Johann David Heinichen

1683-1729

Johann is yet another composer who was highly regarded in his day, but whose works have fallen into oblivion as a result of the obsessive regard of Bach to the exclusion of much else.

Not that we should have anything other than the greatest admiration for Bach, but the role of this site is to promote the overlooked. And great as the merits of J.S. Bach may have been, being overlooked has never been one of them.

It is worth noting that musicologists of the time rated Heinichen more highly than JSB!

Born in Teuchern, south west of Leipzig. His father was a tanner, a respectable middle class profession in its day and the young Johann was sent to university to train as a lawyer.

However his main interest was music and he inveigled his way into the court at Weissenfels a renowned centre for music at the start of the 18th century.

However it was his decision to travel to Italy and study Italian music styles as he went that changed the trajectory of his life. He composed a number of operas along the way travelling to Rome and Venice. He is thought to have met Vivaldi.

More importantly he also met the Crown Prince of Saxony while there. Frederick Augustus returned to Germany with Heinichen employed as his kapellmeister. He was a prolific composer of opera, concerti, religious music and celebratory music to make significant events in the life of his employer.

Rarely performed these days, the recording below gives an indication of the spark, the vitality and verve of some of his compositions and shows something of the combination of Italian and German styles that would work so well for Mozart.