Rosenmüller, Johann (EN)

Rosenmüller Johann, Rosenmiller Giovanni, *24 August 1617? Oelsnitz (near Zwickau), †10 September 1684 Wolfenbüttel, German composer and organist. From 1640, he studied theology at the Leipzig University. He was probably a student there, and from 1642, an assistant to T. Michael, cantor of St. Thomas’s Church; from 1651, he also worked as organist at St. Nicholas’s Church. In 1654, he directed the court chapel in Altenburg. He was imprisoned in 1655 but escaped. In 1658, he became a musician at St Mark’s Basilica in Venice, and from 1678 to 1682 he worked as a composer for the Ospedale della Pietà. In 1682, he became master of the chapel to Prince Johann Friedrich in Wolfenbüttel. Rosenmüller’s students included J.Ph. Krieger.

Rosenmüller was one of the most outstanding German composers of the second half of the 17th century, alongside D. Buxtehude and J. Pachelbel. He left behind an impressive number of works, including around 150 unpublished pieces, most of which were composed in Italy. From there, he sent the latest Italian music and numerous manuscripts of his own compositions to Germany; gaining fame there as a composer, he also transferred the achievements of Italian music to German soil. Based on the experiences of H. Schütz, A. Cesti, P.A. Zanigo and G. Legrenzi, Rosenmüller developed a fully individual style; he practised many genres of music, both instrumental and vocal, in which religious works predominate (most of them unpublished). Two collections of Kern-Sprüche document his German period, which probably also includes manuscripts of works set to German texts. These are mainly small concertatos, stylistically similar to the works of H. Schütz. A separate group of works consists of German funeral songs with a simple strophic structure and homorhythmic texture. The material from one of them, Welt ade, ich bin dein müde, was used by J.S. Bach in his cantata BWV 27. The majority of Rosenmüller’s manuscripts are compositions to Latin texts, written during his stay in Venice – two masses in the ‘stile antico’ and a two-choir Missa brevis with showy solo parts and virtuoso trumpet dialogue, as well as arrangements of psalms and other parts of vespers. This group, which includes solo concertos, small and large concertatos and polychoral works, most clearly reveals Rosenmüller’s compositional maturity and stylistic individuality. Clarity of form (often rondo, cantata, or da capo), an expressively shaped melodic line, skilful use of varied instrumental ensembles, inventive treatment of tone colour, and contrasts of texture, tempo, and dynamics effectively underscore the text’s expressive content. The influence of Venetian operas and cantatas is evident in the cantilena and coloratura melodies of the themes and in the structure of the solo concertos, based on a sequence of recitative, aria or arioso. Rosenmüller’s vocal works are distinguished by the expressive solo part and rich tonal and harmonic language of the Jeremiah Lamentations.

Rosenmüller’s instrumental works consist of collections of suites and sonatas. The suites, usually in the following order: galliard, allemande, carillon, ballet and sarabande, are linked not only by their common key but also by similar incipits at the beginning of each movement. The suites published in Germany (1645 and 1654) are preceded by a short non-dance prelude, referred to as a ‘pavan,’ while the Venetian collection (1667) is preceded by a multi-movement sinfonia in ABCB form, modelled on the Italian overture. The sonatas from 1682, highly praised by J. Mattheson even 50 years after their publication, are among Rosenmüller’s most outstanding works. They are characterised by formal compactness, comprising 3–5 movements, and the basic structure: a short grave, allegro and tripartite adagio, enriched by the repetition of one of the movements or the introduction of a connecting movement. The melodiousness of the themes and the chromaticism are noteworthy; the fugal sections are interspersed with chordal or concertante passages, and the finales are similar to a gigue.

Literature: F. Hamel Die Psalmkompositionen Johann Rosenmüllers, Strasburg 1933, reprint Baden-Baden 1973; T. Antonicek Johann Rosenmüller und das Ospedale della Pietà in Venedig, “Die Musikforschung” XXII, 1969; K.J. Snyder Johann Rosenmüller’s Music for Solo Voice, 2 part, dissertation Yale University, Ann Arbor 1970 (contains a catalogue of Rosenmüller’s compositions and editions of solo works); L. Welker Questions of Form, Genre and Instrumentation in the Venetian Instrumental Works of G. Legrenzi and J. Rosenmüller, in: G. Legrenzi e la Capella ducale di San Marco, ed. F. Passadore and F. Rossi, Florence 1994; R. Heyink “Dass deines Namens Ruhm in Deutschland bald angehn (…) wird.” Johann Rosenmüller und seine venezianischen Psalmkonzerte, “Die Musikforschung” XLIX, 1996; K.J. Snyder Life in Venice. Johann Rosenmüller’s Vesper Psalms, in: Atti del VI convegno internationale sulla musica italiana nei secoli XVII–XVIII, ed. A. Colzani, A. Luppi et al., Como 1997; L. Welker, Johann Rosenmüllers venezianische Vokalmusik in: Claudio Monteverdi und die Folgen, ed. J. Steinheuer, S. Leopold, Kassel 1998; H. Einhorn, Johann Rosenmüller in Venedig, Wolfenbüttel und anderswo in: Aneignung durch Verwandlung: Aufsätze zur deutschen Musik und Architektur des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts, ed. W. Steude, Laaber 1998; P. Wollny, Johann Rosenmüllers Dialog »Christus ist mein Leben« als musikalisches Vorbild, in: commemorative book of F. Krummacher, ed. S. Oechsle, B. Sponheuer, H. Well, Kassel 2001; D. Gutknecht, ‘… dessen zu dem Päbstlichen GOTTES-Dienste ‘componirte’ Stücke … von vielen Teutschen ‘Musicis’ hochgehalten.’: Zur Rezeption der in Italien komponierten Werke Johann Rosenmüllers in Mitteldeutschland, “Ständige Konferenz Mitteldeutsche Barockmusik in Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt und Thüringen,” 3, 2001; Ch. Köster, Johann Rosenmüllers lateinische Psalmvertonungen in starker Besetzung. Unters. zu Klang und Struktur, Augsburg 2002; D. Gutknecht, Einige Beobachtungen an cori spezzati-Kompositionen Johann Rosenmüllers in: Musica Baltica: Im Umkreis des Wandels—Von den “cori spezzati” zum konzertierenden Stil, ed. J. Krasssowski, D. Szlagowska, Gdańsk 2004; L. Welker, Giovanni Rosenmiller e la musica veneziana del Seicento in: Presenze tedesche a Venezia, ed. S. Winter, Rome 2005; P. Wollny, Heinrich Schütz, Johann Rosenmüller und die Kern-Sprüche I und II, “Schütz-Jahrbuch,” 28 (2006); B. Petersen, Zwischen Schütz und Buxtehude: Zu Johann Rosenmüllers geistlichen Konzerten, “Forum Kirchenmusik,“ 59 (2008); B. Boccadoro, Rosenmüller: Umori e affetti nei salmi veneziani in: the commemorative book of Étienne Darbellay, ed. B. Boccadoro, G. Starobinski, Berlin 2013; J. Sonoda, Johann Rosenmüllers Nisi Dominus für Solostimme: Beobachtungen zur dramatischen Musiksprache in: Psalmen: Kirchenmusik zwischen Tradition, Dramatik und Experiment, ed. H. Geyer, B.J. Wertenson, Cologne 2014; H. Eichhorn, Johann Rosenmüller: Vesperpsalmen—Versuch einer Darstellung im Überblick: Mit Notenanhang erstmalig veröffentlichter Werke und einem komprimierten Werkverzeichnis, Altenburg 2014; J. Sonoda, Die in Rudolstadt überlieferte Kirchenmusik Johann Rosenmüllers, in: Philipp Heinrich Erlebach im Kontext: Hofkapellen und Hofkapellmeister in Thüringen um 1700, ed. Ch. Storch, Sinzig 2018; L. Collarile, New light on the reprint of Johann Rosenmüller’s Sonate da camera (1670), the commemorative book of Wulf Arlt, Basel 2019; J. Roberts, Rosenmüller in Italy: Traces of a shadowed life, “Händel-Jahrbuch,” 65 (2019); P. Wollny, “Eine qualificirtere Persohn” war nicht zu finden: Vor 400 Jahren wurde Johann Rosenmüller geboren, “Musik und Kirche,” 89 (2019); K. Slavik, Geistliche Musik für Solostimmen zwischen Italien und Deutschland: Salve mi, Jesu, adoro te von Johann Rosenmüller oder Christoph Bernhard?, Schütz-Jahrbuch, 41 (2019).