Johan Helmich Roman (1694-1758)
- Concerto (f-moll) per il Violino Solo (pub. 1768), BeRI 52
Performers: Maria Lindal (violin); REBaroque
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Swedish composer. He was a leading figure in Swedish music of the 18th
century. His father, Johan Roman, was a member of the Swedish royal
chapel; his mother came from a family of German descent who had settled
in Sweden during the 17th century. His paternal ancestors, of Swedish
origin, had lived in Finland; the name Roman may be derived from the
Finnish place name Raumo. Roman became a member of the royal chapel as
early as 1711, his principal instruments being violin and oboe. A grant
from King Charles XII enabled him to pursue his musical studies in
England from about 1715 to 1721; there he may have studied with Pepusch,
had contact with Ariosti, G.B. Bononcini, Geminiani and Handel among
others, and was for a time in the service of the Duke of Newcastle as a
second violinist. After his return to Sweden he was appointed deputy
master of the chapel in 1721 and became the leader of the court
orchestra in 1727. During the 1720s Roman composed several festive
cantatas for the court and in 1727 published a collection of 12 sonatas
for flute, his only complete work to appear in print during his
lifetime. At the same time he was extremely active as an organizer: he
considerably improved the standard of the royal chapel and in 1731
introduced the first public concerts in Stockholm. A year after the
conclusion of his brief first marriage (1730-34) Roman embarked on his
second journey outside Sweden, this time visiting England, France,
Italy, Austria and Germany (1735-37); he returned with new attitudes
towards musical style and also brought back much music for the royal
chapel. In 1738 he married again and in 1744, with five children, was
widowed for the second time. In 1740 he was elected a member of the
Royal Academy of Science (established in 1739), thanks probably in large
part to his strong interest in demonstrating ‘the suitability of the
Swedish language to church music’.
The death of his patroness, Queen Ulrika Eleonora, in 1741 marked a
turning-point for Roman; the following year he was beset by ill-health
and professional opposition. The new crown princess, Lovisa Ulrika of
Prussia (sister of Frederick the Great), brought to Sweden new tastes,
and her husband, Adolph Frederik, had a competing princely chapel. For
the royal wedding in 1744 Roman composed the large orchestral suite
Drottningholmsmusique, one of his finest works. The following year he
retired due to deafness, leaving his student, Per Brant, to defend the
court orchestra against the aggressive new chapel of the crown prince,
which began to compete even in the public concerts. Roman left Stockholm
to settle on the small estate of Haraldsmåla near the town of Kalmar in
south-east Sweden. He made a last visit to Stockholm in 1751-52, in
part to direct the funeral and coronation music on the accession of
Adolph Frederik. His principal activity in the remaining years of his
life seems to have been the translation into Swedish of theoretical
works on music, including those of Gasparini and Keller, as well as the
adaptation of sacred works to that language. Several of his sacred vocal
works also date from this last period. In 1767, nine years after his
death, the Royal Academy of Science held a commemorative ceremony; the
Äreminne (memorial) by the royal secretary A.M. Sahlstedt on that
occasion is the earliest summary of Roman’s career and significance, and
portrays the composer sympathetically, stressing his humility and good
humour as well as his skill and industry. No portrait of Roman survives
although one of the musicians portrayed on a mural at the provincial
estate of Count Horn at Fogelvik may be the composer.
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