Justinus or Justin Heinrich Knecht (30 September 1752 – 1 December 1817) was a German composer,

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

, and

music theorist Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

Biography

He was born in

Biberach an der Riss Biberach may refer to: *Biberach an der Riß, a town in Upper Swabia, Germany *Biberach (district), which has Biberach an der Riß as its capital *Biberach, Baden, a municipality in the ''Ortenaukreis'', Germany *Biberach is a part of Roggenburg, B ...

, where he learnt to play the

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

, and

singing Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

. He attended a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

collegiate institution in

Esslingen am Neckar Esslingen am Neckar ( Swabian: ''Esslenga am Neckor'') is a town in the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany, seat of the District of Esslingen as well as the largest town in the district. Within Baden-Württemberg it is t ...

from 1768 to 1771, when he became Lutheran

preceptor A preceptor (from Latin, "''praecepto''") is a teacher responsible for upholding a ''precept'', meaning a certain law or tradition. Buddhist monastic orders Senior Buddhist monks can become the preceptors for newly ordained monks. In the Buddhi ...

and music director in Biberach, which was a free

imperial city In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...

until 1803, and had a rich

cultural Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...

life. He became organist of St Martin's church in 1792, which was used simultaneously by Lutherans and

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

s. He led an energetic, busy musical life; he composed for the

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

, organised subscription concerts, and taught music theory,

acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

, and instruments at the Gymnasium, which was affiliated to the Musikschule in 1806. He went to Stuttgart in December 1806 in the hopes of a post there as

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 ...

or similar, but after being appointed ''Direktor beim Orchester'' by the

King of Württemberg King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

in April 1807, he returned in 1808 to his former life in Biberach where he remained for the rest of his life.

Works

Collections are in the Wieland-Archiv, Biberach, and the Kick collection at the library of

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

. A full thematic catalogue is in Ladenburger (1984).

Vocal

Psalm The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

XXIII (Leipzig, 1783) *Psalm VI (Speyer, 1788) *

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for "

y soul Y, or y, is the twenty-fifth and penultimate letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. According to some authorities, it is the sixth (or sevent ...

magnifies

he Lord He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary, the Canticle of Mary and, in the Eastern Christianity, Byzantine tradition, the Ode of the Theotokos (). It is traditionally incorporated ...

(1790–1791) *Psalm I (Speyer, 1792) *''Herr Gott, dich loben wir'' (Stuttgart, 1816), on Luther's "" *''Vollständige Sammlung ... vierstimmiger Choralmelodien für das neue wirtembergische Landesgesangbuch'', ed. Knecht and J.F. Christmann (Stuttgart, 1799) *

Dixit Dominus Psalm 110 is the 110th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "The said unto my Lord". In Latin, it is known as Dixit Dominus ("The Lord Said"). It is considered both a royal psalm and a messianic psalm. ...

(1800) *10

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

s (c. 1800) *

Te Deum The "Te Deum" (, ; from its incipit, , ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to AD 387 authorship, but with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Chur ...

(Offenbach, 1801) *''Wechselgesang der Mirjam und Debora'' ( F.G. Klopstock:

Der Messias ''Der Messias'', K. 572, is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 1789 German-language version of ''Messiah'', George Frideric Handel's 1741 oratorio. On the initiative of Gottfried van Swieten, Mozart adapted Handel's work for performances in Vienna ...

) (Leipzig, 1781)

Opera and stage

*''Die treuen Köhler'' (

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

, G.E. Heermann), 1786 *''Jupiter und Ganymed'' (

prologue A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...

and

epilogue An epilogue or epilog (from Greek ἐπίλογος ''epílogos'', "conclusion" from ἐπί ''epi'', "in addition" and λόγος ''logos'', "word") is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature, usually used to bring closure to the w ...

), 1783 *''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'' (

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

, C.F. Bretzner), 1787 *''Der lahme Husar'' (comic opera, F. Koch), 1788 *''Der Schulz im Dorfe, oder der verliebte Herr Doctor'' (comic opera, C.L. Dieter), 1789 *''Der Kohlenbrenner'' ( Lustspiel mit Gesang, L. Ysenburg von Buri), 1789 *''Der Musenchor'' (prologue, Knecht), 1791 *''Die Glocke'' (

melodrama A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exces ...

, F. Schiller), 1807 *''Die Aeolsharfe, oder Der Triumph der Musik und Liebe'' (romantic opera, N. Remmele), 1807–1808 *''Feodore'' (

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 ...

, A. von Kotzebue), 1812 *''Ubaldo'' (

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

, Kotzebue), 1818

Orchestral

*''Le portrait musical de la nature, ou Grande sinfonie (Pastoralsymphonie)'' (Speyer, 1784–1785), modern edition by H.W. Höhnen in ''The Symphony 1720–1840'', series C, XIII (New York, 1984) - this work was much admired and anticipates the programme of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

's ''

Pastoral Symphony The Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, also known as the ''Pastoral Symphony'' (German: ''Pastorale''), is a symphony composed by Ludwig van Beethoven and completed in 1808. One of Beethoven's few works containing explicitly programmatic cont ...

Chamber

Sonata Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cant ...

, for

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

and

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

ad libitum In music and other performing arts, the phrase (; from Latin for 'at one's pleasure' or 'as you desire'), often shortened to "ad lib" (as an adjective or adverb) or "ad-lib" (as a verb or noun), refers to various forms of improvisation. The r ...

(Speyer, 1790) *3 Duos, for 2

flutes The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

(Speyer, 1791) *''Diverses danses'', for

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

/(flute and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

) (Mainz, 1817)

Organ

*''Neue vollständige Sammlung ... für ... Klavier- und Orgelspieler'' (Speyer 1791–1795) *''Die durch ein Donnerwetter unterbrochne Hirtenwonne'' (Darmstadt, 1794), modern edition by H.W. Höhnen (Wiesbaden, 1982) *''90 kurze und leichte neue Orgelstücke'' (Augsburg, 1794) *''Vollständige Orgelschule'' (Leipzig, 1795–1798/1989) -

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

owned a copy of this work *''Sammlung progressiver Orgelstücke'' (Biberach, 1805) *''Königlich württembergisches ... Choralbuch'' (Stuttgart, 1816) *''Caecilia'' (Freiburg, 1817–19) He completed

J. S. 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 w ...

's ''

The Art of Fugue ''The Art of Fugue'', or ''The Art of the Fugue'' (german: Die Kunst der Fuge, links=no), BWV 1080, is an incomplete musical work of unspecified instrumentation by Johann Sebastian Bach. Written in the last decade of his life, ''The Art of Fug ...

'' (1803), but this has been lost.

Piano

*''12 variationen'' (Leipzig, 1785) *''Kleine praktische Klavierschule'' (Munich, 1799–1802) *''Kleine theoretische Klavierschule'' (Munich, 1800–1801) *''Bewährtes Methodenbuch beim ersten Klavierunterricht'' (Freiburg, 1820)

Theoretical

music theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

, he agreed with the ideas of G.J. Vogler. *''Erklärung einiger … missverstandenen Grundsätze aus der Voglerschen Theorie'' (Ulm, 1785) *''Gemeinnützliches Elementarwerk der Harmonie und des Generalbasses'', part 1 (Speyer, 1792), parts 2–4 (Stuttgart, 1793–1797) *''Kleines alphabetisches Wörterbuch der vornehmsten und interessantesten Artikel aus der musikalischen Theorie'' (Ulm, 1795) *''Knechts allgemeiner musikalischer Katechismus'' (Biberach, 1803) *''Luthers Verdienste um Musik und Poesie'' (Ulm, 1817) *''Theoretisch-praktische Generalbassschule'' (Freiburg, c.1817)

Selected Recordings

* ''Die Äolsharfe'' dir.

Frieder Bernius Frieder is both a surname and a masculine given name, a variant of Friedrich. People with the name include: Surname: *Armin Frieder (1911–1946), Slovak Neolog rabbi *Bill Frieder (1942), former basketball coach *Katalin Frieder (1915–1991), Hun ...

. * ''Le portrait musical de la nature, ou Grande sinfonie'' dir.

. * ''Le Portrait Musical de la Nature'', dir.

Bernhard Forck Bernhard is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar (1604–1639), Duke of Saxe-Weimar * Bernhard, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen (1901–1984), head of the House of Saxe-Meiningen 19 ...

Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin (Academy for Early Music Berlin, short name: Akamus) is a German chamber orchestra founded in East Berlin in 1982. Each year Akamus gives approximately 100 concerts, ranging from small chamber works to large-scale s ...

Sources

*Michael Ladenburger: 'Knecht, Justin Heinrich', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 2007-06-13), http://www.grovemusic.com/

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Knecht, Justin Heinrich 1752 births 1817 deaths 18th-century keyboardists 19th-century German male musicians German Classical-period composers German male classical composers German opera composers German classical organists German male organists German music theorists Male opera composers People from Biberach an der Riss Male classical organists