Page:Pratt - The history of music (1907).djvu/387

 Depending for its musical success upon the abundant use of simple vocal melody, its progress was closely associated with the recognition and development of the artistic song as a distinct and beautiful branch of composition. The basal type was the true folk-song, which was imitated in the form known as the 'volksthümliches lied,' and then extended by natural steps of unfolding to the longer and richer forms of the 'kunstlied,' including the dramatic ballade. In this way it helped to prepare the way for one of the most significant movements of the early 19th century (see secs. 174, 222).

In the North German group were the following:—

Johann Adam Hiller (d. 1804) was not only a composer, but a useful organizer, teacher and author. Born in 1728, he was finely educated at Görlitz, Dresden and Leipsic, dividing his attention between law, literature and music, and settled in Leipsic. In 1763 he was conductor of the revived public concerts, edited the earliest musical weekly (1766-70), in 1771 founded a singing-school, with choral concerts after 1775, in 1776 initiated Concerts spirituels (name copied from Paris), was the first conductor (1781-5) at the afterwards famous Gewandhaus, and, although in 1786 he moved to Breslau, was named in 1789 deputy cantor at the Thomasschule and in 1797 cantor. His singspiele numbered nearly 15, beginning with additions (11 songs and 2 sinfonie) to Standfüss' Der Teufel ist los (1765—original work about 10 years earlier) and his own Lisuart und Dariolette (1766), Lottchen am Hofe (1767), ''Die Liebe auf dem Lande (1769), Der Dorfbarbier (1771) and Die Jagd'' (1771)—the last still given. These owed their popularity to his substantial gifts as a writer of true songs (lieder), as distinguished from the pretentious aria, though in applying them dramatically he often discarded the simple strophe-plan and even used some ensemble numbers. From before 1760, also, he composed detached songs, secular and sacred, with several secular cantatas, an oratorio, a Passion cantata, church music and some instrumental pieces. He edited useful collections, historical and pedagogical, republished important sacred works (often with unjustifiable changes of text), and was a striking author (see sec. 165).

Johann André (d. 1799), brought up in the silk business, turned to music about 1770. From 1774 he took up music-selling at Offenbach, but in 1777 left it to his brother and became conductor at a Berlin theatre. In 1784 he returned to Offenbach and built up a music-publishing house that issued about 1200 works before 1800 and is still famous. He was a good pianist and the facile composer of over 25 singspiele, such as Der Töpfer (1773), ''Erwin und Elmire (1776?, text by Goethe) and Die Entführung aus dem Serail'' (1781, same subject, but not same text, as Mozart's opera in 1782). His method was like Hiller's, but more exclusively lyrical. He wrote many songs, a few still popular, with some chamber music. He was perhaps the first to expand the song to the 'durchkomponierte' ballade (as Lenore, 1775).

Georg Benda (d. 1795), the brother of the violinist Franz Benda, after playing in a Berlin orchestra, moved to Gotha in 1748, becoming ducal choir