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Hillers Treatise on Vocal Performance and Ornamentation was published in Germanyin 1780 and is an important manual on vocal technique and performance in theeighteenth century. Hiller was a masterly educator and was active not only as a

teacher but also as a critic, theorist, composer, conductor, and music director.Thus, his observations served not only to raise the standards of singing inGermany, based on the Italian model, but to present complicated material, par-ticularly ornamentation, in a manner that his peers, the middle class, couldemulate.

This present edition, translated with an introduction and extensive commen-tary by musicologist Suzanne J. Beicken, makes Hillers treatise available for thefirst time in English. With its emphasis on practical aspects of ornamentation,declamation, and style, it will be valuable to instrumentalists as well as singers

and is a significant contribution to the understanding of performance practicein the eighteenth century.

. is Lecturer in historical musicology at the University ofMaryland and is also a performer, concert manager, and music administrator.She is founder of the award-winning Maryland Boy Choir.



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Illustration on title page of HillersAnweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange(Treatise onVocal Performance and Ornamentation), published in Germany in 1780. Photographby John Consoli



TREATISE ON

VOCAL PERFORMANCE

AND ORNAMENTATIONBY JOHANN ADAM HILLER

SUZANNE J. BEICKENUNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND


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Contents

Acknowledgments page ix

Translators introduction and commentary 1Note on the text and musical examples 32

33

Preface 35Dedication 49

1 On the qualities of the human voice and its improvement 512 On good performance and how to use the voice 563 On good performance, with regard to text and music 664 On good performance, with regard to ornaments 725 On good performance, with regard topassaggi 1016 On good performance, with regard to the various genres of vocal

forms and in consideration of performing in various places 1107 On cadenzas 1218 On arbitrary variation of the aria 135

Appendix: Biographical information on musicians mentionedby Hiller 155

Bibliography 185Index 190

vii



Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the many people who encouraged and supported me in thisproject: Leonard Ratner, who first opened my eyes (and ears) to a new way ofunderstanding eighteenth-century music; Joan Smiles, for introducing me toHiller; Shelley G. Davis, for introducing me to Cambridge University Press andfor his careful and thorough reading of the manuscript; the late Bernd Baselt, forhis generosity; Mary Jean Simpson, for her editorial expertise; April NashGreenan, for her proficiency in checking and editing the musical examples; John

Butt, for being such an astute series editor; Penny Souster at CambridgeUniversity Press, for her long-suffering patience; Lucy Carolan, for her insight-ful editing; my husband, Peter Beicken, for his years of scholarly and emotionalcompanionship; my father, Leo Bartel, who waited so long for the publication ofthis work; my mother, Trudy Bartel (librarian at heart) who researched numer-ous details; and Julie and Sascha for their patience.

ix



Translators introduction and commentary

Hillers Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, offered here in English asTreatise on Vocal Performance and Ornamentation, is an important manualon performance practice worthy of being considered in the company of worksby such familiarfigures as Quantz, Leopold Mozart, C. P. E. Bach, Mattheson,and Marpurg, to name a few of the major eighteenth-century theorists. A mas-

terly educator, Hiller initiated much improvement in the state of singing inGermany through his teaching and diverse activities as critic, composer, conduc-tor, and music director in Leipzig. With this treatise and the earlier, more elemen-tary tutor, theAnweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesangeof 1774 (Treatise onVocal Performance and Technique), Hillers goal was to educate Germansingers in the elaborate traditions of vocal art emulating the superior achieve-ments of the Italians. As a pragmatic and insightful pedagogue, Hiller aimed ata presentation of performance practice material that would serve to raise the

standards of singing in Germany. His 1774 treatise on Richtigkeit represents,according to John Butt, the most radical break with traditional methods ofmainstream school singing. Together with the originality of his pedagogicapproach, this shows Hillers deep insight into the learning process or, rather,his method conforms to a more enlightened, psychological awareness of thepupils natural learning abilities.1 The subsequent 1780 treatise onZierlichkeit updates the traditional system of ornamentation, particularly the

1 John Butt,Music Education and the Art of Performance in the German Baroque(New York: Cambridge UniversityPress, 1994), pp. 173, 174, 176. Butt considers Hiller the most notablefigure in German music educationduring the latter half of the eighteenth century (p. 167). In commenting on the 1774 treatise, Butt observesthat it doubtless reflects Hillers experience as a teacher in his own music conservatory (given that he wasyet to become Cantor of the Thomasschule), while also stating that it was more of a prescription than areflection of actual practice in school music (p. 173). In his 1774 treatise Hiller gives perhaps the clearestpicture of German singing in the 1770s and its relation to the school environment. According to Butt(p. 167) Hiller also uncovers what he sees as an unthinking attitude towards learning, one that evidentlyseemed anomalous in the Age of Enlightenment. For an older view of Hillers achievements, see FriedrichRochlitz, Johann Adam Hiller,Fr Freunde der Tonkunst, vol. I, 3rd edn. (Leipzig: Carl Cnobloch, 1868), p.27.



work of TosiAgricola, from the viewpoint of a new enlightened musical sen-sibility addressing the more advanced, potentially professional singer, in anattempt to raise the general standard of singing in Germany.2

Johann Adam Hiller represents a musical culture that increasingly sought dis-tinction from that of the court music sponsored by the aristocracy in the eight-eenth century. Although he was occasionally employed by aristocratic sponsors,Hiller was a musician who exemplified many of the virtues of his social back-ground: honesty, diligence, versatility, adaptability, and innovation. The histori-cal and sociological situation placed limitations on the middle class in its desirefor political and cultural emancipation. As in court life, there was room to assim-ilate the accomplishments of foreign musical cultures. Hiller was an important

figure in the endeavor to shape a musical idiom which gave expression to the feel-ings and aspirations of his peers. While enlightened despotism and absolutismbrought about significant cultural changes, middle-class artists and intellectualssought to break down many barriers and privileges by popularizing learning andart. This movement, observed as one of the key projects of the Enlightenment,is aptly described in one of the more ubiquitous sources:

Philosophy, science, literature, and thefine arts all began to address a general publicbeyond the select group of experts and connoisseurs. Popular treatises were written tobring culture within the reach of all, while novelists and playwrights began depictingeveryday people with everyday emotions. Powerful support for this popularization camefrom the back to nature movement, which prized sentiment in literature and the arts.3

As a versatile composer of Singspiele, Hiller contributed significantly to theefforts to create a popular musical culture that reflected the cultural life ofLeipzig and aimed beyond its environs. His pioneering work as an impresariowas groundbreaking in meeting the needs of a relatively new phenomenon, the

theatrical singer.4

Above all, Hillers greatest accomplishment was that ofmediator and pedagogue for an audience that increasingly showed interest inmusical activity and entertainment. In this context he understood that hispurpose as a musician was to be a teacher to the future singers of his nation: somany elements of his teaching are directly applicable to the needs of his age.5

All aspects of his musical endeavors are to be seen in the light of this personaland professional mission. Hiller the conductor, the performer, the teacher, thetheorist, and critic can only be grasped fully if one looks at his achievements as

2 Translators introduction and commentary

2 Butt,Music Education, p. 177. Hillers stature with regard to earlier theorists and his indebtedness to treatises,particularly to the works of Tosi and Agricola, is emphasized by Julianne C. Baird inIntroduction to the Art ofSinging by Johann Friedrich Agricola, trans. and ed. Julianne C. Baird (New York: Cambridge University Press,1995), p. 34: Updating Agricola by providing specific directions and musical examples of how these orna-ments should be performed pertinent to his own day, Hiller, the only other notable writer of a Germansinging treatise in the era of Agricola, used and modernized theAnleitung[i.e. Tosi/Agricola,Anleitung zurSingkunst(Berlin: George Ludewig Winter, 1757) and supplanted Agricola as the foremost German writer inthe eighteenth-century tradition of singing and as an authority on ornamentation.

3 This summarizing view in Donald Jay Grout and Claude V. Palisca,A History of Western Music, 5th edn. (NewYork and London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1996), p. 443. 4 Butt,Music Education, p. 177.

5 Ibid., p. 179.



manifestations of an extraordinary service and unrelenting dedication to thecause of cultural and national identity.

To meet the challenges of the day, Hiller employed his resourcefulness and

versatility in playing several instruments, conducting, and composing, althoughhis greatest love remained the human voice. Ever since he came to know Hassesoperas in Dresden, his preference was established and reinforced. As a labor oflove he painstakingly copied Hasses scores, familiarizing himself with his idolsart and operatic tradition. Hiller followed through with his unwavering dedica-tion to vocal music from the Dresden years (174651) to his Cantorship at theThomasschule in Leipzig (17891801).

In Hiller the musician and theorist two traditions intersect: the theoretical line

of vocal pedagogy as represented by Tosi, Agricola, Marpurg, and Mancini, andthe musical practice of Handel, Hasse, C. H. Graun, C. P. E. Bach, and W. A.Mozart. It is in his vocal treatises that Hiller demonstrates the results of hisendeavors in theory and practice to improve the quality of singing in Germany.Having heard many Italian virtuosi perform and through his acquaintance withthe writings of Burney and Mancini, Hiller became aware of the superior train-ing available to singers in Italy. He complained often and persistently about thelack of training facilities for singers in Germany, as the German school system

no longer placed any special emphasis on this subject. The Italians, however, hadspecial music schools calledOspedalior conservatories: in Venice there were foursuch conservatories, and Naples had three.6 Italy also had many more operahouses; the larger cities sometimes boasted several. In Germany there was nolonger much indigenous opera and the comedies often performed by travelingacting companies were unsuited to German singers.7 Hiller found that the stateof music in the church also left much to be desired. To improve these discourag-ing conditions he undertook two major steps:first to provide the opportunity to

learn how to sing properly, and second to motivate singers to acquire suchmusical training. Since vocal music was of great importance in the eighteenthcentury, Hiller devoted much time and energy to engendering significant changeand improvement in the German tradition, in the hope of raising it to a levelcomparable to Italian vocalism.

Hillers concern for an identifiable German style in singing and vocal musicwas part of the general movement in the arts through which the German middleclass sought to establish its own terrain within the Enlightenment. The drive tocreate a national theater, led by many artists of the time, among them brilliantwriters such as Lessing, Goethe, and Schiller, was an integral part of the move-ment toward a national identity and culture. In tune with these emancipatorytrends, Hillers wish to overcome the Italian domination in singing led to his

Translators introduction and commentary 3

6 See Preface, p. 39 below. As Butt,Music Education, p. 176, notes: In contrast to the German treatises onornamental singing from the previous century, Hiller lays great stress on the thoroughness of Italian musiceducation. He also observes that Hiller is fully conversant with the practices in Italian conservatories.

7 See Preface, p. 38 below.



pivotal role in the creation ofSingspiel. In his attempt to nationalize opera, heaimed at a lighter and more popular form. This endeavor to contribute tonational culture positions Hiller at the forefront of major cultural developments

in the eighteenth century.Whatever opera took place after the Thirty Years War (161848) at Germancourts, especially in Vienna, Dresden, and Berlin, almost exclusively employedItalian singers. The lack of opportunity for German singers was so severe thatthey had to travel to Italy to study singing and return not only with Italian train-ing but with Italian names as well, essentially coming home as Italian artists.8

The resulting Italianization, for both economic and opportunistic reasons,caused resentment among many Germans and attempts ensued to establish

opera companies for home-grown talents as well. Occasionally, there wereattempts at creating German opera, notably the Weissenfels court theater andthe Hamburg civic opera. The wealthy port of Hamburg founded its owncompany in 1678 which lasted until 1739. Its most successful director wasReinhard Keiser (16741739), whose successor, Georg Philipp Telemann,assumed the directorship in 1722 after Keiser had departed for Copenhagen.Telemann, however, could not prevent the demise of the Hamburg opera, andwhen German opera failed Italian opera once again gained the upper hand.

Like Hamburg, Leipzig was another major trade center with a wealthy, cultu-rally aspiring middle class. Steeped in patrician tradition, Leipzig was at thecenter of some of the most frequented trade routes to Hamburg, Nuremberg,Vienna, Danzig, Strasbourg, Frankfurt am Main, and Breslau. The impact onLeipzig at the hub of the crossroads was overwhelming: its trade fairs becamethe meeting places for all German merchants.9 Economically prosperous,Leipzig developed a rich and diverse culture with a flourishing musical life.Unlike other important musical centers of the eighteenth century Paris,

Vienna, Prague, Mannheim, and Berlin which revolved around court life,Leipzig was determined by the tastes of the trade-oriented middle class. Boastingapproximately 30,000 inhabitants in the early eighteenth century, this flourishingcity had the nimbus of a little Paris and a little paradise as well.10A proudcity government not only administered to the needs of the people but also soughtto keep high cultural standards. The presence of its prestigious university con-tributed to a lively intellectual atmosphere enhanced by Leipzigs status as acenter for publishing made famous by its annual book fairs. In the 1720s therewas hardly another city in Germany (perhaps with the exception of Hamburg)that boasted such vigorous commerce and modern life.

In Leipzig, the churches were an important part of the vibrant cultural


8 Karl Peiser,Johann Adam Hiller: Ein Beitrag zur Musikgeschichte des 18. Jahrhunderts(Leipzig: Gebrder Hug &Co., 1894), p. 41.

9 Eberhard Rebling,Die soziologischen Grundlagen der Stilwandlung der Musik in Deutschland um die Mitte des 18.Jahrhunderts(Saalfeld, Ostpreussen: Gnthers Buchdruckerei, 1935), pp. 1011.

10 Arnold Schering,Musikgeschichte Leipzigs in drei Bnden, Vol. II,Von 1650 bis 1723(Leipzig: Fr. Kistner &

C. F. W. Siegel, 1926), p. 6.



heritage. There werefive of them apart from the University chapels, and all haddaily services in addition to the special services at festival times. The people ofLeipzig had ample opportunity to worship in churches where music was an

essential part of the service. While sacred music was available in abundance,several attempts were made over the years to establish opera in Leipzig and tofoster the development of German opera in its indigenous form.

As part of the effort to foster German opera, an initiative in 1743 tried toestablishSingspiel in Germany by following an English model. However, thisinitial attempt resulted in instant failure. Almost ten years passed before GottliebHeinrich Koch, one of the leading comedians and Director of the Leipzigtheater, made another attempt in 1752 with the same work,Der Teufel ist los(from

the EnglishDevil to Pay), but with new music by Standfuss, a violinist for his ballettroupe.11 This new effort met with a great deal of success. Standfuss gave hismusic a certain folk-song quality that Hiller later made a distinctive feature of hisownSingspiele. Both Koch and Standfuss produced anotherSingspiel,Der stolzeBauer Jochem Trbs, which also found high acclaim in Berlin. The subsequent per-formance of the second part ofDer stolze Bauer, however, met with a cool recep-tion; the text seemed outdated, and the music had lost its appeal. As a formulafor a German equivalent to the English ballad opera, Italianopera buffa, or the

new Frenchopra comique(better known ascomdie mle dariettes, a comedy [inspoken dialogue] mingled with songs),12 theSingspielstill had to overcome moreobstacles before it became successful. Among the difficulties encountered by thislight, entertaining genre was the rapid change in taste typical of this period.These volatile conditions made a lasting acceptance of theSingspieldifficult.

In the course of time, however, Singspielwas successful. In 1764 Kochapproached the well-established poet Christian Felix Weisse, who, in turn, askedHiller to write new music forDer Teufel ist los, the same opera that had been per-

formed in 1752. Since the performers were actors and not singers, Hiller had tomeet the standards of untrained voices by reducing vocal demands. The resultwas an emphasis on the Lied. As it turned out, this accessible vocal form was bothpleasing and entertaining and became an instant hit with the audience. The ordi-nary burghers enjoyed nothing more than simple tunes which they could hum,whistle, and sing. The popular Lied, replacing the more elaborate Italian aria, wassomething common people could relate to and freely imitate. Here, in thestrophicLiedform, Hiller found his best musical medium. From the beginning ofhis collaboration with Weisse, he was able to use the melodic lines of theLiedadroitly for characterization and comic effect. Consistently tailoring his vocal


11 See Hans Michael Schletterer,Das deutsche Singspiel von seinen ersten Anfngen bis auf die neueste Zeit(Leipzig:Breitkopf & Hrtel, 1863) and Georgy Calmus, Die ersten deutschen Singspiele von Standfuss und Hiller,Publikationen der Internationalen Musikgesellschaft, Beihefte, vol. VI, 2nd sequence (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Hrtel,1908). Standfuss, on whom there is scant biographical information, never reaped the rewards worthy of histalents, and he died in poverty in a Hamburg hospital in 1756, according to Schletterer (Calmus gives adifferent date, 1757 or even later).

12 Donald Jay Grout with Hermine Weigel Williams,A Short History of Opera, 3rd edn. (New York: Columbia

University Press, 1988), p. 295.



parts tofit the respective character on stage, Hiller used popular melodies forpeasants and other members of the lower classes whereas kings and other noblefigures were given more ornate, Italianate arias. This distinction also followed the

contemporary pattern of presenting characters on stage according to the con-ventions of the social hierarchy. Hillers success in responding to the popularneed for enjoyable and entertaining songs is reflected in Peisers assessmentwhich credits him with arousing in the Germans a Lust zum Singen.13

Numerous otherSingspielefollowed, among themDie Jagdin 1770, which wasprobably the most popular of Hillers works in Germany and abroad.14

Hillers musical ingenuity is evidenced by the fact that he sensed the needs ofthe day while being able to come up with the right formula to satisfy them. The

Singspielwas not just a pastime of popularizers and entertainment seekers. Someof the greatest creative minds and artists of the eighteenth century wereattracted to this agreeable and versatile musical form. Goethe, himself drawn toLeipzig in part because of its cultural riches and student life, was intrigued bySingspiel. While studying at the university, he frequented performances ofSingspiele, among them Hillers Lisuart und Dariolette which premiered onNovember 25, 1766. Because of its lightness and comic element,Singspielheld aparticular attraction for Goethe, who subsequently wrote numerous Singspiel

texts; one of the most significant examples is his attempt at a sequel to MozartsDie Zauberfltein 1798. Years later, in 1824, the aging Goethe remembered hisstudent days in Leipzig and his encounters with the composer whom he endear-ingly recalled as der gute Hiller.15

Before Hiller decided to devote his life entirely to music after years of diversestudies and musical activities, he like Goethe had engaged in the study of law.He entered the University of Leipzig in 1751. But his love for music had beenwith him since his childhood and he did not fail to spend as much time on it as

he could. Giving music lessons partially helped his financial situation as astudent.16 Hiller also tried his luck at composition although he considered theworks of this early Leipzig period insignificant. His attention was turned more


13 Peiser, Hiller, p. 59. A more recent assessment of Hillers Singspielproduction is to be found in Kyoto Kawada,Studien zu den Singspielen von Johann Adam Hiller (17281804), Ph.D. dissertation, Philipps-Universitt, Marburg an der Lahn, 1969.

14 A slightly earlierSingspielis HillersDie Liebe auf dem Lande. Singspiel in 3 Akten(Love in the Country. Singspielin three acts). The fair copy of the autograph, estimated to be from the year 1768, was on display at the

Dresden exhibition in theLibraryof Congress, April 11July13,1996. SeeMargritB.Krewson (ed.),Dresden.Treasures from the Saxon State Library(Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1996), catalog, item 151, p. 101.15 GoethesSingspieleare numerous. Here is a list of some from the 1770s:

1775 Claudine von Villa Bella(Claudine of Villa Bella)1775 Erwin und Elmire(Erwin and Elmire)1777 Lila(Lila)1777 Der Triumph der Empfindsamkeit(The Triumph of Sensibility)1779 Jery und Bately(Jery and Bately)

The references to Goethe are inGoethes Werke, Vollstndige Ausgabe letzter Hand, vols. X, XI (Stuttgart andTbingen: Cotta, 1828).

16 Johann Adam Hiller, inLebenslufe deutscher Musiker von ihnen selbst erzhlt, ed. Alfred Einstein, vol. I (Leipzig:C. F. W. Siegel, 1915), p. 35, fn. 10. See also Calmus, Die ersten deutschen Singspiele, p. 35.



toward theoretical endeavors and hisfirst attempt at writing about music, hisAbhandlung von der Nachahmung in der Musik, completed in 1753, impressedMarpurg enough to publish it in volume 1 of his Historisch-kritische Beitrge.

Continuing his studies of law at the university, Hiller was encouraged by this suc-cessful enterprise to persevere in his pursuit of musical matters on his own.Essentially Hiller was self-taught in many areas of interest, both in music train-ing and in scholarship. While he lacked thefinancial means to afford a propermusical education himself, he managed to achieve a sufficient level of perfor-mance on the piano,flute, and violin that would allow him to make good use ofit in his future career as composer, teacher, and theorist. However, in his auto-biography, Hiller claimed to have no illusions about the limitations of his playing

skills.17 Likewise his compositional output was, by the standards of his time,modest at best. Yet Hiller was confident of his voice and his accomplishments asa singer. The favorable reputation he had achieved in Leipzig reinforced his pre-occupation with the human voice. Like so many of his contemporaries, he con-sidered it the greatest instrument.

At Leipzig University, the renowned Johann Christoph Gottsched18 andChristian Frchtegott Gellert19 were among Hillers teachers. In 1754, throughthe assistance of Gellert, the young student was appointed to a position as tutor

in the service of the Brhls, an aristocratic family whose residence in Dresdenwas one of the centers for the arts in that city.20 The possibility of studying musicmore thoroughly and the opportunity to come into direct contact with the latestartistic activities were particularly attractive to Hiller. Stimulated by this environ-ment and secure in his modest position, hefinally gave up his studies of law todevote himself completely to music.

Characteristically, Hiller did not pursue music studies with a single goal inmind. A variety of activities attracted him, ultimately leading him to a much

diversified career as an editor, musical director, conductor, composer, critic,


17 Einstein (ed.),Lebenslufe, vol. I, p. 14. Despite this claim, Hiller seemed to have some confidence in his abil-ities as a violinist. He published an instruction manual, the Anweisung zum Violinspielen fr Schler und zumSelbstunterrichte(Leipzig, 1793). This Tutor On Playing The Violin, For Students And Self-instruction indi-cates Hillers general teaching interests and his experience as a self-trained player as well.

18 Johann Christoph Gottsched (170066): German writer and Professor of Philosophy and Poetry at LeipzigUniversity; a key figure of the early German literary Enlightenment and a major theorist and critic, he com-piled a catalogue of German plays from 1450, including those with music.

19 Christian Frchtegott Gellert (171569): he studied philosophy and theology in Leipzig and served from

1745 as Professor of Poetry, Eloquence, and Ethics at Leipzig University. As author and teacher, he washighly esteemed by the intellectuals of his time and even was considered the plus raisonnable de tous lessavants allemands by Frederick the Great.

20 Hiller was in service to Count Heinrich Adolph von Brhl (170063), a nephew of Count Heinrich vonBrhl, the powerful minister of Friedrich August II, the Polish King and Saxon Elector (169663). Being atutor to the younger Brhl, Hiller attended some of the lavishly produced musical performances at the min-isters residence in Dresden, among them several of Hasses operas. The minister is notorious for the enor-mous wealth he accumulated from state funds, with ruinous consequences for Saxonysfinances. With aweakened army, he entered into the calamitous Seven Years War with Prussia (175663), which resulted inirreparable losses for Saxony, including the loss of the Polish crown. Brhls legendary book collection of62,000 volumes was sold by his heirs in 1768 to the Kurfrstliche Bibliothek (Electoral Library) in Dresden,adding to its status as one of thefinest collections in Germany.



theorist, and teacher. While the Seven Years War, which had started in 1756,dampened cultural activities both in Dresden and in Leipzig, Hiller, undeterredby the impact of political events, continued his involvement in music, furthering

his career by establishing important social contacts. Thus, he befriended KarlWilhelm Mller, the future Mayor of Leipzig, who many years later was instru-mental in providing a new facility for Hillers Gewandhaus Conzertein 1781, a mile-stone in the history of public concert performances.

Hiller suffered all his life from headaches and hypochondria, ailments thattime and again interfered with his plans and activities. When his headachesbecame insufferable for a period in 1760, he left Count von Brhls service.Despite his ill health he managed to realize his idea of publishing thefirst weekly

music periodical, theMusikalischer Zeitvertreib, which was brought out by Breitkopf& Hrtel in the same year. However, at the time that this anthology of smallmusical compositions was received with acclaim, Hillers health problems againbecame more acute and forced him to discontinue publication of his innovativeserial.

The real turning point in Hillers career came in 1762 when he was asked toset up a series of subscription concerts which had been discontinued during theSeven Years War. With it came the opportunity to play a major role in Leipzigs

musical life by way of concert activities. In his earlier years in Leipzig, Hiller hadventured into musical composition, writing aPassionskantate, some chorale melo-dies for his teacher Gellert, and a collection of songs dedicated to his canary, adedication made in jest that he withdrew in the second edition.21 Not unawarethat he could not excel in composition save for the laterSingspieleand cognizantthat he also could not compete with such successful peers as C. P. E. Bach, GeorgBenda, and Johann Joachim Quantz,22 Hiller shifted his interest to editing andmusical directorship, compiling the anthology Loisir musical, which included some

piano sonatas. But when he began the new concert series in 1763, opening it witha cantata of his own, he marked the beginning of his most significant career asmusical director and leadingfigure of music life in Leipzig.

Public concerts had a certain tradition in Leipzig, where one of the first groupsto appear in public was theCollegium musicumof the University, a student societywhich had been founded by Georg Philipp Telemann in 1704 when he was astudent of law and modern languages. After Telemanns departure for Sorau,Melchior Hoffmann took over this post in 1704 and devoted himself not only toperformance, but to practice, teaching, and educating the participants as well.23

As it turned out, the foundation for the future conservatory was being laid. Bythe time Johann Sebastian Bach became the Director of theCollegium musicumin


21 Einstein (ed.),Lebenslufe, vol. I, p. 18. 22 Ibid., p. 14.23 Melchior Hoffmann (c.16851715): German composer and conductor, who held the posts of director of

music at the Neue Kirche, the opera, and the Collegium musicum with the exception of a years stay inEngland (171011) until his death.



1729, these concerts were being offered in the coffee houses of Leipzig.24As of1746 there were three such music groups orCollegiaweekly in town, indicatingthe proliferation of these musical activities and the growing interest among the

citys population. One group was directed by the organist of the Neue Kirche,the second by the organist of the Thomaskirche, and the third was under thedirection of the Herren Kaufleute und andere Personen in Drey Schwanen imBrhle.25 This third group became known as theGrosses Conzertand it was thedirect forerunner of theGewandhaus Conzerte.

From the beginning theGrosses Conzertwas a great success. Hiller himself hadpreviously been associated with the organization before he became its new direc-tor. From 1751 to 1754, while studying at the university, he had playedflute and

sung bass in the Grosses Conzert. It is possible that he already at that timeinfluenced the programming and selection of compositions performed, in par-ticular the music of Hasse.26 In addition to heading the Grosses Conzertand includ-ing as much vocal music as possible, Hiller gave private voice lessons to both boysand girls. When the number of students he was teaching grew considerably, heestablished his ownMusikbende Gesellschaft. Several women, respected in the com-munity for their musical talents, joined as harpsichord players and othermembers of the orchestra. Subsequently, thisMusikchorachieved such a high level

of playing that Hiller was able to give concerts with them, and the works heselected became increasingly difficult and demanding. Originally the perform-ances were thought of as rehearsals, but in order to give the group the oppor-tunity to perform in public, Hiller founded another concert series, theConcertsSpirituels. During Advent and Lent, theMusikbende Gesellschaftperformed worksin public which were appropriate to the season. In 1778, owing to a lack of funds,the Grosses Conzertwas forced to stop temporarily, while theMusikbende Gesellschaftcontinued toflourish.

Encouraged by his success as music director and pedagogue, Hiller founded aconservatory for students and amateurs in 1776. A public performance threeyears later achieved much acclaim, and theMusikbende Gesellschaftsoon becameone of the most esteemed groups in Leipzig, and their concerts am Markte inthe Thomashaus were in great demand among the public, as had been theformer concerts in the Drey Schwanen. Lacking, however, was an appropriateconcert hall. Hillers friend theBrgermeisterKarl Wilhelm Mller was able tofulfill the wish for a new facility. In 1781 the new Gewandhaus was completed,


24 For Bachs involvement in theCollegium musicumsee Eberhard Creuzburg,Die Gewandhaus-Konzerte zu Leipzig(Leipzig: Breitkopf & Hrtel, 1931), p. 11. For a more recent account see Christoph Wolff,Bach: Essays onhis Life and Music(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1991), p. 30: Bachs directorship lasted intothe early 1740s. Unfortunately we know nothing of the programs of the ordinary weekly concerts, whichtook place in winter on Friday evenings from eight until ten oclock in the Zimmermann coffee house, andin the summer on Wednesday afternoons from four to six in the coffee garden in front of the GrimmischeTor. 25 Creuzburg,Die Gewandhaus-Konzerte zu Leipzig, p. 12.

26 Arnold Schering,Musikgeschichte Leipzigs in drei Bnden, vol. III,Von 1723 bis 1800, Part II, Das ZeitalterJohann Adam Hillers 17501800 (Leipzig: F. Kistner & C. F. W. Siegel, 1941), p. 401.



and Hiller became itsfirst musical director. He maintained this position until thewinter of 178485 when he was appointed Kapellmeister to the Duke ofCourland. Finally, having returned to Leipzig, Hiller, whofirst assisted Cantor

Doles at the Thomasschule, took over this post in 1789 and held it until ill healthforced his resignation in 1801.Hiller is best remembered for his pivotal contribution to Singspieland in his role

asfirst conductor of theGewandhaus Conzerte, which started a formidable tradi-tion in music making. Another of the lasting effects of Hillers musical activitiesat the Gewandhaus is the concert format that he created after the design usedfor theGrosses Conzert: a two-part program, with an intermission to allow for theaudience to refresh themselves and take in the second part of a concert with

renewed attention and expectations. Both parts of the concert, largely parallelin design, were designed to provide a fairly symmetrical structure. Usually a sym-phony would open part 1, to be followed by a concert aria, a concerto for soloist(violin or piano), an aria from an opera, and some more ensemble playing in adivertissement. After the intermission break, the audience was greeted withanother symphony, another aria and thefinal piece, usually another symphonyfor the entire orchestra. This format served as a model for the programming oftheGewandhaus Conzertefor years to come.27

In public concerts, Leipzig rivaled London and Paris. Most of the audiencecomprised wealthy burghers, merchants, churchmen, civil servants, and artisanswho not only enjoyed listening to music but liked to perform it themselves. Thus,a demand arose for music simple enough for the modestly equipped amateurs toplay in their homes. This type of music Hausmusik became increasinglypopular and widespread. Entire families joined together, practicing and perform-ing, enjoying each others company in the process. Soon they were giving con-certs among themselves and for friends. TheHauskonzertbecame an important

socio-cultural event: A moderately well-to-do comfortable, somewhat educatedGerman burgher family needed music through which to pour the overflow of itsaffections; it wanted to participate in music actively at home, even more thanlisten to it in passive admiration in church or elsewhere.28 Naturally, keyboardinstruments played a major role in Hausmusiktogether with singing. Hausmusiknotonly fosteredGeselligkeit(socializing), it also, as Preuner has remarked, did muchfor the advancement of music: The enrichment of music (Musikpflege) oweseverything to house music and house concerts: it was the basis for a valuablegroup of listeners, for a musically enthusiastic youth, and the seed for musicaltalent.29 While singing was an integral part of most Hausmusik, the German bur-


27 For a discussion of the concert format and examples of programs for the Grosses Concertand the firstGewandhauskonzertof November 25, 1781, seeCreuzburg,Die Gewandhaus-Konzerte zu Leipzig, pp. 18f. and23ff.

28 Arthur Loesser,Men, Women and Pianos(New York: Simon and Schuster, 1954), p. 53.29 Eberhard Preuner, Die brgerliche Musikkultur: Ein Beitrag zur deutschen Musikgeschichte des 18. Jahrhunderts

(Hamburg: Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt A.-G., 1935; 2nd edn., Kassel and Basel: Brenreiter-Verlag, 1950),p. 41: Der Hausmusik, den Hauskonzerten verdankt die Musikpflege alles: den Stamm einer wertvollenHrergemeinde, die musikbegeisterte Jugend, die Keimlegung fr das musikalische Talent.



ghers had to satisfy themselves with such musical forms as theLied rather thanmore sophisticated vocal music owing to their lack of training.30

One of Hillers important contributions toHausmusikwas his successful adap-

tation of foreign styles, above all the Italian. This required transcriptions, andHiller supplied quite a few by reducing available music (often his own) to its basiccomponents and structure so it would be accessible to the educated amateur.Audiences at public concerts or opera desired to take the music home.Consequently there arose a market for piano versions of currently successfulmusic. Since HillersSingspieltunes and melodies had become so popular thatthey were hummed and sung in the city streets or played on the piano at home,the composer hurried, encouraged by his publisher Breitkopf who gladly took

advantage of this trend, to produce pianovocal reductions of his Singspielscores.Lottchen am HofeandDie Liebe auf dem Landedid exceptionally well and wentthrough four editions 2,750 copies altogether withinfifteen years.Die Jagdwas issued immediately in an edition of 2,000 and in two additional editions of1,000 each.31

An equally important contribution to church music occurred while Hiller wasat the Thomasschule. Just as he had used the appeal of theLiedto popularizeGerman opera, he revised and simplified the German chorale. In 1793, his

Allgemeines Choral-Melodienbuch fr Kirchen und Schulenwas published, with two sup-plements appearing in 1794 and 1797. This work, one of Hillers most significantachievements during his years at the Thomasschule, met with considerablesuccess. It was widely read and remained highly influential long after its publica-tion. Again, accessibility and simplification served as guiding principles inHillers attempt to foster improvement and change in the state of singing inGermany. The purpose of theAllgemeines Choral-Melodienbuchwas to train childrento sing chorales in the right manner and, at the same time, provide them with

enjoyment in their own music learning and making. The Allgemeines Choral-Melodienbuchcan be considered as a highpoint in Hillers life-long dedication tothe improvement of singing and his efforts to enhance the German peoplesexperience of music. Here, his pedagogical goal is consistent with the educa-tional objectives that he expounded both in his various singing instructionmanuals, tutors, and treatises for use in schools32 and in his major works, thevocal treatises Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange and Anweisung zummusikalisch-zierlichen Gesange. These two works, published six years apart and oftenreferred to by Hiller as Part I and Part II, comprise his manual on the theory andperformance practice of vocal music, beginning with the elementary tutor inthefirst treatise, and his introduction to the art of ornamentation in the secondtreatise.

Beyond using theLiedand its inherent melodic qualities in hisSingspiele, Hillershowed genuine concern for this popular form and its stylistic features, which, in


30 Loesser,Men, Women and Pianos, pp. 5354. 31 Ibid., pp. 153154. 32 See the works listed in fn. 40.



Germany, were greatly indebted to Italian and French influences. Early in thecentury German anthologists had published, in response to popular demand, anumber ofLiedercollections. By about 1730, however, the word Liedcarried a

negative connotation, while the term ode was much preferred and respected.TheLiedhad come to refer to that kind of song a sort of lower-class ditty which was sung by those who frequented houses of ill repute. Its positionimproved in 1736 with Sperontes collection of songs calledDie singende Muse ander Pleisse, in 2 mahl 50 Oden (The Singing Muse on the Pleisse in 2 Times 50Odes). The author, Johann Sigismund Scholze, using a pseudonym, was appar-ently too embarrassed to employ the wordLiedin the title of his song book. Thesuccess of this Leipzig collection, however, was so great that, as Rebling accounts,

three more supplements appeared by 1745, and thefirst part of the anthologyalone appeared no less thanfive times by 1751.33

When theSingspielbecame more established, Hiller improved upon it by hisinnovative development and use of the Lied. As has been noted above, he not onlygave the characters on stage music appropriate to their social station but, for thefirst time, had ordinary people (peasants, etc.) singing folk songs to the audience.Thus theSingspielleft a significant mark on the development of theLied. Many ofHillersSingspielsongs, with their really tuneful melodies, were light entertain-

ments easily transferable to social gatherings. Perhaps under the influence of hisstage expertise, Hiller created the through-composed Lied(durchkomponiertes Lied).34

This innovation is an example of his attempt to make theLiedmore artful anddemanding while keeping its popular appeal. At the same time, it demonstrateshowHillerfoundpragmaticsolutionsinhisefforttoenrichGermanvocalmusic.35

Song collections grew in popularity, and after 1760 there was a markedincrease in editions.36 These anthologies served all purposes, needs, situations,and walks of life. Hiller even assembled a collection of songs for children to

poems by hisSingspielcollaborator Weisse,50 Geistliche Lieder fr Kinder. In theintroduction to this collection, he states categorically that he prefers the easyand natural singable material to the pompous and artificial.37As always, Hillerwas sensitive to the special needs of his given audience by using appropriate,appealing, and pedagogically sound materials. Trying to make the songs moreattractive to children, he used secular texts instead of the customary chorales andhymns. Altogether, as Rebling states, Hiller felt that This [music education]must already begin in early childhood, and the littleLiedserved this purpose forhim.38 Hiller replaced the Latin that was left in Lutheran church music withmotets and chorales in German. At the Thomasschule he was in charge offifty-


33 Rebling,Die soziologischen Grundlagen, p. 58.34 David C. Taylor and Hiram Kelly Moderwell,The Voice and Vocal Music. The Art of Music, vol. V (New York:

The National Society of Music, 1915), p. 176. 35 Ibid. 36 Loesser,Men, Women and Pianos, p. 55.37 Rebling, Die soziologischen Grundlagen, pp. 7273: Hiller betont in seiner ersten Verffentlichung von

Kompositionen Weiescher Gedichte fr Kinder, da er das leichte und natrliche Singbare demSchwlstigen und Geknstelten vorziehe.

38 Ibid., p. 73. Das mute aber bereits in frhester Jugend beginnen, und zu diesem Zweck diente ihm das

kleineLied.



six pupils and initiated many changes to improve the educational environmentand ease the daily routines of the young students. He freed them from suchchores as fetchingfirewood and water, simplified the dress code, improved their

recreational reading material, and provided them with much-needed medicalcare and an infirmary. He also trained them as instrumentalists so that after afew years he had an entire youth orchestra in addition to the choir at theThomasschule.39

Hiller used his innovative skills as a teacher to educate the general public aboutmusic, placing great emphasis on the instruction of children at an early age forthe improvement of music education.40 Hiller could speak from his own experi-ence as a youngster. In the Preface to his 1774 treatise on correct singing, he

recalled his own singing lessons:In singing I enjoyed instruction, communally along with others, from my twelfth yearonwards, as is usual in schools. To be sure, pitching and rhythm were certainly the goaltowards which we had to run; but the way was so uncertain and uneven that it took muchtime before one learned to go without stumbling. The example of this or that interval,written on the board according to the succession of scale degrees, was always soonlearned; but if one of these intervals should be given out of order, we were like the hon-orable Corporal Trim inTristram Shandy, who knew the fourth Commandment very well;

but only when he could begin with thefirst. Of good use of the voice, of the comfort-able drawing of breath, of a pure and clear pronunciation, however essential these ele-ments of singing were, little or nothing was mentioned.41

Clearly, Hiller critiques an outmoded form of singing instruction that apparentlytaught him many more lessons than intended. His own approach to teachingsinging tried to avoid the pitfalls inherent in the backwardness of German


39 See Peiser,Hiller, pp. 8385. It is interesting to note here that Hillers enlightened efforts to give the pupils

an excellent music education were met with suspicion and resentment by his conservative colleagues andsuperiors. Apparently, his reform-minded activities conflicted with the traditionalists at the Thomasschule,who were concerned about its academic reputation. The Director, Rector Fischer, took the opportunity in1795 to weaken Hillers position. But the Leipzig City Council, functioning as an arbitrator, found amodusvivendito appease the feuding parties that allowed Hiller to continue with many of his reforms. See Peiser,Hiller, pp. 8689.

40 Aside from the above-mentionedAllgemeines Choral-Melodienbuch fr Kirchen und Schulen of 1793, Hiller, inpursuit of his goals as music educator and editor, published widely. Noteworthy are his Letztes Opfer der komi-schen Muse(Leipzig, 1790);Religise Lieder mit Melodien, zum Singen beym Clavier(Hamburg, 1790); and coeditedwith J. A. Hasse, Beitrge zu wahrer Kirchenmusik(Leipzig, 1791). Additional manuals, tutors, and treatisesinclude:Anweisung zur Singekunst in der deutschen und italinischen Sprache, zum Gebrauch der Schulen, mit ausfhrlichenExempeln und bungsstcken versehen (Frankfurt am Main und Leipzig: J. F. Junius, 1773); Exempelbuch derAnweisung zum Singen, zum Gebrauch der Schulen und anderer Liebhaber des Gesanges(Leipzig: J. F. Junius, 1774);Kurzeund erleichterte Anweisung zum Singen, fr Schulen in Stdten und Drfern(Leipzig: J. F. Junius, 1792). Compared tohis more advanced treatises, the Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesangeof 1774 and theAnweisung zummusikalisch-zierlichen Gesangeof 1780, which are more rigorous in their training from beginner to professional,Hiller, once again, exhibits in the 1792 publication his renewed dedication and service to singing educationin schools. Butt observes in his discussion of this concise treatise for school singing: Such are the con-strictions of the school schedule that Hiller seems to have returned to the more traditional format forGerman school treatises (by abandoning the lesson format of the 1774 primer), although particularly inter-esting recommendations on the singing of passages and other directives, above all his choice of examples,indicate his careful blending of tradition with innovation and his sensitivity to the contingencies of his age(Butt,Music Education, pp. 178f.).

41 This passage from Hillers 1774 Vorrede is quoted in Butts translation from hisMusic Education, pp. 167f.



singing that resulted from an unthinking, mechanical attitude to the art, asButt rightly observes.42

Aside from his service as pedagogue, music director, and organizer of con-

certs, Hiller added to his editorial activities the role of music critic, providingcommentary and guidance for his middle-class audience in musical affairs. Heinitiated what was to become his best-known publication, the critical periodicalWchentliche Nachrichten und Anmerkungen die Musik betreffend(Weekly Reports andRemarks Concerning Music), which appeared between 1766 and 1770. Thiswas thefirst music journal, which earned Hiller theflattering title Father ofMusic Criticism.43 In this publication, rather than following the scholarly tradi-tion of treatise writing, Hiller compiled information, review articles, and evalu-

ations which were intended as orientation for his readers interested in the localmusic scene and musical affairs in general.

Hillers activities as reformer and innovator show a remarkable degree of con-sistency. Able to maintain his long-term goals and apply them to the subject thathe dealt with, he set out to modernize conditions in a world that, inspired by theAge of Enlightenment,44 was in the throes of great dynamic changes politicallyand socially. One major aspect of the changing culture was the increased impor-tance of music as a vital means of self-expression for the German middle class.

Leo Balet and E. Gerhard, taking the sociological factor into account, state, withspecific reference to Hillers exemplary achievements: Everywhere musicschools for dilettantes were founded. It would take us too far afield to list eventhe most important ones here. We would like to mention the efforts of JohannAdam Hiller, who strove, with great energy, to improve the level of singing inGermany by means of personal instruction and theoretical works. All these factssuggest that the middle class enriched its emotional culture through music.45

Hillers pioneering aspirations were also devoted to helping women achieve

greater equality in music. Taking the Italian conservatories as models, he notonly set up singing schools for boys and girls but also favored training women insinging, as he was strongly opposed to castration. In his Preface to theAnweisungzum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, Hiller emphatically proposed his new ideals,condemning, at the same time, the injustices suffered by women in the past.46


42 Butt,Music Education, p. 168. 43 Peiser,Hiller, p. 14.44 The effect of the Enlightenment on cultural evolution in the eighteenth century with regard to music has

been summarized aptly by an older source: Paul Henry Lang,Music in Western Civilization(New York: W. W.Norton, 1941), pp. 570579.45 Leo Balet and E. Gerhard,Die Verbrgerlichung der deutschen Kunst, Literatur und Musik im 18. Jahrhundert(Frankfurt

am Main, Berlin, and Vienna: Ullstein Verlag, 1973), p. 392: berall entstanden Musikschulen frLiebhaber. Hier auch nurdiewichtigstenzu nennen, wrde zu weit fhren. Wir wollen nur die Bestrebungenvon Johann Adam Hiller erwhnen, der sich durch persnliche Unterweisung wie durch Bcher energischfr die Hebung des gesanglichen Niveaus in Deutschland einsetzte. Aus allen diesen Tatsachen kann manerkennen, in welchem Mae das Brgertum die Gefhlsbereicherung durch die Musik durchfhrte.

46 Hiller,Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, Preface, pp.40f.below. Hillersyoungest daughter, ElisabethWilhelmine, apparently encouraged and fosteredbyher fathers progressive stance, was reputedlyan accom-plished singer. Married to an official, the geheimer Kammersekretr (secret cabinet secretary) Brde inBreslau (today Wrocl-aw, Poland), she died there on January 10, 1806, only two years after her fathers death.



It was the departure of one of hisfinest female pupils, Gertrud Schmehling(married name Mara), whose position he found so difficult to fill upon her leavingLeipzig, that gave Hiller the impetus to establish a music and singing school for

both male and female singers. His fight for womens rights is indicative of his per-sistence in improving untenable situations and obsolete conditions which prohib-ited middle-class women from most activities outside the domestic realm. Hillersattempt to further women in music shows him to be on the progressive side ofthe German bourgeoisie. His ardent advocacy of the cause of women in musicsuggests that Hiller proposed changes not only for pragmatic reasons (lack of cas-trati in Germany, for example) but also out of the growing conviction thatwomen were endowed with at least equal if not greater vocal abilities than their

male counterparts.47 Consequently, Hiller made significant efforts to providetraining opportunities for women to sing and he deserves full recognition for hissteadfast support of womens musical emancipation.

The ability to show concern and compassion for his fellow citizens won Hillermany friends during his lifetime. Friends, colleagues, students, and acquain-tances were full of praise for a man who was at the center of musical life. JohannFriedrich Rochlitz (17691842), a well-known German critic and founder of theimportant musical reviewAllgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, who knew Hiller person-

ally (as well as Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Goethe, andSchiller among other major figures of the time), began his article In MemoriamJohann Adam Hiller which appeared in theAllgemeine Musikalische Zeitungoneweek after Hillers death in 1804 with a quote by Lessing: Einige sindberhmt, andere verdienen es zu seyn (Some are famous, others deserve tobe).48 Obviously Rochlitz felt that Hiller had not received the fame andacknowledgment which he deserved and, in writing this memorial to him, wasattempting to pay due respect to an accomplished man. He goes on to say that

some people have genius and create because they must, following an inner neces-sity but rarely delivering truly impeccable work, whereas others without thatspecial gift are able, through talent, insight, and diligence, to create works whichare totally their own, and benefit others at the same time. The former becomefamous; the latter do not.49 While not placing him in the category of genius,Rochlitz nevertheless extols Hillers talent and diligence.

Rochlitz knew Hiller to be a very humble man, less taken by his own compo-sitions than by the works of other composers. Although Hiller favored Hasse and


Recognizing Hillers championing of women, Butt observes: His departure from the norms of the conser-vative church/school tradition is shown even more clearly by his advocacy of the musical education ofwomen, who should have every right to sing church music; the fact that it was traditional to exclude womenfrom church music was, in itself, no good reason (Butt,Music Education, p. 167; cf. Preface, p. 41 below).

47 Comparing the God-given talent of men and women to sing, Hiller claims that it is the other sex whichhas received this gift to a greater extent from its creator. See Preface, p. 41 below.

48 [ Johann Friedrich Rochlitz], Zum Andenken Johann Adam Hillers,Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitungno. 51(September 19, 1804), p. 845. This article is printed without an authors name; however, it di ffers onlyslightly from the 1768 article in Rochlitzs Fr Freunde der Tonkunstand can therefore be attributed to Rochlitz.

49 [Rochlitz], Zum Andenken Johann Adam Hillers, p. 845.



Graun throughout his life, he was deeply moved when Mozarts widow came toLeipzig in 1792 with a manuscript of her late husbands Requiem. According toPeiser,50 she brought the manuscript directly to Hiller, who was so impressed by

the magnificence of the music that he, taken with joy and admiration forMozart, immediately prepared a German translation and performed the workin Leipzig.51 Noteworthy here is the fact that Hiller found it necessary to trans-late the Latin text of the Requiem Mass in order to make it accessible to his pre-dominantly protestant audience. A similar event had occurred a few years earlier,when Hiller directed a performance of HandelsMessiahin Berlin on May 19,1786. The oratorio, a great favorite of Hillers, was translated by him fromEnglish into German, but because the most prominent singer was an Italian who

could hardly pronounce German, another translation, this time into Italian, wasnecessary to ensure the proper pronunciation of the text.52

In general, Hillers contemporaries spoke of him in glowing terms. Among hismany admirers was Beethovens teacher, Christian Gottlieb Neefe (174898). Hislong account of his relationship with Hiller overflows with praise and affectionfor a man, teacher, and musician so capable of great warmth and friendship.One of the things Hiller and Neefe had in common was that they both sufferedfrom hypochondria and, in turn, they showed deep compassion for one another:

A closer friendship between Hiller and myself developed out of an affliction, and similarfates usually bring people closer together.

Now that I have mentioned Hiller again, I feel duty bound to write about him in moredetail. Where can onefind a music lover who does not know and adore this intelligent,tasteful and sensitive composer, this musical Gellert! and where can one meet an ingeni-ous performing artist who does not value him! I have never seen such all-out patronageof his art as practiced by him. He used his financial means and exhibited the mostglowing fervor in subsidizing young talent, helping it develop and promoting it.

It is this man, then, more than any other, to whom I owe a debt of gratitude. He is thewellspring of my better musical knowledge, though I have never been subjected to histeaching in an organized manner. But his conversations about musical matters, the sug-gestions regarding my work, his readiness to supply me with thefinest examples and topoint out their most exquisite beauties as well as the stimulation of further interest bysuch books as for instance, Humes Grundstze der Kritik [An Enquiry into HumanUnderstanding] and SulzersTheorie[der schnen Knste], wherein art was dealt with alongpsychological lines of thought, all this did me more good than any formal instruction

might have done.

53

Neefes affectionate appraisal of Hiller vividly portrays a major musicalfigurewho gained the status of model and friend in many peoples lives. It is an assess-ment which points to the exceptional qualities of a man who played suchdiverse roles in the musical life of Germany. As a teacher he was the most


50 Peiser,Hiller, p. 94. 51 [Rochlitz], Zum Andenken Johann Adam Hillers, p. 857.52 Peiser,Hiller, pp. 6364.53 Paul Nettl,Forgotten Musicians(New York: Greenwood Press Publishers, 1951), Part II,Five Eighteenth Century

Musicians as They Saw Themselves: The Life of Christian Gottlieb Neefe, pp. 253254.



notablefigure in German music education during the latter half of the eight-eenth century.54 Hiller was skilled as innovator and educator, initiator andmediator, patron and participant, and as close friend and selfless colleague.

Being personable and generous, he affected others decisively, bringing out thebest in them.To sum up his importance for eighteenth-century German music, there can

be little doubt that among Hillers greatest assets was his ability to foster themusical development of the middle class. Hiller, who spent much of his careeroutside the traditional church and school establishment,55 employed his manytalents to contribute significantly to the process of change by which his own socialclass assimilated and transformed the musical legacies of the past that had been

dominated by privilege and high station. He helped to give vocal music a morepopular appeal while, at the same time, appropriating principles and traditionsthat engendered high standards of performance.

In writing his singing treatises, Hiller examined vocal music from both a practi-

cal and a pedagogical point of view. Having gained considerable insight into thestate of singing in Germany from his experience as singer and teacher, he stroveto improve both the conditions and the teaching of singing with hisAnweisung zummusikalisch-richtigen Gesangein 1774. This Treatise on Vocal Performance andTechnique is a tutor concerned with the basics: the acquisition of the elemen-tary knowledge and skills of musicianship, harmony, theory, and performancetechnique as a singer. Clearly, Hiller had general instructional purposes in mind.His second treatise, theAnweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, considered by

Hiller as a sequel to the earlier tutor, was to elaborate on performance practiceand present a manual on the intricate art offine singing and ornamentation. Asa master teacher, Hiller displays his knowledge of thefinesse with which singersembellish music. At the same time, he offers his pedagogical insights into themeans by which the student can go beyond basic musicianship and master theintricacies of ornamentation. In publishing this treatise in 1780, six years havingelapsed since the appearance of Part I, Hiller fulfilled his innermost wish to useand modify the established system of ornamentation with the goal of creating amodel by which German singers could emulate the accomplishments of theItalians.

In the Preface to the 1774 Treatise on Vocal Performance and Technique,Hiller allies himself with the tradition of the great masters of vocal and perfor-mance practice such as Tosi, Agricola, Marpurg, and Mattheson. He laments thesubstandard singing in Germany, points out the excellence of Italian standardsof singing and teaching, and begins to suggest how the Germans could raise the


54 Butt,Music Education, p. 167. 55 Ibid.



level of singing in their country. Although Hiller speaks with unmistakable frus-tration about the state of things in vocal music, his treatise displays a positive atti-tude of encouragement and motivation. In a most logical and organized manner,

he teaches beginning singers to become knowledgeable musicians by offeringthem detailed instructions on how to sing and to practice. In addition, he definesand introduces concepts and exercises leading to thefine art of ornamentation.Already in Lesson 1, Hiller introduces two of the most essential ornaments, theappoggiatura and trill, so that the student is made aware of and begins to learnthese difficult but important elements of advanced singing early on. Clearly,Hiller wants the student to start cultivating these necessary techniques in thefirststages of training, thereby reaching for the highest levels of singing as soon as the

basics are in place. Lesson 13, then, is devoted in its entirety to the importanceofpassaggiand the difficult patterns that comprise them.

While this tutor is revealing of Hillers pedagogy and sensible approach tothe development of good musicians and singers, its scope is naturally limitedto the fundamentals of both the basic and the advanced levels of singing. Part II,theAnweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange(1780), goes far beyond the elemen-tary aspects and offers a sophisticated and comprehensive method of perfor-mance practice in the late eighteenth century.

The format of the 1780 Anweisungor Treatise on Vocal Performance andOrnamentation follows the tradition of musical treatises of the eighteenthcentury and offers a sequence of chapters rather than lessons. More specifically,the body of this treatise or Part II is divided into two main sections: the first threechapters briefly review the elements of singing, dealing with The Quality of theHuman Voice and its Improvements; On Good Performance with Regard toText and Music. The second section, chapters 48, delves into the actual subjectmatter of performance practice: ornamentation,passaggi, cadenzas, and arbi-

trary variations. Whereas his predecessors, such as Tosi and Agricola, were richin technical detail, Hiller simplified the presentation of this intricate material andmade the complexities of ornamentation more accessible. Numerous well-chosen musical examples illustrate the theoretical points. For the most part,Hillers treatment of the material is straightforward and clear, although every sooften both language and style become convoluted and laborious.56 However,unlike his predecessors who elaborate with scholarly rigor and abundant detail,Hiller communicates his insights despite his wordiness with pedagogical sensibil-ity and understanding for the psychology of the learning process.

One of the characteristic features in this treatise is Hillers inclination toprovide aesthetic speculation and critical judgment along with theory. In accor-dance with his views on music, its essence and mission, he treats ornamentationas an integral part of the musical process rather than an art in itself. Following


56 Hillers style and manner of presentation didfind criticism. Butt (Music Education, pp. 177f.) lists G. F. Wolf,who in hisUnterricht in der Singekunst(Halle, 1784)finds Hillers treatise too expansive and rambling, whileJ. F. Reichardt complains about not enough order or conciseness and also verbosity.



the direction of Tosi and Agricola and, to a great extent, preserving the Baroqueconcept and tradition of performance practice and ornamentation, Hillers trea-tises nevertheless represent a changed historical situation. His music aesthetic

and sensibility reflect the aspirations, priorities, and tastes of the new culturalclass that increasingly takes control of musical life in the late eighteenth century.Considering the virtues and accomplishments of his two vocal treatises, mostnotably theAnweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, Hillers task seems to havebeen to adapt the elaborate and sophisticated art of singing and ornamentationof theancien rgimeto the tastes of the middle class for whom he wanted to pre-serve and further a rich legacy by reconsidering and reappropriating its essentialelements. It seems to follow that Hiller had to work so diligently to improve the

state of singing in Germany: in order to deliver the excellence of a past era tothe present the conditions for a successful reception and assimilation had to befostered.

The following summary of the most significant aspects of theAnweisung zummusikalisch-zierlichen Gesangewill reveal Hillers congenial concept of performancepractice and his intention to stimulate new levels of mastering the fine art ofsinging. Hillers treatise is important to performers today because of the invalu-able insights it provides into historic performance practices.

Declamation

In the Italian virtuoso tradition, declamation57 was a practical skill which placedgreat stress on ornamentation, and, at the same time, drew upon gesture forsupport. The Germans, as indicated by Christian Gottfried Krause,58 found itmore desirable to be able to understand words set to music rather than to bemerely entertained by sound. For Hiller, whose aim was to improve the level of

singing in Germany, declamation was of primary concern because of the intri-cate relationship between music and text. Since the Italian style set the standardfor vocal music, Hiller, as a pedagogue and teacher, sensed that a comparablenational style could succeed only if both the singer and the composer observedthe characteristics of the German language in their musical endeavors.Nevertheless, he recommended learning Italian and becoming familiar with theItalian virtuoso style, while believing that the Germans could successfullydevelop a style of their own which would utilize the elements indigenous to theGerman language. The advance of the Singspiel, which Hiller helped to establish,increased the importance of declamation by shifting the focus from the aria withitsflorid style to a more folk-like andLied-oriented type of singing in which the


57 For additional information see the article Deklamation inDie Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, ed.FriedrichBlume (Kassel and Basel: Brenreiter-Verlag, 1954), vol. III, pp. 101114.

58 Christian Gottfried Krause,Von der Musikalischen Poesie(Berlin: Johann Friedrich Voss, 1753); facsimile edn.(Kassel: Brenreiter Verlag, 1973). Hiller also points out what little training there was in some basics con-cerning good voice production, clean and clear pronunciation, smooth breathing, which is nowherethought of, though everything depends on it.



words were more prominent. It is in this context that Hiller devotes an entirechapter to declamation and its impact upon both unembellished and orna-mented music.

While Tosi and Agricola are aware of the importance of declamation, theydo not devote separate chapters to this subject. However, we can assume thatthey would have recommended good placement, as they discuss variousaspects of diction and pronunciation in their chapters on the placement ofornaments andpassaggi, giving examples of the syllables upon which ornamen-tation is inappropriate. Furthermore, they direct the singer away from merebravura practices and emphasize the projection of affect through well-placedornamentation, i.e. essential and arbitrary ornaments, which indicate respec-

tively those that are required and others left to the discretion of the performer.To both Tosi and Agricola, skillful ornamentation was an important means ofachieving proper declamation. Like his contemporary Rellstab,59 Hiller was anadmirer of the Italian art of singing. But he realized that the brilliant Italianvocal style could not be duplicated in the German language because of itsdifferent sound structures and indigenous characteristics. Moreover, theGermans lacked the talent and training of the Italian virtuosi. Considering thestate of singing in Germany, and recognizing the taste of a predominantly

middle-class audience, Hiller saw the need for a style that would negotiatebetween sophistication and simplicity. The shift from the brilliant Italian style tothe proposed German style was intended to stay within the declamation princi-ples of the German language while, at the same time, reflecting a modificationin aesthetic priorities, particularly by curtailing virtuosity for its own sake. Forboth Rellstab and Hiller,Affektenlehretook on the meaning of proper andfittingdiction.

In discussing basic elements of speech, such as punctuation, meter, and

accent, Hiller points out their importance for the articulation of meaning in lan-guage, stressing the notion that musical phraseology should reflect and enhancethese structuring principles.60 Hiller, like Rellstab, emphasizes that it is the com-posers task to be observant of the patterning principles of language in his com-positions. But in thefinal analysis both theorists point out that it is the good tasteand musical sense of the performer which supplant any formal rules.61 Likewisemeter, which organizes long or stressed and short or unstressed syllables, requiresthe singer to make the music follow the rhythmic qualities of the text. Hiller is inagreement with other eighteenth-century theorists, such as Mattheson andMarpurg, and refers the singer to their detailed discussions of meter.


59 Johann Karl Friedrich Rellstab,Versuch ber die Bereinigung der musikalishcen und oratorischen Deklamation(Berlin:Im Verlag der Musikhandlung und Musikdruckerey des Verfassers, 1786).

60 For a general discussion of punctuation in music and language see Leonard Ratner, Eighteenth CenturyTheories of Musical Period Structure,Musical Quarterly42 (1956), pp. 439454.

61 Rellstab, for example, writes: Hard and fast rules about this matter cannot be supplied even by the verybest masters. Experience, a trained ear, and afine sense of rhythm will therefore take the place of all rules(Frmlich festgesetzte Regeln lassen sich auch wohl von den besten Meistern hierber nicht geben.

Erfahrung, ein gebtes Ohr, und ein gutes rhythmisches Gefhl werden fglich die Stelle aller Regeln ver-treten knnen) (Rellstab,Versuch, p. 15).



Accent is an essential means of modifying the voice. Using the terminologypresented in Jean-Jacques RousseausDictionnaire de Musiqueand Johann GeorgSulzersAllgemeine Theorie der schnen Knste, Hiller elaborates on the importance

of accent, distinguishing, like his predecessors, three types: grammatical, orator-ical, and pathetic. The grammatical accent differentiates between long and shortsyllables and, according to Hiller, lingers somewhat on the long syllable, whichin musical terms means that it takes up the long part of the beat or falls on thedownbeat. The oratorical accent, which Rousseau also calls the logical accent,emphasizes the meaning of speech through the structuring and patterning ofword and sentence intonation. In this it comes close to the pathetic accent,through which speech expresses emotion by various fluctuations of tone, the

raising or lowering of pitch, and the change in tempo of speech. While the gram-matical and oratorical accents organize the syntactical and the logical parts ofspeech, the pathetic accent has an emotive and expressive function. FollowingSulzers notion that music has greater power to modify the affects than does lan-guage, Hiller feels that the singer must go further than the composer in express-ing, through swellings and mutings of the voice, that which the composer cannotindicate. In cases where a composer disregards rules of prosody, Hiller calls uponthe singer to make impromptu decisions to improve upon the perceived imper-

fections of the compositions, or even to correct obvious mistakes by the com-poser.62 Typical for the Age of Enlightenment, Hiller envisions an educatedsinger, well versed in history, mythology, and languages, to convey meaningfullythe texts that he or she performs.

Essential ornaments

For Hiller, like his predecessors Tosi, Agricola, Quantz, C. P. E. Bach, and

Marpurg, ornamentation is a quintessential part of musical performance.63There were two major categories of ornaments, the essential and the arbitrary.The essential consisted of the appoggiatura (and the double appoggiatura), thetrill, and the turn, which all had to be performed in particular places in the musicwhether they were indicated or not. The arbitrary ornaments, namely themordent,Nachschlag, arpeggio, and vibrato, were left to the discretion of the per-former. Coming at the end of a long tradition, Hiller reflects upon the customsand discusses the uses of ornaments while recording, in detail, their diverse func-tions. Although he affirms the need for ornamentation, Hiller realizes that orna-ments are the result of musical development and thereby not an absolute given.They have become a necessity through tradition: ornaments are not essential tothe melody but are rather arbitrary embellishments which, for our taste, have


62 Hiller,Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, p. 27; p. 67 below.63 Hiller, the pedagogue, incorporated ornamentation into his teaching instruction at a very early stage. His

1774 treatise on Richtigkeit introduces trills right away in Lesson 1 and again in Lesson 12, while Vorschlgeappear in Lesson 7. As Butt notes: it is remarkable how many ornamental devices are presented. Also,

certain elements of ornamentation are relevant even at a comparatively early stage, before Zierlichkeit isofficially introduced. (Music Education, pp. 174f.)



become a necessity.64 By linking ornamentation to historical development,Hiller is aware that musical conventions play an important role in performancealthough musical taste may shift. Because he favored a musical style that incor-

porated principles of Enlightenment aesthetics, Hiller espoused a concept ofornamentation that reflects the ideal of simplicity. Hence he seeks to provide aframework within which to apply ornaments with skill and taste, effectively lim-iting excessive or abusive use of ornaments by the performer.

Hillers attitude toward ornamentation and its application reflects the shift ofcontrol from singer to composer. In Tosis time, the performer in Italy was atmuch greater liberty to place ornaments according to the established rules ofperformance practice. Hiller, aware of the less favorable conditions for training

singers in Germany, is concerned that not all singers are skilled enough to orna-ment according to tradition. Thus he suggests, like Agricola before him, thatcomposers not only indicate ornaments but also notate them in large notes sothat there can be no question about note values.65A noticeable change in per-formance practice has taken place here. For Tosi it was unusual even to give signsfor appoggiaturas, whereas Agricola defends the composers right to write outappoggiaturas (at least changeable or long appoggiaturas).66 This shift in attitudeis a further illustration of the increased limitations placed on the performer in

ornamenting by the likes of Agricola, Quantz, and Hiller. While the change doesnot reflect any alteration in the actual performance of the ornaments themselves,it serves as an indication of a growing trend among German theorists to abridgethe freedom of the performer. What Agricolafinds so lamentable, namely thetendency among singers to take too many liberties and have an inflated sense ofself, is made fun of in Benedetto MarcellosIl teatro alla moda, a satirical treatmentof the state of affairs in early eighteenth-century opera. With regard to theimbalances caused by the vanity of the singers vis--vis the composer, Marcello

writes: Whenever the composer walks in the company of virtuosos, and espe-cially castrati, he should let them walk on the right side; he should carry his hatin his hand and stay one pace behind, remembering that the lowest of them, inthe opera, represent at least a general or captain in the kings or queens guard.67


64 Hiller,Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, pp. 34f; p. 72 below.65 Hiller,Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, p. 40; p. 76 below.66 It is of interest here that Agricola, unlike Tosi who attacks those who indicate ornaments, defends this

common practice among German composers, acknowledging the need to indicate appoggiaturas in small

notes. In addition, Agricola remarks in jest that there should almost be warning signs where notto placeappoggiaturas in order to prevent excesses by the glamor-seeking virtuosi of his time. The differencebetween Tosi and Agricola also illustrates a distinction between the Italian habit of relying on conventionsof ornamentation and the need on the part of the German theorists to provide stricter guidelines due, inlarge part, to the lack of familiarity with these conventions and perfo

treatise on vocal performance and ornamentation by johann adam hiller (cambridge musical texts and...

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