Johann Krieger

Biography

Johann Krieger (28 December 1651 – 18 July 1735) was a German composer and organist, younger brother of Johann Philipp Krieger. Born in Nuremberg, he worked at Bayreuth, Zeitz, and Greiz before settling in Zittau. He was one of the most important keyboard composers of his day, highly esteemed by, among others, George Frideric Handel. A prolific composer of church and secular music, he published several dozen of his works, and others survive in manuscript. However, hundreds more were lost when Zittau was destroyed by fire in 1757, during the Seven Years' War.
Krieger's keyboard music places him among the most important German composers of his time. The two published collections, Sechs musicalische Partien (1697) and Anmuthige Clavier-Übung (1698), contain harpsichord suites, organ toccatas, fugues, ricercars, and other works. Krieger's contemporaries praised his contrapuntal skill, evident in the extant fugues and ricercars. Johann Mattheson was particularly impressed with Krieger's double fugues, remarking that he knew nobody who surpassed Krieger in this form, except Handel. Handel himself admired and studied Krieger's work, even taking a copy of Anmuthige Clavier-Übung with him to England.

Life

Johann and his older brother Philipp came from a Nuremberg family of rugmakers. Neither are related to Adam Krieger, another Baroque composer. Johann studied with Heinrich Schwemmer (teacher of Johann Pachelbel) at St. Sebaldus, and sang in the choir there for several years. From 1661–68 Krieger studied keyboard playing with Georg Caspar Wecker. His older brother's development was different, for Johann Philipp studied with a Froberger pupil, Johann Drechsel. However, for about a decade from 1668 the two brothers' lives shared the same course. In 1671 both Kriegers studied composition at Zeitz. In 1672 Johann Philipp moved to Bayreuth and became court organist there. He very quickly rose to the rank of Kapellmeister, and was succeeded as court organist by Johann. In 1677 Johann Philipp was employed as court organist at Halle, and Johann soon became chamber musician at Zeitz, a city some 30 miles away. He then attained the position of Kapellmeister at Greiz (a further 30 miles south from Zeitz).
After Count Heinrich I of Greiz died in 1680, Johann worked as Kapellmeister at Eisenberg for a little less than two years. He then moved far to the east, to Zittau, to become director chori musici and organist of the Church of St. John (Johanniskirche) there. He held the post for 53 years, until his death. The Zittau position evidently suited the composer. The church stood in the center of the city and was one of the most important churches of Zittau. It had several organs, providing ample opportunity to experiment. There was no opera house in Zittau, but Krieger's Singspiels were, nevertheless, performed by the pupils of the city's Gymnasium. Soon after getting the Zittau position, Krieger started publishing his music. The first to appear was Neue musicalische Ergetzligkeit, a large collection of arias and songs for one to four voices, published in 1684 in Frankfurt and Leipzig. Keyboard collections, including Sechs musicalische Partien and Anmuthige Clavier-Übung followed more than a decade later, in 1697 and 1698 respectively, both printed in Nuremberg.
Krieger died on 18 July 1735 at the advanced age of 83. According to Johann Mattheson, whose Grundlage einer Ehren-Pforte remains the main source for biographical detail on Krieger, the composer was active until the very end of his life, still performing at a service on 17 July 1735, the day before he died. He outlived his brother by some 10 years: Johann Phillip died in 1725, after spending 45 years of his life in Weißenfels, a city in central Germany, not far from the places the two brothers worked at when they were young. The city of Zittau was destroyed in 1757 during the hostilities of the Seven Years' War, the Church of St. John is no longer standing. Among the numerous lost works are all of Krieger's known Singspiels. His older brother's oeuvre also suffered from events that occurred after his death: of some 2,000 cantatas by Johann Phillip, only 76 survive.

Cantatas

All for four voices with instrumental accompaniment, unless specified otherwise.

Confitebor tibi Domine (1686)
Danket dem Herrn (1687)
Danksaget dem Vater (1688)
Der Herr ist mein Licht, 2vv
Dies ist der Tag (1687)
Dominus illuminatio mea, 1v (1690)
Frohlocket Gott in allen Landen (before 1717)
Gelobet sey der Herr (1698)
Gott ist unser Zuversicht
Halleluja, lobet den Herrn (1685)
Nun dancket alle Gott (1717)
Rühmet den Herrn
Sulamith, auf, auf zum Waffen, 5vv (1717)
Zion jaucht mit Freuden, 1v

Motets

Also hat Gott die Welt geliebet (1717)
Delectare in Domino (1717)
Ihr Feinde weichet weg (1717)
In te Domine speravi, 1v
Laudate Dominum omnes gentes, 5vv
Laudate pueri Dominum, 3vv

Mass movements

2 Magnificats, 4vv
5 Sanctus movements, 2–4vv

Songs and arias

Neue musicalische Ergetzligkeit, das ist Unterschiedene Erfindungen welche Herr Christian Weise, in Zittau von geistlichen Andachten, Politischen Tugend-Liedern und Theatralischen Sachen bishero gesetzet hat (Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1684)
Part 1: 30 sacred songs
Part 2: 34 secular songs
Part 3: arias from Singspiels
19 occasional songs, published individually between 1684 and 1697, and at least one other song

Stage

All of these works are lost, but arias and instrumental parts of several were published in Neue musicalische Ergetzligkeit.

Jakobs doppelte Heirat (1682)
Der verfolgte David (1683)
Die sicilianische Argenis (1683)
Von der verkehrten Welt (Lustspiel) (1683)
Nebucadnezar (1684)
Der schwedische Regner (1684)
Der politische Quacksalber (1684)
Die vierte Monarchie (1684)
Der Amandus-Tag (1688)
Friedrich der Weise (1717)
Die vormahlige zittauische Kirchen Reformation (Dramate) (1721)

Keyboard

Sechs musicalische Partien (Nuremberg, 1697): a fantasy and six harpsichord suites
Anmuthige Clavier-Übung (Nuremberg, 1698): 9 preludes, 5 ricercares, 7 fugues, 2 toccatas, 1 fantasy, 1 chaconne
Miscellaneous individual pieces in manuscripts: chorale partita Herr Christ der einig Gottes Sohn, chorale partita In dich hab ich gehoffet, Herr, other chorale settings, fugues, fantasias, 1 passacaglia, 1 battaglia, 1 durezze, and other works