Johann Theile (29 July 1646 – 24 June 1724) was a German composer 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 ...

era, famous for the opera ''Adam und Eva, Der erschaffene, gefallene und aufgerichtete Mensch'', first performed in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

on 2 January 1678.

Life

After studying law in Leipzig and Halle, Theile took instruction in composition in Weißenfels. His teacher there was the great

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as one of the most important composers of the 17th century. He ...

, the most prominent German composer of the 17th century. Theile is believed to have been one of his last pupils, and is considered one of the most gifted among them. Between 1673 and 1675 he held the position of Court Kapellmeister for Duke Christian Albrecht of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp. Some years later he held the position of Kapellmeister in Wolfenbüttel, where he commenced a musical apprenticeship to

Johann Rosenmüller Johann Rosenmüller (1619 – 10 September 1684) was a German Baroque composer, who played a part in transmitting Italian musical styles to the north. Career Rosenmüller was born in Oelsnitz, near Plauen in Saxony. He studied at the University ...

, who by this time had permanently returned to Northern Germany after having spent most of his career in Italy. He also worked in Naumburg, where he likewise held the position of Kapellmeister; Berlin, where he was active as a music teacher to the royal court; as well as Lübeck and Stettin, where he also served a music instructor. In 1673 he wrote his ''Matthäuspassion'' (St. Matthew Passion) in Lübeck. In 1694, Theile returned from a stint as a musical advisor to the Duke of Zeitz to his home town of Naumburg, where he died in 1724. Theile’s compositions encompass ''

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 ...

e'', operas, masses, psalm settings, passion oratorios, arias, canzonettas, and sonatas, as well as motets. His sacred opera ''Adam und Eva'' was the first work to be performed at the Goosemarket Opera in Hamburg – the first civic opera house in Germany. He also wrote a number of works on music theory, particularly on counterpoint. He also had an outstanding career as a practitioner and theorist in musical pedagogy. Theile taught

Johann Mattheson Johann Mattheson (28 September 1681 – 17 April 1764) was a German composer, singer, writer, lexicographer, diplomat and music theorist. Early life and career The son of a prosperous tax collector, Mattheson received a broad liberal education ...

. Dietrich Buxtehude was his most important pupil (despite having been nine years older and having pre-deceased him by more than a decade).

References

Notes

Sources

*Article of the same name on German Wikipedia *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Theile, Johann 1646 births 1724 deaths 18th-century German composers 18th-century classical composers 18th-century keyboardists 18th-century German male musicians German Baroque composers German male classical composers German opera composers Male opera composers German male organists Organists and composers in the North German tradition People from Naumburg (Saale) Pupils of Heinrich Schütz Male classical organists