Johann Friedrich Agricola (1720 – 1774) was a German
composer, organist, singer, pedagogue, and writer on
music. He sometimes wrote under the pseudonym Flavio
Anicio Olibrio. He was born in Dobitschen, Thuringia
and while a student of law at Leipzig (1738–41) he
studied music under Johann Sebastian Bach.
In 1741 Agricola went to Berlin, where he studied
musical composition under Johann Joachim Quantz. He was
soon generally recognized as one of the most skillful
organists of his time...(+)
Johann Friedrich Agricola (1720 – 1774) was a German
composer, organist, singer, pedagogue, and writer on
music. He sometimes wrote under the pseudonym Flavio
Anicio Olibrio. He was born in Dobitschen, Thuringia
and while a student of law at Leipzig (1738–41) he
studied music under Johann Sebastian Bach.
In 1741 Agricola went to Berlin, where he studied
musical composition under Johann Joachim Quantz. He was
soon generally recognized as one of the most skillful
organists of his time. The success of his comic opera,
Il filosofo convinto in amore, performed at Potsdam in
1750, led to an appointment as court composer to
Frederick the Great. In 1759, on the death of Carl
Heinrich Graun, he was appointed conductor of the royal
orchestra. He married the noted court operatic soprano
Benedetta Emilia Molteni, despite the king's
prohibition of court employees marrying each other.
Because of this trespass, the king reduced Molteni's
and Agricola's combined salaries to a single annual
salary of 1,000 Thalers (Agricola's annual salary alone
had been 1,500 Thalers). He wrote a number of Italian
operas, as well as Lieder, chorale preludes, various
other keyboard pieces and church music, especially
oratorios and cantatas. His reputation chiefly rests,
however, on his theoretical and critical writings on
musical subjects. Agricola died in Berlin at age
54.
In 1754 he co-authored, with Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach,
J. S. Bach's obituary. His 1757 Anleitung zur
Singekunst (Introduction to the Art of Singing) is a
translation of Pier Francesco Tosi's 1723 treatise
Opinioni de' cantori antichi e moderni with Agricola's
own extensive comments. He edited and added extensive
commentary to the 1768 (posthumous) edition of Jakob
Adlung's Musica mechanica organoedi (English
translation). His annotations are considered an
important source of information on J. S. Bach's views
on the fortepiano designs of Gottfried Silbermann, on
the lute-harpsichord, and on organ building. Agricola
is also noted in Bach studies as one of the copyists
for both books of the Well-Tempered Clavier and the St.
Matthew Passion.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Friedrich_Agricol
a).
Although originally written for Keyboard, I created
this Interpretation of the Allegro from the Sonata in F
Major (Movement 1) for Concert (Pedal) Harp.
PARTITION