consist of two central, lively movements that are enclosed and connected by several short adagio sections.

Sacred vocal works

• First part sacred harmonies (collection of 12 works) for 3 voices, 3 violins and BC (printed by Frankfurt 1669)
• Evangelical harmonies first part (collection of 24 chants) for 4 voices, 2 violins, 2 violas and BC, handed down as manuscript
• Just to you for 10 voices and BC, handed down as handwriting
• Lord, if only I have you for 3 voices, 2 violins and BC, handed down as handwriting
• The Death of His Saints for 3 voices and instruments, handed down as manuscript in the Düben Collection , Uppsala; Verlag C. Hofius Ammerbuch, 2007

Instrumental works

• First part of instrumental matters (12 sonatas for 2 violins, bass viol and bassoon, printed by Augsburg 1675)
• Other part of instrumental things (24 capriccios for 4 violas and BC, printed by Augsburg 1675)
• Third part of instrumental things (for violin, 2 violas, violone and BC, printed: Stuttgart 1682, lost)
• Aria à 4 for 2 violins, bassoon and BC, manuscript in Düben collection , Uppsala, imhs 5: 7
• 2 sonatas for violin, 2 violas and BC, handed down by hand
• 1 sonata for violin, bass viol or trombone and bc (organ) in G minor, handwritten in the Düben collection, Uppsala (imhs 5: 6b), Cornetto-Verlag Stuttgart 2004
• 1 sonata for violin, bass viol and bc in d minor, handwritten in the Düben collection, Uppsala (imhs 5: 6a), Cornetto-Verlag Stuttgart 2004
• 1 sonata for 2 violins and BC, handed down by hand
• 4 sonatas and suites with an anonymous one (probably by Nicolai) for 2–3 violas and BC, handwritten
• Sonatina in D major for viola da gamba and bc, Cornetto-Verlag Stuttgart 2004
• 2 sonatas in A minor / D minor for 2 bass viols and bc, preserved in Durham Cathedral Library, Edition Güntersberg Heidelberg 2004
• 1 sonata for 3 bass viols and bc in C major, preserved in Durham Cathedral Library, Edition Güntersberg Heidelberg 2003

literature

• Grove Music Online , Oxford University Press 2006
• Alfred Baumgartner: Propylaea World of Music - The Composers - A lexicon in five volumes . tape 4 . Propylaeen, Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-549-07830-7 , pp. 165 .

Web links

• Works by and about Johann Michael Nicolai in the catalog of the German National Library