Johann Caspar Kerll facts for kids
Johann Caspar Kerll (born April 9, 1627 – died February 13, 1693) was a famous German baroque composer and organist. He was also known by other names like Kerl, Gherl, and Giovanni Gasparo Cherll.
Kerll was born in Adorf, Germany. His father was an organist, and Johann showed amazing musical talent very early on. He studied with Giovanni Valentini, a court music director in Vienna. Kerll became one of the most respected composers of his time. People knew him as a great composer and a wonderful teacher. He worked in Vienna, Munich, and Brussels, and traveled a lot.
Some of his students included Agostino Steffani and Franz Xaver Murschhauser. It's also possible that Johann Pachelbel learned from him. Kerll's music influenced later famous composers like Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach. Handel often used parts of Kerll's music in his own works. Bach even arranged a part of Kerll's Missa superba (a type of church music) into his own piece, BWV 241.
Even though Kerll was very well-known, many of his musical pieces are now lost. This is especially true for his vocal music, including all 11 of his known operas and 24 offertories (church songs). The music we still have shows that Kerll was a master of the Italian "concerted style." This style uses different instruments and voices together. He was also very good at counterpoint, which is a way of combining different melodies. He was influenced by Heinrich Schütz for his church vocal music and by Girolamo Frescobaldi for his keyboard music.
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Kerll's Life Story
Johann Caspar Kerll was born in 1627 in Adorf. His father, Caspar Kerll, was the organist at the Michaeliskirche church. His father likely taught him music because Johann showed amazing musical skills. In the early 1640s, he went to Vienna to study with Giovanni Valentini, a court music director.
Kerll started his career in Vienna as an organist. Around 1647 or 1648, Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria hired him as a chamber organist in Brussels. A chamber organist played music for the Archduke in his palace.
Over the next few years, Kerll managed to travel a lot while still working in Brussels. Leopold Wilhelm sent him to Rome to study with Giacomo Carissimi around 1648 or 1649. He might have also met and studied with Johann Jakob Froberger there. After a short time back in Brussels, he traveled to Dresden in 1649–1650. He also attended the wedding of Philip IV of Spain and Marie-Anne of Austria. He visited Vienna several times and spent time in other places like Göttweig. Another musician, Abraham van den Kerckhoven, filled in for Kerll when he was away. Kerll left his job in Brussels in 1655.
In February 1656, Kerll took a temporary job as Vice-Kapellmeister (assistant music director) at the Munich court. This was for Elector Ferdinand Maria. In March, he became the main Kapellmeister. Kerll's fame grew quickly as he was given more important tasks. For example, his opera Oronte (which is now lost) opened the Munich opera house in January 1657. He also composed a special church mass in 1658 for the crowning of Emperor Leopold I in Frankfurt.
While in Munich, Kerll married Anna Catharina Egermayer in 1657. They had eight children, but only their youngest son became a musician. The years in Munich were very important for Kerll. Elector Ferdinand Maria seemed to like him a lot and supported him for the rest of his life. In 1664, the emperor made him a nobleman. In 1669, his first published works came out. These included Delectus sacrarum cantionum, a collection of vocal music, and a Missa pro defunctis (a mass for the dead). Both were dedicated to Ferdinand Maria. Kerll left his job in Munich in 1673. People believe he had a big argument with other musicians at the court. However, he stayed in touch with Elector Ferdinand Maria until the Elector died.
In 1674, Kerll moved to Vienna. The emperor gave him a pension (regular payments) in 1675. In 1677, the emperor hired him as one of his court organists. Some people think Kerll might have worked at the Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral), but there's no clear proof. If he did, Johann Pachelbel might have been his assistant organist there.
In 1679, a terrible plague happened. Kerll wrote music about it in his collection Modulatio organica. Sadly, his wife Anna Catharina died from the plague. He married Kunigunde Hilaris in 1682 or 1683. He stayed in Vienna for the next 10 years. He also lived through the Turkish invasion of 1683. He wrote music about this event too, in his Missa in fletu solatium. He visited Munich several times between 1684 and 1692. At the end of 1692, Kerll left his job in Vienna and went back to Munich. He died there shortly after.
How Kerll Influenced Other Composers
Kerll was a well-known teacher during his life. While his students might not have become as famous as him, Agostino Steffani is probably his most famous student. It's also possible that Johann Joseph Fux studied with him for a while.
However, Kerll's influence on later composers is very clear. Johann Pachelbel studied Kerll's style. You can see this in Pachelbel's organ chaconnes, which are similar to Kerll's pieces that use a repeating bass line. Pachelbel might have even studied with Kerll, but we don't have proof.
The two most important German composers of the late Baroque period, Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel, both studied Kerll's music. Bach arranged the "Sanctus" part of Kerll's Missa superba into his own Sanctus in D major (BWV 241). Handel often borrowed musical ideas, and sometimes even whole pieces, from Kerll's canzonas. For example, the main tune from Kerll's Canzona No. 6 was used by Handel in "Let all the Angels of God" from his famous work Messiah. Also, "Egypt was Glad" from Handel's Israel in Egypt is very similar to Kerll's Canzona No. 4.
Kerll's Musical Works
People at the time thought very highly of Kerll. Many of his works were published while he was alive. Important published works include his many printed masses (church music), a collection of motets (vocal pieces) and sacred concertos called Delectus sacrarum cantionum (published in Munich, 1669). Another important work is Modulatio organica super Magnificat octo ecclesiasticis tonis respondens (Munich, 1686), which has organ music for church services.
Kerll didn't write a huge amount of music, so we only have a relatively small number of his works today. Much of his music was lost. This includes 11 operas (which he was most famous for during his lifetime), 25 offertories, four masses, and other pieces for keyboard and chamber music.
Keyboard Music
The keyboard music we still have from Kerll is in a typical South German style. It mixes strict German counterpoint with Italian styles and techniques. Composers like Frescobaldi and especially Froberger were big influences on him. Most of Kerll's keyboard pieces can be played on both a pipe organ and a harpsichord. The only exceptions are four dance suites made for harpsichord and two organ toccatas.
Kerll's eight toccatas (which match the eight church modes) switch between free-sounding parts and strict, contrapuntal sections. They sometimes use different rhythms. He often ended his toccatas with a fast, dance-like section, similar to Froberger's toccatas. His four dance suites also remind us of Froberger's suites.
Kerll's canzonas usually have several sections that use a technique called fugue. Some also have fast, showy parts like toccatas. Two pieces that use a repeating bass pattern, called an ostinato, still exist: a passacaglia and a chaconne. The passacaglia is probably Kerll's most famous work.
Two of Kerll's best-known keyboard pieces tell a story or describe something. Battaglia is a descriptive piece in C major. It's over 200 bars long and repeats fanfare-like tunes many times. Capriccio sopra il Cucu is based on the sound of a cuckoo's call. You can hear the cuckoo sound more than 200 times in the piece! It's similar to a piece by Frescobaldi with the same idea, but Kerll's version is more complex.
Vocal and Chamber Music
Kerll wrote many non-keyboard works, especially when he was in Munich. He was rebuilding the court music group there, so he must have composed a lot of chamber music. All of his operas (around 10 or 11) were also written in Munich, starting with Oronte in 1657.
Kerll's chamber works include a canzona for two violins, a viola da gamba, and a basso continuo (a bass instrument and a keyboard). He also wrote three sonatas. Most of his vocal works use an advanced concertato technique, which means different voices and instruments play together. A special exception is his requiem mass Missa pro defunctis from 1669. This piece is for five voices with no instruments.
The works in Delectus sacrarum cantionum are motets and sacred concertos for 2 to 5 voices. These pieces have different sections, switching between parts where melodies imitate each other and free, highly decorated parts. They are similar to pieces by Heinrich Schütz.
Six of Kerll's masses that we still have were published during his lifetime. The complex way he combined melodies in his chamber music is also in most of his sacred vocal works. For example, in Missa non sine quare, every part ends with a big fugue. A similar technique is in Missa Renovationis, where almost the entire mass is based on five main tunes.
List of Kerll's Works
Works Published During His Lifetime
- Ricercata a 4 in A for keyboard – published in Athanasius Kircher's Musurgia universalis (Rome, 1650)
- Delectus sacrarum cantionum (Munich, 1669), 26 motets for 2–5 voices
- Modulatio organica super Magnificat octo ecclesiasticis tonis respondens (Munich, 1686), organ music for church services
- Missae sex, cum instrumentis concertantibus, e vocibus in ripieno, adjuncta una pro defunctis cum seq. Dies irae (Munich, 1689), a collection of masses with instruments
Works Still Existing in Manuscripts
Vocal Works
- Missa a 3 chori
- Missa cujus toni
- Missa nigra
- Missa pro defunctis (1669)
- Missa quasi modo genita
- Missa Quid vobis videtur (1670)
- Missa superba (1674)
- Missa volante
- 3 untitled masses with only Kyrie and Gloria movements
- 1 untitled mass with only the Sanctus movement
- 16 sacred works with Latin words
- 3 sacred works with German words
- Pia et fortis mulier S Natalia S Adriani martyris coniuge expressa, a school play (Vienna, 1677)
- A secular song with German words
- A secular duet with Italian words
Keyboard Works
- 11 toccatas (8 are a set, 3 more from another source)
- 6 canzonas
- 5 versets
- 4 suites
- 2 preludes
- Other keyboard pieces: a chaconne, a passacaglia, a battaglia, a Capriccio sopra il cucu, and an aria with two variations.
Other Instrumental Works
- Canzona for two violins, viola da gamba, and basso continuo
- 2 sonatas for two violins, viola da gamba, and basso continuo
- Sonata modi dorii for two violins, viola da gamba, and basso continuo
- Sonata for two violins, two violas, and basso continuo
Lost Works
- 25 offertories
- 11 operas
- 4 masses
- Other works, including litanies and sonatas
List of Operas (All Lost)
- Oronte (1657)
- Applausi Festivi (1658)
- Ardelia (1660)
- Erinto (1661)
- Antiopa giustificata (1662)
- L'amor della patria superiore al' ogn' altro (1665)
- Atalanta (1667)
- Amor tiranno ovvero Regnero innamorato (1672)
See also
In Spanish: Johann Caspar Kerll para niños
