Lesser-Known Composer of the Month: Jan Dismas Zelenka

Wait, Who?

Zelenka was born in Bohemia and, after an early education with his father, became attached to the prominent Hartig family in Prague.  By 1711 he had moved to Dresen, where he was to spend the remainder of his career, as a bass player in the Dresden Hofkapelle.  He was a pupil of Johann Joseph Fux, and  probably also studied with Antonio Lotti as one of several Dresden musicians sent to Italy for further education.

Although officially an instrumentalist for much of his time in Dresden, Zelenka soon began writing music for the Catholic Hofkirkche; although Saxony was predominantly Protestant, the Elector Frederick Augustus I converted to Catholicism on becoming king of Poland.  The church became a major focus for music in Dresden, particularly after 1720 when Augustus dismissed the royal opera company after a squabble between a singer and the court Kapellmeister, Johann David Heinichen.

During the last years of Heinichen's life Zelenka was for practical purposes the acting Kapellmeister, owing to the poor health of his superior.  However, Zelenka's music was not to the elector's taste; after Heinichen's death he petitioned for the post of Kapellmeister, writing a set of eight Italian arias in an attempt to demonstrate his ability to compose in a galant, secular style, as the court wished to reestablish opera in Dresden.  The position, however, went to Hasse in 1733, and Zelenka was instead given the title of "church composer," with no increase in salary, which he retained until his death.

Unsurprisingly, given the nature of his duties, the majority of Zelenka's works are liturgical settings and motets.  Although his employers found his style too old fashioned, in his later career the arrival of Hasse at Dresden forced him to begin incorporating more modern, galant elements into his compositions, which he fully synthesized into his own style in his last years.

Zelenka's purely instrumental music dates from before the 1730s and consists of a variety of orchestral overtures, concerti, and sinfonias, including the programatically-titled Hipocondrie à 7, and a single collection of chamber music, a set of six trio sonatas for winds.