17 lines
2.7 KiB
TeX
17 lines
2.7 KiB
TeX
\section{J.G. Naumann}
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Painting painted of 1780, by his brother Friedrich Gotthard Naumann [??? Need permission]
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Johann Gottlieb Naumann (1741\EnDash{}1801) was a conductor, music director, and composer who wrote for the armonica.
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He received his earliest musical instruction at the Kreuzschule, where he was taught by the organist and Kreuzkantor Gottfried August Homilus, himself a pupil of J.S. Bach. He was invited by the Swedish violinist Wesstr\"{o}m to tour Italy as his accompanist in 1757, but the trip proved far longer than planned. In fact, it lasted some seven years, during which Naumann studied with Tartini in Padua, Padre Martini in Bologna and Hasse in Venice. He made his debut as an operatic composer in Venice in 1762 when the Teatro San Samuele staged his \Title{Il tesoro insidiato}.
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Two years later, Naumann's \Title{Li creduti spiriti}, composed for the Venetian carnival in collaboration with two other composers, secured the endorsement of Hasse and Ferrandini, both of whom recommended him for a post as second church composer in Dresden. There, Naumann was soon promoted to chamber composer in 1765. Subsequently, he decided to return to Italy (1765-8), where he composed his opera La clemenza di Tito, staged in Dresden in 1769. Naumann's next stay in Italy (1772-1774) further consolidated his reputation as a major operatic composer. (Naumann's \Title{Le nozze disturbate} was produced by Haydn in Esterh\'{a}za in 1780). Subsequently, he was finally appointed Kapellmeister at Dresden in 1776.
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In 1777, the Swedish ambassador Count Lowenhjelm asked him to travel to Stockholm, where he assisted King Gustavus III in reforming the Hovkapell. He also composed operas for the Swedish court, many of which were tremendously successful. The finest, \Title{Cora och Alonzo}, was staged for the inauguration of the Royal Opera House. In 1782, Gustavus III commissioned a Swedish nationalist opera, Gustaf Wasa, which received its premiere in 1786 and remained Sweden's most popular opera for over a century, with more than 250 performances.
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In 1785, Naumann was guest opera composer and conductor for the Danish court and reorganized the opera at Copenhagen. He would not commit to an extended contract there, however, and returned to Dresden, becoming Oberkapellmeister. In 1792, he married Catarina von Grodtschilling, daughter of a Danish vice-admiral, and although during his final years he contemplated a German national opera based on his experiences in Scandinavia, it never materialized.
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After a performance stay in Berlin in 1788/89 he returned to Dresden, where he died in 1801.
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Naumann wrote several works, including a set of 12 sonatas, for the \glassarmonica{}. [??? Groves says he suffered nervous disorders]
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