Christian Friedrich Hunold (born 29 September 1680 in

Wandersleben Wandersleben is a village and a former municipality in the district of Gotha, in Thuringia, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to t ...

near

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

, died 16 August 1721 in Halle) was a German author who wrote under the pseudonym Menantes.

Biography

Hunold went to school in

Arnstadt Arnstadt () is a town in Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany, on the river Gera (river), Gera about south of Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia. Arnstadt is one of the oldest towns in Thuringia, and has a well-preserved historic centre with a partially ...

and continued in 1691 at the ''Gymnasium Illustre Augusteum'' in

Weißenfels Weißenfels (; often written in English as Weissenfels) is the largest town of the Burgenlandkreis district, in southern Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany. It is situated on the river Saale, approximately south of Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle. His ...

until 1698. From 1698 until winter 1699/1700 he studied law and languages at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

. His first novel, ''Die Verliebte und Galante Welt'' (Hamburg: Liebernickel, 1700), was an instant success. The publication of his novel ''Satyrischer Roman'' (Satyrical Novel) in 1706 caused a scandal. Hunold moved to Halle and held private seminars. The second part of ''Satyrischer Roman'' was published in Stade by

Hinrich Brummer Hinrich is both a masculine given name and a surname, a variant of Heinrich, the German form of Henry. People with the name include: Given name: * Hinrich Bitter-Suermann (born 1940), German-Canadian pathologist and professor of surgery *Hinrich ...

in 1710. Hunold continued his own studies and graduated in 1714 in law. He died 6 August 1721 in Halle of tuberculosis. A biography of him by Benjamin Wedel was published in 1731 including some of his letters.

Libretti

Hunold wrote the

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

''Der blutige und sterbende Jesus'' (The bleeding and dying Jesus), set by

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 ...

in 1704, an early

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Passion oratorio. Hunold appears to have known Bach, and in Halle he wrote texts for

Bach cantata The cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, known as Bach cantatas ( German: ), are a body of work consisting of over 200 surviving independent works, and at least several dozen that are considered lost. As far as known, Bach's earliest can ...

s which were performed at the court of

Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen (29 November 1694 – 19 November 1728) was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Köthen. Today, he is best remembered for employing Johann Sebastian Bach as his Kapellmeister ...

. With the partial exception of ''Lobet den Herrn, alle seine Heerscharen'', BWV Anh. 5, which uses religious themes, these were secular works, written especially for occasions such as birthdays. This collaboration between Bach and Hunold lasted from 1718 to 1720 after which year the composer found another librettist for his continuing series of congratulatory cantatas. After the poet had died Bach returned to his work as the basis for the cantata ''Ich bin in mir vergnügt''.

Selected works

* ''Die verliebte und galante Welt'', Hamburg: Liebernickel, 1700 (reprint of the 1707 edition Hans Wagener: Bern 1988) * ''Der Europäischen Höfe Liebes- und Helden-Geschichte'', Hamburg: Gottfried Liebernickel, 1705 (reprint Hans Wagener and Eli Sobel: Bern 1978) * ''Satyrischer Roman der galanten Welt zur vergnügten Curiosite, ans Licht gestellt von Menantes'', Hamburg: B. Wedel, 1706 (reprint Hans Wagener: Frankfurt am Main 2005, ; online
Editions Marteau

References

Sources

* Benjamin Wedel: ''Geheime Nachrichten und Briefe von Herrn Menantes Leben und Schriften.'' Cöln 1731 (reprint Zentralantiquariat der DDR, Leipzig 1977) * Hans Schröder: ''Lexikon der hamburgischen Schriftsteller bis zur Gegenwart''. 8 volumes. Perthes-Besser u. Mauke, Hamburg 1851–1883 * Herbert Singer: ''Der galante Roman''. Metzler, Stuttgart 1961. * Herbert Singer: ''Der deutsche Roman zwischen Barock und Rokoko''. Böhlau, Köln 1963 * Hans Wagener, ''Die Komposition der Romane Christian Friedrich Hunolds'', University of California Publications in Modern Philology, 94 (Berkeley/ Los Angeles, 1969) *

Gerhard Dünnhaupt Gerhard Dünnhaupt, Royal Society of Canada, FRSC (15 August 1927 in Bernburg (Saale) – 17 November 2024 in Toronto)Peter Hess, Mara R. WadeRemembering Professor Gerhard “Gerry” Dünnhaupt (1927–2024).Retrieved 17 February 2025. was a Ger ...

: "Christian Friedrich Hunold (1681–1721)", in: ''Personalbibliographien zu den Drucken des Barock''. Band 3. Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1990, , p. 2184–2213 (works and literature) * Jens-Fietje Dwars: ''Leben und Werk des vormals berühmten Christian Friedrich Hunold alias Menantes''. quartus-Verlag, Bucha 2005, * Cornelia Hobohm (editor.): ''Menantes. Ein Dichterleben zwischen Barock und Aufklärung''. Jena: Quartus Verlag, 2006) * Jörn Steigerwald: ''Höfliches Lachen: Die distinguierende Komik der höfischen Gesellschaft (am Beispiel von Christian Friedrich Hunolds 'Satyrischem Roman' '', in: ''Anthropologie und Medialität des Komischen im 17. Jahrhundert (1580–1730)''. editor Stefanie Arend et al. Amsterdam / New York 2008, p. 325–355.

External links

Biography
(in German)

(in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunold, Christian Friedrich 1680 births 1721 deaths People from Gotha (district) Pseudonymous writers German-language poets German cantata librettists German oratorio and passion librettists German male poets