Georg Caspar Schürmann

thumb|Georg Caspar Schürmann, after a now-missing painting by Johann Conrad Eichler (1731)

Georg Caspar Schürmann was a German Baroque composer who was born in 1672 (or early in 1673) in the town of Idensen bei Neustadt am Rübenberge and died February 25, 1751 in Wolfenbüttel. His name also appears as Schurmann and in Hochdeutsch as Scheuermann.

Life

Georg Caspar Schürmann studied music, including voice, in his native Lower Saxony. By 1693 he was singing at the Hamburg opera as a young alto. In 1694 he composed a cantata for the inauguration of the Castle Salzdahlum in Wolfenbüttel. In 1697 he went to Lüneburg (about 50km southeast of Hamburg) for a guest performance. His singing there so impressed Duke Anton Ulrich of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel that the Duke hired him on the spot. In 1707 Schürmann officially succeeded Reinhard Keiser as "Cammer-Componist" (court composer). He served the court of Brunswick, with but a few brief interruptions, for 54 years until he died at the age of 79.

Work

Schürmann wrote over thirty operas many of which have not survived. His music was characterized by harmonic richness, careful contrapuntal elaboration, flexible handling of form and theatrically effective delineation of characters. Among his operas were:

* "Salomon, in einem Singespiel." (Libretto: Anton Ulrich (Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel)). Wolfenbüttel, o.J. [1697?]
* "Daniel, in einem Sing-Spiel." (Libretto: Christian Knorr von Rosenroth). Braunschweig 1701
* "Telemaque." (Libretto: Johann Beer). Naumburg 1706
* "L'amor insanguinato oder Holofernes." (Libretto: Joachim Beccau). Braunschweig 1716.
* "Die Pleiades oder das Siebengestirne." (Libretto: Friedrich Christian Bressand). Braunschweig 1716 (und Wolfenbüttel 1735)
* "Der Edelmühtige Porsenna." (Libretto: Friedrich Christian Bressand). Wolfenbüttel 1718
* "Heinrich der Vogler." (Libretto: Johann Ulrich König). Wolfenbüttel 1718 (u.ö.)
* "Die getreue Alceste in einer Opera." (Libretto: Johann Ulrich König). Braunschweig 1719 (u.ö.)
* "Ludovicus Pius oder Ludewig der Fromme." (Louis the Pious). Braunschweig 1726
* "Clelia, in einer Opera vorgestellet." (Libretto: Friedrich Christian Bressand). Braunschweig 1730
* "Procris und Cephalus, in einer Opera." (Libretto: Friedrich Christian Bressand). Wolfenbüttel 1734

ources

* [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Caspar_Sch%C3%BCrmann Georg Caspar Schürmann] , entry in the German Wikipedia

* Liner notes by Bernhard Schrammek for "Ouvertüren: Music for the Hamburg Opera" performed by the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin (Harmonia Mundi HMC 901852)