Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke (30 August 1767 – 27 October 1822) was a German composer, pianist and editor of musical works. From 1789 to 1822, he was Kantor at the Johanneum and director of

church music Church music is Christian music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. History Early Christian music The on ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, succeeding

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and sec ...

. He was an early publisher of ''

The Well-Tempered Clavier ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time, ''clavier'', meaning keyboard, referred to a variety of i ...

'' by Bach's father,

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

Life

Schwenke was born in in the

Harz The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

mountains. His father Johann Gottlieb Schwencke was a military bassoonist and later a town musician in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. Christian Friedrich Gottlieb received musical education from him while attending the Johanneum and the Akademisches Gymnasium in Hamburg. In 1779, he performed for the first time as a pianist in a concert given by his father. He was a boy singer in the church music directed by

. After his voice broke, he was a piano accompanist there. He thus became acquainted with compositions by his father

. From 1782, Schwencke continued his musical studies with

Johann Philipp Kirnberger Johann Philipp Kirnberger (also ''Kernberg''; 24 April 1721, Saalfeld – 27 July 1783, Berlin) was a musician, composer (primarily of fugues), and music theorist. He was a student of Johann Sebastian Bach. According to Ingeborg Allihn, Kirnber ...

and

Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg (21 November 1718 – 22 May 1795) was a German music critic, music theorist and composer. He was friendly and active with many figures of the Enlightenment of the 18th century. Life Little is known of Marpurg's ear ...

in Berlin. He also performed as a piano and organ virtuoso. From 1787, he studied mathematics at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

, and continued at the

University of Halle Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...

the following year. On 1 October 1789, he was elected to succeed C. P. E. Bach as Kantor of the Johanneum and music director in Hamburg. However, his salary was significantly reduced compared to his predecessor's, as the council wanted to save money. The low financial resources of church music gave reason for Schwencke's repeated complaints. He held the office in Hamburg until his death in 1822 at the age of 55. The position of Kantor was not filled again.

Work

Schwencke's compositions have survived only in part. He created cantatas and

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...

s as well as instrumental music, two piano and one oboe concerto, six fugues for organ and piano and violin sonatas. His setting of the Lord's Prayer by

Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (; 2 July 1724 – 14 March 1803) was a German poet. His best known work is the epic poem ''Der Messias'' ("The Messiah"). One of his major contributions to German literature was to open it up to exploration outside ...

, which was also performed at Klopstock's funeral, became nationally famous. He also set Klopstock's ''Der Frohsinn'' to music. Schwencke owned several manuscript of Bach's works, and was an early publisher of his ''

''. In a manuscript of the work's first Prelude in C major that he made, and subsequently in the printed edition by N. Simrock, the composition includes an extra measure compared with Bach's

autograph An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Inter ...

. It is unknown if Schwencke added this measure, or if he copied from now lost sources. Called the Schwencke measure, it has made its way in countless later editions, including the Ave Maria setting that

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

based on it. Schwencke also edited other works by Bach and by George Frideric Handel. He promoted the music of

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

through several performances in Hamburg. Since 1799, Schwencke was also a contributor to the ''

Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung The ''Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung'' (''General music newspaper'') was a German-language periodical published in the 19th century. Comini (2008) has called it "the foremost German-language musical periodical of its time". It reviewed musical e ...

''.

His bequeathed library and "collection of musical materials from all subjects of musical art" was auctioned in August 1824.Inventory of the collection of musical works left by the late Mr. C.F.G. Schwencke: containing all of the deceased's own works, as well as scores and excerpts of earlier and new compositions, both for church and theatre, of all times and nations, together with a particularly rich collection of songs, manuscripts of famous composers, theoretical writings, and a series of portraits of many musical artists: which is to be publicly sold on 30 August and the following days at the Kramer-Amthause, Große Johannisstrasse No. 60, , by the auctioneer J.J. Berndes. 60, , by the auctioneer J.J. Berndes. Hamburg: Printed by Hermann'schen Erben. Hamburg: Gedruckt von den Hermann'schen Erben, 1824
Numerized

Notes

References

*
W. A. Mozarti Mißa pro defunctis Requiem
W. A. Mozarts Seelenmesse. Klavierauszug von C. ristianF. iedrichG. ttliebSchwenke.'' Leipzig. Bey Breitkopf und Härtel. Pr. 2 Thaler. une 1818

Cited sources

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External links

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Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke
Naxos Records {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwencke, Christian Friedrich Gottlieb German classical composers German music publishers (people) 1767 births 1822 deaths People from Northeim (district)