A small clutch of Schreivogel manuscripts

Monday, November 6, 2017

Thanks to a recent article by Michael Talbot, the RISM database has a nice, small collection of seven works by Johann Friedrich Schreivogel (born ca. 1690, fl. 1707–1749). Schreivogel’s known works consist of two, maybe three sonatas and three concertos at the Sächsische Landesbibliothek - Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek (SLUB) in Dresden, and one sonata at the Hargrove Music Library of the University of California, Berkeley. The Berkeley manuscript was previously incorrectly attributed to Filippo Maria Dreyer.

Biographical information about Schreivogel is thin, but he might have been born in Switzerland. In any case, he spent his career as a violinist in Milan and he was known as “Il Tedeschino” (see image). The connection to Dresden comes through the copyist Johann Georg Pisendel, who was in Venice in 1716-1717 and subsequently added 6 Schreivogel pieces to the Dresden Court’s music collection (the famed Schrank II). Schreivogel encountered Johann Joachim Quantz in 1726 (who recorded that he was Swiss) and the date of composition of the Berkeley sonata dates from around 1740 at the latest. It is unknown when Schreivogel died.

Four of the SLUB’s Schreivogel manuscripts are online–see the RISM database for the links–so if you are curious you can examine the music to investigate his musical style, which has noticeable echoes of Vivaldi.

The full article can be found in: Michael Talbot, “Certainly Milanese, possibly Swiss: the violinist and composer Johann Friedrich Schreivogel (fl. 1707–1749).” Schweizer Jahrbuch für Musikwissenschaft 34/35 (2014/2015): 41-68.

Image: Attribution to Schreivogel on a manuscript: del Sig. Giov Federico | Schraifoghel detto | il Tedeschino. Concerto in D minor, held at the SLUB Dresden. D-Dl Mus.2808-O-2 (RISM ID no. 212003076).

Category: New at RISM