Dr Paul Jessen on
Jacob Adlung (1699 - 1762)
Jakob Adlung was born in
Bindersleben near Erfurt, Germany on the 14th of January 1699, to
a musical family: his father, David, was a teacher and organist
who gave him his first musical training. During his Gymnasium
years (after 1713) he lived and studied in Erfurt with the
organist Christian Reichardt. His studies at Jena University
(1723-1726) included philosophy, philology, and theology, whilst
taking organ lessons with Johann Nikolaus Bach (1669-1753).
Adlung's friendship with J.G. Walther (1684-1748) from this time,
gave him access to many theoretical works in his library.
In 1727 Adlung became organist in
the Predigerkirche, Erfurt, where he remained for the rest of his
life. He taught languages at the Erfurt Gymnasium and taught
numerous organ students (between 1728 and 1762 he had 218
keyboard and 284 language students). He also built 16 keyboard
instruments during his lifetime.
Jakob Adlung authored several
books: Anleitung zu der musikalischen Gelahrtheit (Guide
to Musical Expertise) (Erfurt: 1758), which formed the basis
of my thesis, and Musica mechanica organoedi (about
organ building), and Musikalisches Siebengestirn. Das ist:
Sieben zu der edlen Tonkunst gehörige Fragen. The
following, written between 1723 and 1727, were all lost in a fire
in his home in 1736: Vollständige Anweisung zum
Generalbasse; Anweisung zur italienischen Tabulatur; Anweisung
zur Fantasie und zu den Fugen. These, however, make up three
of the chapters in the Anleitung, so I presume that the work was
not entirely lost.
From this well-formed background
it is easy to see that his erudition is prodigious. It is small
wonder that his Anleitung or Guide to Musical
Expertise is a thorough list of all matters necessary to the
formation of a musician. He included much information that others
took for granted, which for us, at this remove from the times, is
of the greatest importance for understanding that evanescent
subject: performance practice.
From my research on Jacob Adlung,
lecture Subjects Offered:
Early Fingering
The Development of
"Modern" Keyboard Technique by J.S.Bach
Eighteenth Century Organ
Building
Jacob Adlung's Anleitung zu der musikalischen Gelahrtheit (Erfurt: 1758)
Academic
Formation
Contact me
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Last updated September 21, 2006