The Aesthetic Foundations of German Opera in Leipzig, 1766-1775
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The Aesthetic Foundations of German Opera in Leipzig, 1766–1775 A dissertation submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Composition, Musicology, and Theory of the College-Conservatory of Music by Adam Marc Shoaff B.M.E., Indiana University, 2001 M.M., University of Cincinnati, 2012 Committee Chair: Mary Sue Morrow, PhD ABSTRACT German public opera experienced a renaissance in the wake of the Seven Years’ War (1756–63). Leipzig played a crucial role in this rebirth because of its annual trade fairs, prestigious university, lack of a local court presence, and active literary culture. The opera developed here quickly spread to other parts of the German-speaking world, encouraging other artists to experiment with German opera and inspiring aesthetic debates that would resonate into the next century. This dissertation examines opera in Leipzig during this critical period between 1766 and 1775 from a variety of angles. It surveys contemporary music periodicals, examining the nature of German aesthetic debates. It studies musical scores to see how compositional choices reflected these debates. It compiles theater records to gauge the popularity of German opera vis-à-vis its French, Italian, and Viennese relatives. Finally, it takes into account non- periodical writings from artists and non-artists alike to grant a broad view of the social context for opera in Leipzig. In the end, it sheds light on the aesthetic foundations of a pivotal stage in German operatic history. ii Copyright © 2016, Adam Marc Shoaff iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special thanks go to my adviser, Dr. Mary Sue Morrow, for her helpful guidance and suggestions on research, organization, and writing. I also want to thank the other members of my dissertation committee, Dr. Jeongwon Joe and Dr. bruce d. mcclung, for their thoughtful insights and careful evaluation. A research grant from the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD) enabled me to travel to Berlin and Leipzig during the spring and summer of 2015 to examine the opera manuscripts and theater records discussed in this dissertation. The employees in the Musikabteilung of Berlin’s Staatsbibliothek on Unter den Linden and Leipzig’s Stadtgeschichtliches Museum deserve thanks for their assistance in locating materials for me. During the 2015–2016 school year, a Graduate School Dean’s Fellowship from the University of Cincinnati provided the financial means to complete this dissertation in a timely manner. Finally, I want to thank my family for their support during my graduate school years. I owe you dinner. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv TABLE OF CONTENTS v LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES viii LIST OF FIGURES x INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER ONE: LEIPZIG, A “KLEIN PARIS” 10 Leipzig’s Trade Fairs 11 Opera in Leipzig: From Strungk to Seyler 15 Conclusion 33 CHAPTER TWO: JOHANN ADAM HILLER AND THE WÖCHENTLICHE NACHRICHTEN UND ANMERKUNGEN, DIE MUSIK BETREFFEND 35 Hiller’s Early Efforts in Music and Criticism 35 General Overview of the Wöchentliche Nachrichten und Anmerkungen 41 The WNA’s Aesthetic Prescriptions for Opera 45 Conclusion 91 CHAPTER THREE: OTHER WRITINGS ON OPERA 93 The Journals and Their Writers 93 Aesthetic Prescriptions for Opera 98 Taking Stock of the Writings on Opera 146 CHAPTER FOUR: OPERATIC MUSIC IN LEIPZIG 149 Existing Music and Current Locations 149 Musical Characteristics of the Operas 154 Conclusion 242 CHAPTER FIVE: OPERA AT DAS THEATER AUF DER RANSTÄDTER BASTEI 243 Das Theater auf der Ranstädter Bastei: Construction and Performance 244 Record of Operatic Performance at the Theater auf der Ranstädter Bastei (1776–95) 251 CONCLUSION 273 v BIBLIOGRAPHY 276 APPENDIX A: GERMAN TEXTS FOR CHAPTER 2 286 APPENDIX B: GERMAN TEXTS FOR CHAPTER 3 298 APPENDIX C: GERMAN TEXTS FOR CHAPTER 5 308 vi LIST OF TABLES 2.1: WNA Volume 1 (July 1766–June 1767) 42 2.2: WNA Volume 2 (July 1767–June 1768) 43 2.3: WNA Volume 3 (July 1768–December 1769) 44 2.4: WNA Volume 4 (January 1770–December 1770) 45 4.1: Operas, Premieres, Locations of Premieres, Connections to Leipzig 152 4.2: Operas Included in This Project, Format, Library Sigla, Current Location 153 5.1: Programs from the Theater auf der Ranstädter Bastei (1776–95) 252 vii LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES 3.1: “Welch ein schöner Gegenstand,” mm. 36–52 112 3.2: “Welche königliche Lust,” mm. 94–129 125 4.1: “O Bild, voll göttlich hoher Reize,” mm. 21–30 156 4.2: “Bald die Blonde, bald die Braune,” mm. 9–32 159 4.3: “Ein Esel ist gestraft genug, dass er ein Esel ist,” mm. 13–25 163 4.4: “Als ich auf meiner Bleiche,” mm. 5–20 165 4.5: “Sprach sie nicht noch heute,” mm. 1–25 167 4.6: “Wie freue ich mich, in meinem Garten,” mm. 44–69 170 4.7: Der lustige Schuster, Sinfonia III, mm. 33–80 177 4.8: “Versöhnte Liebe, ach, wie schön,” mm. 9–28 179 4.9: “Ach, ach, ich arme Frau! Ich bin ganz blau,” mm. 1–18 185 4.10: “Hannchen, siehst du dort den Bach,” mm. 44–73 189 4.11: “Das ist die Mode so,” mm. 5–32 199 4.12: “Lass mich an deine schöne Brust,” mm. 9–22 205 4.13: “Was gleichet, schönster Engel, dir,” mm. 49–52 209 4.14: “Heysa, heh! Nun hab’ ich Geld,” mm. 27–30 210 4.15: “Zu viele Complimente,” mm. 25–41 212 4.16a: “Mein lobt mir doch nur nicht die Nacht,” mm. 5–12 218 4.16b: “Mein lobt mir doch nur nicht die Nacht,” mm. 49–74 219 4.17: “Wo Peter ist, da bleib’ ich nicht,” mm. 97–140 223 4.18: Die Einsprüche, Zwischen Acts Musick, mm. 51–62 229 4.19: Die Liebe auf dem Lande, Sinfonia II, mm. 1–14 233 viii 4.20: “Wer wollte nicht sein Gut und Leben,” mm. 63–87 237 ix LIST OF FIGURES 5.1: Floor Plan for the Dresden Court Theater (1754/55) 246 5.2: Model Reconstruction of the Theater auf der Ranstädter Bastei Interior 247 5.3: Theater Curtain of the Theater auf der Ranstädter Bastei 248 x Introduction Any doctoral candidate will tell you that writing a dissertation inspires a number of existential questions: What is my dissertation’s purpose? Why is this work important to the field? What gap in the scholarship does it address? Fortunately, I am reminded of the value of my work every time someone asks me about my topic. By now, their reaction has become predictable. When I say that I am exploring the aesthetic roots of German opera in the 1760s and 1770s, even highly educated musicians—doctors of musical arts or performers with decades of experience— will respond with slightly arched eyebrows, a slow nod, and, eventually, the question I have come to expect: “So . who is that?” Occasionally, some might guess Hasse or Joseph Haydn. When I mention Georg Benda, Johann Adam Hiller, Christian Gottlob Neefe, Anton Schweitzer, or Ernst Wilhelm Wolf my questioner usually returns to the slow nod, punctuated now by a soft “Hmm,” and I can tell that I have stepped into what is, for them, completely foreign territory. Such an encounter is entirely understandable given the state of research on mid- eighteenth-century opera. Works of this period tend to be overshadowed, both in scholarship and performance, by those of Handel and Mozart on the outer ends of the century. Curious explorers of the crucial middle period will find research on Gluck and opera reform, the querelle des bouffons, Italian intermezzi and opera buffa, English ballad opera, and French opéra comique, but less material exists on contemporary German opera, making this genre something of a neglected pathway within an even larger (and still unfamiliar) forest. By embarking on this particular journey of dissertation research, I hope to bring more attention to an important period in German musical history and contribute at least some small measure to our understanding of mid-eighteenth-century music. 1 Of course, I am not alone in studying this repertoire, and my dissertation owes a considerable debt to those who have already prepared such a strong foundation for further research. Without question, the most important source on German opera in the latter half of the eighteenth century is Thomas Bauman’s North German Opera in the Age of Goethe (1985).1 This book surveys the genre’s lifespan from its Saxon rebirth in the 1760s until its eventual displacement in the 1790s by the popular operas coming north from Vienna. He discusses all of the important locations for opera, the forms of patronage that sustained its performance, the major librettists and composers, and characteristics of German musical style. A reading of this book inspired my own dissertation topic, and I seek to expand on some of the subjects that Bauman discusses only briefly in his early chapters, namely the aesthetic premises underlying German opera in Leipzig and the genre’s relationship to its French and Italian cousins. Whereas Bauman’s groundbreaking work addresses the crucial who, what, where, and when of German opera, my dissertation will focus much more intensively on the writings that shaped the genre, and it will also use program data to gauge audience reception. Bauman’s dissertation, “Music and Drama in Germany: A Traveling Company and Its Repertory, 1767–1781” (1977), examines the troupe of Abel Seyler, which achieved great success in a tenure spent largely in central Germany.2 This research provides additional contextual support for my own study. Bauman’s article “The Music Reviews in the Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek” (1977) offers an overview of the periodical, its contributors, and its general philosophical principles.