Josef Forster (composer)

Josef Forster (20 January 1838 in Trofaiach – 23 March 1917 in Vienna) was an Austrian composer; known primarily for his operas and operettas. Biography He was one of ten children born to Jakob Forster, an organist, and his wife Klara, the daughter of a choirmaster. After beginning his musical training at home, he became a choir boy at Admont Abbey, where he received further instruction from their organist, Franz Traunbauer (1775-1864). In 1854, he enrolled in the teacher training institute in Graz; followed by technical studies at the Joanneum (now the Graz University of Technology). It was during this time that he made his first attempts at composition; now lost. In 1865, he went to Vienna to study architecture, but soon gave up. To support himself, he worked as a private teacher. Forster also devised inventions which were not successful. He was, however, awarded several patents for optical devices, guns and engines. With the support of Eduard Hanslick and Felix Otto Dessoff, he made his debut as a composer with two string quartets and a Symphony in C minor, performed in 1871 by the Vienna Philharmonic with Dessoff conducting. During the 1870s and 1880s, he premiered numerous ope