Johan Helmich Roman (1694–1758)

If you tuned in from Australia, then you definitely did not listen to it in the month of May.J. H. Roman came from parents of German and Finnish origins, at least by recent reckonings; his last name could have derived from the Finnish area Raumo. His musical beginnings involved the oboe and violin, likely among additional instruments, and membership in his teen years of the royal chapel. Before too long, while Johan still was a young man, a grant from King Charles XII allowed for his pursuit of studies in England. Familiar figures may have crossed paths with him during that time from about 1715 to 1721. He would afterward return to Sweden, where he transitioned from deputy master of the chapel to leader of the court orchestra.     Before and after this transition, festive cantatas and (a collection of) twelve sonatas (for flute) were written. He also improved the (standard of) the royal chapel during—or following—those years, and by his late thirties he had introduced the first public concerts in Stockholm.     Upon losing his first wife in 1734, Johan directed his attention once again to traveling outside the country. He ended up in Austria, Germany, France, England and Italy, not necessarily in that order, in the span of two years or so. This had a notable influence on his approach and attitude toward musical style, no doubt reflected in subsequent compositions. His next marriage lasted a little longer than the first, resulting in five children, though death would soon take his wife away from him once more.     Drottningholmsmusique was one of Roman’s finest works, composed for the royal wedding in 1744, presumably for Adolph Frederik, husband of Lovisa Ulrika of Prussia, sister to Frederick the Great. After retiring from the court orchestra because of growing deaf, the “aging” Johan Roman settled on a small estate near (outside) the town of Kalmar, where he may have spent much of the rest of his life translating theoretical works into Swedish, along with other related activities. He was interested not only in creating his own original music but also in preserving and arranging various works that already existed, making extended use of his personal style.     Because the man was as humble and modest as he evidently was, not many autographs have been linked to copies of his music (or copies of anything), which made proper attribution much more difficult.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Omw3J7bIMPo (Sinfonia D-dur, BeRI nr 24: I. Allegro – Largo)Applause to the listeners!