Ernst Christoph Dressler

Ernst Christoph Dressler was born in Greussen, near Sondershausen, in 1734, and died in Kassel in April 1779. He was a German tenor and composer, but above all a writer on music whose ideas on German-language opera place him within the aesthetic debate of the second half of the eighteenth century.

His training began in theology, at Halle and Jena between 1751 and 1753, and continued with law, poetry under the guidance of Gellert, and violin and singing in Leipzig. The Margravine Sophie Wilhelmine of Bayreuth was impressed by his voice, which allowed him to complete his musical education with the singer Signora Turcotti. He became chamber secretary to the Margrave and a member of the Hofkapelle. In 1763 he went to Gotha as secretary and chamber musician to the Duke of Saxe-Gotha, and later directed the Hofkapelle of the Prince of Fürstenberg in Wetzlar, from 1767. Between 1771 and 1775 he lived in Vienna, where he sang for the Emperor, and in 1775 he joined the court opera in Kassel as an opera singer.

Although he was an esteemed singer, Dressler is remembered today chiefly for his writings. His first publications, the Fragmente einiger Gedanken des musikalischen Zuschauers (Gotha, 1767) and the Gedanken, die Vorstellung der Alceste betreffend (Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1774), led to the Theater-Schule für die Deutschen (Hanover and Kassel, 1777), a broad exposition of German opera that included a reprint of his Gedanken. The work reflects the spirit of the Empfindsamkeit and proposes practical measures, such as establishing permanent opera companies and music schools. Dressler criticised the rigidity of da capo arias and word-painting, and called for naturalness and correct declamation that would reinforce the plot without the music becoming intrusive. He advocated a strong accentuation of the text and a descriptive role for music, features associated with melodrama, although he kept songs within opera as a means of renewing the expression of emotion on stage.

His known compositional output is exclusively vocal, often set to his own poems, and includes several collections of lieder, such as the Melodische Lieder für das schöne Geschlecht (Frankfurt, 1771) and Freundschaft und Liebe in melodischen Liedern (Nuremberg, 1774–1777), as well as some songs published separately. His legacy therefore lies in his thinking on German opera rather than in a large musical catalogue.