Johann Abraham Peter Schulz (31 March 1747 – 10 June 1800) was a German

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

. He is best known as the

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

of the melody for Matthias Claudius's poems " Der Mond ist aufgegangen" and " Wir pflügen und wir streuen", and the

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a Carol (music), carol on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas and holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French or ...

" Ihr Kinderlein kommet".

Life

Schulz was born in

Lüneburg Lüneburg, officially the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg and also known in English as Lunenburg, is a town in the German Bundesland (Germany), state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of another Hanseatic League, Hanseatic city, Hambur ...

, where he attended St. Michaelis school from 1757 to 1759 and then the Johanneum from 1759 to 1764. In 1765, he was the student in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

of composer Johann Kirnberger, and then taught in Berlin himself. In 1768 Kirnberger recommended Schulz for the position of music teacher and accompanist to the Polish Princess Sapieha Woiwodin von Smolensk. Schulz traveled with her for 3 years throughout Europe, where he came into contact with many new musical ideas. He served as the conductor of the French Theatre in Berlin from 1776 to 1780 and from 1780 to 1787 he was the ''

Kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (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 has evolved considerably in i ...

'' of Prince Henry in

Rheinsberg Rheinsberg () is a town and a municipality in the Ostprignitz-Ruppin district, in Brandenburg, in north-eastern Germany. It is located on lake and the river Rhin, approximately north-east of Neuruppin and north-west of Berlin. History Freder ...

. Schulz then went on to serve as Court ''Kapellmeister'' in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

from 1787 to 1795 before returning to Berlin. He died in

Schwedt Schwedt (or Schwedt/Oder; ) is a town in Brandenburg, in northeastern Germany. With the official status of a ''Große Kreisstadt, Große kreisangehörige Stadt'' (major district town), it is the largest town of the Uckermark (district), Uckermark ...

. Schulz wrote

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

s, stage music,

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

s, and

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

s, as well as piano pieces and folk songs; he also wrote articles on

music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...

for Johann Georg Sulzer's (1720–1779) ''Allgemeine Theorie der schönen Künste'' in four volumes.

Selected works

For piano

*''Sechs Klavierstücke'', Op. 1, 1778 *Sonata, Op. 2, 1778

Lieder

*''Gesänge im Volkston'', 1779 *''Lieder im Volkston'', 1782, 1785, 1790. *''Chansons Italiennes'', 1782

Operas

*''Clarissa'', operetta,

1775 *''La fée Urgèle'', comédie avec ariettes, 1782 *''Aline, reine de Golconde'', Rheinsberg 1787 *''Høstgildet'', Syngespil,

1790 *''Indtoget'', Syngespil, Copenhagen 1793 *''Peters bryllup'', Syngespil, Copenhagen 1793

Incidental music

*Music for '' Athalie'' by

Jean Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ; ; 22 December 1639 – 21 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille, as well as an important literary figure in the Western tr ...

1785

Church music

*''Maria und Johannes'', 1788 *''Kristi død'', 1792 *''Des Erlösers letzte Stunde'', 1794 *4 Hymns, 1791–1794

Further media

Notes

References

Portions of the biographical information in this article are based on a translation of its German equivalent.

External links

* * *
Cyber Hymnal: Johann Abraham Peter Schulz
* *

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schulz, Johann Abraham Peter 1747 births 1800 deaths Musicians from Lüneburg German Classical-period composers German opera composers German male opera composers German conductors (music) German male conductors (music) German music theorists 18th-century German classical composers 18th-century conductors (music) Pupils of Johann Kirnberger 18th-century German male musicians