Georg Caspar Schürmann (1672 (or early 1673), in Idensen bei

Neustadt am Rübenberge Neustadt am Rübenberge ( nds, Niestadt) is a town in the district of Hannover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. At , it is the 9th largest settlement in Germany by area (following Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne), though only about 45,000 inhabitants live ...

– 25 February 1751, in

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest c ...

) was a German

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 ...

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 ...

. His name also appears as Schurmann and in Hochdeutsch as Scheuermann.

Life

Schürmann studied music, including voice, in his native

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

. By 1693, he was singing at the

Oper am Gänsemarkt The Oper am Gänsemarkt was a theatre in Hamburg, Germany, built in 1678 after plans of Girolamo Sartorio at the Gänsemarkt square. It was the first public opera house to be established in Germany: not a court opera, as in many other towns. E ...

as a young

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...

. In 1694 he composed a cantata for the inauguration of the Castle Salzdahlum in Wolfenbüttel. In 1697, he went to

Lüneburg Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also calle ...

(about 50 km southeast of Hamburg) for a guest performance. His singing there so impressed Duke Anton Ulrich of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel that the Duke hired him on the spot. From 1702 to 1707 he was principal conductor and composer for the

Meiningen Court Orchestra The Meiningen Court Orchestra (german: Meininger Hofkapelle) is one of the oldest and most traditional orchestras in Europe. Since 1952 the now 68-member orchestra has been affiliated to the Meiningen Court Theatre and in addition to their opera ...

. In 1707 Schürmann officially succeeded

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 ...

as ''Cammer-Componist'' (court composer). He served the court of Brunswick, with but a few brief interruptions, for 54 years until he died at the age of 79.

Work

Schürmann wrote over thirty operas, many of which have not survived. His music was characterized by harmonic richness, careful contrapuntal elaboration, flexible handling of form and theatrically effective delineation of characters. Among his operas were: *''Salomon, in einem Singespiel.'' (Libretto: Anton Ulrich (Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel)). Wolfenbüttel, o.J. 697?*''Daniel, in einem Sing-Spiel.'' (Libretto:

Christian Knorr von Rosenroth Christian Knorr von Rosenroth (15/16 July 1636 – 4 May 1689) was a German Christian Hebraist and Christian Cabalist born at Alt-Raudten (today Stara Rudna) in Silesia. After having completed his studies in the universities of Wittenberg and Le ...

). Braunschweig 1701 *''Telemaque.'' (Libretto:

Johann Beer Johann Beer (also spelled Bähr, Baer, or Behr, Latinized as Ursus or Ursinus; (28 February 1655, in Sankt Georgen – 6 August 1700, in Weissenfels) was an Austrian author, court official and composer. Biography Beer was born in Austria to Pro ...

). Naumburg 1706 *''L'amor insanguinato oder Holofernes.'' (Libretto: Joachim Beccau). Braunschweig 1716. *''Die Pleiades oder das Siebengestirne.'' (Libretto: Friedrich Christian Bressand). Braunschweig 1716 (und Wolfenbüttel 1735) *''Der Edelmühtige Porsenna.'' (Libretto: Friedrich Christian Bressand). Wolfenbüttel 1718 *''Heinrich der Vogler.'' (Libretto: Johann Ulrich König). Wolfenbüttel 1718 (u.ö.) *''Die getreue Alceste in einer Opera.'' (Libretto: Johann Ulrich König). Braunschweig 1719 (u.ö.) *''Ludovicus Pius oder Ludewig der Fromme.'' (Louis the Pious). Braunschweig 1726 *''Clelia, in einer Opera vorgestellet.'' (Libretto: Friedrich Christian Bressand). Braunschweig 1730 *''Procris und Cephalus, in einer Opera.'' (Libretto: Friedrich Christian Bressand). Wolfenbüttel 1734

External links

Sources

Georg Caspar Schürmann Georg Caspar Schürmann (1672 (or early 1673), in Idensen bei Neustadt am Rübenberge – 25 February 1751, in Wolfenbüttel) was a German Baroque composer. His name also appears as Schurmann and in Hochdeutsch as Scheuermann. Life Schürmann st ...

, entry in the German Wikipedia *Liner notes by Bernhard Schrammek for ''Ouvertüren: Music for the Hamburg Opera'' performed by the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin (

Harmonia Mundi Harmonia Mundi is an independent record label which specializes in classical music, jazz, and world music (on the World Village label). It was founded in France in 1958 and is now a subsidiary of PIAS Entertainment Group. Its Latin name ''harm ...

HMC 901852) 1670s births 1751 deaths 17th-century classical composers 17th-century German people 18th-century classical composers 18th-century German people German Baroque composers German Classical-period composers German opera composers Male opera composers German male classical composers 18th-century German composers 18th-century German male musicians 17th-century male musicians {{Germany-composer-stub