Christoph Nichelmann (13 August 1717 – 20 July 1762) was a German composer and

harpsichordist A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord. Harpsichordists may play as soloists, as accompanists, as chamber musicians, or as members of an orchestra, or some combination of these roles. Solo harpsichordists may play unaccompanied son ...

. He was second keyboard player in the Royal Ensemble of

Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...

Biography

Born in

Treuenbrietzen Treuenbrietzen is a town in the States of Germany, Bundesland of Brandenburg, Germany. Geography The municipality Treuenbrietzen is situated 32 km northeast of Wittenberg and includes the localities * city of Treuenbrietzen with its agglome ...

, from 1730 on the advice of a relative Nichelmann attended the

Thomasschule St. Thomas School, Leipzig (german: Thomasschule zu Leipzig; la, Schola Thomana Lipsiensis) is a co-educational and public boarding school in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1212 and is one of the oldest schools ...

in Leipzig, where he was accepted by

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 ...

. He may have been the soprano that Bach had in mind when he composed his cantata ''Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen''. He studied composition and was taught to play keyboard instruments by

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (22 November 17101 July 1784), the second child and eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach, was a German composer and performer. Despite his acknowledged genius as an organist, improviser and composer ...

. In 1733, because of his interest in opera, he went to Hamburg to explore theatrical music in the French and Italian style. There he was a student of

Reinhard Keiser Reinhard Keiser (9 January 1674 – 12 September 1739) was a German opera composer based in Hamburg. He wrote over a hundred operas. Johann Adolf Scheibe (writing in 1745) considered him an equal to Johann Kuhnau, George Frideric Handel and Georg ...

Georg Philipp 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 Hildesh ...

and

Johann Mattheson Johann Mattheson (28 September 1681 – 17 April 1764) was a German composer, singer, writer, lexicographer, diplomat and music theorist. Early life and career The son of a prosperous tax collector, Mattheson received a broad liberal education ...

. At times he worked as a private secretary for musicians and noble families. In 1739 Nichelmann moved to Berlin, where he continued his studies with

Johann Joachim Quantz Johann Joachim Quantz (; 30 January 1697 – 12 July 1773) was a German composer, flutist and flute maker of the late Baroque period. Much of his professional career was spent in the court of Frederick the Great. Quantz composed hundreds of flute ...

and

Carl Heinrich Graun Carl Heinrich Graun (7 May 1704 – 8 August 1759) was a German composer and tenor. Along with Johann Adolph Hasse, he is considered to be the most important German composer of Italian opera of his time. Biography Graun was born in Wahrenbrüc ...

. In 1742, he decided to travel to England and France, returning to Hamburg two years later. An offer from King

of Prussia brought him again to Berlin, where in 1744 he became the second harpsichordist of the royal operatic ensemble, ("''zweiter Cembalist der königl. Operncapelle''") to accompany the king, who played the flute. He retained this position until 1756. From then on he had to support himself by giving private lessons. Nichelmann's last years were made difficult by the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

. He died in Berlin.

Work

Nichelmann's traditional compositions fall within the period of 1737-1759, which was a time of changing musical styles, from

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 ...

to the early classical period. Best known are his

piano concerto A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showpiec ...

s in three-movements (fast-slow-fast). He also wrote eighteen concertos, one overture, and three symphonies, as well as choral works and other piano pieces. His twenty-two songs are early examples of the ''Berliner Liederschule'', or Berlin school of songs. His

serenata In music, a serenade (; also sometimes called a serenata, from the Italian) is a musical composition or performance delivered in honor of someone or something. Serenades are typically calm, light pieces of music. The term comes from the Italian w ...

''Il sogno di Scipione'' was known in the 18th century. Nichelmann's treatise ''Die Melodie, nach ihrem Wesen sowohl, als nach ihren Eigenschaften'' (Melody, after its Nature and its Properties) (1755) was acclaimed, although it was criticized by a theorist under the pen name Caspar Dünkelfeind. It is probable that this critic was

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 ...

Bibliography

* Douglas A. Lee: "Nichelmann, Christoph", in: ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

'', 2nd ed. by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (Oxford University Press, 2001), * Thomas-M. Langner: "Nichelmann, Christoph", in: ''

Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik (MGG)'' is one of the world's most comprehensive encyclopedias of music history and musicology, on account of its scope, content, wealth of research areas, and reference t ...

'', 1st ed. by Friedrich Blume (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1949–1986) * Krebs, Michael Harald:
Thematisch-Systematisches Verzeichnis der Werke Christoph Nichelmann. Nichelmann-Werke-Verzeichnis (NWV)
' (PhD thesis, Potsdam, 2002)

References

External links

* *
Christoph Nichelmann, ein Meister aus der preußischen Provinz.

bachschueler.de
Friedrich der Grosse - Music for the Berlin Court
CD review, magazin.klassik.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Nichelmann, Christoph 1717 births 1762 deaths 18th-century classical composers 18th-century German composers 18th-century keyboardists 18th-century male musicians German harpsichordists People from Treuenbrietzen