Daniel Eberlin

Daniel Eberlin lived a life that reads like a Baroque-era novel. Far from a settled court musician, he was a true adventurer: a soldier, a suspected spy, a businessman, and a composer who never stayed in one place for long. He served in the French army, traveled to England, and held Kapellmeister posts in German courts in Eisenach and Kassel, all while allegedly engaging in espionage. This itinerant existence infused his music with a wide range of influences, though much of it has been lost to time. He is perhaps most famously connected to history as the father-in-law of the great composer Georg Philipp Telemann, who married Eberlin's daughter. Eberlin's legacy is that of a multifaceted, enigmatic figure whose primary composition may have been the extraordinary story of his own life.