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Born: February 19, 1719 - Döbeln, Saxony, Germany
Died: November 11, 1789 - Roßwein, Saxony, Germany |
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Gottfried Benjamin Fleckeisen was born son of Gottfried Fleckeisen (Kantor, Thomaschule 1688-1697). He enrolled at the Thomaschule on October 9, 1732 and studied there from 1732 to 1744, since May 26, 1732 already as external; and at Universität Leipzig in 1739. In 1751 he was appointed Kantor in Roßwein and served in this post until his death in 1789. His brother, Christian Gottlob Fleckeisen (b 1722) was also Thomaner (1736-1745)
Just before Christmas 2013, researchers at the Bach Archive in Leipzig caused something of a sensation among music scholars. In municipal archives in the town of Döbeln, musicologist Michael Maul discovered an application letter from the year 1751, written just a year after J.S. Bach's death. The letter's author is Gottfried Benjamin Fleckeisen, by then a former member of Thomanerchor Leipzig, and, as such, a former pupil of J.S. Bach. In it, Fleckeisen is applying for a position as Kantor at a church in his hometown of Döbeln in the state of Saxony. He boasts that he "had to lead and conduct" musical performances at the Thomaskirche and Nikolaikirche in Leipzig for "two entire years" and "completed that service with honor." What is known of Fleckeisen's biography makes it possible to assume he's referring in those lines to the years 1744 to 1746. |
