A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Reichardt, Johann Friedrich

by Alfred Maczewski

REICHARDT, Johann Friedrich, composer and writer on music; son of a musician; born Nov. 25, 1752, at Königsberg, Prussia. From childhood he showed a great disposition for music, and such intelligence as to interest influential persons able to further his career. Under these auspices he was educated and introduced into good society, and thus formed an ideal both of art and of life which he could scarcely have gained had he been brought up among the petty privations incident to his original position. Unfortunately, the very gifts which enabled him to adopt these high aims, fostered an amount of conceit which often led him into difficulties. His education was more various than precise; music he learned by practice rather than by any real study. His best instrument was the violin, on which he attained considerable proficiency, under Veichtner, a pupil of Benda's; but he was also a good pianist. Theory he learned from the organist Richter. On leaving the university of Königsberg he started on a long tour, ostensibly to see the world before choosing a profession, though he had virtually resolved on becoming a musician. Between 1771 and 1774 he visited Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Vienna, Prague, Brunswick, and Hamburg, made the acquaintance of the chief notabilities—musical, literary, and political—in each place, and became himself in some sort a celebrity, after the publication of his impressions in a series of 'confidential letters'—'Vertraute Briefen eines aufmerksamen Reisenden,' in 2 parts (1774 and l776). On his return to Königsberg he went into a government office, but hearing of the death of Agricola of Berlin, he applied in person to Frederic the Great for the vacant post of Capellmeister and Court-composer, and though barely 24 obtained it in 1776. He at once began to introduce reforms, both in the Italian opera and the court orchestra, and thus excited much opposition from those who were more conservative than himself. While thus occupied he was indefatigable as a composer, writer, and conductor. In 1783 he founded the 'Concerts Spirituels' for the performance of unknown works, vocal and instrumental, which speedily gained a high reputation. He published collections of little-known music, with critical observations, edited newspapers, wrote articles and critiques in other periodicals, and produced independent works. But enemies, who were many, contrived to annoy him so much in the exercise of his duties, that in 1785 he obtained a long leave of absence, during which he visited London and Paris, and heard Handel's oratorios and Gluck's operas, both of which he heartily admired. In both places he met with great success as composer and conductor, and was popular for his social qualities; but neither of his two French operas 'Tamerlan' and 'Panthée,' composed for the Académie, were performed. On the death of Frederic the Great (1786) his successor confirmed Reichardt in his office, and he produced several new operas, but his position became more and more disagreeable. His vanity was of a peculiarly offensive kind, and his enemies found a weapon ready to their hand in his avowed sympathy with the doctrines of the French Revolution. The attraction of these views for a buoyant, liberal mind like Reichardt's, always in pursuit of high ideals, and eager for novelty, is obvious enough; but such ideas are dangerous at court, and after further absence, which he spent in Italy, Hamburg, Paris, and elsewhere, he received his dismissal from the Capellmeistership in 1794.^[1] He retired to his estate, Giebichenstein, near Halle, and occupied himself with literature and composition, and occasional tours. In 1796 he became inspector of the salt works at Halle. After the death of Frederic William II. he produced a few more operas in Berlin, but made a greater mark with his Singspielen, which are of real importance in the history of German opera. In 1808 he accepted the post of Capellmeister at Cassel to Jerome Bonaparte, refused by Beethoven, but did not occupy it long, as in the same year we find him making a long visit to Vienna. On his return to Giebichenstein he gathered round him a pleasant and cultivated society, and there, in the midst of his friends, he died, June 17 [App. p.770 "27"], 1814.

Reichardt has been, as a rule, harshly judged; he was not a mere musician, but rather a combination of musician, litterateur, and man of the world. His overweening personality led him into many difficulties, but as a compensation he was endued with great intelligence, and with an ardent and genuine desire for progress in everything—music, literature, and politics. As a composer his works show cultivation, thought, and honesty; but have not lived, because they want the necessary originality. This is specially true of his instrumental music, which is entirely forgotten. His vocal music, however, is more important, and a good deal of it might well be revived, especially his Singspielen and his Lieder. The former exercised considerable influence in the development of German opera, and the latter are valuable, both as early specimens of what is now written by every composer, and for their own individual merit. The Goethe-Lieder in particular show a rare feeling for musical form. Mendelssohn was no indulgent critic, but on more than one occasion he speaks of Reichardt with a warmth which he seldom manifests even towards the greatest masters. He never rested until he had arranged for the performance of Reichardt's Morning Hymn, after Milton, at the Cologne Festival of 1835; and his enthusiasm for the composer, and his wrath at those who criticised him, are delightful to read.^[2] Years afterwards, when his mind had lost the ardour of youth, and much experience had sobered him, he still retained his fondness for this composer, and few things are more charming than the genial appreciation with which he tells Reichardt's daughter of the effect which her father's songs had had, even when placed in such a dangerous position as between works of Haydn and Mozart, at the Historical Concert at the Gewandhaus in Feb. 1847. It is the simplicity, the naïveté, the national feeling of this true German music that he praises, and the applause with which it was received shows that he was not alone in his appreciation. Amongst Reichardt's numerous works are 8 operas; 8 Singspielen, including 4 to Goethe's poems, 'Jery und Bätely,' 'Erwin und Elmire,' 'Claudine von Villabella' and 'Lilla'; 5 large vocal works, including Milton's 'Morning Hymn,' translated by Herder, his most important work, in 1835; a large number of songs, many of which have passed through several editions, and been published in various collections.

Reichardt's writings show critical acumen, observation, and judgment. Besides the letters previously mentioned, he published—'Das Kunstmagazin,' 8 numbers in 2 vols. (Berlin, 1782 and 91); 'Studien für Tonkünstler und Musikfreunde,' a critical and historical periodical with 39 examples (1792); 'Vertraute Briefe aus Paris,' 3 parts (1802–3); 'Vertraute Briefe auf einer Reise nach Wien, etc.' (1810); fragments of autobiography in various newspapers; and innumerable articles, critiques, etc. The 'Briefe' are specially interesting from the copious details they give, not only on the music, but on the politics, literature, and society of the various places he visited. A biography, 'J. F. Reichardt, sein Leben und seine musikalische Thätigkeit,' by Herr Schletterer, Capellmeister of the cathedral of Augsburg, is in progress, the 1st vol. having been published at Augsburg in 1865.

[ A. M. ]

1. There was apparently some dissatisfaction with Reichardt's efficiency as a musician as well as with his political opinions, for Mozart's remark that the King's band contains great virtuosi, but the effect would be better if the gentlemen played together,' certainly implied a reflection on the conductor. Neither does Reichardt seem to have appreciated Mozart (Jahn's 'Mozart,' ii. 110).
2. Letters, Dec. 28. 1833; April 3, 1835.