Johann David Heinichen was born in 1683 in the small village of Krössuln (currently part of the town
Teuchern, in
Saxony-Anhalt) near
Weissenfels. His father, Michael Heinichen, had studied music at the celebrated
Thomasschule Leipzig associated with the
Thomaskirche, served as
cantor in
Pegau and was
pastor of the village church in Krössuln. Johann David also attended the
Thomasschule Leipzig. There he studied music with
Johann Schelle and later received organ and harpsichord lessons with
Johann Kuhnau. The future composer
Christoph Graupner was also a student of Kuhnau at the time. Heinichen enrolled in 1702 to study
law at the
University of Leipzig and in 1705–1706 qualified as a lawyer (in the early 18th century the law was a favored route for composers; Kuhnau, Graupner and
Georg Philipp Telemann were also lawyers). Heinichen practiced law in Weissenfels until 1709. However, Heinichen maintained his interest in music and was concurrently composing operas. In 1710, he published the first edition of his major treatise on the
thoroughbass. He went to
Italy and spent seven formative years there, mostly in Venice, with great success with two operas,
Mario and
Le passioni per troppo amore (1713).
Mario was staged again in Hamburg in 1716 with the German title,
Calpurnia, oder die romische Grossmut. In 1712, he taught music to
Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, who took him as composer. The same prince would appoint
Johann Sebastian Bach Kapellmeister at the end of 1717. In 1716, Heinichen met in
Venice Prince
Frederick Augustus, son of King
Augustus II the Strong, and thanks to him was appointed the
Royal-Polish and Electoral-Saxon Kapellmeister in Dresden. His pupils included
Johann Georg Pisendel. In 1721, Heinichen married in Weissenfels; the birth of his only child is recorded as January 1723. In his final years, Heinichen's health suffered greatly; on the afternoon of 16 July 1729, he was buried in the Johannes cemetery after finally succumbing to
tuberculosis. His music began to be better known after 1992 when
Musica Antiqua Köln under
Reinhard Goebel recorded a selection of the Dresden Concerti (Seibel 204, 208, 211, 213–215, 217, 226, 231–235, 240), followed by a recording of Heinichen's
Lamentationes and
Passionsmusik (1996). His sole opera for Dresden,
Flavio Crispo (1720), was never performed and was not recorded until 2018. Two "passion oratorios", ''L'aride tempie ignude
(1724?) and Come? S'imbruna il cieli Occhi piangete'' (1728) (classified in the catalogue as the cantatas Seibel 29 and 30), were recorded in 2021 by the
Kölner Akademie. == Circle of fifths ==