Johann Christian Kittel

The great influence of Kittel is to be found in the work of his students. He successfully incorporated the chorale with the new "emotional (or feeling) style" of late eighteenth century Germany and removed the chorale from the strict cantus firmus form. His students included M.G. Fischer, K.G. Umbreit, J.W. Hassler (Kittels' nephew) and J.C.H. Rinck. They carried on his work. Kittel himself was an organist and teacher. He studied for a short time with J.S. Bach (1748-1750) and was his teacher's favorite student in Bach's later years. In service to Langensalza as a teacher and organist in 1751 he became the organist for the Barfusserkirche in Erfurt (1756) and the Preigerkirche in Erfurt, (1762). Kittel was an organ virtuoso with many famous admirers including Goethe, Herder and Wieland. His pedagogical style can be ascertained from his treatise "Der angehende parktische Organist" which centered on chorale accompaniment in the tradition of Bach. Short pieces were Kittel's forte although his longer works for organ demonstrated keen insight into chorale variations and counterpoint. Kittel's "Grosse Praludien" included countrapuntal characteristics of Bach as well as contemporization through the galant and symphonic manners of developing Classicism. ~ Keith Johnson