Bernhard Joachim Hagen (born April 1720 in or near Hamburg (?); died December 9, 1787 in Ansbach) was a German composer, violinist and lutenist. He was the last important composer of lute music in 18th century Germany. Hamburg from above Hamburgs motto: May the posterity endeavour with dignity to conserve the freedom, which the forefathers acquired. ... December 9 is the 343rd day (344th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1787 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Ansbach, or Anspach, originally Onolzbach, is a town in Bavaria, Germany. ... The lute is a plucked string instrument with a fretted neck and a deep round back. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ...

Life

Little is known about his youth, but he obviously grew up in a musical family: his brother Peter Albrecht Hagen (also called Peter Albert van Hagen, 1714 - September 12, 1777) studied the violin with Francesco Geminiani, learned to play the lute and organ, and was organist in Rotterdam. There are several transcriptions of Geminiani's violin works for lute by J.B. Hagen extant. September 12 is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years). ... Year 1777 (MDCCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... Francesco Geminiani (December 5, 1687 – September 17, 1762), Italian violinist, composer, and music theorist, was born at Lucca. ... A medieval era lute. ... Organ in Katharinenkirche, Frankfurt am Main, Germany Modern style pipe organ at the concert hall of Aletheia University in Matou, Taiwan The organ is a keyboard instrument with one or more manuals, and usually a pedalboard. ... Rotterdam Location Coat of arms The coat of arms reads Sterker door Strijd, i. ...

The younger Bernhard Joachim Hagen must have learned to play lute and violin early too, for in 1737 he was already employed as an assistant to Bayreuth violin virtuoso and Kapellmeister Johann Pfeiffer; later he was listed officially as a court violinist. He kept this position at the Bayreuth and later the Ansbach court until his death. Adam Falckenhagen and Charles Durant (Carol Duranowski), also called to the Bayreuth court by Wilhelmine of Bayreuth, may have further trained him in playing the lute. The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. ... Bayreuth [pronounced by-royt] is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Frankish Alb and the Fichtelgebirge. ... A Kapellmeister is nowadays the director or conductor of an orchestra or choir. ... Adam Falckenhagen (1697 to 1761) was a German lutenist / composer of the Baroque. ... Friederike Sophie Wilhelmine, Princess of Prussia (Berlin, July 3, 1709 - Bayreuth, October 14, 1758), was a daughter of Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia. ...

In 1745, Hagen married Anna Fikentscher (born in Bayreuth; died May 22, 1789 in Ansbach). During 1760/1761 he visited his brother in Rotterdam and there gave five concerts from November till March. May 22 is the 142nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (143rd in leap years). ... 1789 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Rotterdam Location Coat of arms The coat of arms reads Sterker door Strijd, i. ...

Works

Although Hagen was employed at the Bayreuth court as a violinist, his virtuoso lute performances and his compositions for lute were known and appreciated. He is one of the most important composers for lute in the era following Sylvius Leopold Weiss, and far more important than his teachers Falckenhagen and Durant. His style is shaped by the Empfindsamkeit and the beginning of the Sturm und Drang period. Through margravine Wilhelmine's efforts, lute music flourished in the eighteenth century one last time before being rediscovered in the 20th century. There are thirty-three known compositions by Bernhard Joachim Hagen found in the Staats- und Stadtbibliothek Augsburg: Sylvius Leopold Weiss. ... Sturm und Drang (literally: storm and stress) was a Germany literary movement that developed during the latter half of the 18th century. ... Graf is a German noble title equal in rank to a count or an earl. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999...

• 12 Sonatas for Lute solo
• 6 Trios for Lute, Violin and Violoncello
• 2 Lute concerti
• 1 Duo for two Lutes
• 1 Duo for Lute und Violin
• Many Lute arrangements of compositions by Geminiani, Locatelli, Arne, and others.

The facsimile editions of Hagen's solo lute sonatas (1983) and chamber works (1984) have been published by Joachim Domning for the Roman Trekel Musikverlag. Pietro Antonio Locatelli (September 3, 1695–March 30, 1764) was an Italian composer and violinist. ... Thomas Augustine Arne (1710-March 5, 1778) was an English composer, best known for the popular patriotic song, Rule Britannia, which is still frequently sung, notably at the Last Night of the Proms; and also his musical settings of songs from the plays of William Shakespeare. ...

There are two excellent CD recording of Hagen's sonatas by the lutenist Robert Barto:

• Joachim Bernhard Hagen, Solo Works for Lute: Five Sonatas, Locatelli Variations (Naxos 8.554200)
• Bernhard Joachim Hagen, Sonate à Liuto solo (Symphonia Sy98164)

Some of Hagen's works listed in the 1769 Breitkopf catalog (these have no concordances in Augsburg manuscripts) are presumed missing. Breitkopf & Härtel is the worlds oldest music publishing house. ... Augsburg is a city in south-central Germany. ...

Influence

The lute sonatas of Roman Turovsky-Savchuk (a contemporary lutenist-composer) were written in homage to Hagen. Roman Turovsky-Savchuk Roman Turovsky-Savchuk is a painter and lutenist-composer. ...

Literature & Sources

• Ernst Ludwig Gerber: Historisch-biographisches Lexicon der Tonkünstler, Teil 1. (1790)
• Rainer Trübsbach: Geschichte der Stadt Bayreuth. Druckhaus Bayreuth (1993)
• Robert Barto: Bernhard Joachim Hagen, Sonate à Liuto solo CD Booklet (1999)
• Per Kjetil Farstad: "Bernhard Joachim Hagen (1720-87): Some New Biographical Information," in: The Lute. Journal of the Lute Society, Vol. 40 (2000), p. 1-11.