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Tier 3 · vertical & regional
Johann Gottfried Walther
Person · male · Germany · Erfurt · born 1684 · died 1748 · recording since 1991
German musician and composer
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Also known as J.G. 瓦尔特 · ヨハン・ゴットフリート・ヴァルター
Timeline
7 events▣ Album 4◦ Birth 1† Death 1★ Debut release 1
1680s
1740s
1990s
· Debut release
Debut release: Organ Works
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
2000s
· Album
Album: Organ Works, Volume 1: Concertos after Albinoni, Gregori, Telemann and Gentili / Chorales
Album
source: musicbrainz
· Album
Album: Organ Works, Volume 2: Concertos after Vivaldi, Manzia, Blamr, Taglietti & Torelli
Album
source: musicbrainz
2010s
Biography
English biography408 words · 3 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1370297795
Biography
Johann Gottfried Walther (18 September 1684 – 23 March 1748) was a German music theorist, organist, composer, and lexicographer of the Baroque era.
Life and work
Walther was born at Erfurt, Electorate of Mainz and cousin of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Walther was most well known as the compiler of the Musicalisches Lexicon (Leipzig, 1732), an enormous dictionary of music and musicians. Not only was it the first dictionary of musical terms written in the German language, it was the first to contain both terms and biographical information about composers and performers up to the early 18th century. In all, the Musicalisches Lexicon defines more than 3,000 musical terms; Walther evidently drew on more than 250 separate sources in compiling it, including theoretical treatises of the early Baroque and Renaissance. The single most important source for the work was the writings of Johann Mattheson, who is referenced more than 200 times.
Some further information on Walther can be found in the book Musica Poetica by Dietrich Bartel. On page 22, Bartel quotes Walther's definition of musica poetica, or musical rhetoric, as:
"Musica Poetica or musical composition is a mathematical science through which an agreeable and correct harmony of the notes is brought to paper in order that it might later be sung or played, thereby appropriately moving the listeners to Godly devotion as well as to please and delight both mind and soul.... It is so called because the composer must not only understand language as does the poet in order not to violate the meter of the text but because he also writes poetry, namely a melody, thus deserving the title Melopoeta or Melopoeus." (22)
Walther was the music teacher of Prince Johann Ernst von Sachsen-Weimar. He wrote a handbook for the young prince with the title Praecepta der musicalischen Composition, 1708. It remained handwritten until Peter Benary's edition (Leipzig, 1955). As an organ composer, Walther became famous for his organ transcriptions of orchestral concertos by contemporary Italian and German masters. He made 14 transcriptions of concertos by Albinoni, Gentili, Taglietti, Giuseppe Torelli, Vivaldi and Telemann. These works were the models for Bach to write his famous transcriptions of concertos by Vivaldi and others. On the other hand, Walther as a city organist of Weimar wrote exactly 132 organ preludes based on Lutheran chorale melodies. Some free keyboard music also belongs to his legacy.
Selected recordings
Johann Gottfried Walther: Complete Organ Music (2015). Simone Stella (organ). 12 cd box Brilliant Classics BC 94730
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 26 | 87.5th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 5 | 78.9th |
| Studio albums | 5 | 84.6th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 7 | 82.6th |
| Recording span (years) | -243 | 2.6th |
| Genres | 1 | 56th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (5 release groups · 5 studio albums)
Albums · 5
1991 · studio album
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Tracklist · 60 tracks · 3:08:05
Disc 11Concerto del Sigr. Tomaso Albinoni in F major: Allegro2:502Concerto del Sigr. Tomaso Albinoni in F major: Adagio1:193Concerto del Sigr. Tomaso Albinoni in F major: Allegro4:264Concerto del Sigr. Tomaso Albinoni in B-flat major: Allegro2:205Concerto del Sigr. Tomaso Albinoni in B-flat major: Adagio1:216Concerto del Sigr. Tomaso Albinoni in B-flat major: Allegro1:557Concerto del Sigr. Blamr in A major: Adagio1:598Concerto del Sigr. Blamr in A major: Andante allegro6:429Concerto del Sigr. Blamr in A major: Pastorella4:0410Concerto del Sigr. Gentili in A major: Allegro2:4111Concerto del Sigr. Gentili in A major: Adagio0:5412Concerto del Sigr. Gentili in A major: Allegro1:3813Concerto del Sigr. Gregori in B-flat major: Largo1:1314Concerto del Sigr. Gregori in B-flat major: Allegro1:3815Concerto del Sigr. Gregori in B-flat major: Adagio e staccato1:2016Concerto del Sigr. Gregori in B-flat major: Allegro2:2117Concerto del Sigr. Luigi Manzia in G minor: Allegro3:4118Concerto del Sigr. Luigi Manzia in G minor: Allegro3:4319Concerto del Sigr. Luigi Manzia in G minor: Presto2:0220Concerto del Sigr. Meck (Vivaldi?) in B minor: Allegro3:0721Concerto del Sigr. Meck (Vivaldi?) in B minor: Adagio3:3622Concerto del Sigr. Meck (Vivaldi?) in B minor: Allegro3:35Disc 21Concerto del Sigr. Megck in C major: Adagio – Allegro5:282Concerto del Sigr. Megck in C major: Adagio2:453Concerto del Sigr. Megck in C major: Allegro3:214Concerto del Sigr. Tagliette in B-flat major: Adagio3:005Concerto del Sigr. Tagliette in B-flat major: Allegro2:436Concerto del Sigr. Tagliette in B-flat major: Adagio1:487Concerto del Sigr. Tagliette in B-flat major: Allegro2:378Concerto del Sigr. Telemann in C minor: Adagio2:429Concerto del Sigr. Telemann in C minor: Allegro2:4010Concerto del Sigr. Telemann in C minor: Adagio2:5711Concerto del Sigr. Telemann in C minor: Allegro2:1812Concerto per la chiesa composto dal Sigr. Telemann in G major: Fuga1:5913Concerto per la chiesa composto dal Sigr. Telemann in G major: Allegro2:1414Concerto per la chiesa composto dal Sigr. Telemann in G major: Largo3:0815Concerto per la chiesa composto dal Sigr. Telemann in G major: Allegro2:0316Concerto del Sigr. Torelli in D minor: Allegro3:0317Concerto del Sigr. Torelli in D minor: Adagio, e con affetto1:2518Concerto del Sigr. Torelli in D minor: Allegro0:4919Concerto del Sigr. Torelli in D minor: Adagio0:5120Concerto del Sigr. Torelli in D minor: Allegro4:2021Concerto del Sigr. Torelli in B-flat major: Allegro3:0922Concerto del Sigr. Torelli in B-flat major: Adagio2:1723Concerto del Sigr. Torelli in B-flat major: Vivace5:1524Concerto del Sigr. Torelli in A minor: Vivace2:3725Concerto del Sigr. Torelli in A minor: Adagio2:1526Concerto del Sigr. Torelli in A minor: Allegro3:21Disc 31Toccata con Fuga in C major6:362Preludio con Fuga in C major6:543Preludio con Fuga in G major11:084Preludio con Fuga in A major5:575Preludio con Fuga in D minor5:436Fuga in F major2:547Concerto in G major: Preludio (Adagio – Allegro)1:268Concerto in G major: Largo1:459Concerto in G major: Vivace2:5410Concerto in G major: Aria (Largo)4:4411Concerto in G major: Vivace2:5312Alcuni Variationi sopr’un Basso Continuo del Sigr. Corelli in E major5:41Organ Works, Volume 1: Concertos after Albinoni, Gregori, Telemann and Gentili / Chorales
2000 · studio album
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Tracklist · 28 tracks · 1:13:41
1Concerto del Signor Tomaso Albinoni in F major, LV 126: I. Allegro2:402Concerto del Signor Tomaso Albinoni in F major, LV 126: II. Adagio1:033Concerto del Signor Tomaso Albinoni in F major, LV 126: III. Allegro4:174Concerto del Signor Tomaso Albinoni in B flat major, LV 127: I. Allegro2:175Concerto del Signor Tomaso Albinoni in B flat major, LV 127: II. Adagio0:586Concerto del Signor Tomaso Albinoni in B flat major, LV 127: III. Allegro1:467Partita 'Jesu, meine Freude', LV 213:428Concerto del Signor Gregori in B flat major, LV 131: I. Largo1:159Concerto del Signor Gregori in B flat major, LV 131: II. Allegro1:4010Concerto del Signor Gregori in B flat major, LV 131: III. Adagio e staccato0:4611Concerto del Signor Gregori in B flat major, LV 131: IV. Allegro2:5712Fuga in F major, LV 1242:1613Concerto del Signor Telemann in C minor, LV 136: I. Adagio2:2614Concerto del Signor Telemann in C minor, LV 136: II. Allegro2:2715Concerto del Signor Telemann in C minor, LV 136: III. Adagio2:0616Concerto del Signor Telemann in C minor, LV 136: IV. Allegro2:1117In dich hab ich gehoffet, Herr, LV 973:2418Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren, LV 1012:1519Christus, der ist mein Leben2:0920Preludio con fuga in D minor, LV 123: Preludio2:4421Preludio con fuga in D minor, LV 123: Fuga2:3922Concerto del Signor Gentili in A major, LV 130: I. Allegro2:3523Concerto del Signor Gentili in A major, LV 130: II. Adagio0:4224Concerto del Signor Gentili in A major, LV 130: III. Allegro1:4325Concerto del Signor Meck in C major, LV 134: Ia. Adagio0:5226Concerto del Signor Meck in C major, LV 134: Ib. Allegro4:2027Concerto del Signor Meck in C major, LV 134: II. Adagio2:0728Concerto del Signor Meck in C major, LV 134: III. Allegro3:24Organ Works, Volume 2: Concertos after Vivaldi, Manzia, Blamr, Taglietti & Torelli
2000 · studio album
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Tracklist · 23 tracks · 1:19:10
1Organ Concerto in B minor "del Signor Vivaldi", LV 133: I. Allegro3:002Organ Concerto in B minor "del Signor Vivaldi", LV 133: II. Adagio3:023Organ Concerto in B minor "del Signor Vivaldi", LV 133: III. Allegro3:294Chorale Partita "Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele", LV 529:595Organ Concerto in G minor "del Signor Luigi Manzia", LV 132: I. Allegro3:236Organ Concerto in G minor "del Signor Luigi Manzia", LV 132: II. Adagio4:317Organ Concerto in G minor "del Signor Luigi Manzia", LV 132: III. Allegro2:348Chorale Prelude "Es ist das Heil uns kommen her", LV 843:029Chorale Prelude "Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit", LV 1043:1310Organ Concerto in A major "del Signor Blamr", LV 128: I. Adagio1:4311Organ Concerto in A major "del Signor Blamr", LV 128: II. Andante allegro6:2312Organ Concerto in A major "del Signor Blamr", LV 128: III. Pastorella5:4713Organ Concerto in B flat major "del Signor Taglietti", LV 135: I. Grave2:2814Organ Concerto in B flat major "del Signor Taglietti", LV 135: II. Allegro2:4315Organ Concerto in B flat major "del Signor Taglietti", LV 135: III. Adagio1:3016Organ Concerto in B flat major "del Signor Taglietti", LV 135: IV. Allegro2:2617Chorale Prelude "Ach Gott, erhör mein Seufzen und Wehklagen"2:0218Organ Concerto in D minor "del Signor Torelli", LV 1383:4319Organ Concerto in B flat major "del Signor Torelli", LV 139: I. Allegro3:2620Organ Concerto in B flat major "del Signor Torelli", LV 139: II. Adagio2:0621Organ Concerto in A minor "del Signor Torelli": I. Allegro2:3722Organ Concerto in A minor "del Signor Torelli": II. Adagio2:2323Organ Concerto in A minor "del Signor Torelli": III. Allegro3:402015 · studio album
— · studio album
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Johann Gottfried Walther head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 26 | 87.5th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 5 | 78.9th |
| Studio albums | 5 | 84.6th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 7 | 82.6th |
| Recording span (years) | -243 | 2.6th |
| Genres | 1 | 56th |
Awards & honours
Where this record comes from
aliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/afbf0e97-e8c5-4d4a-a1fd-0655f5667e73discography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/afbf0e97-e8c5-4d4a-a1fd-0655f5667e73core—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q61716seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Gottfried_Waltherbiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Gottfried_Walther
Why this artist is in the database
- List of composers by name
Tier rule: notable long tail (listeners 0, 26 language versions)
Image: no portrait (not displayed: the licence credit is missing)
Wikidata: Q61716 · MusicBrainz: afbf0e97-e8c5-4d4a-a1fd-0655f5667e73
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