Nabokov, Nicolas [Nikolay]

Nichelmann, Christoph

(b Treuenbrietzen, 13 Aug 1717; d Berlin, 1761–2). German composer. After studying music in his native town, Nichelmann entered the Leipzig Thomasschule in 1730, coming under the supervision of J.S. Bach. He studied the keyboard and composition with W.F. Bach, but left for Hamburg in 1733 to pursue his interest in opera. There he studied the French and Italian styles as well as general theatrical technique with the leading musical figures, Keiser, G.P. Telemann and Mattheson. For several years Nichelmann alternated periods of study with periods of employment as private musician and secretary to various noble families. In 1739 he moved to Berlin to pursue a musical career. Since the accession of Frederick the Great, Berlin had become an active musical centre which attracted some of the best-known musicians of the time, and Nichelmann continued his study with Quantz, the king’s flute instructor, and with the Kapellmeister C.H. Graun. His first printed keyboard sonatas were completed during this period, and in 1745 he joined C.P.E. Bach as one of two harpsichordists in the royal establishment.

In keeping with the general tenor of literary activity in Berlin, and in response to the controversy over the merits of the French and Italian styles, Nichelmann brought out in 1755 an extended treatise which attracted much attention, Die Melodie, nach ihrem Wesen sowohl, als nach ihren Eigenschaften. The work is unusual in that it focusses throughout on melody, yet much of the substance derives from the earlier writings of J.-P. Rameau. A pseudonymous Caspar Dünkelfeind severely criticized it in Gedanken eines Liebhabers der Tonkunst (Nordhausen, 1755), and Nichelmann continued the discussion in Die Vortrefflichkeit der Gedanken des Herrn Caspar Dünkelfeindes über die Abhandlung von der Melodie. Nichelmann’s departure from court in 1756 has been attributed to this literary exchange, but Marpurg wrote that he requested and was granted his release from the king’s service. Nichelmann wrote most of his smaller keyboard pieces and songs during his remaining years in Berlin, years made difficult by the upheavals of the Seven Years War.

The earliest date on any Nichelmann manuscript is 1737, the latest 1759, outlining a period when musical styles were changing rapidly and one in which Berlin emerged as an important musical centre. The relative significance of the Berlin school derives from several factors, including the literature on music originating there and the continued development of the keyboard concerto following its inception by J.S. Bach. Nichelmann participated in both activities, but his main contribution lay in the realm of the keyboard concerto, which was still a relatively new genre at the time, one which reflected many of the changes in musical style which have come to be associated with the Enlightenment. His works in this medium present the keyboard as a solo instrument with an established technique capable of a wide variety of musical effects. The emphasis on phrase structure and slower harmonic rhythm, the idiomatic conception for the solo instrument and the trend towards a condensed reprise of materials are features of Nichelmann’s concertos which became basic to much instrumental music later in the 18th century. The sonatas and miscellaneous keyboard pieces have appeared in many editions and are the works by which he is best known. Although probably conceived for dilettantes (see the title to his first published sonatas), the sonatas require a well-developed technique and their keyboard writing is thoroughly idiomatic. They are in three movements (fast–slow–fast), using binary dance structure, with the outer movements carrying most weight. The miscellaneous pieces are miniatures intended for a society which valued such pieces; among them are works of genuine vitality, such as the Fantasia in E.

Among the vocal works, the serenata Il sogno di Scipione enjoyed some popularity in the 18th century; only the opening sinfonia has appeared in a modern edition. A cantata and a requiem stand as isolated examples in Nichelmann’s catalogue, and his 22 lieder should be noted as early examples of the genre.

WORKS

For complete list of thematic incipits and correlation of MSS and published works, see Lee (Detroit, 1971).

instrumental

17 concs., hpd, str, 1740–59, A-Wgm, B-Bc, D-Bsb, Dlb, ROu, GB-Ckc, US-BE; 2, A, E, ed. D. Lee (Madison, WI, 1974)

Conc., vn, str, D-Bsb

Ouverture, B, 2 ob, 2 vn, va, bc, D-Bsb [dance suite]

2 sinfonias, F, G, str, GB-Lbl

Sinfonia, E, 2 fl, 2 hn, 2 ob, str; orig. ov., Il sogno di Scipione, score D-ROu

keyboard

6 brevi sonate da cembalo massime all’uso delle dame (Nuremberg, 1745/R Geneva, 1986)

[6] Brevi sonate da cembalo all’ uso di chi ama il cembalo, op.2 (Nuremberg, c1745/R Geneva, 1986); repubd as Six Short Sonatas or Lessons, hpd (London, c1770)

Sonata, a, hpd, in Tonstücke für das Clavier (Berlin, 1774)

6 additional hpd sonatas in autograph MSS: 4 in VI sonate, D-Bsb; 1, A, F-Pn; 1, G, D-ROu

2 Allegros, E, hpd, in Raccolta delle più nuove composizioni di clavicembalo (Leipzig, 1756)

Rondo, G, in Kleine Clavierstücke nebst einigen Oden von verschiedenen Tonkünstlern (Berlin, 1760)

4 pieces in Musikalisches Allerley, i–vi (Berlin, 1761–3): La gaillarde, La tendre, i; Claviersuite, v; Allegro in E, vi

Allegretto in E, Allegro in G, Presto in e, in Clavierstücke mit einem practischen Unterricht (Berlin, 1762)

6 menuets, 6 polonaises, Fantas in E, Variations, D-Bsb

vocal

La Galatea (P. Metastasio), 1740

Il sogno di Scipione, serenata (Metastasio), Berlin, 1746; Sinfonia, ed. M. Schneider (Leipzig, 1957)

Requiem, 4vv, 2 fl, 2 ob, 2 vn, va, b, D-Bsb

Zeffirretti, cant., S, 2 vn, va, b, US-Wc

Il fiume spre, aria in Il rè pastore (remainder by Frederick II, Quantz, C.H. Graun), D-Bsb

22 Lieder, 1v, kbd, in contemporary collections: see Lee (Detroit, 1971)

WRITINGS

Die Melodie, nach ihrem Wesen sowohl, als nach ihren Eigenschaften (Danzig, 1755)

Die Vortrefflichkeit der Gedanken des Herrn Caspar Dünkelfeindes über die Abhandlung von der Melodie (c1756)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ScheringGIK

F. Marpurg: Historisch-kritische Beyträge zur Aufnahme der Musik (Berlin, 1754–78)

H. Daffner: Die Entwicklung des Klavierkonzerts bis Mozart (Leipzig, 1906/R)

H. Uldall: ‘Beiträge zur Frühgeschichte des Klavierkonzerts’, ZMw, x (1927–8), 139–52, esp. 143

H. Uldall: Das Klavierkonzert der Berliner Schule (Leipzig, 1928)

H. Engel: Das Instrumentalkonzert (Leipzig, 1932, 2/1971–4)

H. Döllmann: Christoph Nichelmann: ein Musiker am Hofe Friedrichs des Grossen (Löningen, 1938)

E. Stilz: Die Berliner Klaviersonate zur Zeit Friedrichs des Grossen (Saarbrücken, 1930)

W. Hobohm: ‘George Philipp Telemann und seine Schuler’, GfMKB: Leipzig 1966, 260–65

D. Lee: The Instrumental Works of Christoph Nichelmann (diss., U. of Michigan, 1968)

D. Lee: ‘Christoph Nichelmann and the Early Clavier Concerto in Berlin’, MQ, lvii (1971), 636–55

D. Lee: The Works of Christoph Nichelmann: a Thematic Index (Detroit, 1971)

H.J. Schulze: ‘Der Scheiber “Anonymus 400”: ein Schüler Johann Sebastian Bachs’, BJb 1972, 104–17

D. Lee: Preface to Christoph Nichelmann: Two Keyboard Concertos (Madison, WI, 1974)

G. Buelow: ‘The Concept of Melodielehre: a Key to Classic Style’, Mozart und seine Umwelt (Kassel, 1979), 182–95

F. Beinroth: ‘Zu Fragen des Wandels in der Affekten- und Nachahmungslehre in der Musikästhetik des 18. Jahrhunderts unter besondere Berücksichtigung der Berliner Schule’, Carl Philip Emanuel Bach in unserer Zeit, ed. H.-G. Ottenberg (Frankfurt an der Oder, 1984), 17–25

T. Christensen: ‘Nichelmann contra C.P.E. Bach: Harmonic Theory and Musical Politics at the Court of Frederick the Great’, Carl Philip Emanuel Bach und die europäische Musikkultur des mittleren 18. Jahrhunderts, ed. H.-J. Marx (Göttingen, 1990), 189–220

DOUGLAS A. LEE