Józef Elsner

Józef Antoni Franciszek Elsner (sometimes Józef Ksawery Elsner; baptismal name, Joseph Anton Franz Elsner; 1 June 176918 April 1854) was a Polish composer, music teacher, and music theoretician, active mainly in Warsaw. He was one of the first composers in Poland to weave elements of folk music into his works. Elsner composed many symphonic, chamber, solo, and vocal-instrumental works, and works for the stage, including over 100 religious works (masses, offertories, oratorios, cantatas), eight symphonies, three concertos, three ballets, and thirty-eight operas. in Austrian-ruled Lemberg (Lviv/Lwów). There, in 1796, he married Klara Abt, who died a year later. In 1799, with Wojciech Bogusławski, he went to New East Prussia (Prussian-ruled Poland) and became the principal conductor, first at the German Theatre, then at the Polish National Theatre in Warsaw. Masses * Missa brevis in F major, Op. 85 on 3-voice male choir and organ (1844) * Festiva Missa in C major, Op. 52 for 4-voice choir, orchestra and organ (c. 1832) * Missa in B, Op. 18 on 3-voice male choir (1823) * Mass in A minor, Op. 24 for 4-voice choir (c. 1823) * Mass in A minor, Op. 81 for 4-voice choir and orchestra (1843)