A show of hands! How many of you are familiar with the name Christoph Graupner?
I thought so.
Join me today on The Classical Network, on Graupner’s birthday, as I share music by this neglected master. Despite the fact that Graupner is now little more than a footnote in music history, he was highly regarded in his day. In fact, he was offered the cantorate in Leipzig (where he had studied with Johann Kuhnau).
Finances were particularly rocky in Graupner’s Darmstadt. The opera house was closed, court musicians were not being paid. Musical opportunities were withering. Even so, Graupner’s patron insisted he be held to his contract.
In the end, things worked out for the best. Graupner’s back salary was paid in full, and he was given a substantial raise into the bargain. As for the cantorate? It went to Johann Sebastian Bach.
Of course, the first choice for the position had been George Philipp Telemann. But Telemann also decided to remain where he was – in his case Hamburg – after he too was promised more money.
Graupner graciously wrote Bach a glowing recommendation. Like so many forgotten figures of the Baroque, his recognition once again received a substantial boost with the rise of the authenticity movement, and a nice cross-section of his own music is now available in recordings.
It’s also the birthday of Graupner contemporary Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel. Again, you may not know the name, but if you’re a Bach fan, there’s a good chance you know at least some of his music. He is the composer of “Bist du bei mir,” long attributed to Bach because of its inclusion in one of Anna Magdalena Bach’s notebooks
Like Bach, Stölzel wrote a ton of church music, including a crushing number of cantatas. Unlike Bach, he also wrote operas – 18 of them. In fact, “Bist du bei mir” was originally written for the opera “Diomedes.” Now we hear it at weddings.
Don’t forget, Monday on The Classical Network also means “Bach at One.” As stated right in the title of the program, that will come your way at 1 p.m. EST.
I’ll be along at 4. If Baroque is not really your thing, I’ll also have music by Vasily Kalinnikov, a too short-lived Russian Romantic composer, and Richard Addinsell – he of “Warsaw Concerto” fame.
It’s nice to be known for something. Don’t forget to join me in remembering, from 4 to 7 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
Catch the Baroque wave (in both wig and music): clockwise from left, Bach, Graupner and Stölzel