Johann Krieger
A prolific composer of church and secular music, he published several dozen of his works, and others survive in manuscript.
[1] The two published collections, Sechs musicalische Partien (1697) and Anmuthige Clavier-Übung (1698), contain harpsichord suites, organ toccatas, fugues, ricercars, and other works.
Handel himself admired and studied Krieger's work, even taking a copy of Anmuthige Clavier-Übung with him to England.
He then moved far to the east, to Zittau, to become director chori musici and organist of the Church of St. John (Johanniskirche) there.
There was no opera house in Zittau, but Krieger's Singspiels were, nevertheless, performed by the pupils of the city's Gymnasium.
The first to appear was Neue musicalische Ergetzligkeit, a large collection of arias and songs for one to four voices, published in 1684 in Frankfurt and Leipzig.
Keyboard collections, including Sechs musicalische Partien and Anmuthige Clavier-Übung followed more than a decade later, in 1697 and 1698 respectively, both printed in Nuremberg.
According to Johann Mattheson, whose Grundlage einer Ehren-Pforte remains the main source for biographical detail on Krieger, the composer was active until the very end of his life, still performing at a service on 17 July 1735, the day before he died.
The city of Zittau was destroyed in 1757 during the hostilities of the Seven Years' War, the Church of St. John is no longer standing.
His older brother's oeuvre also suffered from events that occurred after his death: of some 2,000 cantatas by Johann Phillip, only 76 survive.
They employ the standard dance order of allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue, with additional movements (minuets, gavottes, etc.)
Anmuthige Clavier-Übung (Nuremberg, 1698) was the second collection of keyboard music Krieger published, and it is a much more important work.
The latter added the following note to it: The printed book is by one of the celebrated Organ players of Germany; Mr. Handel in his youth formed himself a good deal on his plan, and said that Krieger was one of the best writers of his time for the Organ.A few pieces not included in the printed collections survive in manuscript copies.
[6] Other pieces in manuscript include two fantasias, one in the manner of Pachelbel and one with fugal design, a Fuga with two obbligato countersubjects,[5] a passacaglia (16 variations), a Durezza, a Battaglia, and other works.
The third part contains arias from five of Krieger's Singspiels: these pieces are the only surviving fragments of those large stage works.
