Molter, Johann Melchior
Molter, Johann Melchior
Molter, Johann Melchior, German composer; b. Tiefenort, near Eisenach, Feb. 10, 1696; d. Karlsruhe, Jan. 12, 1765. As a composer, he was typical of his Saxon contemporaries; he attended the Gymnasium in Eisenach, the same institution where Bach had studied earlier. His instrument was the violin, and it was as a violinist that he found employment with a succession of margraves. Like Bach, he was fertile and fathered 8 children. He was even more prolific as a composer than the 2 other great Saxons, Bach and Handel. He wrote something like 170 chamber syms. and is credited with 66 instrumental concertos, not to mention religious works. He traveled to Italy, where he perfected his art of virtuoso instrumental writing. He lived sufficiently long to be impressed by the elegant style of French Rococo music, and some of his works may be described as Gallic.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis Mclntire