Christoph Schaffrath (1709 in

Hohnstein Hohnstein () is a town located in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district of Saxony, Germany. As of 2020, its population numbered a total of 3,262. Geography It is situated in Saxon Switzerland, 12 km east of Pirna, and 28 km so ...

7 February 1763 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

) was a German musician and composer of 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 ...

to Classical transition era.

Career

Schaffrath was born in

. He applied to be organist at the

Sophienkirche The Sophienkirche (Saint Sophia's Church) was a church in Dresden. It was located on the northeast corner of the Postplatz (post office square) in the old town before it was severely damaged in the Dresden bombing in 1945 and subsequently destr ...

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

, but did not receive this position (

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 ...

was favoured for it). He did serve in the court of the Crown Prince Frederick (

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 ...

) as a

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

ist in the orchestra. From 1741, however, he was strictly the musician to the King's sister, Amalia. As a composer Schaffrath limited himself to instrumental music including symphonies, keyboard pieces, sonatas and concertos. Schaffrath's music can be considered transitional, including pieces which are stylistically

galant The galant style was an 18th-century movement in music, visual arts and literature. In Germany a closely related style was called the '' empfindsamer Stil'' (sensitive style). Another close relative is rococo style. The galant style was drawn in ...

(between the Baroque and the Classical). The majority of his works may now be found in the state library in

. He composed many types of music. He was most notable for overtures, symphonies, harpsichord concerti, quartets, trios, duets for a solo instrument and obbligato harpsichord, and sonatas for harpsichord.

External links

* 1709 births 1763 deaths 18th-century classical composers 18th-century German people German Baroque composers German Classical-period composers People from Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge German male classical composers 18th-century German composers 18th-century German male musicians {{Germany-composer-stub