Altnikol, Johann Christoph

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Altnikol, Johann Christoph

Altnikol, Johann Christoph, German organist and composer; b. Berma bei Seidenberg (baptized), Jan. 1, 1720; d. Naumburg (buried), July 25, 1759. He was a singer and asst. organist at S. Maria Magdalena in Breslau from about 1740. In 1744 he went to Leipzig to study theology at the Univ. He also sang under J.S. Bach from 1745, and received instruction in keyboard playing and composition from him and acted as his copyist. In 1748 he was organist and schoolteacher in Niederwiesa, and later that year settled in Naumburg as organist at St. Wenceslaus. In 1749 he married Bach’s daughter Elisabeth. After Bach’s death in 1750, Altnikol took in Bach’s mentally handicapped son Gottfried Heinrich Bach. His works include a Magnificat, cantatas, and keyboard pieces, but most are not extant.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire