Johann Mattheson

“ Although he studied music he seems to have respected his father’s wishes and studied law and even after his father died in 1697, he continued, but later gave it up for music. At seventeen he entered the University, and studied, besides music, the literary classics which were of great use to him later.
On leaving the University he went to Hamburg, the musical center of Germany, where he heard Keiser’s works and received good advice from Johann Mattheson, the composer, tenor and conductor, who later engaged George Frederick in a duel. ”

“ Forgetting the flight of time and his obligations in Arnstadt, Bach let the winter months slip by. It is even possible that he weighed the question of stepping into the shoes of the seventy-year-old master. But there was a condition attached to that which made him hesitate as it had Handel and Mattheson before him. Whoever wanted Buxtehude’s job had to take Buxtehude’s daughter in the bargain. ”

“ The organ had fifty-four stops, three manuals, and pedal; and the post of organist at this church was one of the best in Germany. It had one drawback, however; on the resignation or death of an organist, the person appointed to succeed him was obliged to marry his daughter. Mattheson and Handel in 1704 and Bach in 1706 had thought of applying for the post, but were all frightened away by this condition. Buxtehude’s successor was Johann Christian Schieferdecker, who had been harpsichord player in the opera at Hamburg. ”

“ Now, the fact is that neither John Ballhorn nor Wegweiser—or Weigweiser as Hawkins spells the word,—were distinguished men deserving a place in a 'General History of Music.' "Johann Ballhorn" merely signifies "a Blunderer," just as "Jack of all Trades" signifies a person who can turn his hand to anything. Old Mattheson was a [Pg 153] quaint and sarcastic writer. He calls the translator of Steffani's treatise from Italian into German a "Johann Ballhorn" on account of the blunders in the translation ”

“ Pachelbel had many pupils; so great was his fame that many organists, desirous of making a name for themselves, claimed to have been under his tutelage; but "every one cannot have been a pupil of-21- Pachelbel," said Mattheson in the course of a celebrated discussion with one of them, the organist Buttstedt. [48]
This honor (of so much importance to us is this fact) did fall to the lot of Christoph Bach, elder brother of Johann Sebastian, and from whom the latter received his first lessons. ”

“ In a former work, Mattheson had laid down the following rule for omitting the reeds from the ensemble of the registers: [153] "A reed-stop may not be drawn with the flutes upon the same keyboard, unless it be in the pedal." He makes an exception only in case the organ is not sufficiently powerful to keep a choir from wandering from the pitch and into chaos, when advantage must be taken of all resources. ”

“ Such were the theatrical arrangements made by C. F. Hunold, known as Menantes, and by B. H. Brockes, a town councillor of Hamburg, whose arrangement was set to music by Keiser, Mattheson, Telemann, and Handel. Chorale melodies and hymns found no place in these passions. Schütz had employed them at the beginning and the end of his settings, as introduction and epilogue. They were appar [Pg 481] ently first woven into the body of the work by a little-known composer, Johann Sebastiani, about 1672. The arrangement which Bach finally used for his St. ”

“ It seems to have been a chance acquaintance, to judge from Mattheson's account; it stuck in Mattheson's memory for many years and he remembered especially the pastry-cook's boy who blew the organ for Handel and himself. Mattheson was four years older than Handel; he was one of those precociously gifted, versatile, attractive, and rather vain young men who are endowed with so many talents that they never achieve distinction in any branch of art. ”

“ Shortly after Easter, Keiser began the composition of a new opera, Almira, on a libretto by the local poet Feustking, but for some reason or other he found it necessary to call in Handel's assistance, and eventually left the whole work to Handel to compose. It was to be produced in the autumn. Handel seems to have consulted Mattheson over every detail of the opera; there exists a complete score in Mattheson's handwriting, with corrections and additions by Handel. Mattheson spent the summer enjoying a country holiday in Mecklenburg; Handel probably went on with his opera, at Hamburg. ”

“ How utterly he knew Joshua Mattheson, who was talking in his harsh, yet rather mincing voice, endlessly, endlessly, always with a strong mentality working, always interesting, and yet always known, everything he said known beforehand, however novel it was, and clever. Alexander the up-to-date host, so bloodlessly free-and-easy, Fraulein so prettily chiming in just as she should, the little Italian Countess taking notice of everybody, only playing her little game, objective and cold, like a weasel watching everything, and extracting her own amusement, never giving herself in the slightest ”

“ Many conditions contributed to the establishment of a good Theatre and Opera at Hamburg; money and the wealthy patrons disposed to expend it, an excellent band of instruments, good but small in number, a scenic art well advanced, a luxury of decoration and machinery, renowned poets, musicians of great value, and, rarest of all, the poets and musicians who assembled from “die sich wohl verstanden,” as Mattheson wrote. The poets were named Bressand of Wolfenbüttel, who was inspired by the French theatre, and Christian Postel, whom Chrysander calls very complacently a German Metastasio. ”

“ Mattheson. "Could not the life of Handel have been written without aspersing the brave tone-artist Zachau forty years after his death on account of a glass of wine?" [Pg 11]
Mainwaring (P. 15) . "It may seem strange to talk of an assistant of seven years of age, for he could not be more, if indeed he was quite so much, when first he was committed to the care of this person."
Mattheson. "The author appears to have not the least scruple in committing the most palpable anachronism by making his hero the younger the taller he grows. This will presently appear evident."
Mainwaring (P. 16) . ”

“ Mattheson composed a large number of works, including many church cantatas of the style made more celebrated in the works of Sebastian Bach, later, the intention of these works having been to render the church services more interesting by affording the congregation a practical place in the exercises. Mattheson is best known at the present time by his "Complete Orchestral Director," a compilation of musical knowledge and notions, intended for the instruction of those intending to act in this capacity. ”

“ But Mattheson had clearly reckoned without his host, for when the actor-composer, having departed this life on the stage, suddenly reappeared through the orchestra door and walked up to Handel's side with the request that the latter would yield his place to him, he was met by a flat refusal on the part of the conductor in possession. Possibly Handel may have been struck by the absurdity of a personage whose decease had only a few moments before been witnessed by the audience desiring to reassume his mortal dress in the orchestra. ”

“ Mattheson. "The author is wrong in calling Halle a town of Upper-Saxony. It lies in the Dukedom of Magdeburg, which belongs to Lower-Saxony. Handel was, therefore, no Upper-Saxon, but rather a Lower-Saxon."
Mainwaring (P. 6) . "It may not be unpleasant to the reader just now to remind him of the minute and surprising resemblance between the early periods of Handel's life and some which are recorded in that of the celebrated M. Pascal, written by his sister. Nothing could equal the bias of the one to Mathematics but the bias of the other to Music ”

“ Two chests-full were left at Hamburg, besides some at Hanover, and some at Halle."
Mattheson. "We Hamburgians have hitherto heard nothing of those two chests. In Wich's music-book of the year 1704 are two minuets and half an air, that is all."
Mainwaring (P. 164) . "The generality of mankind have not enough of delicacy to be much affected with minute instances of beauty, but yet are so formed as to be transported with every the least mark of grandeur and sublimity."
Mattheson. "That is true."
Mainwaring (P. 165) . ”

“ The two young men were greatly affected by his talent, but they did not care to succeed him in the post, for it was necessary to wed his daughter [68] to have his organ, and, said Mattheson, "neither of them wanted her."—Two years later they would have met on the road to Lubeck a young musician also going, like them, to pay Buxtehude a visit, not like them, however, in a carriage, but more humbly on foot: J. S. Bach. ”

“ He had a rare and seemingly inexhaustible gift of melody, and his recitatives are masterly, but his music lacks the breadth and massive strength of his successor, Handel. “All that Keiser wrote,” says Mattheson, “was uncommonly easy to sing, and was so easily caught by the ear that one enjoys it without feeling any respect or intense admiration for it.” Keiser lacked earnestness, and did not exert an enduring influence for good on the Hamburg opera. He was willing to lend his art to the most trivial and nonsensical farce, in order to afford amusement to the rough and common people. ”

“ Mattheson states that both Handel and Hasse (who was afterwards director of the celebrated Dresden Opera) formed their styles on that of Keiser. [20] Mattheson, himself a composer, succeeded Keiser as conductor of the orchestra at the Hamburgh Theatre, holding that post, however, conjointly with Handel, whose quarrel and duel with Mattheson have often been related. Handel was presiding in the orchestra while Mattheson was on the stage performing in an opera of his own composition. ”

“ He went to Hamburg to perform a new cantata on the text “He that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted,” in November 1720. He found Reinken still playing the organ of St Catherine, though now ninety-seven years old. Reinken, though a very great artist, was vain, and jealous, and it was a question how he would receive Bach. Mattheson, who did not love him, said that he was a “constant admirer of the fair sex, and much addicted to the wine cellar of the Council,” though he admitted that he had no equal on the organ in his own style. ”

“ Kerl remained at Munich for 15 years. For the Italian singers there he composed a 'Missa nigra' entirely written in black notes, and a duet for two castrati 'O bone Jesu,' the only accompaniment of which is a ground bass passing through all the keys. Besides other church works, sonatas for 2 violins and viol di gamba, and a 'Modulatio organica super Magnificat' (Munich, 1686) , Mattheson mentions toccatas, canzonas, ricercars, and batailles of his composition for the organ. ”

“ The consciousness of how narrowly he had missed injuring, if not actually killing, his friend brought Mattheson suddenly to his senses, and, the bystanders at this juncture interposing between them, the duellists shook hands, and thenceforth, it is said, became better friends than ever.
'A resort to swords.'ToList
The life at Hamburg was a very busy one—full of [55] teaching, study, and composition. With the growth of his fame the number of his pupils increased, and Handel was enabled not only to be independent of his mother's help, but even to send her money from time to time. ”

“ At first no one suspected the youth's talents, for he amused himself by pretending to be an ignoramus, until one day the accompanist on the harpsichord (then the most important instrument in an orchestra) was absent, and young Handel took his place, astonishing everybody by his masterly touch. Probably this discovery aroused the jealousy of some of his brother artists, for soon afterward a duel took place between him and Mattheson, a clever composer and singer, who one night in the midst of a quarrel, on leaving the theater, gave him a box on the ear ”

“ Despite the intense feeling of certain pages, and the fine dramatic nature of the choruses, the work was uneven, and occasionally lacked good taste.
From this moment the friendship between Handel and Mattheson was finished. Handel became conscious of his own genius, and could no longer stand the protectorship of Mattheson. Other occurrences aggravated the misunderstanding, which ended in a quarrel, which narrowly escaped a fatal issue. ”

“ At the end of August, 1703, Handel entered the Hamburg orchestra as a second violinist. He loved to amuse himself amongst his kind, and he often made himself appear more ignorant than he was. "He behaved," said Mattheson, "as if he did not even know how to count five, for he was a 'dry stick.'" [77] That year at Hamburg, Keiser's Claudius was given at the Opera, and many of the phrases registered themselves in Handel's marvellous memory. ”

“ Mattheson, the first tenor in the company, soon (9 June or 9 July) made friends with Handel, discerning, as he tells us, what his powers really were (Ehrenpforte, p. 191, and Lebensbeschreibung, p. 22) . On 17 Aug. of the same year they went together to Liibeck. to compete for the place of deputy and ultimate successor to Dietrich Buxtehude. ”

“ How the waves of the sea are roaring! How the mountains cry aloud with joy and sing hymns unto the Lord! How harmonious an "Amen" fills the devout heart with a sacred awe! How the temples tremble with the pious shout of Alleluia! Telemann, it is thou, thou, the father of sacred music. ..." ↑ Graun, at Dresden, devoured the scores of Keiser. Hasse, in 1772, still professed his unbounded admiration for this musician, "one of the greatest the world has ever possessed." As for Mattheson, he was, in many respects, Keiser's mouthpiece. ”