Augustus Frederic Christopher Kollmann

Augustus Frederick Christopher Kollmann ( born March 21, 1756 in Engelbostel, today Langenhagen, † April 19, 1829 in London ) was an organist, theorist and composer.

Origin

Kollmann comes from a musical family: his father was an organist and teacher in Engelbostel, his son George Augustus Kollmann (* 1789) was a composer and pianist. Kollmann himself learned in Hanover with Johann Christian Boettner (1731-1800) playing the organ and settled here by the music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) inspired.

Life and work

Kollmann was appointed in 1784 as a teacher and clerk at the German municipality to London. Here he took over in 1792 the post of organist at the German Chapel of King George III. (1736-1820) from the House of Hanover (His Majesty 's German Chapel at St. James ). Through the ties of kinship between the since 1714 in London reigning House of Hanover and the Kingdom of Hanover was a lively cultural exchange between the two kingdoms and many German musicians such as George Frideric Handel emigrated to England.

In 1796, Kollmann published his first work, " An Essay on Musical Harmony ". This was followed by numerous other music-theoretical treatises and partly practical textbooks. His treatises are still considered fundamental to the understanding of Bach's work in particular. While his music-theoretical treatises are rezipiert still, his compositions are largely forgotten.