Augustus Frederic Christopher Kollmann

Augustus Frederic Christopher Kollmann (21 March 1756 – 19 April 1829) was a German-born composer and musical theorist who lived and worked in England from 1782 until his death. He has been called “The First Apostle of Bach in England”. Life Augustus Frederic Christopher Kollmann was born in Engelbostel, near Hanover on 21 March 1756. His father was an organist and schoolmaster. His brother George Christoph became a well-known organist at Hamburg. He studied for two years in the second class of the Hannover Lyceum between about 1770 and 1772. In 1772 he moved up to the first class of the Lyceum. He was taught by Johann Christian Böttner (1731–1800), from Thuringia, who inspired him with a love of Bach. In 1779 he was admitted to an academy for schoolmasters, where he learned a systematic method of teaching that he applied afterwards when acting as a musical tutor. In 1781 he was appointed organist and schoolmaster at the Protestant convent, or school for noble ladies, at Lüne. In 1782 Kollmann moved to England. On 17 September 1782 he began work at the Royal German Chapel in London. He was given the position of chapel-keeper of the German Chapel on 9 April 1784, and was to remain i