Johann Gottfried Vierling (January 25, 1750 – November 22, 1813) was a German

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

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 ...

Life and career

Vierling was born in

Metzels Metzels () is a village and a former municipality in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district of Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the town Wasungen.Schmalkalden Schmalkalden () is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district, in the southwest of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is on the southern slope of the Thuringian Forest at the Schmalkalde river, a tributary to the Werra. , the town had a popul ...

. In 1768 he succeeded his teacher Johann Nikolaus Tischer (1707–74) as organist in Schmalkalden. He later continued his musical studies with

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German composer and musician of the Baroque and Classical period. He was the fifth ch ...

and

Johann Philipp Kirnberger Johann Philipp Kirnberger (also ''Kernberg''; 24 April 1721, Saalfeld – 27 July 1783, Berlin) was a musician, composer (primarily of fugues) and music theorist. He studied the organ with Johann Peter Kellner and Heinrich Nicolaus Gerber, and ...

. Vierling died in Schmalkalden. Vierling composed several collections of easy organ pieces, a four-voice organ chorale book (1790) and cembalo music such as two trios, one

quartet In music, a quartet (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quar ...

and six

sonata In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms until th ...

s. Two handwritten annual volumes of ''Kirchenkantaten'' are preserved. He also published a handbook on the art of ''

basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...

'', "''Allgemein faßlicher Unterricht im Generalbaß''". Among Vierling's students was

Johann Christian Friedrich Hæffner Johann Christian Friedrich Hæffner (2 March 1759 in Oberschönau – 28 May 1833 in Uppsala) was a German-born Swedish composer. Hæffner received his first musical education with the Schmalkalden organist Johann Gottfried Vierling. H ...

, who became a famous musician in Sweden.

Works

*''Achtundvierzig kurze und leichte Orgelstücke'' *''48 leichte Choralvorspiele'', Leipzig *''Sonata in C-major'' for cembalo / organ *''Prelude in c-minor'' for organ *About 160

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 *''Choralbuch auf vier Stimmen zum Gebrauch bey dem öffentlichen- und Privat-Gottesdienst : nebst e. Vorrede u. kurzen Vorbericht mit e. Haupt- u. Melodien-Register / hrsg. von Johann Gottfried Vierling'', 1789 *''Allgemein fasslicher Unterricht im Generalbass mit Rücksicht auf dem jetzt herrschenden Geschmack in der Composition durch treffende Beispiele erläutert'', Leipzig, 1805 *''Versuch einer Anleitung zum Präludiren für Ungeübtere'', Leipzig, 1794 *''Empfindung und Empfindelei oder Die Verwechslung der Geliebten'' (opera)

Sources and further reading

*Höijer, J.L:
Musik-Lexikon
' *
Klais musical scores
' *

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vierling, Johann Gottfried 1750 births 1813 deaths 18th-century German people 18th-century German keyboardists 18th-century German classical composers German classical organists German opera composers German male opera composers People from Schmalkalden-Meiningen People from Saxe-Meiningen 18th-century German male musicians German male classical organists