Background
Hiller was born on December 25, 1728 in Osiek Łużycki, Poland. He came from a musical family.
(Dies ist das Libretto zur Oper Die Jagd. Genießen Sie zum...)
Dies ist das Libretto zur Oper Die Jagd. Genießen Sie zum Klang Ihrer Lieblingsoper die Original-Texte auf Ihrem Bildschirm. Einzelne Akte und, falls mehrsprachig, Sprachen lassen sich über das Inhaltsverzeichnis auswählen.
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(Hiller's Treatise on Vocal Performance and Ornamentation ...)
Hiller's Treatise on Vocal Performance and Ornamentation was published in Germany in 1780 and is an important manual on vocal technique and performance in the eighteenth century. This present edition, translated with an introduction and extensive commentary by musicologist Suzanne J. Beicken, makes the treatise available for the first time in English. With its emphasis on practical aspects of ornamentation, declamation and style it will be valuable to instrumentalists as well as singers and is a significant contribution to the understanding of performance practice in the eighteenth century.
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Hiller was born on December 25, 1728 in Osiek Łużycki, Poland. He came from a musical family.
Hiller learned the basics of music from a school master in his home town, Wendisch-Ossig. From 1740 to 1745, he was a student at the Gymnasium in Görlitz, where his fine soprano voice earned him free tuition. In 1746 he went to study at the famous Kreuzschule in Dresden. There he took keyboard and basso continuo lessons with Gottfried August Homilius. In 1751, he enrolled in the University of Leipzig to study law.
Hiller supported himself by giving music lessons, and also by performing at concerts both on the flute and as a vocalist. Gradually he adopted music as his sole profession, and devoted himself more especially to the permanent establishment of a concert institute at Leipzig. It was he who in 1781 originated the celebrated Gewandhaus concerts which still flourish at Leipzig. In 1789 he became "cantor" of the Thomas school there, a position previously held by John Sebastian Bach. He died in Leipzig on the 16th of June 1804. Two of his pupils placed a monument to his memory in front of the Thomas school. Hiller's compositions comprise almost every kind of church music, from the cantata to the simple chorale. But much more important are his operettas; 14 in number, which for a long time retained their place on the boards, and had considerable influence on the development of light dramatic music in Germany. The Jolly Cobbler, Love in the Country and the Village Barber were amongst the most popular of his works. Hiller also excelled in sentimental songs and ballads. With great simplicity of structure his music combines a considerable amountof genuine melodic invention. Although an admirer and imitator of the Italian school, Hiller fully appreciated the greatness of Handel, and did much for the appreciation of his music in Germany. It was under his direction that the Messiahwas for the first time given at Berlin, more than forty years after the composition of that great work. Hiller was also a writer on music, and for some years (1766-1770) edited a musical weekly periodical named Wöchentliche Nachrichten. Furthermore, Hiller was a teacher who encouraged musical education for women, his pupils including Elisabeth Mara and Corona Schröter.
(Hiller's Treatise on Vocal Performance and Ornamentation ...)
(Dies ist das Libretto zur Oper Die Jagd. Genießen Sie zum...)