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★ Follow music ► Composer: Johann Ernst von Sachsen-Weimar (1696-1715) Work: Violin Concerto No.2, Op.1 () Performers: Anne Schumann (violin); Sebastian Knebel (harpsichord); Ensemble Fursten-Musik Engraving: Matthäus Merian (1593-1650) - Weimar () Further info: Listen free: --- Johann Ernst von Sachsen-Weimar (Weimar, 25 December 1696 - Frankfurt am Main, 1 August 1715) Was a German prince. Despite his early death he is remembered as a collector and commissioner of music and as a composer, some of whose concertos were arranged for harpsichord or organ by Johann Sebastian Bach, who was court organist in Weimar at the time. Johann Ernst was born in Weimar, the fourth son and sixth child of Johann Ernst III, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and second child of the Duke's second wife, Charlotte Dorothea Sophia of Hesse-Homburg. As a young child the prince took violin lessons from G.C. Eilenstein, who was a court musician. He studied at the University of Utrecht between February 1711 and July 1713. It is thought that Johann Ernst furthered his understanding of music at this time. From Utrecht, he could visit such centres as Amsterdam and Düsseldorf and it is known that he had copies of Italian music sent back to Weimar. In particular, it is thought that he might have encountered Vivaldi's opus 3 set of violin concertos. The prince's interest in collecting music was sufficiently well known that P. D. Kräuter, when requesting leave of absence to study with Bach in Weimar, mentioned the French and Italian music that the prince was expected to introduce there. Kräuter also praised Johann Ernst's virtuosity as a violinist. On his return from university, Johann Ernst took lessons in composition with a focus on concertos from the local church organist Johann Gottfried Walther, a cousin of Bach. Walther had previously given the prince keyboard lessons and had given him his Praecepta der musikalischen Composition. As well as influencing Bach, Johann Ernst completed at least nineteen instrumental works of his own before his death at age eighteen. These works show the influence of Italian music more than that of German models such as Bach. Johann Ernst died in Frankfurt after a long illness. Following his death, six of the prince's concertos were sent to Telemann, who edited and published them in 1718.
