Hurlebusch, Conrad Friedrich (EN)

Hurlebusch Conrad Friedrich, *ca. 1696 Brunswick, †17 December 1765 Amsterdam, German composer, harpsichordist and theorist. He studied music under his father, Heinrich Lorentz Hurlebusch, a harpsichordist and organist in Brunswick; it was then that he became acquainted with the works of D. Buxtehude, J.A. Reincken and the French harpsichordists. In 1715 he left for Hamburg, and then for Vienna, where he spent about two years as a member of the ensemble at the imperial court. Between 1718 and 1721 he stayed in Italy as a harpsichord virtuoso. He spent the years 1721–23 in Brunswick, but did not accept the position offered to him in the ducal chapel. From 1723 to 1725, he was Kapellmeister at the court of King Frederick I in Stockholm, after which he returned to Brunswick via Hamburg, Hanover, Kassel, Eisenach and Gotha. During a stay of several weeks in Hamburg, he became close friends with Telemann and Mattheson. In 1726 he stayed in Bayreuth, where he probably composed the operas Guderich, Dorinda and Etearchus for the local court. In 1727, hoping for greater concert opportunities, he went to Hamburg, but gave only two concerts there. In 1736, following an attack by a defamatory pamphlet, he left Hamburg. His whereabouts over the next seven years are unknown. In 1743, he took up the post of organist at the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam, a position he held until the end of his life. In 1746, he was granted the privilege of publishing his works in the Netherlands. He spent his final years in solitude, suffering from gout, which prevented him from carrying out his duties as an organist.

It is very difficult to assess Hurlebusch as a composer and harpsichordist, given that most of his works (including almost all his organ compositions) have been lost, and because of the conflicting views held about him by his contemporaries. It seems that, thanks to his extensive travels, Hurlebusch was well acquainted with contemporary trends in music; his works are largely homorhythmic. Hurlebusch’s output is uneven in technical and artistic terms, particularly in the case of those harpsichord compositions which were presumably intended for amateurs. Hurlebusch’s sonatas take a form that lies between the sonata and the suite. His odes and cantatas, with their simple melodies and harmonies, are characterised by good declamation and an accurate reflection of the text’s content.

Literature: J. Mattheson Grundlage einer Ehrenpforte, Hamburg 1740, ed. M. Schneider, Berlin 1910, facsimile edition Kassel 1969; J.W. Lustig Hurlebusch, w Kritische Briefe über die Tonkunst, vol. 1, ed. F.W. Marpurg, Berlin 1759–63; O.E. Lindner Geschichte des deutschen Liedes im 18. Jahrhundert, Lipsk 1871 (contains 4 odes by Hurlebusch); M. Friedlaender Das deutsche Lied im 18. Jahrhundert, Stuttgart and Berlin 1902, reprint 1970 (contains 4 odes by Hurlebusch); M. Seiffert K.E Hurlebusch (ca 1695–1765). Biographische Skizze, “Tijdschrift van de Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muzieksechiedenis” VII, 1904; G.F. Schmidt Neue Beiträge zur Geschichte der Musik und des Theaters am herzoglichen Hofe zu Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, Munich 1929.