Johann Sebastiani (30 September 1622 – 1683) was a German baroque composer.

Biography

Sebastiani was born in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

. He became Kantor at Königsberg cathedral in 1661, and court ''Kapellmeister'' from 1663 to 1679. He died in

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

. His works include sacred and occasional pieces and songs; the most famous is his ''St Matthew Passion'' (before 1663, performed again 1672). He is the first composer to introduce chorale into oratorio passion. Within the St Matthew Passion, Sebastiani includes eight different chorale melodies and introduces thirteen chorale verses. This work is a development from the style 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 ...

which includes recitatives and arias but avoids a dramatic operatic idiom, and marks an intermediate position between Schütz and

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

such as those of

Johann Theile Johann Theile (29 July 1646 – 24 June 1724) was a German composer of the Baroque era, famous for the opera ''Adam und Eva, Der erschaffene, gefallene und aufgerichtete Mensch'', first performed in Hamburg on 2 January 1678. Life After stud ...

and

Johann Valentin Meder Johann Valentin Meder (baptised May 3, 1649 – July 1719) was a German composer, organist, and singer. (He is not to be confused with the German composer Johann Gabriel Meder, born in 1729 near Erfurt, and active in Amsterdam until 1800; nor is th ...

. Two violins accompany Christ, who is a bass; three viols accompany Evangelist, who is a tenor, Judas, who is an alto, and the other characters. In 1672 Sebastiani got married and from that point until the end of his life he was concerned primarily with the publication of his works. In 1672, he published a collection entitled ''Erster Theil Der Parnaß-Blumen, Oder Geist- und Weltliche Lieder''.

Recordings

* Matthäus-Passion 1672. Soprano

Greta De Reyghere Greta De Reyghere is a Belgian soprano who specializes in early music and Baroque music in historically informed performance but also performs a variety of other classical music in concert. She is a teacher at the Royal Conservatory of Liège. ...

, countertenor Vincent Grégoire, tenors Stephan Van Dyck, Hervé Lamy, bass

Max van Egmond Max van Egmond (born 1 February 1936 in Semarang) is a Dutch bass and baritone singer. He has focused on oratorio and Lied and is known for singing works of Johann Sebastian Bach. He was one of the pioneers of historically informed performance of ...

Ricercar Consort The Ricercar Consort is a Belgian instrumental ensemble founded in 1980 together with the Ricercar record label of Jérôme Lejeune. The founding members were violinist François Fernandez, organist Bernard Foccroulle, and viola da gamba pla ...

, dir.

Philippe Pierlot Philippe Pierlot (born 1958) is a Belgian viola da gamba player and a conductor in historically informed performance. He is also an academic teacher at the royal conservatories of The Hague and Brussels. Career Born in Liège, Pierlot learned t ...

. Ricercar ''Deutsche Barock-Kantaten Vol. XI'' 1996reissued 2CD with Heinrich Schütz: Die sieben Worte; Auferstehungshistorie; 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sebastiani, Johann 1622 births 1683 deaths German Baroque composers 17th-century German classical composers German male classical composers 17th-century German male musicians