Zelenka- what happened to him?

Recently I bought some music from eClassical by Zelenka - a Czech baroque composer. Though I have not listened to the music yet, I have done a little research on him, and it seems he a master of counterpoint, and even shared a job as Kappelmeister in Dresden. And yet few people know about him. The clips that I heard of his music was quite good, and I'm wondering why his reputation is so low if he was such a good composer. Does anyone out there know?

I know Zelenka, but don't know why hardly anyone else does :D

I don't know Zelenka, and I want to know more.

Jan Dismas Zelenka - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This may be of help.

I just requested his music from the library, a few of his trio sonatas and his Missa Dei Patris.

Here are some links for more information on him:

Biographies:

Zelenka, Jan Dismas: Biography

Jan Dismas Zelenka: a biographical note

http://www.naxos.com/composerinfo/2481.htm

A catalogue of his compositions:

JAN DISMAS ZELENKA; CATALOGUE (ZWV) OF COMPOSITIONS

And here are questions and answers about him:

Frequently asked questions (FAQ) about Jan Dismas Zelenka

in which is the answer to my question:

Q. Why did Zelenka's music disappear into obscurity for 200 years?

A. This is discussed at length in Janice Stockigt's book. After Zelenka's death, much of his music was "kept under lock and key" by the Dresden court, and the reasons for this are not clear. Telemann (1681-1767) is known to have written of ZWV 55 (Responsoria) being guarded jealously "as something very rare" (a more complete translation is given below). Copies of certain works (which had presumably been given away while Zelenka was alive) were made after his death and ended up in different parts of Germany and Czechoslovakia. There were even a few performances in the 1800s. Perhaps one of the strongest reasons for the obscurity of Zelenka's music was that Catholic liturgical music had no place in a Lutheran society.

So, now that I have actually answered my own question, I hope others are enlightened as well.

Thanks, it's funny though because today I received from the library Zelenka's Trio Sonatas. Which are excellently superb, I'm curious to listen to some of his vocal works.

I just listened to his Magnificats in C and D. The one in C was good, and the one in D was even better.