Arnold Matthias Brunckhorst (1670–1725) was a German organist and composer. He was born in

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about 71,000. Celle is the southern gateway to the Lü ...

Wietzendorf Wietzendorf ( Eastphalian: ''Witzendörp'') is a municipality in the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 14 km southeast of Soltau, and 50 km southwest of Lüneburg. The population as of 31 Dec ...

. Beginning in 1693, he served as an organist at St. Andreas in

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Lei ...

. In 1697, he assumed the organist's post at the Stadtkirche in Celle. In 1720, he was appointed court organist at

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

Works, editions and recordings

Only a few works by him have survived: two small oratorios - for Christmas and Easter, one single-movement keyboard sonata in A major (regarded as the earliest German documentation of the form of the two-part sonata structure, comparable to the formal type encountered in

Domenico Scarlatti Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti, also known as Domingo or Doménico Scarlatti (26 October 1685-23 July 1757), was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the deve ...

), and a praeludium in E minor for organ. A "Präludium & Fuge" in g minor - which was found not long ago in Berlin and was at first believed to be composed by Nikolaus Bruhns - is now believed to be composed by Brunckhorst. However, due to at least one stylistic inconsistency in the fugue, it seems to be rather probable that - irrespective of the initial authorship of Brunckhorst or Bruhns - this handwriting does not derive from the composer's own hand but some other, probably a scholar. A proposal for correction and supplements is available from me, Klaus Kleinhoff, Rodenberg, Germany. *Brunckhorst ''Opera omnia'' complete works: ''Weihnachts-Historie'', Prelude for Organ in E minor. ''Oster-Historie'', Harpsichord Sonata in A major. Musica Poetica Freiburg, dir. Hans BergmannHänssler: HAEN98364

References

*''Oxford Composer Companions, J.S. Bach,'' 1999, p. 74-75 *Flamme, Friedhelm. (trans. Praeder, Susan Marie). Liner notes for CPO release 777 271-2

External links

1670 births 1725 deaths German classical organists German male organists German Baroque composers 18th-century keyboardists 18th-century classical composers German classical composers German male classical composers People from Celle 18th-century German composers 18th-century German male musicians Male classical organists {{Germany-composer-stub