Der vollkommene Capellmeister
Johann Mattheson, Peter Larsen · 2025 · 319 citationsRead the paper
Johann Mattheson (1681-1764) var den tyske baroks førende musikteoretiker og -kritiker. Han var selv sanger, musiker og komponist, men havde desuden en bred uddannelsesbaggrund og fungerede det meste af sit voksne liv som sekretær for den engelske ambassadør i Hamburg. Han udgav Critica Musica (1722-5), det første tyske musiktidsskrift, og skrev en række store værker om musik hvoraf Der vollkommene Capellmeister fra 1739 er det vigtigste. Matthesons gennemgående argument er her at musik må beskrives og vurderes i forhold til de affekter den udløser i tilhøreren. Bogen, som er en encyklopædisk oversigt skrevet i oplysningstidens ånd, gennemgår alt hvad en god kapelmester bør vide om musik og indeholder bland andet en række afsnit hvor kompositionsprocessen beskrives med udgangspunkt i retorikkens bearbejdningsfaser.Oversat og kommenteret af Peter Larsen
What the full text shows
Theory or simulation- Joy is expressed through large and expanded intervals, while sadness is expressed through small and minimal melodic steps. (Based on the physiological theory of 'life-spirits' (expansion vs. contraction))
- Love is represented by 'diffuse and luxuriant' sound relationships (intervallis n. diffusis & luxuriantibus). (Based on the theory of the spreading of life-spirits)
- Musical composition should follow a six-part rhetorical structure: Exordium, Narratio, Propositio, Confirmatio, Confutatio, and Peroratio. — 6 parts (Applied to the 'Dispositio' (arrangement) phase of melody)
- The process of melodic invention is supported by fifteen specific 'loci' (invention means), with Locus notationis and Locus descriptionis being the most significant. — 15 loci (Used particularly when the composer's imagination is uninspired)
- Setup
- Theoretical treatise written in 1739; analysis of Baroque musical practice and rhetorical theory.
- How
- The author provides a theoretical and encyclopedic framework for music composition based on the 'doctrine of affects' and classical rhetoric. He maps physiological emotional states to specific musical intervals and structures the composition process into phases: Invention, Disposition, Elaboration, and Decoration.
- Limitations
- Based on outdated 18th-century physiological theories of 'life-spirits'. · Lack of empirical quantitative data; results are prescriptive and theoretical.
Summarized by Gemma 4 from the open-access full text · 3 Oct 2026. Read it