Johann Friedrich Agricola (1720–1774): a critical study and catalogue of the musical sources
<p>The Berlin Hofkomponist Johann Friedrich Agricola (1720–1774) is today still perhaps best known as a pupil and copyist of Johann Sebastian Bach. Together with Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, he co-authored Bach’s 1754 obituary, and later received acclaim for his translation and revision of Pier...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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2021
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| _version_ | 1817931120538288128 |
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| author | Frampton, AL |
| author2 | Leitmeir, C |
| author_facet | Leitmeir, C Frampton, AL |
| author_sort | Frampton, AL |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p>The Berlin Hofkomponist Johann Friedrich Agricola (1720–1774) is today still perhaps best known as a pupil and copyist of Johann Sebastian Bach. Together with Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, he co-authored Bach’s 1754 obituary, and later received acclaim for his translation and revision of Pier Francesco Tosi’s singing treatise, published in German as 'Anleitung zur Singkunst' (1757). However, Agricola’s own musical legacy has received very little attention, despite the fact that he composed a substantial quantity of music across a range of genres and was also a prolific copyist of works by many major composers of his day. These sources demand attention as both the legacy of an important Berlin composer schooled in the Bach tradition, and, more broadly, as case studies in the rich and complex networks of musical exchange that occurred between composers and musicians during this period.</p>
<p>This thesis presents the first critical study of all the known sources of music, both manuscript and printed, connected to Agricola. It is divided into three sections. Volume I opens with a biographical profile of Agricola, before considering some of the theoretical and historiographical challenges associated with approaching galant music and the materiality of eighteenth-century sources as evidence for musical networks and exchange. This is followed by an overview of the development of musical life at the Dresden and Berlin courts, which enjoyed a close relationship in the first half of the eighteenth century, and the major Berlin collections where most of the Agricola sources are found. A detailed re-examination of Agricola’s handwriting in light of newly uncovered manuscripts, together with watermark and ink analyses, provides the basis for a refined chronology of the sources. These findings then inform my discussion of two areas where the autograph manuscript tradition is particularly rich: the genre of sacred music, and Agricola’s role as a copyist, where I consider selected manuscripts in more detail. In Volume II, I present a critical edition of two hitherto unpublished cantatas by Agricola, the Easter Day cantata 'Die Auferstehung des Erlösers' and the funeral cantata 'Wallet ihr Seelen voll Schwermut'. The edition supplements the discussions of these works in Chapter 4 and makes them available in a scholarly text for the first time. Volume III comprises the first thematic catalogue of Agricola’s works, the Agricola-Werke-Verzeichnis (AgWV), and a descriptive catalogue of the manuscript copies that are wholly or partially in Agricola’s hand. The thesis is intended to provide the fundamental groundwork for future source studies on Agricola, the Berlin School and the legacy of the Bach tradition after 1750.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:07:55Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oxford-uuid:8a5fc96c-c15a-4e4e-ad32-ce032b100d5c |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-09T03:16:58Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:8a5fc96c-c15a-4e4e-ad32-ce032b100d5c2024-10-21T08:27:49ZJohann Friedrich Agricola (1720–1774): a critical study and catalogue of the musical sourcesThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:8a5fc96c-c15a-4e4e-ad32-ce032b100d5cMusicMusicologyManuscriptsEighteenth centuryMusical analysisMusic--EditingMusic--Thematic catalogsMaterial cultureEnglishHyrax Deposit2021Frampton, ALLeitmeir, C<p>The Berlin Hofkomponist Johann Friedrich Agricola (1720–1774) is today still perhaps best known as a pupil and copyist of Johann Sebastian Bach. Together with Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, he co-authored Bach’s 1754 obituary, and later received acclaim for his translation and revision of Pier Francesco Tosi’s singing treatise, published in German as 'Anleitung zur Singkunst' (1757). However, Agricola’s own musical legacy has received very little attention, despite the fact that he composed a substantial quantity of music across a range of genres and was also a prolific copyist of works by many major composers of his day. These sources demand attention as both the legacy of an important Berlin composer schooled in the Bach tradition, and, more broadly, as case studies in the rich and complex networks of musical exchange that occurred between composers and musicians during this period.</p> <p>This thesis presents the first critical study of all the known sources of music, both manuscript and printed, connected to Agricola. It is divided into three sections. Volume I opens with a biographical profile of Agricola, before considering some of the theoretical and historiographical challenges associated with approaching galant music and the materiality of eighteenth-century sources as evidence for musical networks and exchange. This is followed by an overview of the development of musical life at the Dresden and Berlin courts, which enjoyed a close relationship in the first half of the eighteenth century, and the major Berlin collections where most of the Agricola sources are found. A detailed re-examination of Agricola’s handwriting in light of newly uncovered manuscripts, together with watermark and ink analyses, provides the basis for a refined chronology of the sources. These findings then inform my discussion of two areas where the autograph manuscript tradition is particularly rich: the genre of sacred music, and Agricola’s role as a copyist, where I consider selected manuscripts in more detail. In Volume II, I present a critical edition of two hitherto unpublished cantatas by Agricola, the Easter Day cantata 'Die Auferstehung des Erlösers' and the funeral cantata 'Wallet ihr Seelen voll Schwermut'. The edition supplements the discussions of these works in Chapter 4 and makes them available in a scholarly text for the first time. Volume III comprises the first thematic catalogue of Agricola’s works, the Agricola-Werke-Verzeichnis (AgWV), and a descriptive catalogue of the manuscript copies that are wholly or partially in Agricola’s hand. The thesis is intended to provide the fundamental groundwork for future source studies on Agricola, the Berlin School and the legacy of the Bach tradition after 1750.</p> |
| spellingShingle | Music Musicology Manuscripts Eighteenth century Musical analysis Music--Editing Music--Thematic catalogs Material culture Frampton, AL Johann Friedrich Agricola (1720–1774): a critical study and catalogue of the musical sources |
| title | Johann Friedrich Agricola (1720–1774): a critical study and catalogue of the musical sources |
| title_full | Johann Friedrich Agricola (1720–1774): a critical study and catalogue of the musical sources |
| title_fullStr | Johann Friedrich Agricola (1720–1774): a critical study and catalogue of the musical sources |
| title_full_unstemmed | Johann Friedrich Agricola (1720–1774): a critical study and catalogue of the musical sources |
| title_short | Johann Friedrich Agricola (1720–1774): a critical study and catalogue of the musical sources |
| title_sort | johann friedrich agricola 1720 1774 a critical study and catalogue of the musical sources |
| topic | Music Musicology Manuscripts Eighteenth century Musical analysis Music--Editing Music--Thematic catalogs Material culture |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT framptonal johannfriedrichagricola17201774acriticalstudyandcatalogueofthemusicalsources |