J.S.T. Andrews

Musician. Composer. Nerd.

German Baroque Opera & Telemann

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Regretfully, in the following years Hamburg’s opera house began its decline (Hogwood 29). Through Keiser’s inability to separate the producer and the composer he brought the opera house to its knees. Each time he saved himself and the opera theater through marriage in a wealthy wife (“Encyclopedia 342, 342). Reinhard left the theater in 1717 and for several years it switched directors. Finally it closed in 1739 just before Keiser’s death (“Composers” 198). This was the end of its sixty year reign as “the” German opera theater for the baroque period.

Many new, exciting and inventive operas came from the mind of George Caspar Schurman. He was one of the predecessors of Keiser to Hamburg’s opera theater. Although he was only there for a short while his more prominent works were done in his later years. Schurman was noted for his unique structure and care in voice writing as well as his orchestration. The operas that he produced had magnificent string arrangements which rivaled that of Johann Sebastian Bach. In one of his more famous pieces, Ludovicus Pius, oder Ludewig der Fromme, one could hear (or even view with a score) the grand counterpoint the created (Oxford 318, 319, 320). The bass line is relatively simple. However, the violins are in great form weaving in and out of those simple lines. Additionally, he employed pizzicato strings for its expressive nature in Act I of Ludovicus Pius (321).

Lastly, a composer that was renowned by all including Franz Schubert, Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach was Georg Philipp Telemann. He had written hundreds of pieces including forty operas. In 1721 he took residence in Hamburg. A year later he took over as director for Hamburg’s opera house(“Composers” 380, 381). In his operas it is evident that Telemann had a wide range of talents. He wrote in all styles from traditional German folk songs to the elaborate Italian style. His counterpoint nearly rivaled that of Bach’s (Oxford 316, 317). He also had mastered the different genres of operas. He wrote many comedies, tragedies, etc.

Although the beginning of opera has its roots at the turn of the seventeenth century in Italy it branched out heavily throughout Germany, more specifically in Hamburg. The German composers of this era pushed opera to a place that even the “inventors” could never have gone. The Germans brought their heritage, their thought and innovation into the opera were it would forever leave a mark. They brought more counterpoint and well organized orchestration along with sustained drama and comedy. They had built upon the Italian ideas, improved them and then broke them for they were outside the box of Italy. Rules, especially in the sense of music, are only put in place so that way they could be bent and broken.

Works Cited

Alle, John Gage, Ed. Webster’s Dictionary. Owings Mills: The Literary Press. 1997.

Ewen, David. The New Encyclopedia of the Opera. New York: Hill and Wang. 1971.

—. Great Composers. New York: The H. W. Wilsom Company. 1966

Hogwood, Chistopher. Handel. Great Britain: The Pitman Press. 1984

Oxford University Press. Opera and Curch Music 1630-1750. The New Oxford History of Music Ser. 5. New York: Lewis & Fortune, 1975.

Weisstein, Ulrich, ed. The Essence of Opera. London: The Free Press of Glencoe. 1964.

German Baroque Opera – Hamburg, Germany

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In 1677 the first German opera house had be established in Hamburg Germany. Shortly after its opening in 1678 Hamburg became the center to all opera in Germany (Oxford 304). However, it took almost another twenty years for the German Baroque opera to take another step forward. Reinhard Keiser was born just a year after Jupiter and Jo was produced in Saxony and he become “the” operatic composer and producer of his time. He wrote over one hundred operas in his sixty-five years of living, three of which had been completed by the age of twenty, and his first ever being Basilius (“Composers” 198).

In 1696 Keiser followed his mentor to Hamburg where he became part of the renowned opera house. Immediately he got to work, and within that year he had Mahumeth II produced in that theater. Reinhard Keiser, although considered a second-rate composer in the twenty-first century, was praised by many for his work. He pushed German music further away from the styles of Italy. Instead of using typical Italian melodies and songs that were based on Greek mythology, Keiser leaned towards German folk lore and history. Additionally, his orchestration was unsurpassable for years to come (“Composers” 198). Keiser demanded much more from his performers than previous composers had. His music was much more difficult and required great feats of virtuosity (Oxford 309). Reinhard also had the ability to create genuine moods that reflected human emotions throughout his operas. Not only could he create them but he had a profound ability to sustain these moods when necessary, a feat that was not easy to accomplish (312). The boundaries were pushed once again.

During this time Handel join Hamburg’s opera orchestra as a violinist in 1703. There he wrote his first opera Almira in 1705 (“Encyclopedia” 292). The libretto from which it was based was written by Friedrich Christian Feustking and derived from the Venetian libretto by Guilio Pancieri (Hogwood 26). It’s a three act opera that was primarily sung in German with few Italian arias and a single aria that was sung in both German and Italian. The Opera involved dance as well, including ballet, a saraband and chaconne which had brought all three parts of the opera together again. Almira was an instant success. It ran for twenty nights after its opening (Hogwood 26, 27; “Encyclopedia” 23). Despite the success, the opera took much criticism for its text by Feustking (Hogwood 26).

After his success with Almira, Handel proceeded to write another opera called Nero (Weisstein 62). The libretto was provided by that same author that had written Almira. Nero was not as big of a success. It was preformed for but only three nights. Since then the music to this piece and the next has been lost. Fortunately enough, a libretto of good quality has been preserved. The cast seems to be even larger than that of Almira and with more ballet present. This time, however, Handel himself is quoted for the criticism of his own opera for the same reason in the prior. “How is a musician to create anything beautiful if he has no beautiful words? …There is no spirit in the verse, and one feels vexation in setting such to music.” Again Handel began working on another opera while in Hamburg. As stated above the music for this one has been lost too. What little remains of this opera is hardly positive. Mattheson, a friend of Handel, is reported to have complained about it being “too long-winded” (Hogwood 27, 28).

Works Cited

Alle, John Gage, Ed. Webster’s Dictionary. Owings Mills: The Literary Press. 1997.

Ewen, David. The New Encyclopedia of the Opera. New York: Hill and Wang. 1971.

—. Great Composers. New York: The H. W. Wilsom Company. 1966

Hogwood, Chistopher. Handel. Great Britain: The Pitman Press. 1984

Oxford University Press. Opera and Curch Music 1630-1750. The New Oxford History of Music Ser. 5. New York: Lewis & Fortune, 1975.

Weisstein, Ulrich, ed. The Essence of Opera. London: The Free Press of Glencoe. 1964.

German Baroque Opera

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Opera, in its conventional form, had first appeared in 1597 in Italy and later expanded toward Germany, France and England (“Encyclopedia” 491). Opera began just three years before the first years of what we now consider to be the Baroque Period (1600-1750 AD) in music. The word “baroque” according to Webster’s Dictionary means: “a jeweler’s trade term for ill-shaped pearls.” This term is in reference to general sound of the music that was composed within this era. Although it had intellectually surpassed that of the prior generations it still did not have the lush and extravagant harmonies of the Classical period. Specifically the German Baroque opera is of great importance.

It is often thought that opera is the combination of all the arts into one: music, drama, and visual art. Despite this belief opera in itself is dominated by music. The drama is primarily sung and accompanied by an orchestra, with visual art not even being present in certain instances. Tension and relief itself can be and is created through use of chords, progressions, tempo, dynamics, etc.

The first ever German Opera was Dafne, written by Heinrich Schutz in 1627 (“Encyclopedia“ 629). It was composed thirty years after the first Italian opera was written. In Greek Mythology, Dafne is the daughter of Peneus (a river god). She is followed indefinitely by Apollo (the sun god) and saved only when her mother, Gaea, turns her into a laurel tree (158). Ironically, it was based upon that very same libretto by Rinuccini that had been translated into German. Making it both the first Italian and German opera. Schutz had composed the music in this opera for the marriage of the daughter of Saxon Elector to the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (Oxford 303; “Encyclopedia” 629).

Unfortunately, in the forty-four years following there hadn‘t been a “real“ opera produced. There had been, however, many librettos that were set to music. Historians consider these German librettos to be nothing more than amateur material, including a libretto set entirely to music: Sigmund Theophil Staden’s Seelewig that was written in 1644 (Oxford 303, 304).

The next and second German opera to be composed was in likeness to Schutz’s. It shared the same title; however, it was set to a different libretto written by Opitz in 1627. This version was longer than the original one that Schutz used. This Dafne was composed by Giovanni Andrea Bontempi and Marco Gioseppe Peranda in 1671. The song style within this opera seems to reflect upon the style of Monteverdi than that of typical German characteristics. It is unclear whether either intellectually knew Monteverdi but it is certain that his style had a profound influence upon these two gentlemen. Not more than two years later both Bontempi and Peranda wrote another opera called Jupiter and Jo. Little is known of the music for this opera, for only the libretto remains (Oxford 304).

Works Cited

Alle, John Gage, Ed. Webster’s Dictionary. Owings Mills: The Literary Press. 1997.

Ewen, David. The New Encyclopedia of the Opera. New York: Hill and Wang. 1971.

—. Great Composers. New York: The H. W. Wilsom Company. 1966

Hogwood, Chistopher. Handel. Great Britain: The Pitman Press. 1984

Oxford University Press. Opera and Curch Music 1630-1750. The New Oxford History of Music Ser. 5. New York: Lewis & Fortune, 1975.

Weisstein, Ulrich, ed. The Essence of Opera. London: The Free Press of Glencoe. 1964.