A large button on the coat of a fellow composer saved Johann Mattheson from a lethal sword strike during an onstage quarrel in 1704. This event marked a tense episode in his lifelong association with a contemporary, a relationship defined by professional rivalry and later by his dedicated efforts to translate and publish biographical accounts of his peer.
Early Career in Hamburg
Born in Hamburg on 28 September 1681 to a tax collector, Mattheson pursued a comprehensive education that encompassed keyboard, violin, composition, and singing. By the age of nine, he contributed to church music as a vocalist and organist. His professional affiliation with the Hamburg opera began in 1696, where he performed female roles before transitioning to tenor parts, conducting, and composing his own operatic works.
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From 1706, Mattheson balanced musical activity with a career as a diplomat. Leveraging his fluency in English, he served as a tutor and secretary to Sir John Wich, the English ambassador. His responsibilities included representing the ambassador on foreign missions. In 1709, he married Catharina Jennings, the daughter of an English clergyman. Within the church, he served as cantor at St. Mary's Cathedral in Hamburg from 1718 until his retirement in 1728, prompted by the onset of hearing loss.
Theorist and Polemicist
Mattheson gained recognition as an influential writer on Baroque performance practice, theatrical style, and harmony. His theoretical output, including Das neu-eröffnete Orchestre (1713) and Der vollkommene Capellmeister (1739), explored the intersection of rhetoric and music. These texts were frequently characterized by a confrontational, pedantic tone. His work served as a primary reference for subsequent music historians and lexicographers, establishing his reputation as a vital, if divisive, intellectual figure.
Musical Output and Recovery
His compositions focused on vocal music, notably eight operas, such as Die unglückselige Kleopatra, Königin von Ägypten (1704) and Boris Goudenow (1710), alongside Christmas oratorios like Die heilsame Geburt (1715) and Das größte Kind (1720). Much of his manuscript collection vanished following World War II but was recovered from Yerevan, Armenia, in 1998. These documents are now preserved at the State and University Library Hamburg.
Fast facts
- Born: 28 September 1681, Hamburg
- Died: 17 April 1764, Hamburg
- Burial site: St. Michaelis Church, Hamburg
- Nationality: German
- Spouse: Catharina Jennings
- Primary occupations: Composer, writer, diplomat, organist
- Key theoretical work: Der vollkommene Capellmeister (1739)
- Recovery of works: 1998, from Yerevan, Armenia
Questions readers ask
What happened to Mattheson's musical scores after World War II?
Most of his works were lost after the war but were eventually recovered from Yerevan, Armenia, in 1998 and returned to the State and University Library in Hamburg.
Why did Mattheson retire from St. Mary's Cathedral?
He stepped down from his position as cantor in 1728 due to increasing deafness.
Achievements
- Instruments: pipe organ
- Genres: opera