Friedrich Witt

Not to be confused with Christian Friedrich Witt.

Friedrich Jeremias Witt (8 November 1770 – 3 January 1836) was a German composer and cellist. He is perhaps best known as the likely author of a Symphony in C major known as the Jena Symphony, once attributed to Ludwig van Beethoven.

Biography

Witt was born in 1770, the same year as Beethoven, and was a German composer of considerable stature in his time. He was born in the Württemberg village of Niederstetten, the son of a cantor and court clerk. Witt became a cellist (some accounts say a violinist) in the court orchestra of Oettingen-Wallerstein when he was nineteen, taking composition lessons there with Antonio Rosetti, that is, the Bohemian-born Anton Rösler.[1] Witt was most famous in his lifetime for his oratorio Der leidende Heiland (The Suffering Saviour), securing an appointment as Kapellmeister for the Prince of Würzburg, and later for the theater, where he stayed until his death. He also wrote two operas: Palma (1804) and Das Fischerweib (1806). His other compositions include concertos, church music, chamber music and symphonies. His best-known work, a symphony in C major known as the Jena, is modeled after the Symphony No. 97 by Joseph Haydn. The Haydn connection contributed to the mis-attribution to Beethoven (who mentioned himself trying to write a symphony that fits the description of Jena).[2]

Works

Stephen Fisher compiled a thematic index of Witt's symphonies.[3] The following list of works is based on the 2008 overview compiled by Günther Grünsteudel, which encompasses all of Witt's compositions known to survive in manuscript or print.[4] Grünsteudel reattributed several works formerly assigned to Witt, such as the three Quatuor/Quintetto concertantos (actually by Prince Carl Friedrich zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg)[5] and three piano sonatas (composed by Johann Franz Xaver Sterkel and others).[6]

Symphonies

Witt wrote a total of 23 symphonies:

  • Symphony in C major (1790)
  • Symphony in C major (c. 1790)
  • Symphony in C major Jena Symphony (composed between 1792 and 1796; formerly attributed to Ludwig van Beethoven)
  • Symphony in C major Grand Symphony No. 7 (by 1810/11, published by Johann André)
  • Symphony in C minor (1790)
  • Symphony in D major (1790)
  • Symphony in D major (c. 1790)
  • Symphony in D major (c. 1790)
  • Symphony in D major (c. 1790)
  • Symphony in D major Symphony No. 2 (by 1803/04, published by André)
  • Symphony in D major Symphony No. 5 (by 1806/07, published by André)
  • Symphony in D minor Grand Symphony No. 9 (by 1817/18, published by André)
  • Symphony in E major Grand Symphony No. 8 (by 1810/11, published by André)
  • Symphony in E-flat major (c. 1790)
  • Symphony in E-flat major (1793)
  • Symphony in E-flat major Symphony No. 4 (1799, published by André)
  • Symphony in F major (c. 1790)
  • Symphony in F major Symphony No. 3 (by 1806, published by André)
  • Symphony in G major (c. 1790)
  • Symphony in A major (c. 1790). In the finale, Witt cites the French Revolutionary "Ça ira" motif.[7]
  • Symphony in A minor Symphonie turque No. 6 (by 1806, published by André)
  • Symphony in B-flat major (1790)
  • Symphony in B-flat major Symphony No. 1 (by 1802/03, published by André)

Solo concertos

  • Concertino in E-flat major (after 1800)
  • Cello Concerto in C major
  • Flute Concerto in G major, Op. 8 (by 1806, published by Breitkopf & Härtel)
  • Horn Concerto in E major (1795)
  • Horn Concerto in E-flat major
  • Three concertos in F major for two horns (c. 1797)
  • Concertino for two horns in E-flat major (after 1800)
  • Various lost concertos for cello, bassoon, flute, oboe, clarinet, and horn

Harmoniemusik

  • Adagio and Allegro in E-flat major (1821)
  • Allegretto (c. 1825)
  • Concertante in E-flat major (c. 1825)
  • Three Concertantes in F major (after 1800 / c. 1825)
  • Concertanto in F major (c. 1825)
  • Concertino in C major (c. 1825; long attributed to Carl Maria von Weber)[8][9]
  • Concertino in C major (c. 1825)
  • Concertino in E-flat major (c. 1825)
  • Duetto in F major (c. 1825)
  • Minuet in F major (after 1800; variations on Mozart's minuet from Don Giovanni)
  • Parthia for winds in E-flat major (1790)
  • Parthia for winds in E-flat major (1792)
  • Parthia for winds in F major (1790)
  • Parthia for winds in F major (1791)
  • Parthia Grande d'armonia in E-flat major (c. 1825)
  • Sept Pièces d'harmonie (c. 1825)
  • Quintet No. 1 in F major (c. 1825)
  • Quintet No. 2 in F major (c. 1825)
  • Quintet No. 3 in B-flat major Armonia dolorosa (c. 1825)
  • Scena in F major (1828)
  • Trauermarsch in C minor (c. 1825)
  • Variazioni concertanti in F major (c. 1825)
  • Six waltzes (c. 1825)
  • Waltz for keyed bugle (c. 1825)
  • Over twenty Harmoniemusik arrangements of operas and works by Auber, Boieldieu, Cherubini, Mayseder, Meyerbeer, Mozart, Paisiello, Righini, Romberg, Spohr, and Weber.

Chamber and piano music

  • Three Allemandes for piano
  • Piano Trio in E-flat major (after 1800)
  • Piano Trio in F major (after 1800)
  • Piano Trio in B-flat major (after 1800)
  • Bassoon Quartet in F major (1803 or later)
  • Horn Quartet in E-flat major (1806–1814)
  • String Quartet in C major (after 1800)
  • Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 6 (by 1806, published by Breitkopf & Härtel)
  • Piano Quintet in F major (after 1808; arrangement of the Piano Trio in F major)
  • Septet in F major (by 1816/17, published by Schott in 1817)

Church music

  • Libera me in F major (after 1800)
  • Mass in C major (c. 1810)
  • Mass in D major (c. 1800–1810)
  • Mass in E-flat major (after 1800)
  • Mass in E-flat major Missa solenne
  • Mass in C minor/E-flat major Missa solenne (1829)
  • Mass in B-flat major Missa solenne (c. 1810)
  • Mass in B-flat major Missa solenne
  • Pange Lingua in D major (1793)
  • Requiem in E-flat major (after 1800)

Secular vocal works

  • Die Auferstehung Jesu, cantata (by 1793/94)
  • Deutscher Gruß an Deutsche for male choir
  • Kantate zum Beschluss des 18. Jahrhunderts (1800/01; only libretto survives)
  • Der leidende Heiland, oratorio (1801/02; lost)
  • Lobsinget Jehova, unserem Gott, cantata (1800)
  • Marche en parade
  • Der Mensch, cantata (c. 1810; only libretto survives)
  • Was ist es, das so verworren, recitative and aria (1811)

Operas and stage works

  • Berissa, heroic-comic opera in three acts
  • Das Fischerweib, rustic-comic opera in two acts (premiered on 29 March 1807 in Würzburg; lost)
  • Jolantha, Königin von Jerusalem, incidental music (premiered on 11 January 1807 in Würzburg; lost)
  • Lenardo und Blandine, incidental music (premiered on 6 August 1813 in Würzburg; lost)
  • Palma, singspiel in two acts (premiered in 1804 in Frankfurt; lost)

Discography

  • Symphonies Nos. 6 and 9, Flute Concerto. Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Johannes Moesus. MDG 329 1299-2
  • Septet in F major. Berlin Philharmonic Octet. Berlin Classics. Disc includes Beethoven's Opus 20 Septet.
  • Horn Concertos. Concerto Amsterdam. Arts Music. Disc includes horn concertos by Leopold Mozart, Pokorny and Rosetti.
  • Quintet for Piano and Winds. James Campbell, James Mason, James Sommerville, James McKay, Anton Kuerti. Cbc Musica Viva. Disc includes piano and wind quintets by Mozart (K. 452), and Beethoven (Op. 16).
  • Symphonies in C major and A major, Flute Concerto in G major, Op. 8. Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä, Patrick Gallois Flute and conductor. Naxos 8.572089
  • Chamber Works for Winds & Strings. Consortium Classicum. Disc includes quintet by Prince von Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg Carl Friedrich

References

  1. ^ Greene 1985, p. 442.
  2. ^ Buja 2022.
  3. ^ Fisher 1983.
  4. ^ Grünsteudel 2008, pp. 117–128.
  5. ^ Grünsteudel 2008, p. 113.
  6. ^ Grünsteudel 2008, p. 114.
  7. ^ Anderson, Keith (2010). Witt: Symphony in C Major, "Jena" / Flute Concerto / Symphony in A Major (CD booklet) (in Spanish). Naxos Records. 8.572089. ...la sinfonía en la mayor, que presenta la particularidad de que su movimiento final Allegretto tiene como tema la canción revolucionaria francesa Ça ira...
  8. ^ Weber-Gesellschaft 2015.
  9. ^ University of Innsbruck 2009.

Sources

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