Biography
After completing his training under Kirnberger in Berlin, Schulz embarked on wide-ranging journeys in the dual capacities of accompanist and instructor. Upon returning, he collaborated with Kirnberger on theoretical writings and assumed leadership of the French theater in Berlin. When he fell from favor there in 1787, Schulz moved to Copenhagen and quickly became the focal point of its musical community. Serving as court Kapellmeister and director of the Royal Theater, he mounted productions that addressed contemporary social concerns surrounding land reform and established a pension fund for musicians’ widows. His most enduring achievement lay in the lied. By drawing texts from the foremost poets of his day, he achieved settings of notable expressive power rather than mere competence. In his theoretical writings Schulz articulated an aesthetic in which music and poetry formed an indivisible whole, each supporting the other without one overshadowing it; music was to clarify the poem’s meaning while remaining true to its own language. He realized this principle through the unadorned, lyrical melodies he supplied to his lieder. Schulz further produced twelve operas, oratorios, cantatas, and additional sacred pieces.
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