DICTIONARY OF MUSIC - El Atril

562 KEISER KELLEY
year(1709)heconiposed eightoperas, married the
daughter of a Hamburg patrician, and musician
to the municipality 'Oldenburg,' and having
completely reinstated his affairs, plunged into
all his former extravagant indulgence. In
1716 he resumed his concerts ;
was at the court
of Stuttgart from 1719 to 1721; in 1722 visited
Copenhagen and was appointed capellmeister
to the King of Denmark ; in 1728 was made
cantor and canon of the Hamburg cathedral, and
again turned his attention to sacred music. He
composed operas up to the year 1738, and died
Sept. 12, 1739. His wife and daughter are
said to have been accomplished singers.
Keiser exercised an important though not a
permanent influence on German opera. The
perfection to which at first he raised the opera
at Hamburg speedily degenerated into mere
outward show and trivial if not vulgar farce ;
but the sensation he produced at first is de-
scribed by his contemporaries as extraordinary.
Mattheson, who was not likely to exaggerate the
successes of a rival, in his life-like picture of the
musical condition of Hamburg, calls Keiser the
first dramatic composer in the world, and says
that no other music than that of ' dieser galante
Componist ' was
either sung or listened to.
[See his Musikalische Patriot for list of operas
given in Hamburg, and Mattheson's other books
for criticism on his music. Keiser contributed
some remarks to llattheson's Xeu-eroffnetes
Orchester.'\ His melodies were smooth and
graceful, and fell upion the ear ' like charmed
siccents after the duU pedantries of the contrapuntists
of the day.' That his melody was
spontaneous his facility itself proves, and he
was the first who endeavoured to convey the
sentiment of the character in the music. This
was the secret of his success, and it was by this
that he enabled German opera to hold its
own against the declamation of the French, and
the melody and fine singing of the Italians. In
sacred music he shines chiefly in oratorio, which
he treated dramatically, but with an earnestness
and dignity surprising in a man of his character.
In judging Keiser in this department we must
not forget that Bach's Passions, and Handel's
Oratorios were then not known, scarcely even
composed ; yet notwithstanding his want of
models, his works compare favourably with the
insipid sacred music of the latter half of the
18 th century, produced under far greater
advantages than were open to him. His sacred
compositions include ' Der fiir die Siinde der
Welt gemarterte und sterbende .lesus,' 1712 ;
'Der verurtheilte und gekreuzigte Jesus,' pub-
a
lished 1715 (poem by Brockes of Hamburg) ;
Passion according to St. Mark, and other
historical oratorios, motets, cantatas, and
psalms. He published extracts from the two
first-named works, viz. ' Auserlesene Soliloquia '
(1714), and 'SeligeErlosungs-Gedanken'(1715)
airs from various operas, cantatas for a single
voice, and several vocal collections with various
titles, such as ' Gemiithsergi>tzung ' (1698);
' Divertimenti serenissimi ' (1713); 'Musika-
' Kaiserliche Friedens-
lische Landlust '(1714);
post ' (1715), etc. Important portions of his
operas and sacred works have been published by
Lindner, in his Ersie stehencle deatsche Oper, ii.
3-15 ; Eeissmann, in his Ally. Geschichte der
Musil; iii. 54-73 and App. Nos. 7 and 8 ; and
von Winterfeld in his Enrmjclische Kirchengesang,
vol. iii. Examples are also to be found
The Age
in the Oxford History of Music, vol. iv. ,
of Bach and Handel. Adam Hiller included an
unaccompanied motet—
' Kindlich gross '—in
his Vierstimmige Motetten, etc. vol. ii. ; and
there is a fugue for four voices, ' Gott ist offenbaret,'
in the Ausicahl rorzuglicher Musikv:erke.
A full catalogue of his works is in the Vierteljahrsschrift,
vol. vi. pp. 196-203, and a condensed
list in the QutUen-Lexil-on. a. m.
KELER BELA, whose real name was Albert
vox Kelee, was born at Bartfeld in Hungary,
Feb. 13, 1820. After attempting both the law
and farming he settled himself to music, and in
1845 began regular study at Vienna under
Schlesinger and Sechter, playing the fiddle in
the band of the Theatre ' an der "Wien ' at the
same time. May 7, 1854, he took the command
of Gung'l's band in Berlin, and began his career
as conductor, solo player, and composer. After
a few months in Berlin he returned to Vienna,
and succeeded to Lanner's position at the head
of that celebrated band in 1855. This again
he left in 1856 for an infantry regiment. As
bandmaster to the latter he was called to
"Wiesbaden in 1863, and in 1870 became
capellmeister of the Kur orchestra there, a
post which he resigned from ill-health in 1872.
He celebrated his silver anniversary on May 7,
1879. He died at "Wiesbaden, Xov. 20, 1882.
His works, which reach op. 130, consist of
overtures, dance music, and pieces for solo
violin, all distinguished for showy, brilliant
style and clever orchestration. Among the most
popular are his Hoffnungssterne waltz. Hurrah-
Sturm galop, and Friedrich-Karl march. G.
KELLER, Godfrey, a musician settled in
London near the end of the 17th century. In
conjunction with Godfrey Finger he produced A
set of Sonatas in Jive Partsfor Flutes and Hautboys.
He was a teacher of music, and died before 1707.
"With this date John Cullen issued an engraved
folio, A Complete Method for Attaining to Play a.
Thorough-Bass upon either Organ, Harpsicord, or
Theorlo Lute, by the late famous Godfrey Keller.
This, in its day, was a gi-eatly esteemed work, and
in 1731 it was reprinted in full, with corrections
as an appendix to Holder's Treatise on Harmony.
T. K.
KELLEY, Edgar Stillman, an American
composer and writer on musical subjects, was
born at Sparta, AVisconsin, /"dpI 14, 1857. He
was a pupil, first, of F. "W. MBiriam, from 1870