Johann Gottlieb Naumann

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'Johann Gottlieb Naumann'

Painting from 1780 by his brother Friedrich Gotthard Naumann
Born April 17, 1741(1741-04-17)
Blasewitz, Germany (near Dresden)
Died October 23, 1801 (aged 60)
Dresden, Germany
Occupation Composer

Johann Gottlieb Naumann was a German composer, conductor and Kapellmeister.

Contents

[edit] Life

Johann Gottlieb Naumann received his musical training from the teachers at his town school, who instructed him in piano and organ. Later he would be a student at the Kreuzschule in Dresden and a member of the Dresden Kreuzchor. In Dresden he was taught by the Organist and Cantor of the Kreuzschule, Gottfried August Homilius, a student of Bach. In May 1757, he traveled to Italy with the Swedish violinist Anders Wesström. The composer Giuseppe Tartini encountered Naumann and his works in 1762 and took an interest in them. Later that year, he made his debut as an opera composers in Venice with Il tesoro insidiato. Following his successful 1764 production of Li creduti spiriti, he was engaged as the second church composer for the Dresden court, on the composer Johann Adolf Hasse's recommendation.[1]

In 1777, as a result of the negotiations of the Swedish diplomat Count Löwenhjelm, he was appointed to reform the Stockholm Hovkapell and assist King Gustavus III in his opera plans. His work in Sweden culminated in the 1782 production of his opera Cora och Alonzo at the inauguration of the new opera house in Stockholm and the 1786 production of Gustaf Wasa, based on an idea of the king for a Royal Swedish Opera. After a brief period as a guest composer in Copenhagen (1785-6), he returned to Dresden where he became Oberkapellmeister. In 1792 he married Catarina von Grodtschilling, daughter of a Danish vice-admiral.[2]

[edit] Works (Selected)

Operas:

  • Armida (1773)
  • Elisa (1781)
  • Gustaf Wasa (1786)
  • Orpheus og Eurydike (1786, Danish; 1787, German)
  • Aci e Galatea (1801)

Sacred Works:

  • Missa solenne in A-flat Major (1804)
  • Twenty other smaller masses
  • Twelve oratorios, including:
    • La passione di Gesù Cristo (1767)
    • La morte d’Abel (1790)
    • I pellegrini al sepolcro (1798)
    • Betulia liberata (1805)
  • Psalms 69, 103 & 149

Instrumental Works:

  • Twelve symphonies (1766-77)
  • Six quartets for harpsichord, flute, violin and bass (1786)
  • Twelve sonatas for piano or glass harmonica (1786-92)
  • Six sonatas for piano or glass harmonica, op. 4

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Dieter Härtwig and Laurie Ongley: "Johann Gottlieb Naumann," Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 12 December 2006) (subscription access).
  2. ^ Härtwig and Ongley: "Johann Gottlieb Naumann."

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Naumann, Johann Gottlieb
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION German opera composer
DATE OF BIRTH April 17, 1741
PLACE OF BIRTH Blasewitz, Germany (near Dresden)
DATE OF DEATH October 23, 1801
PLACE OF DEATH Dresden, Germany