Johann Christian Kittel (18 February 1732 – 17 April 1809) was a German

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational h ...

, composer, and teacher. He was one of the last students of

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 wo ...

. His students included

Michael Gotthard Fischer Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

, Karl Gottlieb Umbreit,

Johann Wilhelm Hässler Johann Wilhelm Hässler (March 29, 1747 – March 22 (other sources, March 29), 1822), was a German composer, organist and pianist.Joan Benson Clavichord for Beginners 0253011647 - 2014 - Page 61 "Johann Wilhelm Hässler. (1747–1822). Häs ...

and

Christian Heinrich Rinck Johann Christian Heinrich Rinck (18 February 1770 – 23 July 1846) was a German composer and organist of the late classical and early romantic eras. Life and career Rinck was born in Elgersburg (in present-day Thuringia), and died in Darms ...

Biography

Kittel was born and died in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

. He first studied with

Jakob Adlung Jakob Adlung, or Adelung, (14 January 1699 – 5 July 1762) was a German organist, teacher, instrument maker, music historian, composer and music theorist. Biography He was born in Bindersleben, near Erfurt, to David Adlung, an organist and his ...

. He moved to

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

in 1748 and was a favourite - and last - pupil of

until his death two years later. He was appointed organist and teacher in

Langensalza Bad Langensalza (; until 1956: Langensalza) is a spa town of 17,500 inhabitants in the Unstrut-Hainich district, Thuringia, central Germany. Geography Location Bad Langensalza is located in the Thuringian Basin, the fertile lowlands along t ...

in 1751, following which he returned to Erfurt as organist of the Barfüßerkirche, in 1756, moving to the Predigerkirche in 1762. He refused many generous and more munificent offers, including one in 1790 from

Duchess Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...

Anna Amalia of Saxe-Weimar to travel to Italy, remaining in Erfurt for the rest of his life. He played many evening recitals there and was famous as a virtuoso organist;

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

, Herder, and Wieland all went to hear him play, and he made a concert tour to Hamburg in 1800, remaining there for a year while preparing a book of

chorale Chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one of the th ...

s for

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...

Compositions

He considered himself to be "grounded in the principles of Bach" and aimed "to awaken, maintain and heighten feelings of devotion in the hearts of his hearers by means of music". His teaching and composition fulfilled this aim by a restriction to simple forms which were best suited to

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

use. He wrote some large-scale organ works such as double chorale

variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individua ...

based on Bach's examples, though he was influenced by the contemporary galant style, with a strong emphasis on melody. His

piano sonata A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement ( Scarlatti, Liszt, Scriabin, Medtner, Berg), others with ...

s of 1789 have features in common with the

Viennese classical The Classical period was an era of classical music between roughly 1750 and 1820. The Classical period falls between the Baroque and the Romantic periods. Classical music has a lighter, clearer texture than Baroque music, but a more sophistic ...

school.

Piano

*''6 Sonaten ... nebst einer Fantasie'' (

Gera Gera is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of cit ...

, 1789) *''6 Veränderungen, über ... Nicht so traurig'' (

Saint 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 ...

, 1797)

Organ

*''Der angehende praktische Organist, oder Anweisung zum zweckmässigen Gebrauch der Orgel bei Gottesverehrungen in Beispielen'', textbook, 3 volumes (Erfurt, 1801–1808) *''Vierstimmige Choräle mit Vorspielen ... für die Schleswig-Hollsteinischen Kirchen'', 2 volumes ( Altona, 1803) *''24 Choräle mit 8 verschiedenen Bässen über eine Melodie'', ed. J. C. H. Rinck ( Offenbach, 1811) *''Grosse Präludien'', 2 volumes (Leipzig) *''24 kurze Choralvorspiele'' (Offenbach) *''Variationen über 2 Choräle'' (Leipzig) *''24 leichte Choral-Vorspiele'' (

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

and

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

)

Sources

* Karl Gustav Fellerer: "Kittel, Johann Christian", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed 13 June 2007).

External links