Friedrich Heinrich Himmel (November 20, 1765 – June 8, 1814) was a German composer.

Biography

Himmel was born at

Treuenbrietzen Treuenbrietzen is a town in the Bundesland of Brandenburg, Germany. Geography The municipality Treuenbrietzen is situated 32 km northeast of Wittenberg and includes the localities * city of Treuenbrietzen with its agglomerated suburbs ''L� ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

, and originally studied theology at Halle before turning to music. During a temporary stay at Potsdam he had an opportunity of showing his self-acquired skill as a pianist before King Frederick William II, who thereupon provided him with a yearly allowance to enable him to complete his musical studies. This he did under

Johann Gottlieb Naumann Johann Gottlieb Naumann (17 April 1741 – 23 October 1801) was a German composer, conductor, and Kapellmeister. Life Johann Gottlieb Naumann was born in Blasewitz and received his musical training from the teachers at his town school, where he ...

, a German composer of the Italian school, and the style of that school Himmel himself adopted in his

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

s. The first of these, a pastoral opera, ''Il primo navigatore'', was produced at

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

in 1794 with great success. In 1792, he went to

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 ...

, where his oratorio ''Isaaco'' was produced, in consequence of which he was made court

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

to the king of Prussia. In that capacity he wrote a great deal of official music, including

cantatas A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of t ...

and a coronation ''

Te Deum The "Te Deum" (, ; from its incipit, , ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to AD 387 authorship, but with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Chur ...

''. His Italian operas, successively composed for

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and

, were all received with great favour in their day. Of greater importance than these is a

Singspiel A Singspiel (; plural: ; ) is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera. It is characterized by spoken dialogue, which is alternated with ensembles, songs, ballads, and arias which were often strophic, or folk-like ...

to words by

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, called ''Fanchon''. Himmel's gift of writing genuine simple melodies is also observable in his

Lieder In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French sp ...

, including ''An Alexis send ich dich'' (''To Alexis''). He died in Berlin.

Works

Operas

* ''Il primo navigatore'', pastorale

(1794) * ''La morte di Semiramide'',

opera seria ''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abo ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

(1795) * ''Fanchon oder das Leyermädel'', Singspiel

(1804) * ''Die Sylphen'' Zauberoper, Berlin (1806) * ''Der Kobold'', komische Oper,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

(1813) * ''Alessandro'' (1799) * ''Vasco di Gama'' (1801) * ''Frohsinn und Schwarmerei'' (1801)

Lieder

* ''An Alexis send ich dich'' * ''Vater unser'' * ''Gebet während der Schlacht: "Vater ich rufe dich!"'' * ''Die Blumen und der Schmetterling'', Lieder cycle

Church music and cantatas

* Two masses * ''Te Deum'', for four voices and orchestra * ''Salve Regina'', for four voices and instruments * ''Beatus vir'', for four voices and instruments * ''In exitu Israel'' * ''Dixit Dominus'' * ''Das Vertrauen auf Gott'', cantata * ''Das Lob Gottes'' ("Singet dem Herrn") * ''Lobe den Herren'', for choir and orchestra * P''salmen Davids'', for two voices and orchestra * Three cantatas for choir and orchestra: ** ''Was betrubst du dich'' ** ''Heilig ist mein Beherrscher'' ** ''Wann Gott auch aufs Tiefste'' * ''Trauer-Cantate zur Begräbnissfeyer Friedrich Wilhelm II von Preussen'', for four voices and orchestra * ''The 146th Psalm'' * ''Vater unser'', von Mahlmann * other pieces of church music in manuscript

Bibliography

* Gerhard Allrogen: "Himmel, Friedrich Heinrich", in ''The

New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...

'', ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992),

References

External links

Musical Manuscripts Collection
at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Himmel, Friedrich Heinrich 1765 births 1814 deaths 18th-century classical composers 19th-century classical composers German male classical composers German opera composers Male opera composers People from the Margraviate of Brandenburg People from Treuenbrietzen 19th-century German male musicians