Johann Christian Jacobi (1719 – 1784) was a German

oboist An oboist (formerly hautboist) is a musician who plays the oboe or any oboe family instrument, including the oboe d'amore, cor anglais or English horn, bass oboe and piccolo oboe or oboe musette. The following is a list of notable past and pres ...

and

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 ...

of the

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 ...

period.

Life

Jacobi was born in Tilsit,

Prussian Lithuania Lithuania Minor ( lt, Mažoji Lietuva; german: Kleinlitauen; pl, Litwa Mniejsza; russian: Ма́лая Литва́), or Prussian Lithuania ( lt, Prūsų Lietuva; german: Preußisch-Litauen, pl, Litwa Pruska), is a historical ethnographic re ...

(now Sovetsk, Russia). He had his first lessons on the oboe from his father, a skilled player of the violin and oboe. After the premature death of his father, he spent a period of self-tuition before moving to Berlin where he immediately sought lessons with the royal ''Kammermusicus'' and famous oboe virtuoso Peter Glösch. In 1746, he was accepted into the

Hofkapelle A court chapel (German: Hofkapelle) is a chapel (building) and/or a chapel as a musical ensemble associated with a royal or noble court. Most of these are royal (court) chapels, but when the ruler of the court is not a king, the more generic "co ...

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 ...

and, at this time, began studying composition with his colleague, the flautist Friedrich Wilhelm Riedt. By 1754, Jacobi was employed as the principal oboist in the Hofkapelle of Frederick the Great's cousin,

Charles Frederick Albert, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt Karl Friedrich Albrecht, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt (10 June 1705 – 22 June 1762), a grandson of Frederick William of Brandenburg (''the Great Elector'') and son of Margrave Albert Frederick of Brandenburg-Schwedt, was a Prussian militar ...

in Berlin. On the recommendation of

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 ...

, in 1768 King Frederick appointed Jacobi as the director of the ''Hautboistenschule'' in Potsdam, responsible for training the nearly 2,000 oboists in the Prussian army. Jacobi was a member of the "Freitagsakademien" (Friday academies), a musical society which met each Friday at the house of

Johann Gottlieb Janitsch Johann Gottlieb Janitsch (19 June 1708 – 1762) was a German Baroque composer who wrote in the galant style, transitional between the Baroque and Classical periods. Life Janitsch was born in Schweidnitz, Silesia (today Świdnica, Poland). ...

. For Jacobi, Janitsch was said to have composed all manner of trios, quartets and concertos in "all the usual and unusual keys". Such pieces allowed Jacobi to improve his skills as an oboist, and earned him a great reputation amongst Berlin's musical societies. Two works by Janitsch bear a dedication to Jacobi, and several other works in extremely uncharacteristic keys for the oboe by Janitsch can be presumed to have been composed for him. They are a testament to his great skill on the instrument. Bruce Haynes lists him among the great oboists of the baroque period.Haynes, page 397. Unfortunately, no compositions by Jacobi have survived.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobi, Johann Christian People from Tilsit People from East Prussia 18th-century German people German classical oboists Male oboists German Baroque composers German male classical composers German Classical-period composers 18th-century classical composers 1719 births 1784 deaths 18th-century German composers 18th-century German male musicians