Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter (3 September 1746 – 18 March 1797) was a German

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...

, and

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 ...

librettist 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. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...

Biography

He was born at

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 ...

. He started out studying law, but early on was influenced to write for the theatre. After the completion of his university course at

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

, he was appointed second director of the Gotha Archive. He subsequently went to

Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...

, the seat of the imperial law courts, as secretary to the

Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (), or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha ( ), was an Ernestine duchy in Thuringia ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present-day states of Thuringia and Bavaria in Germany. It lasted from 1826 to ...

legation. In 1768 he returned to Gotha as tutor to two young noblemen, and here, together with H. C. Boie, he founded the famous ''

Göttinger Musenalmanach ''Göttinger Musenalmanach'' was the title of two different literary magazines published in Göttingen, Germany, one running from 1770 to 1807, the other 1896 to 1953. A ''Musen-Almanach'' was a kind of literary annual, and the Göttingen magazine ...

''. In 1770 he was once more in Wetzlar, where he belonged to

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

's circle. Four years later he returned to live permanently in Gotha, where he worked until his death.

Work

Gotter was the chief representative of French taste in the German literary life of his time. According to the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition, his poetry is elegant and polished, and largely free from the trivialities of the

Anacreon Anacreon ( BC) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet, notable for his drinking songs and erotic poems. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of Nine Lyric Poets. Anacreon wrote all of his poetry in the ancient Ionic dialect. Like all early ...

tic lyric of the earlier generation of imitators of

French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by French people, French citizens; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of Franc ...

; but he lacked imaginative depth. In 1772 Gotter wrote his first

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 ...

for the

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

''Die Dorfgala'' with music by composer

Anton Schweitzer Anton Schweitzer (6 June 1735 in Coburg – 23 November 1787 in Gotha (town), Gotha) was a German composer of operas, who was affiliated with Abel Seyler's Seyler theatrical company, theatrical company. He was a child prodigy who obtained the pat ...

. He followed this with a second operatic farce, ''Der Jahrmarkt'' (1775), with music by

Georg Benda Georg Anton Benda (; 30 June 17226 November 1795) was a Kingdom of Bohemia, Bohemian composer, violinist and ''Kapellmeister'' of the Classical period (music), classical period. Biography Born into a Benda family, family of notable musicians in ...

. His plays, of which ''Merope'' (1774), an adaptation in blank verse of the

tragedies A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsis, or a "pain ...

of Maffei and

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

, and ''

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; ; ) is the daughter of Aeëtes, King Aeëtes of Colchis. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, an accomplished "wiktionary:φαρμακεία, pharmakeía" (medicinal magic), and is often depicted as a high- ...

'' (1775), a

melodrama A melodrama is a Drama, dramatic work in which plot, typically sensationalized for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodrama is "an exaggerated version of drama". Melodramas typically concentrate on ...

, are best known, were mostly based on French originals and had considerable influence in counteracting the formlessness and irregularity of the

Sturm und Drang (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto-Romanticism, Romantic movement in German literature and Music of Germany, music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity an ...

drama.''Medea'' also served as a libretto for another opera by Benda (1778). Gotter also wrote the libretti to five more operas by Benda: ''Walder'' (1776), '' Romeo und Julie'' (1776), ''Der Holzhauer oder Die drey Wünsche'' (1778), '' Pygmalion'' (1779), and ''Das tartarische Gesetz'' (1787). He also wrote the libretto to

Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg (10 January 1760 – 27 January 1802) was a German composer and conductor from the Classical period. Zumsteeg championed the operas of Mozart in Stuttgart, staging the first performances there of ''Die Zauberflöte'', '' ...

's ''Das tartarische Gesetz'' (1780) which was based on

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

''. Gotter's collected ''Gedichte'' appeared in 2 vols. in 1787 and 1788; a third volume (1802) contains his ''Literarischer Nachlass''. See B. Litzmann, ''Schröder und Gotter'' (1887), and R. Schlösser, ''F. W. Gotter, sein Leben und seine Werke'' (1894). His best known work is the lyrics to the well known lullaby ''

Schlafe, mein Prinzchen, Schlaf ein "Schlafe, mein Prinzchen, schlaf ein" ("Sleep, my little prince, fall asleep") is a German lullaby dating from the 18th century. History The words are by Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter. For many years, the common view was that the melody was composed by ...

''.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gotter, Friedrich Wilhelm 1746 births 1797 deaths German poets Opera librettists People from Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg People from Gotha (town) University of Göttingen alumni German male poets German male dramatists and playwrights 18th-century German dramatists and playwrights 18th-century German poets 18th-century German male writers