Christian Friedrich Witt, or Witte (c. 1660 – 13 April 1716
) was a German
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
, music
editor and teacher.
Biography
He was born in
Altenburg, where his father, Johann Ernst Witt, was court organist; he had come from Denmark around 1650 when a Danish
princess
Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince.
Princess as a subst ...
married into the house of
Saxe-Altenburg
Saxe-Altenburg (german: Sachsen-Altenburg, links=no) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin in present-day Thuringia. It was one of the smallest of the German states with an area of 1323 square kilomete ...
.
Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg probably gave Witt a scholarship in 1676 to study in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
and
Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the ...
, and then from 1685–1686 to study composition and
counterpoint in
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
with
Georg Caspar Wecker
Georg Caspar Wecker (baptized 2 April 1632 – 20 April 1695) was a German Baroque organist and composer. A minor composer of the Nuremberg school, Wecker is now best remembered as one of Johann Pachelbel's first teachers.
Wecker was born an ...
, returning for a further period of study in 1688. He moved to
Gotha
Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the Gotha (district), district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine House of Wet ...
to take up a post as
chamber organ
Carol Williams performing at the United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel.">West_Point_Cadet_Chapel.html" ;"title="United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel">United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel.
...
ist to the court in June 1686; he remained there for the rest of his life. He became a substitute for W.M. Mylius, the ''
kapellmeister,'' in 1694, and succeeded him after his death in 1713; Duke
Frederick II was one of his pupils. He is mentioned as a good
keyboard
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
player and ''kapellmeister'' in J.P. Treiber's ''Der accurate Organist im General-Bass'' (1704) and
Telemann
Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hilde ...
's ''Beschreibung der Augen-Orgel'' (1739). He was also valued by the courts of
Ansbach-Bayreuth
The Principality or Margraviate of (Brandenburg-)Ansbach (german: Fürstentum Ansbach or ) was a principality in the Holy Roman Empire centered on the Franconian city of Ansbach. The ruling Hohenzollern princes of the land were known as margrave ...
,
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a small historic state in present-day Thuringia, Germany, with its capital at Rudolstadt.
History
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was established in 1599 in the course of a resettlement of Schwarzburg dynasty lands. Since t ...
, and
Saxe-Weissenfels
Saxe-Weissenfels (german: Sachsen-Weißenfels) was a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire from 1656/7 until 1746 with its residence at Weißenfels. Ruled by a cadet branch of the Albertine House of Wettin, the duchy passed to the Electorate of Saxony u ...
. While on Witt's deathbed,
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 w ...
was commissioned to substitute for him and perform a Passiontide work for the court chapel (the ''
Weimarer Passion
The ''Weimarer Passion'', BWV deest ( BC D 1), is a hypothetical Passion oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, thought to have possibly been performed on Good Friday 26 March 1717 at Gotha on the basis of a payment of 12 Thaler on 12 April 1717 to ...
'' BWV deest (BC D 1)).
Compositions
Vocal
His
cantatas feature instrumental introductions, vocal concerto movements, solos,
duets,
homophonic
In music, homophony (;, Greek: ὁμόφωνος, ''homóphōnos'', from ὁμός, ''homós'', "same" and φωνή, ''phōnē'', "sound, tone") is a texture in which a primary part is supported by one or more additional strands that flesh ...
chorale
chorus
Chorus may refer to:
Music
* Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse
* Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound
* Chorus form, song in which all verse ...
es, and are without
recitative
Recitative (, also known by its Italian name "''recitativo''" ()) is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repeat ...
s. ''Psalmodia sacra'' is an important
hymnal
A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). Hymnals are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Chr ...
from the late
baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
;
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 earl ...
wrote that it was the best he knew. It contains 762
hymn
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hy ...
s, 351 with melodies and
figured bass
Figured bass is musical notation in which numerals and symbols appear above or below (or next to) a bass note. The numerals and symbols (often accidentals) indicate intervals, chords, and non-chord tones that a musician playing piano, harpsi ...
es, and an appendix of 12 more hymns and five more melodies. There are established chorale melodies by sixteenth and seventeenth century
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and larg ...
n composers along with over 100 new ones believed to have been written by Witt.
*65 cantatas:
Rentweinsdorf cycle, for 4
voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...
s, 2
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
s, 2
viol
The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitc ...
s,
continuo; other instruments include
clarino
is a brand name for artificial leather manufactured by Kuraray Co., Ltd. of Japan. It is commonly used in gloves, footwear, handbags, and law enforcement duty gear. Versions are made that simulate suede and top-grain leather.
Being a man-mad ...
,
bassoon, and
violone
The term violone (; literally "large viol" in Italian, " -one" being the augmentative suffix) can refer to several distinct large, bowed musical instruments which belong to either the viol or violin family. The violone is sometimes a fretted ...
*12 cantatas
*
Funeral ode
An ode (from grc, ᾠδή, ōdḗ) is a type of lyric poetry. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structured in three majo ...
: ''Wer kan des Höchsten Rath'', for 5 voices (1697)
*''Psalmodia sacra, oder Andächtige und schöne Gesänge'': (trans, "Holy Praisings or Devout and Beautiful songs") 356 melodies, of which about 100 are by Witt, for voice and continuo (1715)
Orchestral
*3
ouverture
Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") in music was originally the instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overtu ...
s in the French style
*3
suites, a 4–6
*7
sonatas, a 4–7, 10 - in an Italian
concerto grosso The concerto grosso (; Italian language, Italian for ''big concert(o)'', plural ''concerti grossi'' ) is a form of baroque music in which the musical material is passed between a small group of soloists (the ''#Concertino, concertino'') and full orc ...
style, including a 3-part
concertino
*3 marches, a 4, ed. P. Rubardt (Kassel, 1954); ed. G. Zahn (Zürich, 1992)
*
Concerto, for
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
Keyboard
Witt's keyboard works were well known throughout Germany, and in fact appear in many anthologies of the time. One famous example is the inclusion of two of his suites (in C minor and in F-sharp minor) in the so-called ''Möllersche Handschrift'' (Möller manuscript), one of two anthologies compiled by
Johann Christoph Bach (1671–1721),
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 w ...
's older brother (to whom he committed various manuscripts that found their way into the anthologies, as well as manuscripts of some of his own early works).
*6 suites, (1704); selection ed. L. Cerutti and F. Rima (Padua, 1994–1995)
*
Canzona
The canzona is an Italian musical form derived from the Franco-Flemish and Parisian chansons, and during Giovanni Gabrieli's lifetime was frequently spelled canzona, though both earlier and later the singular was spelled either canzon or canzone ...
,
capriccio,
chaconne
A chaconne (; ; es, chacona, links=no; it, ciaccona, links=no, ; earlier English: ''chacony'') is a type of musical composition often used as a vehicle for variation on a repeated short harmonic progression, often involving a fairly short rep ...
*
Prelude, 2
fugues,
menuet
A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''.
The term also describes the musical form that accomp ...
*
Passacaglia
The passacaglia (; ) is a musical form that originated in early seventeenth-century Spain and is still used today by composers. It is usually of a serious character and is often based on a bass- ostinato and written in triple metre.
Origin
The t ...
, for organ, wrongly attributed to
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 wor ...
as
BWV Anh. 182; in ''J.S. Bach: Werke'' XLII, ed. E. Naumann (Leipzig, 1894/1947; see
Bach Gesellschaft Ausgabe
Joh. Seb. Bach's Werke () is the Bach Gesellschaft's collected edition of Johann Sebastian Bach's compositions, published in 61 volumes in the second half of the 19th century. The series is also known as Bach-Gesellschaft edition (german: Bach-Gese ...
)
*''Herr Christ, der einig Gottessohn'',
chorale
Chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale:
* Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one of the th ...
prelude for organ; in ''Das Erbe deutscher Musik,'' 1st series, IX (1937)
*''Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland'', chorale prelude for organ; on "
Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland
A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...
" in ''Der Orgelfreund'' VIII (Erfurt)
* Praeludium ex D fis Fuga, Fuga ex D en Fuga ex E in "Mylau Tabulaturbuch"
* Ciaconna ex e con Fuga
* Canzona in B en Ciaconna in B in "Schneeberger Orgel - und Klavierbuch"
* 2 Fuga's and a Fughetta.
Many other keyboard works have been lost.
Sources
*Bernd Baselt, Karl-Ernst Bergunder, 'Witt
itte Christian Friedrich', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 2007-06-13), http://www.grovemusic.com/
*D.P. Walker and P. Walker: ''German Sacred Polyphonic Vocal Music between
Schütz Schütz (also spelled ''Schuetz'' without Umlaut ü) is a German surname, deriving from ''Schütze'' (shooter/marksman). Notable people with the surname include:
People
* Alfred Schütz (1899–1959), sociologist and philosopher
* Antal Schütz ...
and
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 wor ...
'' (Warren, Michigan, 1992)
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Witt, Christian Friedrich
1660s births
1716 deaths
German Baroque composers
18th-century classical composers
German male classical composers
18th-century German composers
18th-century German male musicians