Johann Schelle (6 September 1648 – 10 March 1701) was a German Baroque

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 ...

Biography

Schnelle was born on 6 September 1648 in Geising,

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

. From 1655 to 1657 he was a choirboy in Dresden and pupil of

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque music, Baroque composer and organ (music), organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and one of the most important composers of ...

. From 1657 to 1664 on Schütz's recommendation he was a singer in

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel (district), Wolfenbüttel Distri ...

. He was the cantor of the

Thomanerchor The Thomanerchor (English: St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig) is a boys' choir in Leipzig, Germany. The choir was founded in 1212. The choir comprises about 90 boys from 9 to 18 years of age. The members, called ''Thomaner'', reside in a boarding scho ...

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, from 1677 to 1701. In 1689/90 he collaborated on a cycle of chorale cantatas with Leipzig theologian Benedict Carpzov.

Leipzig

When his former teacher Sebastian Knüpfer died, Schelle succeeded him as Kantor of the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, a post later held by J.S. Bach. He obtained the post on 31 January 1677, and held it until his death. His appointment was made against the wishes of the city mayor, who remained antagonistic to him and the changes he introduced in the musical content of services. The matter came to a head when Schelle replaced the Latin compositions written by Italian masters with music to German texts, especially cantatas. When the city council finally took Schelle's side on the problem Schelle started the practice of introducing into the Protestant liturgy in Leipzig not only the Gospel cantata to German texts but later the chorale cantata, too. This remains one of his most important achievements. Schnelle died on 10 March 1701 in Leipzig, at the age of 52.

Works, editions and recordings

Over 200 compositions by Schelle are listed, but only 47 survive. During his life the only work printed was ''Christus ist des Gesetzes Ende,'' Leipzig 1684. Recordings *Schelle: ''Actus Musicus auf Wey-Nachten'' Gundula Anders (soprano),

Andreas Scholl Andreas Scholl (born 10 November 1967) is a German countertenor, a male classical singer in the alto vocal range, specialising in Baroque music. Born into a family of singers, Scholl was enrolled at the age of seven into the Kiedricher Chorbube ...

(alto), Wilfried Jochens (tenor), Harry van der Kamp (bass). Musica Fiata, Roland Wilson. DHM. *''Sacred Music by Johann Schelle'', King's Consort. Hyperion Records * "Actus Musicus auf Wey-Nachten" Christmas cantatas: Monika Mauch, Myriam Arbouz,(soprano), Marian Dijkhuizen (alto), Georg Poplutz Jakob Pilgram (tenor), Raimonds Spogis (baritone), Concerto Palatino
Kölner Akademie
Michael Alexander Willens, CPO *''Bach and before. Music by Schein, Schelle, Kuhnau, with Bach's Cantata BWV 75''. The Bach Players (dir. Nicolette Moonen). Hyphen Press Music 012.

References

1648 births 1701 deaths German Baroque composers German male classical composers Thomaskantors Pupils of Heinrich Schütz {{Germany-composer-stub