Toward the end of the 17th century, one future composer in particular was born into the world—in Stockholm, Sweden. Johan Helmich Roman came from parents of German and Finnish origins, at least by recent reckonings; his last name could have derived from the Finnish area Raumo. His musical beginnings involved the oboe and violin, likely among additional instruments, and membership in his teen years of the royal chapel. Before too long, while Johan still was a young man, a grant from King Charles XII allowed for his pursuit of studies in England. Familiar figures may have crossed paths with him during that time (~ 1715 to 1721). He would afterward return to Sweden, where he transitioned from deputy master of the chapel to leader of the court orchestra.

     Before and after this transition, festive cantatas and (a collection of) twelve sonatas (for flute) were written. He also improved (the standard of) the royal chapel during—or following—those years, and by his late thirties he had introduced the first public concerts in Stockholm.

     Upon losing his first wife in 1734, Johan directed his attention once again to traveling outside the country. In the span of two years or so, he ended up in Austria, Germany, France, England and Italy. This had a notable influence on his approach and attitude toward musical style, no doubt reflected in subsequent compositions. His next marriage lasted a little longer than the first, resulting in five children, though death would soon take his wife away from him once more.

     Drottningholmsmusique was one of Roman’s finest works, composed for the royal wedding in 1744, presumably for Adolph Frederik, husband of Lovisa Ulrika of Prussia, sister to Frederick the Great. After retiring from the court orchestra because of growing deaf, the “aging” Johan Roman settled on a small estate near (outside) the town of Kalmar, where he may have spent much of the rest of his life translating theoretical works into Swedish, along with other related activities. He was interested not only in creating his own original music but also in preserving and arranging various works that already existed.

     Because the man was as humble and modest as he evidently was, not many autographs have been linked to copies of his music (or copies of anything), which made proper attribution much more difficult. The number of symphonies attributed to his name (most of them probably from c1735-1750) hovers around twenty-one, and we’ll take a look at (a listening to) "Sinfonia D-dur, BeRI nr 24," which may hopefully be from his hand.

Opening music: "Funeral music for King Fredrik I"

Applause to the listeners!