Johann Ulich, the younger (
Wittenberg
Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon language, Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the Ri ...
, 1677-
Zerbst
Zerbst () is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until an administrative reform in 2007, Zerbst was the capital of the former Anhalt-Zerbst district.
Geography
Zerbst is situated in the Anhalt-Wittenberg regio ...
, 1742) was a German organist and composer in Zerbst, and music teacher to the princely family.
Ulich was born in 1677 in Wittenberg, Germany. His father, also called Johann Ulich (1634-1712), was organist and
Kantor, director of music for Wittenberg's churches, and teacher at the city school. Ulich studied with his father and then from 1695 at the
University of Wittenberg
Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...
. He was employed at the court in Zerbst from 1708 (although his official contract is dated 6 March 1709, the accounts of the St. Bartholomäikirche show that he was paid at least one quarterly salary installment and some of the bonuses that all permanent staff there enjoyed annually in 1708). Almost immediately he started composing music for the court; on 24 June 1708, his cantata ''"Glückselige Stunden! gesegnetes Licht"'' for the birthday of Princess Sophia (wife of
Prince Carl Wilhelm) was performed and, at least for some years, Ulich seems to have been considered the court composer. This changed in 1716 when Johann Baptist Kuch was appointed ''Capell Director''. When Kuch suddenly vanished from Zerbst in 1722, Ulich temporarily seems to have taken charge of music again. This was short lived as the renowned
Johann Friedrich Fasch
Johann Friedrich Fasch (15 April 1688 – 5 December 1758) was a German violinist and composer. Much of his music is in the Baroque-Classical transitional style known as galant.
Life
Fasch was born in the town of Buttelstedt, 11 km north o ...
was appointed 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 ...
'' that same year. Ulich was to work under the younger man as "Organist und Cammer ''Musico''" (according to a petition by his widow for financial assistance to bring up the couple's five children)
[Landesarchiv Sachsen-Anhalt, Aussenstelle Dessau, Z88 F13, Nr. 29, ff. 262-3.] until his retirement.
Surviving Works
Johann Ulich Sr.
* hymns "", first published ''"Sieben-Fache Welt- and Himmels-Capell"'' (edited by Michael Schernak) Wittenberg, 1674; it still appears in the standard Lutheran hymnbook, EKG: 251; "Davidisches Berg-Lied ... An statt eines Täglichen Denck-
Danck- und Schuld-Opffers ... abgefasset, und ... mit absonderlicher Melodie bethönet" (Wittenberg, 1687)
* wedding music ''"Wann die goldne Sonne lacht"'' (Wittenberg, 1674), "Auf die Gottschalckisch-Frimelische Hochzeit ... verfertigte Aria" (Brieg, 1683), ''"Gleich und gleich gesellt sich gerne"'' (Wittenberg, 1686), ''"Wann die goldne Sonne lacht"'' (Wittenberg, 1700)
* ''"Deo dicamus gratias"'' (SSATB, 2 trumpets, "tamburi", basso continuo; Wittenberg, 1682)
ee footnote 3* funeral music ''"Jesu meiner Seelen Wonne"'' (1685)
* cantata ''"Zweierlei bitt' ich von dir Herr mein Gott"''
Johann Ulich Jr.
* three solo cantatas for soprano and basso continuo
* four sonatinas, two fantasies, two suites, and two sonatas for keyboard (one is specifically for organ)
* 6 sonatas for recorder and basso continuo (the latter part was rediscovered 2002 in the
Russian State Library
The Russian State Library (russian: Российская государственная библиотека, Rossiyskaya gosudarstvennaya biblioteka) is one of the three national libraries of Russia, located in Moscow. It is the largest librar ...
)
Recordings
*''"Ihr hellen Sterne des Glücks"''; Ina Siedlaczek soprano,
Hamburger Ratsmusik The ''Hamburger Ratsmusik'' was the name, in German, for the Hamburg city government musical establishment of Hamburg during the baroque period. ''Ratsmusik'' was a generic term to distinguish from ''Hausmusik,'' domestic music making, during the H ...
,
Audite 2013
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulich, Johann
German Baroque composers
1677 births
1742 deaths
18th-century classical composers
German male classical composers
18th-century German composers
18th-century German male musicians