Johan Helmich Roman

Johan Helmich Roman (October 26, 1694 in Stockholm - November 20, 1758 at Haraldsmala, in the parish of Ryssby near the city of Kalmar, Sweden) was a Swedish Baroque composer. He has been called "the father of Swedish music" or "the Swedish Handel."

Johan Helmich Roman spent 6 years (1715-1721) in England and there studied with Johann Christoph Pepusch and met Francesco Geminiani and the great Handel whose music he admired. Roman returned to Sweden at the age of 27 and was appointed Deputy Master and 6 years later became Chief Master at the Swedish Royal Orchestra. Aside from being a composer, he was a performer. The violin and oboe were his favorite instruments.

One of Roman's best-known compositions is the Drottningholm Music, or Music for a Royal Wedding. It consists of a collection of 24 short pieces ranging in length from about 1 to 6 minutes. Roman wrote this music for the wedding in August of 1744 of the Crown Prince Adolf Frederick of Sweden and his bride Louisa Ulrika of Prussia. Their wedding took place at the Palace of Drottningholm (hence, the name of the music). The festivities lasted four days. The pieces of the Drottningholm Music were apparently selected and arranged as befitted the occasion. Roman also kept eight pieces in reserve. These pieces are known as the Suite in D major, sometimes referred to as the Little Drottningholm Music, or Shorter Drottningholm Music. Both are modern terms invented by Swedish conductor and musician Claude Génetay.

Other pieces written by Roman include the suite of Sjukmans Musiquen and the Italian-inspired Cantata "Piante amiche".

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/johanhelmichroman/ An informative site about Johan Helmich Roman.]
* [http://www.muslib.se/ebibliotek/roman/ Johan Helmich Roman collection of the Music Library of Sweden.]
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