Scan 112
Groves Dictionary Of Music And Musicians,vol.2, 1906
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1The bell-mouth of the Dolcian was covered by a perforated cap, by which the open and harsh character of the lower notes was subdued. (PLATE LIV. No. 1.) D. J. B.
3DOLES, JOHANN FRIEDRICH (b. Steinbach, Saxe-Meiningen, Apr. 23, 1715; d. Leipzig, Feb. 8, 1797), was educated at the Schleusingen Gymnasium, where he availed himself of instruction in singing and in playing on the violin, clavier and organ.
5In 1739 he went to Leipzig for a course of theology at the University, and while there pursued his musical studies under J. S. Bach. His compositions, however, bear little trace of Bach's influence. Doles would seem to have been more affected by the Italian opera, with which he became familiar by constant attendance at performances given for the Saxon court at Hubertsburg. His light, pleasing and melodious compositions, together with the charm of his manners, rapidly brought him popularity at Leipzig. In 1743 the Gewandhaus Concerts were founded¹; and on Mar. 9, 1744, he conducted the first performance of his 'Festival Cantata' in celebration of the anniversary of their foundation. In that same year he was appointed cantor at Freiberg, where he wrote, in 1748, on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the Peace of Westphalia, the Singspiel, out of which arose the famous dispute between Biedermann, Mattheon and Bach.² In Jan. 1756 he succeeded Gottlob Hasser as cantor of the Thomasschule and also as director of the two principal churches, which posts he held until 1789, when old age and failing health compelled him to resign them. In the spring of 1789 Mozart visited Leipzig, and on Apr. 22 he played on the organ at St. Thomas's Church, and made his well-known remark to Doles about Bach's music. (See MOZART.) It was probably on the same occasion that J. C. BARTHEL (q.v.) played before Mozart at Doles's house. And in the following year Doles published his cantata to Gellert's words (performed in 1789), 'Ich komme vor dein Angesicht' (Leipzig, 1790), dedicated to his friends Mozart and Naumann. Special interest attaches to this work, because its preface records Doles's opinions as to the way in which sacred music should be treated, and those opinions have little in common with the traditions of J. S. Bach. It is plain, indeed, that although Doles was proud of having been Bach's pupil, he took no pains whatever, during his directorship at Leipzig, to encourage and extend the taste for his great master's works. Bach's church music was almost entirely neglected both by him and his successor, J. A. Hiller.
7¹ They were then called 'das grosse Concert,' and were held in a private house; they were interrupted by the outbreak of the Seven Years' War.
8² See Bitter's J. S. Bach, iii. 229, and Spitta's J. S. Bach, iii. 255 f. (Engl. transl.).
10His compositions consist principally of cantatas, motets, psalms, sacred odes and songs, and chorales, many of which have been printed, including some sonatas for the clavicembalo. His Elementary Instruction in Singing had, in its day, considerable reputation as a useful practical method. Among his many works (see Q.-L.) may be mentioned three settings of the Passion-music, according to St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. John, two Te Deums, two Masses, a Kyrie, a Gloria, a Salve and a German Magnificat. A. H. W.
12BIBL.—GEORG SCHURREMANN, Die Bewerber um das Freiburger Kantorat. (Doles, pp. 194-202.) A.M. 1, 1919.
14DOLEŽIL, HUBERT (b. 1876 at Velké Kunčice, Moravia), musical critic and writer, established in Prague. Editor of the musical periodical Smetana. R. N.
16DOLEŽIL, METHOD (b. Oct. 15, 1885), choir-master and professor at the Prague Conservatoire. He founded the Choral Union of Prague Women Teachers, and, in 1922, succeeded Fr. Spilka as conductor of the famous choir Pěvecké sdružení pražských učitelů (Choral Union of Prague Teachers), one of the two choral societies which visited London during the Czchoslovak Musical Festival, 1919 (see also Ferd. VACH). R. N.
18DOLMETSCH, ARNOLD (b. Le Mans, France, 1858), after studying the violin with Vieuxtemps in Brussels, began the practical study of old instruments and their music, on which he has become a high authority.
20Dolmetsch approached the subject in the most practical manner, collecting specimens, making his own repairs and discovering their technique by his own performance. He built keyboard instruments, clavichords and harpsichords, and for seven years (1902-9) was engaged by the firm of CHICKERING (q.v.) at Boston from whence many of his instruments were issued. Subsequently he took charge of a similar department in the firm of GAVEAU (q.v.) in Paris, but from 1914 onwards he has lived in England and has set up his own workshop at Haslemere, Surrey. Pursuing the practical method he has taught the several members of his numerous family to play on viols and recorders, and has thus re-created the domestic consort of the 17th century. His eldest daughter HÉLÈNE (b. Nancy, Apr. 14, 1880; d. 1924), was a fine player of the viola da gamba. Dolmetsch has given many concerts in London and elsewhere of music from the 16th to 18th centuries, and has brought forward much of the old English school (see FANCY) formerly unknown. In the summer of 1925 he gave a festival of such music at Haslemere. He has edited Select English Songs and Dialogues of the XVI. and XVII. Centuries, but his most important publication is The Interpretation of the Music of the XVII. and XVIII. Centuries (1915), a book invaluable to students. C.
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