Henri-Joseph de Croes

Henricus Josephus de Croes, Hendrik Jozef de Croes, known as Henri-Joseph de Croes (Brussels, 1748 – Regensburg, 1842) was a Flemish composer and violinist. He was Kapellmeister of the court orchestra of the Thurn und Taxis in Regensburg. He composed symphonies, various clarinet concertos, partitas, divertimenti and a Singspiel or opera. Life De Croes was born in Brussels as the son of Henri-Jacques de Croes. His father, originally from Antwerp, was a composer and violinist who had been the Kapellmeister of the Thurn und Taxis family in Frankfurt on Main and had then accepted a similar position at the Royal Chapel of the Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, governor of the Austrian Netherlands in Brussels. Henri-Joseph was trained by his father as a violinist and the father and son played together duets composed by the father. He was hired in 1776 at a salary of 400 florins. It was Karl Anselm, Prince von Thurn und Taxis, a great lover of music, who engaged him for the orchestra. The hiring of the promising violist de Croes fitted in perfectly with the Prince’s aim of building it into a first-rate orchestra. He also collected an extensive musical library. The orchestra’s members i