Schürer, Johann Georg

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Schürer, Johann Georg

Schürer, Johann Georg, prominent German composer; b. probably in Raudnitz, Bohemia, c. 1720; d. Dresden, Feb. 16, 1786. He settled in Dresden about 1746, where he first gained notice as composer and music director of an opera troupe at the Zwinger; in 1748 he was made Kirchencompositeur to the court, a position he held with distinction until his retirement in 1780. His mastery of contrapuntal writing is revealed in his numerous sacred compositions, which include the oratorios II Figliuol Prodigo (1747), Isacco figura del Redentore (1748), and La Passione di Jesu Christo (n.d.), and various masses and Psalms. He also wrote the operas Astrea placata ovvero La felicità della terra (Warsaw, Oct. 7, 1746), La Galatea (Dresden, Nov. 8, 1746), L’Ercole sul Termodonte (Dresden, Jan. 9, 1747), Doris (Dresden, Feb. 13, 1747), and Calandro (Dresden, Jan. 20, 1748), and 7 cantatas.

Bibliography

R. Haas, J.G. S. (1720–1786): Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Musik in Dresden (Dresden, 1915).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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