Johann David Heinichen (1683 – 1729) was a German
Baroque composer and music theorist who brought the
musical genius of Venice to the court of Augustus II
the Strong in Dresden. After he died, Heinichen's music
attracted little attention for many years. He was born
in the small village of Krössuln (currently part of
the town Teuchern, in Saxony-Anhalt) near Weissenfels.
His father, Michael Heinichen, had studied music at the
celebrated Thomasschule Leipzig associated with the
Thomaskirche, se...(+)
Johann David Heinichen (1683 – 1729) was a German
Baroque composer and music theorist who brought the
musical genius of Venice to the court of Augustus II
the Strong in Dresden. After he died, Heinichen's music
attracted little attention for many years. He was born
in the small village of Krössuln (currently part of
the town Teuchern, in Saxony-Anhalt) near Weissenfels.
His father, Michael Heinichen, had studied music at the
celebrated Thomasschule Leipzig associated with the
Thomaskirche, served as cantor in Pegau and was pastor
of the village church in Krössuln. Johann David also
attended the Thomasschule Leipzig. There he studied
music with Johann Schelle and later received organ and
harpsichord lessons with Johann Kuhnau. The future
composer Christoph Graupner was also a student of
Kuhnau at the time.
Heinichen enrolled in 1702 to study law at the
University of Leipzig and in 1705–1706 qualified as a
lawyer (in the early 18th century the law was a favored
route for composers; Kuhnau, Graupner and Georg Philipp
Telemann were also lawyers). Heinichen practiced law in
Weissenfels until 1709.
However, Heinichen maintained his interest in music and
was concurrently composing operas. In 1710, he
published the first edition of his major treatise on
the thoroughbass. He went to Italy and spent seven
formative years there, mostly in Venice, with great
success with two operas, Mario and Le passioni per
troppo amore (1713). Mario was staged again in Hamburg
in 1716 with the German title, Calpurnia, oder die
romische Grossmut.
In 1712, he taught music to Leopold, Prince of
Anhalt-Köthen, who took him as composer. The same
prince would appoint Johann Sebastian Bach
Kapellmeister at the end of 1717. In 1716, Heinichen
met in Venice Prince Augustus III of Poland, son of
King Augustus II the Strong, and thanks to him was
appointed the Royal-Polish and Electoral-Saxon
Kapellmeister in Dresden. His pupils included Johann
Georg Pisendel. In 1721, Heinichen married in
Weissenfels; the birth of his only child is recorded as
January 1723. In his final years, Heinichen's health
suffered greatly; on the afternoon of 16 July 1729, he
was buried in the Johannes cemetery after finally
succumbing to tuberculosis.
His music began to be better known after 1992 when
Musica Antiqua Köln under Reinhard Goebel recorded a
selection of Dresden Concerti (Seibel 204, 208, 211,
213–215, 217, 226, 231–235, 240), followed by a
recording of Heinichen's Lamentationes and
Passionsmusik (1996). His sole opera for Dresden,
Flavio Crispo (1720), was never performed and was not
recorded until 2018.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_David_Heinichen).
Although originally composed for Oboe & Continuo, I
created this Interpretation of the Duet in C Minor
(S277) for Viola & Cello.
SHEET MUSIC