Johann Christoph Pepusch

Johann Christoph Pepusch

Johann Christoph Pepusch (* 1667 in Berlin , † July 20 ^jul. / 31 July  1752 ^greg. In London ) was an international composer , musician, teacher and musicologist. He was married to the then famous singer Margherita de L'Épine , who also appeared in some of his stage works.

Live and act

Johann Christoph Pepusch was born in Berlin in 1667 as the son of a pastor . Here he received his first musical training before he took up a position at the court at the age of 14, which he resigned in 1698. The cause was his outrage over the execution of an without trial officer whom he was present. Pepusch first went to Amsterdam . In 1704 he established himself in London, but continued to publish in Holland until around 1718.

In London, Pepusch worked as a violist, soon also as a composer, theater director, music theorist and organist. In 1710 he was a co-founder of the " Academy of Ancient Music " and the Madrigal Society , which was devoted to the research and performance of the music of bygone eras, especially the Elizabethan Age . Between 1710 and 1730 Pepusch published a large number of his own works. In 1713 he was promoted to a doctorate in music at Oxford University . His catalog raisonné includes compositions of all genres, from the chamber sonata for a wide variety of instruments to songs, cantatas, symphonies and opera. He devoted the last two decades of his life to studying early music.

English musicology describes Johann Christoph Pepusch as an important teacher. His friends and students (including William Boyce , John Travers, Johan Helmich Roman and Benjamin Cooke) included the most outstanding musicians of his time. Not least because of his initiatives, England developed into a research center for early music. The institutions founded by him and through his influence also advocated the maintenance of older works when music from the late 18th and early 19th centuries was only played on the continent.

The Beggar's Opera

It is rumored that The Beggar's Opera (“Des Bettlers Oper”, music by Pepusch, text by John Gay ) gave Handel's opera the fatal blow in 1728 , which is probably oversimplified, as more than one reason comes into question. But one must also take into account that Handel's opera company was a purely private company. Handel still produced operas until 1741, albeit on a much more modest scale, before he specialized entirely in oratorios, which, like The Beggar's Opera, managed without expensive backdrops, but gave the opera composer enough opportunity to act out.

There must have been other factors at play that made Handel's opera difficult. It remains true, however, that in the Singspiel , which stands between musicals , cabaret and the farce with singing , it was not the heroes of the past or shepherds and nymphs who acted, but simple people from the street. In and of itself, this is a tried and tested satirical practice, and the audience recognized its politicians. The Threepenny Opera, written exactly 200 years later by Bertolt Brecht , is based on the text by John Gay , the music is by Kurt Weill , with one exception (the morning chorale of Peachum was taken from The Beggar's Opera ), a new creation.

Pepusch gets by with simple musical means. The French overture is just a four-part movement . In place of the arias, there are mostly well-known Scottish folk songs with an undefined bass .

The chamber music

In chamber music , too , Pepusch often strikes the folk tone, especially in the gigues, which usually form the end of a sonata . Dances are not designated as such, but only characterized by specifying the beat and tempo. In Pepusch's chamber music, the scoring given by the composer (publisher) does not always match the instruments that can actually be used, for example in the Concerti op. 4, shown for 2 recorders, 2 flutes and basso continuo . The recorder plays a very important role in Pepusch's work.

Also noteworthy are the English cantatas on texts by early Enlightenment English poets. Conceptually, they form a real antithesis to Handel's “German Arias”.

Works

• Op. 1: 6 Sonatas or Solos for the Flute with a through Bass for the Harpsicord (Amsterdam, 1705–1706; London, 1707)
• Op. 2: 6 Solos for the Flute with a thorough Bass for the Bassoon , Bass-Flute or Harpsicord (London, 1709)
• Op. 8: 6 concerts of 2 flûtes à Bec, 2 flûtes traversieres Haubois ou Violons & Basse continue (Amsterdam, approx. 1717–1718)
• Prelude in Select Preludes or Volentarys for the Violin by the most eminent Masters in Europe (London, 1705)
• 24 Solos for a Violin with a through Bass for the Harpsicord or Bass Violin (London, ca.1706 )
• Chaconne in piano pieces with practical lessons for beginners and more experienced (Berlin, 1762–1763)
• further works in manuscripts and English collective prints

literature

• Arthur V. Berger: The Beggar's Opera, the Burlesque, and Italian Opera. In: Music & Letters. Vol. 17, No. 2, ISSN  0027-4224 , pp. 93-105.
• Charles Burney : A General History of Music. 4 volumes. Robson et al., London 1776–1789.
• Marion Brück:  Pepusch, Johann Christoph. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 20, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-428-00201-6 , pp. 178-180 ( digitized version ).
• Georgy Calmus: The Beggar's Opera by Gay and Pepusch. Their musical parodic side and their imitations in England. In: Anthologies of the International Music Society. Vol. 8, No. 2, 1907, ZDB -ID 507183-5 , pp. 286-335.
• Georgy Calmus: Two opera burlesques from the Rococo period. For the first time reissued, translated and introduced with music. Liepmannssohn, Berlin 1912 (Contains: Gay and Pepusch: The Beggar's Opera. London 1728. ).
• Otto Erich German : Handel. A Documentary Biography. Black, London 1955.
• WH Grattan Flood: The Beggar's Opera and its Composers. In: Music & Letters. Vol. 3, No. 4, 1922, pp. 402-406.
• John Hawkins : General History of the Science and Practice of Music. 2 volumes. Payne, London 1776.
• Charles W. Hughes: Johann Christoph Pepusch. In: The Music Quarterly. Vol. 31, No. 1, 1945, ISSN  0027-4631 , pp. 54-70.
• Hans Michel Schletterer :  Pepusch, Johann Christoph . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 25, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1887, pp. 365-372. (See correction to Volume XXV:  Pepusch, Johann Christoph . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 25, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1887, pp. 797 f.).

Web links

• Works by and about Johann Christoph Pepusch in the catalog of the German National Library
• Sheet music and audio files by Johann Christoph Pepusch in the International Music Score Library Project

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Michael Kämmle, A learned and educated person. From the life of John Christopher Smith (1712-1795) (pdf)
2. ^ Charles Cudworth, Dorothea Schmidt-Preuss (ex.): Pepusch (family). In: Music in the past and present. Bärenreiter-Verlag 1986 ( digital library volume 60), p. 58863 (see MGG volume 10, p. 1029).