Christian Heinrich Postel (11 October 1658 – 22 March 1705) was a German jurist, epic poet and opera librettist, who wrote 28 libretti for the

Oper am Gänsemarkt The Oper am Gänsemarkt was a theatre in Hamburg, Germany, built in 1678 after plans of Girolamo Sartorio at the Gänsemarkt square. It was the first public opera house to be established in Germany: not a court opera, as in many other towns. E ...

in Hamburg: set by composers such as

Johann Philipp Förtsch Johann Philipp Förtsch (14 May 1652 - 14 December 1732) was a German baroque composer, statesman and doctor. Life Förtsch was born in Wertheim and possibly received his musical education from Johann Philipp Krieger. Moving to Hamburg in 1674 to ...

Reinhard Keiser Reinhard Keiser (9 January 1674 – 12 September 1739) was a German opera composer based in Hamburg. He wrote over a hundred operas. Johann Adolf Scheibe (writing in 1745) considered him an equal to Johann Kuhnau, George Frideric Handel and Georg ...

and

Georg Philipp Telemann Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hild ...

. His texts for a ''St John Passion'' were set by composers

Christian Ritter Christian Ritter (probably 1645 to 1650 – probably after 1725) was a composer and organist of the North German organ school. Biography Ritter was probably a pupil of Christoph Bernhard in Dresden. A notice on one of his works described him as ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

in their respective ''

St John Passion The ''Passio secundum Joannem'' or ''St John Passion'' (german: Johannes-Passion, link=no), BWV 245, is a Passion or oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, the older of the surviving Passions by Bach. It was written during his first year as dire ...

''.

Career

Postel was born in , the son of the theologian Lorenz Postel and his wife Dorothea, née Isentrut. His father was a minister at the ' in Hamburg. Christian Heinrich Postel attended the . He studied law at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...

from 1680 with

Christian Thomasius Christian Thomasius (1 January 1655 – 23 September 1728) was a German jurist and philosopher. Biography He was born in Leipzig and was educated by his father, Jakob Thomasius (1622–1684), at that time a junior lecturer in Leipzig Univers ...

. When the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

threatened Leipzig, he continued his studies at the

University of Rostock The University of Rostock (german: link=no, Universität Rostock) is a public university located in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Founded in 1419, it is the third-oldest university in Germany. It is the oldest university in continen ...

, where he graduated as a licentiate on 10 May 1683. He travelled for six months with , a historian and theologian, in the Netherlands, England and France. Their diary of the journey, "" (Description of a journey through the north-western Germany, to the Netherlands and England in the year 1683), not printed until the 19th century, shows their many interests, especially in foreign universities and libraries. Oper am Gänsemarkt

Back in Hamburg, he opened an office as a lawyer. He wrote 28 opera libretti for the from 1688 to 1702, set by contemporary composers such as

Johann Georg Conradi Johann Georg Conradi (1645 in Oettingen – 22 May 1699) was a German composer. He was, with Johann Theile, Nicolaus Adam Strungk, Johann Philipp Fortsch, Johann Wolfgang Franck and Johann Sigismund Kusser one of the main composers of the earl ...

and Johann Sigismund Kusser.

set his libretto of '' Sieg der Schönheit'' (Victory of beauty). He adapted

Jean Galbert de Campistron Jean Galbert de Campistron (3 August 1656 – 11 May 1723) was a French dramatist. Biography Campistron was born in Toulouse, France to a noble family. At the age of seventeen he was wounded in a duel and sent to Paris. Here he became an ardent d ...

's tragedy ''

Achille et Polyxène ''Achille et Polyxène'' (''Achilles and Polyxena'') is a tragédie lyrique containing a prologue and five acts based on Virgil's ''Aeneid'' with a French libretto by Jean Galbert de Campistron. The opera's overture and first act were composed by ...

'' for an opera by Lully and Colasse, premiered in 1687, as a French-German cooperation unique in opera history. His opera libretto ' ("St. Eugenia, or the conversion of Alexandria to Christianity"), was set by

, premiered in 1688 and printed in 1695. Around 1700, Postel wrote the libretto for an

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...

' (Passion and death of Jesus Christ, or St John Passion). A setting formerly attributed to

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

is now believed to be by

. Another setting, called ''Das Lied des Lammes'' ("The Song of the Lamb") is by

. Several parts of the text were used in Bach's ''

''. While Postel is thought to have written all thirteen poetic pieces added to the Gospel text, it is certain only for three which were reprinted by Christian Friedrich Hunold, while "" is among the other ten. Ritter and Mattheson composed it as an aria, while Bach set it as a

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 ...

on the melody of the

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn ...

"Machs mit mir, Gott, nach deiner Güt" (Deal with me, God, according to your kindness). All three composers place it at the same position in the action, in the court hearing of

Pilate Pontius Pilate (; grc-gre, Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος, ) was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official who presided over the trial of J ...

. Postel died in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...

Selected works

* Jakob von Melle, Christian Henrich Postel: ''Beschreibung einer Reise durch das nordwestliche Deutschland, nach den Niederlanden und England im Jahre 1683. Aus einer Handschrift der Lübeckischen Stadtbibliothek herausgegeben von Oberlehrer Dr. Carl Curtius.'' Gebr. Borchers, Lübeck 1891 (Programm Lübeck Catharineum 1891), online.

Literature

* Julius Elias: Postel, Christian Heinrich. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 26, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1888, S. 465–473. * Dian Igor Lindberg: Literary Aspects of German Baroque Opera. History, theory, and practice (Christian Heinrich Postel and Barthold Feind). Diss. Univ. of California, Los Angeles 1964. * Solveig Olsen: Christian Heinrich Postels Beitrag zur deutschen Literatur. Versuch einer Darstellung (= Amsterdamer Publikationen zur Sprache und Literatur 7, ISSN 0169-0221). Rodopi, Amsterdam 1973. * Bodo Plachta: Postel, Christian Heinrich. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB). Band 20, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2001, S. 656 (Digitalisat). * Erich Vilter: Die epische Technik in Chr. H. Postels Heldengedicht „Der grosse Wittekind“. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Renaissanceepen. Kaestner, Göttingen 1899 (Dissertation, Universität Göttingen, 1898).

References

External links

*
Works digital

Herzog August Bibliothek The Herzog August Library (german: link=no, Herzog August Bibliothek — "HAB"), in Wolfenbüttel, Lower Saxony, known also as ''Bibliotheca Augusta'', is a library of international importance for its collection from the Middle Ages and ear ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Postel, Christian 1658 births 1705 deaths 17th-century German lawyers German librettists German poets Musicians from Hamburg Jurists from Hanover University of Rostock alumni German male poets People educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums People from Stade (district)