Composers Datebook™ is a daily two-minute program designed to inform, engage, and entertain listeners with timely information about composers of the past and present. Each program notes significant or intriguing musical events involving composers of the past and present, with appropriate and accessible music related to each.
Johann David Heinichen
Synopsis
For most music lovers, the towering genius of Johann Sebastian Bach far overshadows all but a handful of other Baroque composers. But in his own time, there were many other composers far more famous than Bach.
Take the case of Johann David Heinichen, who was buried in Dresden on today’s date in 1729. At the time, his royal patron, August the Strong of Saxony, made no attempt to fill the vacant post of Dresden court composer because, to his ears, no one could possibly be as good as Heinichen.
The great 18th century music historian Charles Burney, impressed by Heinichen’s skill at colorful instrumentation, called him “the Rameau of Germany,” and in 1739, ten years after Heinichen’s death, another contemporary music historian coined the phrase "the three H's” to describe the importance of Hasse, Handel, and Heinichen” to 18th century German music.
During most of the 19th century, Heinichen’s music lay forgotten in a Dresden Library. Miraculously, these scores survived the Dresden fire-bombing of World War II. In 1993, a recording of some of Heinichen’s “Grand Concertos” performed by Musica Antiqua of Cologne won – belatedly – several awards and some renewed attention for the long-neglected Johann David Heinichen.
Johann David Heinichen (1683 – 1729): Concerto in C (Musica Antiqua of Cologne; Reinhard Goebel, cond.) Archiv 437 549