Johann Melchior Molter (1696-1765)
- Concerto (D-Dur) per il Corno, MWV 6.35
Performers: Zbіgnіеw Zuk (horn); Wroclaw Chamber Orchestra; Jan Stanіеnda (conductor)
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German composer. Like many German musicians of the first half of the
18th century, he came from the Thuringian-Saxon area. His father,
Valentin Molter, was a teacher and Kantor in the village of Tiefenort,
and he probably received his earliest musical education from him. From
1713, he attended the Tertia of the Latin School in Eisenach and became a
member of the school choir, which in those days produced quite a few
future professional musicians (instrumentalists, cantors, organists,
chapel masters). In the preceding year the choir had given a concert,
which was attended by eight members of the Bach family from Eisenach.
After leaving the Latin School in 1715, he vanishes from history for two
years. However, in 1717 he reappears when he is appointed a violinist
in the court chapel of Margrave Carl Wilhelm in Karlsruhe. In October
1719 the Margrave sent him off to Italy for two years, in order to
acquaint himself more with Italian music, to learn the Italian ways and
other skills and craftsmanship. He stayed in Rome and Venice, where he
became acquainted with the Marcello brothers, Alessandro and Benedetto,
as well as with Tomaso Albinoni and Antonio Vivaldi. He probably also
met Giuseppe Tartini. Upon his return to Karlsruhe in the year 1721 he
was appointed master of the court chapel. He held this post for slightly
over a decade, when in 1733 it was disbanded. Fortunately enough, the
position of chapel master of the court of Eisenach had just became
available, since the previous chapel master, Johann Adam Birckenstock,
had died earlier that year. He returned to his home country after having
successfully applied for the job. Here he became the artistic leader of
the court chapel, which had been established by Georg Philipp Telemann
in 1709 and which by then included nationally acclaimed instrumentalists
and singers. In 1737-38 he undertook another study tour to Italy and
visited Venice, Ancona, Foligno and Rome. After his return from Italy he
spent his most prolific years as a composer in Eisenach. In 1741,
however, this chapel was disbanded, too. Finally he returned to
Karlsruhe, where he took up his old function again in a post he held the
rest of his life. As a composer, his works include 170 symphonies, 47
concertos (including some of the earliest for clarinet), 17 pieces for
Harmonie (titled concertinos or sinfonias), around 100 chamber works
(trio sonatas, violin sonatas, etc.), numerous preludes for organ, an
oratorio and a 'drama per musica', 11 church cantatas, seven secular
cantatas in Italian, and a set of six violin sonatas. During his
lifetime, he was highly respected for his progressive style of
composition, being one of the earliest composers in Germany to write
almost completely in the galant style. He was known for his exploitation
of the solo instruments in numerous concertos and as being one of the
main figures in the early symphony.
