Becoming a complete Kapellmeister: Haydn and Mattheson’s Der vollkommene Capellmeister

Jones, David (2010) Becoming a complete Kapellmeister: Haydn and Mattheson’s Der vollkommene Capellmeister. Studia Musicologica, 51 (1-2). pp. 29-40. ISSN 1788-6244

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Abstract

Both Griesinger and Dies identify Johann Mattheson’s treatise, Der vollkommene Capellmeister (1739), as an important influence on Haydn’s musical development in his youth. Perhaps because Griesinger then gives more emphasis to Fux than Mattheson, and Dies reports some disparaging remarks on the treatise by the aged Haydn, the range and nature of Mattheson’s likely influence on the young musician have not been fully explored. Several authors have alluded to the relevance of Mattheson’s comments on aesthetic matters but, in a more behavioural mode, the treatise lays emphasis too on the duties and expectations of a being a successful Kapellmeister, qualities that were to be exemplified in Haydn’s long career. The essay documents this wider, formative role, including Mattheson’s enthusiasm for all things English. Consideration of Mattheson’s influence leads to a more nuanced understanding of Haydn’s personal and musical education, or Bildung to a use a later concept.

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