Music by Johann Gottlieb Naumann

Johann Gottlieb Naumann is a German composer from the 18th century. He is probably most famous for creating the Dresden Amen chord sequence. Today he is probably considered an obscure composer considering the results you get when you google “Johann Gottlieb Naumann reddit”.

I discovered Naumann a few years ago, probably doing random Youtube video exploration. Many classical music videos have interesting paintings as thumbnails, so I may have been click baited by one of these thumbnails . No matter how I found his music, I am glad that I discovered it. I think that his compositions are “forgotten” gems.

Amphion (1778)

Amphion – Overture

It is very possible that I discovered his music by searching videos related to the legend of Amphion. His overture from the opera Amphion is one of my favorite music compositions. The opera Amphion was composed in 1778 while Naumann was in Sweden at the behest of Gustav III. According to Naumann’s Wikipedia page, he was called to Stockholm in 1777 by the Swedish king. During his stay in Sweden he also helped reorganize the Royal Court Orchestra (Kungliga Hovkapellet).

I could not find the entire opera on the internet, and I looked on Youtube, Amazon and the Naxos Records website. It’s hard to find the complete version of his operas, with maybe one exception that I will mention later. From the opera Amphion there is an aria that is posted on Youtube, usually called “Aria di Antiope”.

Amphion – Aria di Antiope

Piano concerto

I also enjoy listening to his piano concerto “Piano Concerto in B-flat major” (1793). There is a CD with the piano concerto on Amazon, created by the Naxos Records (it has concertos from 2 other composers from the same period).

Piano Concerto in B-flat major

Sacred Works

On Youtube you can find a few of his sacred musical compositions. There are a few uploads of his “Te Deum”, uploads of some of his masses, a few uploads of his “Psalm 96” and “Psalm 103”, and part of the “La Passione di Gesù Cristo”.

Te Deum
Missa No. 18
Psalm 96

Gustaf Wasa (1786)

The opera Gustaf Wasa is the only opera made by Naumann that is uploaded in its entirety on Youtube.

Gustaf Wasa Act 1
Gustaf Wasa Act 2

Other works

There are other works by Naumann that you can find on Youtube or on the internet. You can find parts of some of his other operas and at least one of his glass harmonica sonatas.

Elisa (1781)
Cora and Alonzo
Sonata No.3 for glass harmonica
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