Johann Christoph Kellner
Encyclopedia
Johann Christoph Kellner (15 August 1736 – 1803) was a German
organist
and composer
. He was the son of Johann Peter Kellner
.
, Thuringia
, Germany
where he studied music with his father, moving to Gotha
to study with Georg Benda
in 1754, returning home in 1755. He went on to live in Amsterdam
and The Hague
between 1762 and 1763, eventually settling in Kassel
, Hesse
, Germany
in 1764, where he was appointed court organist and cantor
in the Lutheran church in 1772. His most notiable contribuation to the music world was the melody to Silent Night which his friend Franz Grouber wrote the words to
He wrote a treatise
on music theory
entitled Grundriss des Generalbasses, op. 16 pt. 1 (Kassel, 1783, 1796), which was very successful. Most of his compositions are keyboard
works in a similar galant
style to his father's, with homophonic textures and clear song
-like melodies
. His concerto
s for harpsichord
or piano
anticipate the Viennese classical concerto, and share common features with his contemporary C. P. E. Bach. Many of his works were popular in their own time, as demonstrated by their inclusion in several 18th-century collections.
.
Several more have been lost.
is apparent in his vocal writing. Some cantata
s attributed to Johann Peter Kellner
may have been composed by him.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
organist
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
. He was the son of Johann Peter Kellner
Johann Peter Kellner
Johann Peter Kellner was a German organist and composer. He was the father of Johann Christoph Kellner.-Biography:...
.
Life
He was born in GräfenrodaGräfenroda
Gräfenroda is a municipality in Thuringia in the northeast of the Thüringer Wald forest, Ilm-Kreis district. Gräfenroda is the seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Oberes Geratal....
, Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
where he studied music with his father, moving to Gotha
Gotha (town)
Gotha is a town in Thuringia, within the central core of Germany. It is the capital of the district of Gotha.- History :The town has existed at least since the 8th century, when it was mentioned in a document signed by Charlemagne as Villa Gotaha . Its importance derives from having been chosen in...
to study with Georg Benda
Georg Benda
Jiří Antonín Benda, also Georg Anton Benda or J.A. Benda was a Czech kapellmeister, violinist and composer of the classical period.-Biography:...
in 1754, returning home in 1755. He went on to live in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
and The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
between 1762 and 1763, eventually settling in Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
, Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 1764, where he was appointed court organist and cantor
Cantor (church)
A cantor is the chief singer employed in a church with responsibilities for the ecclesiastical choir; also called the precentor....
in the Lutheran church in 1772. His most notiable contribuation to the music world was the melody to Silent Night which his friend Franz Grouber wrote the words to
He wrote a treatise
Treatise
A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject.-Noteworthy treatises:...
on music theory
Music theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
entitled Grundriss des Generalbasses, op. 16 pt. 1 (Kassel, 1783, 1796), which was very successful. Most of his compositions are keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
works in a similar galant
Galante music
A new style of classical music, fashionable from the 1720s to the 1770s, was called Galante music. It consciously simplified contrapuntal texture and intense composing techniques that realized a pattern on the page and substituted a clear leading voice with a transparent accompaniment....
style to his father's, with homophonic textures and clear song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
-like melodies
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
. His concerto
Concerto
A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...
s for harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
or piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
anticipate the Viennese classical concerto, and share common features with his contemporary C. P. E. Bach. Many of his works were popular in their own time, as demonstrated by their inclusion in several 18th-century collections.
Concertos for piano or harpsichord
Published in FrankfurtFrankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
.
- op. 4: 1 concerto
- op. 5: 3 concertos
- op. 7: 3 concertos
- op. 8: 3 concertos
- op. 11: 1 concerto
Several more have been lost.
Organ and piano
- 3 Vor- oder vielmehr Nachspiele, 3 Fugen, 3 Choral-Vorspiele, im Trio mit dem Canto-firmo, op. 14 pt. 1, for organ (Kassel)
- Orgel-Stücke von verschiedener Art, op. 14 pt. 2, for organ (Kassel)
- Mein trautes Röschen, rondoRondoRondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also to a character-type that is distinct from the form...
for pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
(Speyer, 1782) - 31 neue Orgelstücke, op. 17 pt. 1 (Speyer, 1789): 12 preludePrelude (music)A prelude is a short piece of music, the form of which may vary from piece to piece. The prelude can be thought of as a preface. It may stand on its own or introduce another work...
s, 14 choraleChoraleA chorale was originally a hymn sung by a Christian congregation. In certain modern usage, this term may also include classical settings of such hymns and works of a similar character....
preludes, fantasiaFantasia (music)The fantasia is a musical composition with its roots in the art of improvisation. Because of this, it seldom approximates the textbook rules of any strict musical form ....
, fugueFugueIn music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....
, quartetQuartetIn music, a quartet is a method of instrumentation , used to perform a musical composition, and consisting of four parts.-Western art music:...
for 4 hands and pedals, 2 trioTrio (music)Trio is generally used in any of the following ways:* A group of three musicians playing the same or different musical instrument.* The performance of a piece of music by three people.* The contrasting section of a piece in ternary form...
chorales for 2 keyboards and pedals - Menuett, Fantasie, Fuge, Marche, Quartetto, for piano (Speyer, 1789)
- SinfoniaSinfoniaSinfonia is the Italian word for symphony. In English it most commonly refers to a 17th- or 18th-century orchestral piece used as an introduction, interlude, or postlude to an opera, oratorio, cantata, or suite...
, for piano (Speyer, 1789) - Neue Orgelstücke, op. 17 pt. 2, for organ (Darmstadt, 1793)
- 14 Orgelstücke, bestehend in leichten Vor- und Nachspielen, zwischen neuen Choral-Vorspielen, op. 20 pt. 1, for organ (Brunswick)
- Six fugues pour les Orgues ou le Clavecin, (Amsterdam, 1802)
- SerenadeSerenadeIn music, a serenade is a musical composition, and/or performance, in someone's honor. Serenades are typically calm, light music.The word Serenade is derived from the Italian word sereno, which means calm....
, for piano, 2 violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s, flute, 2 hornsHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
, bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
; 2 sonataSonataSonata , in music, literally means a piece played as opposed to a cantata , a piece sung. The term, being vague, naturally evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms prior to the Classical era...
s, for piano with violin; concerto, for piano with 2 violins, op. 13 (Kassel) - Sonata, for piano with violin and viola ad libitumAd libitumAd libitum is Latin for "at one's pleasure"; it is often shortened to "ad lib" or "ad-lib"...
, op. 18 (Offenbach)
Vocal
EmpfindsamkeitSensitive style
The Empfindsamer Stil is a style of musical composition developed in 18th century Germany, intended to express "true and natural" feelings, and featuring sudden contrasts of mood. It was developed as a contrast to the Baroque Affektenlehre The Empfindsamer Stil (literally sensitive style) is a...
is apparent in his vocal writing. Some cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
s attributed to Johann Peter Kellner
Johann Peter Kellner
Johann Peter Kellner was a German organist and composer. He was the father of Johann Christoph Kellner.-Biography:...
may have been composed by him.
- Die SchadenfreudeSchadenfreudeSchadenfreude is pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others. This German word is used as a loanword in English and some other languages, and has been calqued in Danish and Norwegian as skadefryd and Swedish as skadeglädje....
, op. 10: SingspielSingspielA Singspiel is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera...
, C.F. Weisse (Kassel, 1782) - Herr Bachus ist ein braver Mann, songSongIn music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
, G.A. Burger (Berlin, 1914)
Sources
- Karl Gustav Fellerer: 'Kellner, Johann Christoph', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 2007-06-13), http://www.grovemusic.com/