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Aaron Williams (composer)

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Aaron Williams (1731–1776) was a Welsh teacher, composer, and compiler of West Gallery music, active in Britain during the 18th century. Life Williams was probably born in Caldicot, Monmouthshire, the son of William Morgan. He served as clerk of the Presbyterian Scots Church, London Wall. Publications Williams’s publications include: * The Universal Psalmodist, 1763 (2nd ed., 1764; 3rd ed., 1765; 4th ed., 1770) * Daniel Bayley , The Royal Melody Complete, 3d ed., Boston, 1767 (an unauthorized compilation of music from William Tans’ur’s Royal Melody Complete and Williams’s Universal Psalmodist; subsequent editions, entitled The American Harmony, or Universal Psalmodist, were issued by Bayley in Newburyport, Massachusetts in 1769, 1771, 1773 and 1774). * Royal Harmony; or, The Beauties of Church Music, ca. 1765 * Psalmody in Miniature, 1769 (2nd ed., in 3 books, 1778; supplements added in 1778 and 1780; 3rd ed., in 5 books, 1783) * The New Universal Psalmodist, 1770 (6th ed., 1775) * An Ode or Anthem for the New Year, 1770 * Two New Anthems for Christmas-Day, 1770 * Comfort ye, my people: A new Christmas anthem, 1775 * British Psalmody, London, ca. 1785 These publications included se

Abbé Alexandre-Auguste Robineau

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Alexandre-Auguste Robineau, born April 23, 1747, in Paris where he died January 13, 1828, is a French painter and musician, Priest-Catholic. Biography Son of the painter Charles-Jean Robineau, Alexandre-Auguste Robineau studied painting at his side, and for music, as a composer and violinist, under the direction of Pierre Gaviniès in 1754. At the age of seven, he became a chorister at the Sainte-Chapelle, where he later took holy orders. «Robineau was one of Gaviniès’ best students» He entered the clergy before leaving it. From 1762 to 1767, he studied music mainly at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto as a violin and composition student under Antonio Lolli, one of the most renowned Italian violinists and composers of the 18th century, master of the legendary Chevalier de Saint Georges. A brilliant violinist, Robineau often played in the Concert Spirituel, one of the earliest public concert series, after his return to Paris at the end of (1767). In 1772, he married Adélaïde Bertin de Bourdeilles, daughter of Henri Bertin. « He was accused of having a second brother, Auguste, who was a painter, and Alexandre, who was a composer of sonatas » Violin concertos for large orchest

Adalbert Gyrowetz

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Adalbert Gyrowetz (; 20 February 1763 – 19 March 1850) was a Czech-Austrian composer. He mainly wrote instrumental works, with a great production of string quartets and symphonies; his operas and singspiele numbered more than 30, including Semiramide (1791), Der Augenarzt (1811), and Robert, oder Die Prüfung (1815). Biography Gyrowetz was born 20 February 1763 in České Budějovice. His father was the choirmaster in the cathedral there, and Adalbert first studied with him. He then travelled to Prague, where he studied law but continued to learn music. At around this time Gyrowetz was in the employ of Count Franz von Fünfkirchen in Brno, whose employees were all musicians. Here he started composing (among other things) symphonies, of which he was eventually to write more than 60. In 1785, he moved to Vienna and met Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who performed one of Gyrowetz’s symphonies in the same year. From 1786 to around 1793, he travelled throughout Europe. He spent some time in Paris, where he established that some symphonies that had been published as the work of Joseph Haydn were in fact his work. He spent three years in Italy, meeting Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in Rome and studying

Adelheid Maria Eichner

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Adelheid Maria Eichner (1762–1787) was a German composer, singer and pianist who was noted during her brief lifetime for her fine three-octave singing voice and vocal technique. She was the only child of bassoonist and composer Ernst Eichner and his wife, Maria Magdalena Ritter. Critics claim her compositions to be more effective instrumentally than vocally. As a composer, Adelheid Eichner had difficulty combining words and music effectively. Early years Adelheid Eichner grew up in Zweibrücken, in the homonymous state. Her father, Ernst Eichner, was employed in the Hofkapelle of Duke Christian IV of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld from autumn 1762 to November 1772. She was taught singing in Mannheim by an elderly Italian castrato of a good school while it is thought her father taught her the piano. At the end of 1773 she and her mother joined her father in Potsdam, in the Kingdom of Prussia. He had travelled to Paris and London to give concerts and had begun his employment in the Hofkapelle of the Prince Frederick William in August 1773. Career From 1773, Adelheid was employed in the Hofkapelle, with her father, as the only German woman singer. She appeared in public concerts in Berlin as t

Agata della Pietà

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Agata della Pietà (24 March 1712 - 17 October 1769) was an Italian composer, singer, and teacher of music at the Venetian charitable institution known as the Ospedale della Pietà. A foundling admitted in infancy to the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, she received thorough musical training starting in her childhood through the instruction of an older woman named Apollonia, who was also top soprano vocalist for the Ospedale. After years of training, Agata became a performing member in the institution’s musical ensembles, called the coro; she later became a soprano soloist, singing teacher, and administrator. She is known to have been the soloist in motets commissioned from Giovanni Porta and Andrea Bernasconi, in whose manuscripts she is mentioned by name; she is also mentioned in an anonymous verse tribute to musicians of the Pietà cori which dates to around 1740. Agata della Pietà is known to have written several musical compositions, including a setting of Psalm 134 Ecce nunc for compline. Harpsichordist, Elizabeth Anderson completed a reconstruction of this work in 2022 and it was first performed by the Australian Chamber Choir in Melbourne in May 2022. Other known compositions a

Alessandro Felici

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Alessandro Felici (21 November 1742 in Florence, Italy – 21 August 1772 in Florence, Italy ) was an Italian composer and violinist, not to be confused with his contemporary, Roman composer Felice Alessandri. Life Alessandro Felici’s father was Bartolomeo Felici, Kapellmeister of the Florentine church of San Marco. Bartolomeo taught his son how to play the organ and music composition, while contemporarily, Felici studied with violinist Giuseppe Castrucci. When he was 14 years old, he was already well known in Florence for his virtuosity on the harpsichord and organ. He showed interest in composing for the theater, and in 1765 his father sent him to Naples, the Italian city known for its bustling opera scene. which guaranteed his immediate and notable success. not only performed in Florence but also in Rome, Venice, Turin, Milan, and even as far as Madrid and Leipzig. Simultaneously, he devoted himself to teaching organ and composition at his father’s music school. Their most celebrated student was the famous opera composer, Luigi Cherubini. Felici’s career was unexpectedly interrupted by tuberculosis, which was the cause of his death at the young age of twenty-nine. Sources Little i

Alessandro Rolla

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Alessandro Rolla (; 23 April 175714 September 1841) In 1782 he was appointed principal viola and the leader of the Ducale Orchestra in Parma, playing violin and viola until 1802. In 1795 he received a visit by the father of the young Paganini, wishing him to teach his son. After the death of the Duke of Parma, Rolla was offered a position as leader and orchestra director of the La Scala Orchestra in Milan in 1802. Here the new governors, the French and later the Austrians, wanted to create the most important orchestra of Italy and therefore hired the best virtuosos of the time. Among his students during this period were Cesare Pugni, the prolific composer of ballet music, whom he taught the violin. Rolla would conduct many of Pugni’s operas for La Scala, among them Il Disertore Svizzero (1831) and La Vendetta (1832). Rolla remained at La Scala until 1833. There he was usually identified as the “Primo violino, Capo d’orchestra” being so responsible for leading the orchestra. He conducted the first Milanese performances of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, La clemenza di Tito and The Marriage of Figaro and Beethoven’s first symphonies. During this period he also conducted about

Alexandro Marie Antoin Fridzeri

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Alexandro Marie Antoin Fridzeri or Frixer (born Verona 16 January 1741, died Antwerp 1825) was the most renowned of mandolin virtuosi, a clever violinist, organist, and a composer whose works met with popular favor. Among his works were sonatas and chamber music and operas. His life began and ended with tragic notes, losing his eyesight and later his home and possessions. Music historian Philip J. Bone called Fridzeri " an artist of undoubted genius and a man of most remarkable character, which was fully tried under great adversity." The late Giuseppe Bellenghi, mandolinist and composer, dedicated his variations for mandolin and piano on the Carnival of Venice, to the memory of Fridzeri, the blind mandolin player and composer. Blind boy Fridzeri lost his eyesight in a childhood accident but the loss of this sense quickened and intensified others. He was taken with music at an early age and was taught singing and the elements of music while a child. However, apart from this first elementary instruction Fridzeri was self-taught in all the branches of the art, both practical and theoretical. He had learned to play the mandolin by age 11 and constructed his own instrument. He mastered

Alexey Titov

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Alexey Nikolayevich Titov (; July 12, 1769 - November 8, 1827 ), was a Russian composer and violinist. His son, Nikolai Titov, was a composer, as were several other family members. Titov was born and died in St. Petersburg. Alongside his musical career, Titov was a major general in the Russian cavalry. His music, most of which is for the stage (operas, ballets, and incidental music), was primarily written for local St. Petersburg theater and dance companies. Strong Russian themes run through his choice of libretti, and his music makes copious use of Russian folk music. He was most popular for his comic operas such as Yam, or The Post Station (1805), The Winter Party, or The Sequel to Yam (1808) and The Wedding Eve Party, or Filakin’s Wedding (1809), which form a trilogy. All of them were staged in St. Petersburg. Operas Note: this list is incomplete. *Andromeda and Perseus (1802) *King Solomon’s Judgment (; 1803) *Judge Cupid, or The Argument of the Three Graces (; 1805) *Yam, or The Post Station ; 1805) * Nurzakhad (; 1807) *The Winter Party, or The Sequel to Yam (; 1808) *The Wedding Eve Party, or Filakin’s Wedding (; 1809) *Polixena (1809) *The Cossack Woman (1810) * Emmerik Tek

Amandus Ivanschiz

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Amandus (Matthias Leopold) Ivanschiz (bapt. 24 December 1727 – 1758) was an Austrian composer of the early classical period and a member of the Pauline order. Other spellings of his surname adopted in Slavic musicological literature (“Ivančić” or “Ivančič”) are not evidenced in historical accounts. His father came from the village of Baumgarten (presently in the Austrian Burgenland) inhabited by the Croatian minority. Matthias Leopold was baptized on 24 December 1727 in Wiener Neustadt. He entered the Pauline order in his hometown and choose the name of Amandus likely by the end of 1742. After his novitiate in the Ranna monastery at the age of 16 (25 December 1743) he took his monastic vows. He then studied in Maria Trost and Wiener Neustadt, where he was ordained a priest on 15 November 1750. Between 1751 and 1754 he stayed in Rome as an assistant to the Procurator General of the order, from where he returned to Wiener Neustadt. In 1755 he was sent again to the Maria Trost monastery, where he died in 1758, at the young age of 31. Despite his early passing, Ivanschiz left behind a remarkable number of compositions. His output comprises about 20 symphonies, 15 string trios, 17 masse

Ambrogio Minoja

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Ambrogio Minoja (22 October 1752 – 3 August 1825) was a classical composer from Italy, born in Ospedaletto Lodigiano, in the territory of Lodi, in the region of Lombardy. He was professor of composition and writer on vocal music, having written Solfeggi, and Lettera sopra il canto (Luigi Mussi, Milan). Biography Minoja began his musical studies when he was fourteen years old, acquiring further musical training from renowned professor Nicola Sala, in Naples. On his return to Milan from Rome in 1772, where he stayed for a short period of time, he was appointed first klavier player at the theatre, succeeding then Giovanni Battista Lampugnani as director of music. From 1789 to 1809 he was maestro al cembalo at Teatro alla Scala (1789–1809). A highly esteemed composer, chapel-master and honorary member at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Milan, he became inspector of studies at the conservatory from 1814 to 1824. Musical works Minoja was a composer of opera and church-music. He composed two operas, which were performed successfully, Tito nelle Gallie (1787) and Zenobia (1788), a march and a funeral symphony on the death of General Hoche, having him received then a gold medal from Napo

Amélie-Julie Candeille

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Amélie-Julie Candeille (; night of 30/31 July 1767, parish of Saint-Sulpice, Paris – 4 February 1834, Paris) was a French composer, librettist, writer, singer, actress, comedian, and instrumentalist. Life Early life Julie Candeille described herself in her Mémoires as having “bright blonde hair, brown eyes, white, fine and clear skin, and a soft and laughing air”. According to her colleague Louise Fusil, Candeille was pretty, with “a well-taken size, a noble gait, and traits and whiteness as held by creole women”. Her ancestry was actually Flemish, with no known Creole elements, Candeille, like many women musicians of her time, came from a musical family. Her father Pierre-Joseph Candeille (1744–1827) was a composer, actor and low-bass opera-singer in the chorus, though he ended up exiled in Moulins where he became a theatre director. Her father was her primary teacher, and some have speculated that his deeply invested interest in his daughter’s education was an effort to bolster his career. Candeille developed her natural talents for song and harpsichord and performed extensively while still a child in chamber orchestras. Aged 7 she played in a concert before the French king and s

André Grétry

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André Ernest Modeste Grétry (; baptised 11 February 1741; died 24 September 1813) was a composer from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (present-day Belgium), who worked from 1767 onwards in France and took French nationality. He is most famous for his opéras comiques. His music influenced Mozart and Beethoven both of whom wrote variations on his works. Biography He was born at Liège, his father being a poor musician. He was a choirboy at the church of St. Denis (Liège). In 1753 he became a pupil of Jean-Pantaléon Leclerc and later of the organist at St-Pierre de Liège, Nicolas Rennekin, for keyboard and composition and of Henri Moreau, music master at the collegiate church of St. Paul. But of greater importance was the practical tuition he received by attending the performances of an Italian opera company. Here he heard the operas of Baldassarre Galuppi, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, and other masters; and the desire of completing his own studies in Italy was the immediate result. To find the necessary means he composed in 1759 a mass which he dedicated to the canons of the Liège Cathedral, and it was at the expense of Canon Hurley that he went to Italy in March 1759. In Rome he went t

Andrea Adolfati

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Andrea Adolfati (1721 or 1722, Venice – 28 October 1760, Padua) was an Italian composer who is particularly remembered for his output in the opera seria genre. His works are generally conventional and stylistically similar to the operas of his teacher Baldassare Galuppi. Although his music largely followed the fashion of his time, he did compose two tunes with unusual time signatures for his day: an air in Quintuple meter meter and another in Septuple meter meter. Adolfati studied music composition in Venice with composer Galuppi. After completing his studies he became the maestro di cappella at the Santa Maria della Salute, a position he held until 1745. He then worked in the same capacity at the court in Modena, where his divertimento da camera La pace fra la virtù e la bellezza premiered in 1746. Around the same time he composed some songs and arias for Johann Adolph Hasse’s Lo starnuto di Ercole, which was given at the Teatro San Girolamo (a small theatre located in the Palazzo Labia) in 1745 and during Carnival 1746. In 1748 Adolfati became maestro di cappella at the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata del Vastato in Genoa. On 30 May 1760 he became maestro di cappella of the

Andrea Luchesi

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Andrea Luca Luchesi (also spelled Lucchesi; 23 May 1741 – 21 March 1801) was an Italian composer. He knew Mozart and Beethoven. Biography Andrea Luchesi was born at Motta di Livenza, near Treviso the eleventh child of Pietro Luchese and Caterina Gottardi. The rather wealthy family descended from groups of noble families who had moved from Lucca to Venice in the 14th century (hence the name Luchese; from 1764/65 Andrea began to use the name Luchesi, which we can find written by his contemporaries also as Lucchesi, Lughesi, Luckesi, Lucchezzy, etc.). He grew up in his native town, receiving musical and general education from his elder brother Matteo, a priest, public tutor and organist. By 1757 he moved to Venice. The protection of the nobleman Jseppo Morosini enabled him to study with eminent musicians: Gioacchino Cocchi, Padre Paolucci, Giuseppe Saratelli, Domenico Gallo, Ferdinando Bertoni and (the best-known of them) Baldassare Galuppi. His career in Venice developed quickly: examiner of the organists commission in 1761, then organist at San Salvatore (1764), composer of works for “organ or cembalo”, instrumental, sacred and theatre music. He composed for official celebrations, t

Angelo Tarchi (composer)

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Angelo Tarchi (c. 1760 – 19 August 1814) was an Italian composer of numerous operas as well as sacred music. Between 1778 and 1787, he worked primarily in Italy, producing five or six new operas each year. Tarchi was born in Naples. In December 1787 he was appointed music director and composer at London’s King’s Theatre, a position he held until June 1789. Tarchi returned to Italy in 1791 and remained there until 1798 when he went to Paris. He composed several works in the opéra comique genre which achieved only moderate success. When he gave up composing, he became fashionable singing teacher in Paris, where he died in 1814. Operas *L’archetiello (1778) *I viluppi amorosi (1778) *Il barbiere di Arpino (1779) *Il rè alla caccia (1780) *Le disgrazie fortunate (1781) *Don Fallopio (1782) *Il guerriero immaginario (1783) *Ademira (1783) *I fratelli Pappamosca (1784) *Bacco ed Arianna (1784) *Le cose d’oggi giorno divise in trenta tomi, tomo primo, parte prima (1784) *Il matrimonio per contrattempo (1785) *Mitridate rè di Ponto (1785) *L’Arminio (1785) *Ifigenia in Aulide (1785) *La Virginia (1785) *Ifigenia in Tauride (1785) *Ariarate (1786) *Publio (1786) *Demofoonte (1786) *Il trion

Ann Valentine

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Ann Valentine (11 January 1762 – 13 October 1842 or 13 October 1845 Her father John Valentine (1730–91) was a great-nephew of the composer Robert Valentine. John Valentine was a composer, music teacher, and musician. Another uncle, Henry Valentine, was an oboist and ran a music shop in Leicester. Ann’s younger sister Sarah (1771–1843) was an organist at St Martin’s Church in Leicester from 1800, and composed at least one work, The British March and Quickstep for the Pianoforte. These concerts were promoted by the new construction of organs. Ann would play organ concertos, and harpsicord lessons by Handel. In 1790 she published a set of ten sonatas for harpsichord or piano with violin or flute accompaniment. She continued to publish music, although only some of it has survived; the ten sonatas and an arrangement of the strathspey Monny Musk are available in a modern edition. When her father died in 1791 she would continue in his work, however she chose to compose more music for “ladies” that being piano music unlike what her father had composed. *Le cheval de course, a Favorite Divertimento for the Piano Forte *Ye Gentlest Gales. Written by a Lady on the Death of Mr. Henry Kirk Whit

Anna Amalia, Abbess of Quedlinburg

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Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia (9 November 1723 – 30 March 1787) was an early modern German composer and music curator who served as princess-abbess of Quedlinburg. She was a princess of Prussia as the daughter of Frederick William I of Prussia and the sister of Frederick the Great. Early life (1723–1755) Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia was born on 9 November 1723 in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia as the 12th child and 7th daughter of King Frederick William I (1688–1740) and his wife, born Princess Sophia Dorothea of Hanover (1687–1757). She had 13 siblings, 10 of whom survived infancy, including the future Frederick the Great (1712–1786). The Prussian royal children were raised in Berlin, where they lived in the Royal Palace (Königliches Schloss; today Berlin Palace/Berliner Schloss), but they also regularly spent time in the king’s favourite residence, a jagdschloss (“hunting lodge”) in Königs Wusterhausen. Amalia was musically inclined, just like Crown Prince Frederick, but her formal instruction was only possible after the death of their abusive father who considered music to be decadent. Frederick William had an unpredictable temper, often dragging her across a room by her hair i

Anna von Schaden

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Anna Leopoldine Theresia Elisabetha Nanette von Stadler von Pranck von Schaden (January 1763 – January 1834) was an Austrian composer and pianist who was known for her improvisational skills but left only three written compositions for piano. She published and performed under the names Anna von Schaden and Nanette von Schaden. Von Schaden’s parents were Salzburg Court War Council Director Leopold Graf Pranck and Walburga Stadler. Because her parents were unmarried, Schaden used the name “von Stadler von Pranck.” In 1774, she moved into the household of Imperial Court Councilor Friedrich von Mauchart. She studied music with Franz Ignaz von Beecke, and in 1779 she married the Wallerstein privy councilor Joseph Wilhelm von Schaden. They had two daughters, Maria Anna Antonia and Josepha Amalia. The von Schadens moved to the court of Oettingen-Wallerstein, where von Schaden met court musician Antonio Rosetti, who later helped orchestrate her two piano concerti. In 1781 she began receiving an annual pension of 200 guilders for her musical contributions at court, including her 1786 performance of a piano concerto by Beecke. In 1787, the von Schadens moved when Joseph von Schaden became th

Anne Louise Brillon de Jouy

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Anne Louise Brillon de Jouy (née Boyvin d’Hardancourt; 13 December 1744 – 5 December 1824) was a French musician and composer. Born in Paris, she lived in Passy and played and composed for the harpsichord and the piano. She learned to play the harpsichord as a child. Life Her parents were Marie-Élisabeth (; 1723-1785) and Louis-Claude Boyvin d’Hardancourt (c. 17101756), a royal tax clerk. In October 1763 Anne Louise married tax clerk Jacques Brillon de Jouy (1722–1787), 22 years her elder. They had two daughters, Cunégonde and Aldegonde. Cunégonde went on to marry the General Antoine Marie Paris d’Illins. She died at Villers-sur-Mer, Calvados, aged 79. Career Every Wednesday and Saturday Anne Louise held a salon at her house in the country in Passy, which became a permanent fixture. Foreign musicians passing through Paris performed with her. In doing so, she acquired an excellent reputation as a musician and composer, despite not performing publicly or having any of her compositions published. Several composers dedicated sonatas to her, including Johann Schobert, Luigi Boccherini, Charles Burney, Ernst Eichner, and Henri-Joseph Rigel. Her compositions number almost 90. Most are ins

Anselm Viola i Valentí

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Pere Viola i Valentí, better known as Anselm Viola (Torroella de Montgrí, Baix Empordà, 1738 - Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey, Bages, 25 January 1798), was a composer and teacher of music at the Catalan school of Montserrat. He was of the classic school of composition but with an open mind, as evidenced by his Magnificat in seven voices. He entered the Escolania de Montserrat between 1745 and 1750, where he had Josep Antoni Martí as a teacher, who introduced him to the Italian musical style of the time. It was as a novice of the monastery in 1756 where he took the name of Anselm, and once he had done the monastic profession in Montserrat, he moved to Madrid where he apprenticed to José de Nebra, composer of the court. Later he returned to Montserrat where he dedicated himself to musical education at the School (among his students there was Fernando Sor). His musical output consists of numerous sonatas for harpsichord, of clear pedagogical orientation, and of several religious works. Also worth mentioning are the 18 studies for bassoon solo and, above all, his concerto for bassoon and orchestra, one of the most important of the time for the instrument. He was the author of several

Antoine Bullant

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Antoine Bullant, also Anton Bullandt (, 9 February 1751 in Mělník, Bohemia, Holy Roman Empire – 25 OS 13 June 1821 St Petersburg) was a bassoon player and opera composer who worked first in France but primarily in Imperial Russia. He was originally from Bohemia. Antoine Bullant is also sometimes referred to as Jean Bullant (Жан Бюлан) or Anton Bullandt. However, most current scholarly sources refer to him as Antoine Bullant as all 18th-century printed and manuscript copies of his own works spell the name ‘Bullant’. In Russian his name was also transliterated as Булан, Булант, Буллант and sometimes “trans-transliterated” in other languages (e.g., in German, in lists of operas) as Bulant, Bullanto, Bullault, Bullandt, Bulan. The Grove Dictionary of Music describes him as a French composer and bassoonist of Czech origin, born in Amiens (?), who in 1771 or 1772 settled in Paris, where he published four symphonies (1773) and some chamber instrumental ensembles. There is some controversial information that Bullandt came to Russia in 1780, and entered the service in Imperial St Petersburg Theatres in 1783 and was a founder of “St Petersburg Philharmonic Society”. Biographical data about h

Antoine Dauvergne

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Antoine Dauvergne (3 October 1713 – 11 February 1797) was a French composer and violinist. Dauvergne was born in Moulins, Allier. He served as master of the Chambre du roi, director of the Concert Spirituel from 1762 to 1771, and director of the Opéra three times between 1769 and 1790. Dauvergne contributed both as a performer and composer to the classical music at the court at Versailles. He is most famous as the composer of Les troqueurs, a work which had a major influence on the development of French opéra comique. He died, aged 83, in Lyon. In addition to operas and opera-ballets, Dauvergne composed a number of other works including violin sonatas (1739), trio sonatas, motets, and what he called Concerts de Simphonies (1751). The name Dauvergne is sometimes written D’Auvergne. It means “from Auvergne,” the region in the center of France covered by the volcanic Massif Central mountain range. List of works Operas and ballets *Les amours de Tempé, ballet héroïque (1752, Paris) *Les troqueurs, intermède (1753, Paris) *La coquette trompée, comédie lyrique (1753, Fontainebleau) *La sibylle, ballet (1753, Fontainebleau) *Énée et Lavinie, tragédie lyrique (1758, Paris) *Les fêtes d’Eut

Antoine de Lhoyer

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Antoine de Lhoyer L’Hoyer (6 September 1768 – 15 March 1852) was a French virtuoso classical guitarist and an eminent early romantic composer of mainly chamber music featuring the classical guitar. Lhoyer also had a notable military career; he was an elite member of the Gardes du Corps du Roi, a Knight of the Order of St John and a Knight of the Order of St Louis. His music fell into obscurity even before his impoverished death at the age of 83 in Paris. Musicological research has revived interest in his music, resulting in some modern recordings and additions to the repertoire for the classical guitar (especially enriching the number and quality of guitar duets). Biography Born in the French commune of Clermont-Ferrand, Antoine de Lhoyer was a member of a wealthy bourgeois family. From an early age he was well educated in music, learning to play at first the harpsichord, then the five-string guitar. An early teacher may have been Pierre Jean Porro, Lhoyer left only a few solo works for the guitar. The places of publication of his works correspond to his travels. Opus numbers 1 to 11 have not yet been identified. List of compositions Hamburg (Op. 12–18) * Grande sonate, Op. 12 * Si

Antoine Marcel Lemoine

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Antoine Marcel Lemoine (3 November 1763, in Paris – 10 April 1817, in Paris) was the founder of the music publishing establishment in Paris and a virtuoso and skillful performer on the violin and viola. His youngest son, Henry Lemoine, took over the publishing business a year before his father’s death. His descendants have continued the company, later known as Éditions Henry Lemoine. Biography Antoine Lemoine’s father was a dramatic artist, who gave him his first elementary lessons on the guitar and violin, but beyond this rudimentary instruction Lemoine was self-taught. His father took the family on a wandering, restless life. When Antoine Lemoine was sixteen and a half years old, he married. For the next few years he followed the example of his parents, wandering with his wife and earning a living by violin and guitar playing. In 1790 another publisher, Imbault of Paris, published several of Lemoine’s compositions and theoretical works, including a method for the guitar. This was printed in several editions. Three years later Lemoine devoted himself entirely to music publishing but, after the French Revolution, he placed his business under capable management. He officiated as con

Anton Eberl

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Anton Franz Josef Eberl (13 June 1765 – 11 March 1807) was an Austrian composer, teacher and pianist of the Classical period. He was a student of Salieri and Mozart. He was also seen as an early friend and rival of Beethoven. Biography Eberl was born in Vienna, Austria in 1765, the son of a wealthy imperial official. He was a gifted pianist who gave recitals in Vienna from the age of eight. The family eventually fell into financial difficulties, so Eberl was unable to continue courses and training as a lawyer. Instead, he was then free to pursue his studies in music. Eberl may have been taught by Mozart starting around 1781, when the famous composer arrived in Vienna. Stylistic similarities with Mozart led to several of Eberl’s works being mistakenly published under Mozart’s name. Eberl’s cantata “Bei Mozarts Grabe”, completed just six days after Mozart died in December of 1791, may well represent the homage of a student to his teacher and mentor. Eberl maintained strong connections to the Mozart family, performing a Mozart piano concerto promoted by Mozart’s wife Constanze in 1794, and accompanying her and her sister Aloysia Lange on a tour of Germany in the winter of 1795–96. One

Anton Fils

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Anton Fils (also Antonín Fils, Johann Anton Fils, Johann Anton Filtz), 22 September 1733 (baptized) – 14 March 1760 (buried) was a German classical composer. Fils was born in Eichstätt, in the Bishopric of Eichstätt, Bavaria. Long thought to have been of Bohemian origin (e.g., ), despite having been described as “from Bavaria” by Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg in 1756, his true origins were discovered in the 1960s . Fils studied law and theology at the University of Ingolstadt, and in 1754 became part of the “Mannheimer Hofkapelle” as a cellist. The Mannheim orchestra at the time was led by Johann Stamitz . In 1757 Fils married Elizabeth Range, and in 1759 the couple bought a house. Although he died at age 26, he left an extensive body of work, including at least thirty-four symphonies. Although he composed about thirty concertos, mainly for cello and for flute, only about half have survived . Fils died in Mannheim and was buried on 14 March 1760 . In his book Ideas for an Aesthetic of Music (posthumously published in 1806), author-musician Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart called Fils “the greatest composer of symphonies who ever lived” . He also attributed Fils’ early death to “his

Anton Stamitz

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Anton Thadäus Johann Nepomuk Stamitz (November 1750 – c. 1798–1809) was a German composer and violinist. He was born in the Holy Roman Empire. Anton was born during a family visit to Německý Brod and baptised there on 27 November 1750. He and his brother Carl received their first violin instruction from their father Johann. After their father’s death in 1757 they were taken on as students by Christian Cannabich, who had been a student of their father’s. Both were by this time already violinists in the Mannheimer Kapelle and participated in its development. In 1770, with his brother Carl, he visited Paris and established himself there. Between 1782 and 1789 he played in the King’s court orchestra in Versailles, and obtained the title ordinaire de la musique du roi. He was the violin teacher of Rodolphe Kreutzer. His biography after the French Revolution in 1789 is not known, but he probably died in Paris or Versailles. He may have died as late as 1809. Selected list of works *Three sets of symphonies: 3 as Op. 1 (1783–1784), 3 as Op. 2 (1784), 6 as Op. 3 (c.1785–1788), 3 as Op. 4 (c.1788–1793) *At least four concertos, in B-flat, F (1779), G and D, for viola d’amore, now also perfor

Anton Teyber

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Anton Teyber (8 September 1756 (bapt.) – 18 November 1822) was an Austrian organist, Kapellmeister and composer. Anton Teyber was born and died in Vienna. His brother was Franz Teyber. He taught the children of the Holy Roman Emperor before working as a composer to (among others) the Dresden opera and Vienna court. He is notable for his two ‘Concertos for Corni da Caccia’. He also performed alongside Mozart and Nikolaus Kraft in 1789 during Mozart’s Berlin journey. His daughter was Elena Teyber who was born in Vienna and became a professor at Iaşi Conservatory where she was known as a pianist and composer from 1827 to 1863. She married Gheorghe Asachi. Works * 11 Masses * Requiem in E flat (“Pro defuncta Imperatrice Ludovica”) * Gioas re di Giuda Oratorio (Libretto by Pietro Metastasio; Premiered at Burgtheater, Vienna, 1786) * Other sacred works * 36 symphonies * 6 violin concertos * A double concerto for violin and piano in C * 4 piano concertos * 2 horn concertos * 29 string quartets * 14 piano quartets * 2 sextets * 3 octets (Strings, 2 oboes, 2 horns) * 3 piano trios * 6 string trios * Other chamber works, minuets, gavottes etc. for piano References External links *Anton Teybe

Antonín Kammel

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Antonín Kammel (21 April 1730 – 5 October 1784) was a Bohemian composer and violinist of the Classical period. He is known for his instrumental works composed primarily for strings, though he did compose a few sinfonias and divertimentos that included wind instruments. His music incorporates many features of other Classical period works as well as elements reminiscent of Czech folk music. Life Antonín Kammel was born in Běleč, in what is now the Czech Republic, on 21 April 1730. After studying in Italy, Kammel returned to the Waldstein estate for a few years, during which he gave performances and violin lessons. In early 1765, Kammel traveled to London, England, where he continued to give performances and worked as a salesman, selling wood for ships’ masts on Count Waldstein’s behalf. In 2021, a painting attributed to Thomas Gainsborough was identified as of Antonín Kammel. On 20 January 1768, Kammel was married to Ann Edicatt and between 1770 and 1779 they had six children together. Antonín Kammel died on 5 October 1784. Works A full list of Antonín Kammel’s works can be found at Oxford Music Online and the International Music Score Library Project (see External links below). Note

Antonín Kraft

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Antonín Kraft (30 December 1749 – 28 August 1820) was a Czech cellist and composer. He was a close friend of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. He worked in the Holy Roman Empire and later in the Austrian Empire. Biography Kraft was born on 30 December 1749 in the Bohemian town of Rokycany of a German Bohemian ethnic family which had assimilated into Czech. He received early musical education on the cello from his father before going to university in Vienna to study law. He soon obtained a position in the Imperial Hofkapelle. In 1778, he was appointed cellist in Prince Nikolaus Esterházy’s orchestra, where he met and studied composition with Haydn. In 1789, he met Mozart in Dresden and took part in the premiere of his divertimento for string trio in E-Flat. Mozart played the viola part and Anton Teyber played the violin part. After Esterházy died in 1790, his successor, Prince Anton Esterházy, dismissed most of the court orchestra. Kraft went to Vienna and became a founding member of the Schuppanzigh Quartet, where he helped establish the traditions of string quartet playing. He played in the Grassalkovich court and from 1796 was employed in the orchestra of Prince Joseph Franz von Lobk

Antonín Vranický

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Antonín Vranický, Germanized as Anton Wranitzky, and also seen as Wranizky (13 June 1761 – 6 August 1820), was a Czech violinist and composer of the 18th century. He was the half brother of Pavel Vranický. Training and career Born in Nová Říše, he first studied philosophy in Olomouc and then law and music in Brno from 1778 to 1782. He was a pupil of Mozart, Haydn and Albrechtsberger, as mentioned in a letter from Pavel Vranický to the music publisher André. Then, he returned to the service of Prince Joseph Franz von Lobkowitz of Bohemia, the future patron of Beethoven, and became Lobkowitz’s chapel master in 1797. In 1799, he participated in the first performance of Haydn’s The Creation. In June 1804, he performed the first performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto. In 1807 he was Orchestra director of the Theater am Kärntnertor (the Vienna Court Theater). In 1814, he became director of the Theater an der Wien. He died in Vienna. Worklist (incomplete) With opus number *Op. 1 Three string quartets. Published by Hofmeister around 1803. (These dates not necessarily those of their first editions- more likely republications.) *Op. 9 Duos for 2 violins. (Published in 1804 by Imbault. Se

Antonio Bartolomeo Bruni

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Antonio Bartolomeo Bruni (28 January 1757 – 6 August 1821) was an Italian violinist, composer and conductor. Bruni was born and died in Cuneo, Italy. During most of his life, he resided, played and composed in Paris. At the height of the French ’terror’, c.1791, Bruni authored Un Inventaire sous la terreur which lists musical instruments recovered from noble households. This inventory was published by J. Gallay, editor (Paris: Georges Chamerot, 1890). In the scholarly work The Hurdy-Gurdy in Eighteenth-Century France by Robert E. Green (Indiana University Press, 1995), where the Bruni text is footnoted, Green says of Bruni’s inventory “from 111 noble households (it) lists six which possessed vielles (hurdy-gurdies).” p. 17. In the fictional novel The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason this affair is again referred to thus: “A Temporary Commission of Arts was set up and … Bruni … was named Director of the Inventory. For fourteen months he collected the instruments of the condemned. In all, over three hundred were gathered, and each carries its own tragic tale.” Mason goes on to say that 64 were pianofortes. Works * Method for Viola followed by 25 Etudes * Claudine, ou Le Petit Commissi

Antonio Besozzi

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Antonio Besozzi (1714–1781) was an Italian oboist and composer and also member of an extensive family of musicians from the eighteenth-century Naples. He composed several concertos for oboe and a few quintets, which he called “sonatas”, for two oboes, two horns and a bassoon. Besozzi was born in Parma, the son of oboist Giuseppe Besozzi and brother of Girolamo Besozzi. He was from 8 October 1727 to 1731 a member of the Ducal Guardia Irlandese, an hautboy band created in 1702 by Antonio Farnese, Duke of Parma. From 1734 he was active in Naples until the birth of his son Carlo Besozzi in 1738, In 1754 he was joined by his son and in early 1757 they travelled to England, where they were known as the Signori Besozzi. In December of that same year they moved to Paris, where they played the Concert Spirituel. In the years 1758–59 he was in the service of the court of Stuttgart, under the direction of Niccolò Jommelli, after which they returned to Dresden until he resigned in 1774. His son continued to play until 1792 though. In May 1778 he played in Salzburg with his son, having been held in high esteem by Leopold Mozart. He then returned to Dresden and after then to Turin, where he sett

Antonio Boroni

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Antonio Boroni (Rome, 1738 - Rome, 21 December 1792) was an Italian composer. Operas *Demofoonte (dramma per musica, libretto di Pietro Metastasio, 1761, Senigallia) *La moda (dramma giocoso, libretto di Pietro Cipretti, 1761, Torino) *L’amore in musica (dramma giocoso, libretto di Carlo Goldoni da una commedia di F. Griselini, 1763, Venezia) - revisione del materiale a cura di Ciro Roberto Passilongo *La pupilla rapita (dramma giocoso, 1763, Venezia) *Sofonisba (dramma per musica, libretto di Mattia Verazi, 1764, Venezia) *Siroe, re di Persia (dramma per musica, libretto di Pietro Metastasio, 1764, Venezia) *Le villeggiatrice ridicole (dramma comico, libretto di A. G. Bianchi, 1765, Venezia) *La notte critica (dramma giocoso, libretto di Carlo Goldoni, 1766, Venezia) *Artaserse (dramma per musica, libretto di Pietro Metastasio, 1767, Praga) *Didone (dramma per musica, libretto di Pietro Metastasio, 1768, Praga) *Il carnevale (dramma giocoso, libretto di Pietro Chiari, 1769, Dresden) *Le orfane svizzere (dramma giocoso, libretto di Pietro Chiari, 1770, Venezia) *Le contadine furlane (dramma giocoso, libretto di Pietro Chiari, 1771, Venezia) *La gara de’ numi nel tempio d’Apollo (17

Antonio Capuzzi

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Giuseppe Antonio Capuzzi (also Capucci; 1 August 1755 – 28 March 1818) was an Italian violinist and composer. He studied in Venice, Italy under the direction of A. Nazari (violin) and F. G. Bertoni (composition). Beginning in 1780, he was concertmaster with the orchestra at the Teatro di S. Samuele and eventually became the orchestral director at the Teatro di S. Benedetto. After his tenure at the Teatro di S. Samuele in 1805, he became orchestral director and a professor at the Bergamo Conservatory then located at the S. Maria Maggiore. Although popular in his day, most of his music is now forgotten. The most commonly performed piece today is his concerto for double bass. The concerto was found in the British Museum, and was dedicated to Kavalier Marcantonio Montenigo, who is assumed to have performed on that instrument. An arrangement of the second (andante) and third (rondo) movements of the concerto is also performed on tuba, euphonium, and trombone. In addition Philip Catelinet arranged all three movements of the concerto for concert band and symphony orchestra. He performed it several times during his tenure at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. His students al

Antonio Maria Mazzoni

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Antonio Maria Mazzoni (4 January 1717 – 8 December 1785) was an Italian composer. Born in Milan, the son of a clockmaker, Mazzoni first gained an interest in music at the age of six, and at age fifteen, was sent to study under Swiss German musician and composer, Johann von Griesemer, with whom he studied for three years until 1735, when he moved to Paris, where he spent the next five years working in multiple high-profile theatres, steadily honing his craft, especially under the mentorship of one particular, Jacques Saint-Antonine, before moving to Great Britain, where he spent three years composing music for King George II before returning to Milan in 1743. He spent nearly the last ten years of his life in Rome, where he died on 8 December 1785 at the age of 68, perhaps because of a stroke. Operas *Siroe, re di Persia (opera seria, libretto di Pietro Metastasio, 1746, Fano) *L’Issipile (opera seria, libretto di Pietro Metastasio, 1747 or 1748, Macerata) *La Didone abbandonata (opera seria, libretto di Pietro Metastasio, 1752 or 1753, Bologna) *Il Demofoonte (opera seria, libretto di Pietro Metastasio, 1754, Parma) *Achille in Sciro (opera seria, libretto di Pietro Metastasio, 1754

Antonio Rodríguez de Hita

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Antonio Rodríguez de Hita (18 January 1722 – 21 February 1787) was a Spanish composer. Life Rodríguez was born at Valverde de Alcalá. He became maestro de capilla at Palencia Cathedral (c.1740-c.1757) and at the Royal Convent of La Encarnación, Madrid. His father, Marcos Rodríguez del Mercado, a schoolteacher at Corpa Madrid, forced him to study at the college of the Cathedral of Alcalá de Henares, where he studied Latin, music theory, plainchant, organ and composition. Early in August 1738, he was named second organist in the cathedral and in September was appointed maestro de capilla through open competition. Rodríguez took holy orders later. His earliest known works are the Vespers for 2 choirs written in the old style, 1740. In August 1744 he became maestro de capilla at Palencia Cathedral. In 1747 he was ordained priest and remained at Palencia until at death of José Mir y Lusa, maestro at the Royal Convent of La Encarnación, Madrid. While at Palencia he wrote the treatise Diapasón instructivo (1757) in which he promoted the French and Italian homophonic styles over the old Spanish style. In 1765 Rodríguez was named Mir’s replacement and moved to Madrid in 1765. At this point

Antonio Rosetti

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Francesco Antonio Rosetti (c. 1750 – 30 June 1792) was a classical era composer and double bass player, and was a contemporary of Haydn and Mozart. There is considerable confusion regarding his name. The occasional mention of a supposed, but non-existent, “Antonio Rosetti born 1744 in Milan”, is due to an error by Ernst Ludwig Gerber in a later edition of his Tonkünstler-Lexikon having mistaken Rosetti for an Italian in the first edition of his own Lexikon, and therefore including Rosetti twice - once as an Italian, once as a German-Czech. Many sources claim that he was born Franz Anton Rösler, and changed his name to an Italianate form by 1773, but according to a 1792 article by Heinrich Phillip Bossler, who knew Rosetti personally, he was named Rosetti from his birth. Life and career Rosetti was born about 1750 in Litoměřice, a town in Northern Bohemia. He is believed to have received early musical training from the Jesuits in Prague. In 1773 Rosetti left his native country and found employment in the Hofkapelle of Prince Kraft Ernst of Oettingen-Wallerstein whom he served for sixteen years, becoming Kapellmeister in 1785. While there, he orchestrated two piano concerti by Anna v

Antonio Sacchini

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Antonio Maria Gasparo Gioacchino Sacchini (14 June 1730 – 6 October 1786) was an Italian classical era composer, best known for his operas. Sacchini was born in Florence, but raised in Naples, where he received his musical education. He made a name for himself as a composer of serious and comic opera in Italy before moving to London, where he produced works for the King’s Theatre. He spent his final years in Paris, becoming embroiled in the musical dispute between the followers of the composers Gluck and Niccolò Piccinni. His early death in 1786 was blamed on his disappointment over the apparent failure of his opera Œdipe à Colone. However, when the work was revived the following year, it quickly became one of the most popular in the 18th-century French repertoire. Life Childhood and education Sacchini was the son of a humble Florentine cook (or coachman), Gaetano Sacchini. At the age of four, he moved with his family to Naples as part of the entourage of the infante Charles of Bourbon (later to become King Charles III of Spain). The young Sacchini’s talent for music caught the attention of Francesco Durante, who enrolled him in the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto at the age

Antonio Salieri

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Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian composer and teacher of the classical period. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarchy. Salieri was a pivotal figure in the development of late 18th-century opera. As a student of Florian Leopold Gassmann, and a protégé of Christoph Willibald Gluck, Salieri was a cosmopolitan composer who wrote operas in three languages. Salieri helped to develop and shape many of the features of operatic compositional vocabulary, and his music was a powerful influence on contemporary composers. Appointed the director of the Italian opera by the Habsburg court, a post he held from 1774 until 1792, Salieri dominated Italian-language opera in Vienna. During his career, he also spent time writing works for opera houses in Paris, Rome, and Venice, and his dramatic works were widely performed throughout Europe during his lifetime. As the Austrian imperial Kapellmeister from 1788 to 1824, he was responsible for music at the court chapel and attached school. Even as his works dropped from performance, and he wrote no new operas after 1804, he still

Antonio Soler (composer)

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Antonio Francisco Javier José Soler Ramos, also known as Padre (‘Father’, in the religious sense) Antonio Soler, known in Catalan as Antoni Soler i Ramos (baptized 3 December 1729 – died 20 December 1783) was a Spanish composer whose works span the late Baroque and early Classical music eras. He is best known for his many mostly one-movement keyboard sonatas. Early life and training Soler was born in Olot (Catalonia, Spain) in the County of Besalú. In 1736, when he was six, he entered the Escolania of the Monastery of Montserrat where he studied music with the resident mestre Benet Esteve and organist Benet Valls. In 1746, when he was only 17, he was appointed Director of Music in Lleida, and some sources say he also exercised that position at La Seu d’Urgell. In 1752, when he was 23, he moved to Castile, having been admitted to the Monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial for his talents as a composer and organist. His fame soon led Domenico Scarlatti and José de Nebra to accept him as a student, completing his high-level training there. Life at El Escorial Monastery and Royal Court Soler entered the monastery as a novice in 1752, at the age of 23, and took holy orders a year later,

Armand-Louis Couperin

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Armand-Louis Couperin (25 February 17272 February 1789) was a French composer, organist, and harpsichordist of the late Baroque and early Classical periods. He was a member of the Couperin family of musicians, of which the most notable were his great-uncle Louis and his cousin François. Biography Couperin was born in Paris. His mother died when he was only 17 months old and he was raised by his father, Nicolas, also a composer and the successor to François Couperin “Le Grand” as organist at St. Gervais Church in 1748. Nothing is known of Armand-Louis Couperin’s education, though his library at the time of death contained 885 books, unusual for a musician and evidence of scholarly interest. At age 21, Couperin’s father died without leaving a will, making him the sole heir of both his parents. His inheritance included Nicolas’s post at St. Gervais. In 1752, Couperin married Elisabeth-Antoinette Blanchet, a professional musician and the daughter of the best harpsichord maker in France, François-Etienne Blanchet. They had four children, three of whom became musicians. Couperin and his wife taught harpsichord lessons and she was the organist at the abbey of Montmartre. Following his dep

Artemy Vedel

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Artemy Lukyanovich Vedel (13 April 176726 July 1808), born Artemy Lukyanovich Vedelsky, was a Ukrainian-born Russian composer of military and liturgical music. He produced works based on Ukrainian folk melodies, and made an important contribution in the music history of Ukraine. Together with Maxim Berezovsky and Dmitry Bortniansky, Vedel is recognised by musicologists as one of the “Golden Three” composers of 18th century Ukrainian classical music, and one of Russia’s greatest choral composers. Vedel was born in Kyiv, the son of a wealthy wood carver. He studied at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy until 1787, after which he was appointed to conduct the academy’s choir and orchestra. In 1788, he was sent to Moscow to work for the regional governor, but he returned home in 1791 and resumed his career at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. General Andrei Levanidov recruited him to lead Kyiv’s regimental chapel and choir—under Levanidov’s patronage, Vedel reached the peak of his creativity as a composer. He moved with Levanidov to the Kharkov Governorate, where he organised a new choir and orchestra, and taught at the Kharkiv Collegium. His fortunes declined when the cultural life of Kharkiv was affected

August Christian Niemann

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August Christian Heinrich Niemann (30 January 1761 – 21 May 1832) was a German forestry engineer and political economist. He is known as a composer and collector of student songs. Born in Altona, he studied law in Jena and Kiel. Serving as Hofmeister for a fellow student of noble background, he moved to the University of Göttingen in 1782. He returned to Kiel in 1783, where he received his PhD, and lectured on statistics and political science from 1785. His “academic songbook” (Akademisches Liederbuch), published in 1782, contained some of his own compositions. It was successful, a second volume being published in 1795. Niemann’s song Landesvater, Schutz und Rater became standard part of the Landesvater ceremony, a ritual pledge of friendship practiced by German academic fraternities. He was also the first to set German-language lyrics to the tune of “God Save the King”, in his “Heil, unserm Bunde Heil”, a patriotic song and early expression of Pan-German nationalism. This example would be imitated in various German patriotic songs and anthems during the 19th century, most notably in “Heil dir im Siegerkranz”, the royal anthem of Prussia and later the imperial anthem of the German

August Eberhard Müller

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August Eberhard Müller (13 December 1767, Northeim – 3 December 1817, Weimar) was a German composer, organist and choir leader. Life Trained by his organist father, he made his first public performance aged eight. He then studied under Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach at Bückeburg, where Müller served as organist at the Ulrichskirche until 1788. From 1789 he worked as choir leader, teacher and organist in Magdeburg. On the recommendation of Johann Friedrich Reichardt, whom he had met in Berlin in 1792, Müller was made organist of the St. Nicholas Church in Leipzig in 1794. In 1800 he was made the assistant to Johann Adam Hiller, who he succeeded as Thomaskantor on his death in 1804. In 1810 he became Kapellmeister of the ducal court in Weimar. Müller kept J. S. Bach’s works in the repertoire and also contributed to the spread of Viennese Classicism. In 1801 he conducted the first performance outside Vienna of Haydn’s The Seasons. He composed for the piano, writing two concertos, fourteen sonatas and various capriccios and other pieces. He also wrote seven flute concertos and other works for flute and orchestra, along with études for flute and piano. His son, Theodor Amadeus Müller,

August Kohn

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

August Kohn (1732 – c. 1801/1802) was a German violinist and composer of the late Baroque to Classical transition era. Life Kohn (also Kohne; Cohne; Coun; Coni)

Augustin Šenkýř

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Augustin Šenkýř (born Václav Šenkýř; ) was a Czech violinist, gambist, composer, organist and Roman Catholic priest. Biography Augustin Šenkýř was born in Dobruška. Not much is known about his early education. In 1764, he took his famous (public?) vows with the Benedictines of Emmaus and a year later he was ordained a priest. He adopted the monastic name of Augustin. Selected works Šenkýř’s works still feature in concert performance, for example: *Aria pastoralis for alto, chamber orchestra and organ. *Haec die festiva *Offertory ex D per omni Festivitate Laudate Deum nostrum *Festa sanctorum *Aria pastoralis: “In Bethlehem, pastores, natus est Jesulus” References Further reading *Czechoslovak Musical Dictionary of Persons and Institutions II. (M–Ž), 1965, State Music Publishing House, Prague *František Marušan: Augustin Šenkýř: a contribution to the history of music of the 18th century . Prague, Faculty of Philosophy, Charles University, 1950 *Scriptores Ordinis S. Benedicti qui 1750 - 1880 fuerunt in Imperio Austriaco - Hungarico . Vienna 1881 External links *List of works in the Union Catalogue of the Czech Republic whose author or theme is Augustin Šenkýř *Strahov Choir archive

Augustus Frederic Christopher Kollmann

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Augustus Frederic Christopher Kollmann (21 March 1756 – 19 April 1829) was a German-born composer and musical theorist who lived and worked in England from 1782 until his death. He has been called “The First Apostle of Bach in England”. Life Augustus Frederic Christopher Kollmann was born in Engelbostel, near Hanover on 21 March 1756. His father was an organist and schoolmaster. His brother George Christoph became a well-known organist at Hamburg. He studied for two years in the second class of the Hannover Lyceum between about 1770 and 1772. In 1772 he moved up to the first class of the Lyceum. He was taught by Johann Christian Böttner (1731–1800), from Thuringia, who inspired him with a love of Bach. In 1779 he was admitted to an academy for schoolmasters, where he learned a systematic method of teaching that he applied afterwards when acting as a musical tutor. In 1781 he was appointed organist and schoolmaster at the Protestant convent, or school for noble ladies, at Lüne. In 1782 Kollmann moved to England. On 17 September 1782 he began work at the Royal German Chapel in London. He was given the position of chapel-keeper of the German Chapel on 9 April 1784, and was to remain i

Barbara of Portugal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Barbara of Portugal (Maria Madalena Bárbara Xavier Leonor Teresa Antónia Josefa; 4 December 1711 – 27 August 1758) was an Infanta of Portugal, and a Queen of Spain by marriage to Ferdinand VI. Life Infanta of Portugal Barbara was the daughter of King John V of Portugal and his wife Maria Anna of Austria. Their marriage remained childless for nearly three years, and thus the king made a promise to God that if an heir to the throne was born, a great convent would be built as a sign of gratitude. Upon the birth of a daughter in late 1711 began the building of the Convent of Mafra. The child was baptised Maria Madalena Bárbara Xavier Leonor Teresa Antónia Josefa, honouring a number of saints and relatives, and styled Princess of Brazil as the heiress presumptive to the Portuguese throne. She was usually referred to as Bárbara or Maria Bárbara after Saint Barbara, the saint of her birthday, a name never used before among Portuguese royalty. Two years later, Barbara’s mother gave birth to a son, Pedro, and she ceased to be heir presumptive. Pedro died at the age of two, but by that time, the queen had already had another son, Joseph, and hence Barbara never became heiress presumptive aga

Bazyli Bohdanowicz

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Bazyli Bohdanowicz (born in Eastern Lesser Poland in 1740, died on 23 February 1817 in Vienna) was a Polish violinist and composer. He was a member of the orchestra in the Leopoldstädter Theater after moving to Vienna in 1775. He and his wife performed unconventional concerts in Vienna in the years 1785-1803 accompanied by their eight children. Some of the pieces performed included: the 3-part sonata for violin Les prémices du monde (played on one instrument by three children), Non plus ultra for four female voices and violin (played on one instrument by three children and the father), the three-part Sinfonía vocale ed origínale senza parole (for 8 vocal voices, choir, and pipes called Sprach-tone), Aria con variazioni for solo soprano, andantino with variations Rareté extraordinaire de la musique for piano for 8 hands, concerto with cadenza Europa’s Erstling (for three vocal voices accompanied by a whistle and orchestra). Bohdanowicz’s circus performances sparked criticism and earned him the nickname of a “musical charlatan”. He composed a symphony in which he adapted motifs from Polish folk music, one vocal symphony, polonaises and other dances, two violin duets, other works of c

Bedřich Diviš Weber

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Bedřich Diviš Weber (; 9 October 1766 – 25 December 1842) was a Czech composer and musicologist. He is primarily remembered as the first director of the Prague Conservatory, in whose foundation he played a leading role. Life Weber was born on 9 October 1766 in Velichov, Bohemia. He studied philosophy and law in Prague before turning his attention definitively to music, studying under Abbe Vogler. He became an advocate for the music of Mozart after meeting him in Prague, and his compositions bear evidence of this influence, being firmly rooted in that stylistic period. He was antagonistic towards the work of Beethoven and Carl Maria von Weber (no relation), although an enthusiast for the work of Richard Wagner. In 1832 he conducted the first performance of Wagner’s Symphony in C major, a student performance at the Prague Conservatory. As director of both the conservatory and the Prague Organ School, he effectively controlled higher musical education in the region, so was arguably the most influential figure in the music of Prague at that time. He also wrote several music theory textbooks considered important in their time. Despite his conservative style, he was happy to explore the

Benedikt Schack

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Benedikt Emanuel Schack (; 7 February 175810 December 1826) was a composer and tenor of the Classical era, a close friend of Mozart and the first performer of the role of Tamino in Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute. Early life Benedikt Schack (also spelled as Žák, Ziak, Cziak or Schak) was born on 7 February 1758 in Mirotice, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic, then part of the Habsburg monarchy). Like Joseph and Michael Haydn, he worked as a chorister as a child, singing from 1773 in the cathedral in Prague, then moved to Vienna (1775) to study medicine, philosophy and singing. His voice teacher in Vienna was , a tenor who performed under Joseph Haydn. From 1780, Schack worked for several years as Kapellmeister to Prince Heinrich von Schönaich-Carolath in Silesia. In 1786, Schack joined the traveling theatrical troupe of Emanuel Schikaneder, working both as a tenor and as a composer of Singspiele. The troupe settled in Vienna in 1789, performing in the suburban Theater auf der Wieden. Friendship and collaborations with Mozart It was around this time that Schack became a friend and professional colleague of Mozart, who was gradually increasing his involvement with Schikaneder’s troupe. S

Bernard de Bury

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Bernard de Bury or Buri (20 August 1720 – 19 November 1785) was a French musician and court composer of the late Baroque era. Biography Bernard de Bury was born at Versailles, a member of a family of musicians, many of whom had appointments to the French court, and was taught music as a young boy. He wrote his first – and only – harpsichord book in 1737, at the age of seventeen, and dedicated it to his teacher, François Colin de Blamont, uncle of his future wife. In 1741, he bought the charge of Claveciniste de la Chambre from Marguerite-Antoinette Couperin, which she had inherited from her father François Couperin as a survivance. In 1743, he began a successful career with his opéra-ballet Les Caractères de la Folie (“Characters of Madness”) which was performed at the Académie Royale de Musique (today’s Paris Opera). His works continued to be staged during the festivities given in Versailles, Sceaux, and Fontainebleau for more than thirty-five years. He also wrote several cantatas and motets, notably De profundis. De Bury received a royal pension beginning in 1779, and was ennobled by Louis XVI in 1785, a few months before his death, which occurred at Versailles. Selected composit

Bernard Jumentier

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Bernard Jumentier (24 March 1749 – 7 December 1829) was a French composer of classical and sacred music as well as maître de chapelle. Biography The son of a vine-grower, destined for the ecclesiastical state by his parents, Bernard Jumentier entered the seminary of Chartres to attend his studies. More interested in music than in orders, he has been placed according to his wish in the mastership of the Chartres Cathedral, under the direction of Michel Delalande (1739–1812), master of music of this church since 1761. It is therefore in this capacity of “choir boy” (child singing in the choir) that he learned singing, (including plainsong) and more generally the main musical disciplines, harmony, counterpoint and musical composition. He was also trained to play the pipe organ and the harpsichord. He was only eighteen years old, in 1767, when he became a music master at Senlis before returning to Notre-Dame de Chartres, as early as 1768, as cantor. He later served in Saint-Malo and subsequently in the Coutances Cathedral. At the end of 1776 he was appointed chapel-master of the collégiale et royale de Saint-Quentin. He remained in control until his death in 1829, despite an interrupti

Bernardo Porta

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Bernardo Porta (1758 in Rome – 11 June 1829 In 1788 Porta moved to France, During the French Revolution, he wrote Agricol Viala, ou Le héros de treize ans (1794), a one-act opéra comique, which glorified a martyr of the revolution, Joseph Agricol Viala. Porta’s 3-act opera Les Horaces with a libretto by Nicolas-François Guillard (based on a play by Corneille) was premiered by the Paris Opéra at the Théâtre de la République et des Arts on 18 October 1800. Guillard’s libretto had already been set by Antonio Salieri as Les Horaces (premiered by the Opéra in 1786), but this work had been a failure and was dropped after three performances. However, Porta’s opera did not do much better and was presented on only nine occasions. Porta’s was the third work with this name to be performed at the Opéra. The first was a 5-act ballet, premiered in 1777 with music by Josef Starzer and choreography by Jean-Georges Noverre. Porta’s opera would be totally forgotten today, except for an attempted assassination of Napoleon, which occurred at the theatre during one of its performances. His opera paid homage to the painting Oath of the Horatii by his friend Jacques Louis David. His last opera to be perf

Bishop Simms

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Bishop Simms (1767 – 30 January 1829) was an English organist and composer. Background He was born in 1767, the eldest son of John Simms of Staffordshire. Many of his siblings were also musicians in the Midlands. He was appointed as organist of St Philip’s Church, Birmingham in succession to Joseph Harris who was appointed to Worcester Cathedral. Bishop Simms was also organist of St. Mary’s Chapel in Birmingham He was a violinist, and one of the orchestra at the Birmingham Festivals from 1805. In 1809 he gave the opening recital on the new Elliot organ in the Church of St John the Baptist, Bromsgrove. His brother, James Simms, was then the organist at this church for some 45 years. He died in Birmingham in 1829, and his post at St Philip’s Church, Birmingham was filled by his nephew. Appointments *Organist of St. Mary’s Chapel, Birmingham *Organist of St Philip’s Church, Birmingham 1803 - 1829 Compositions In 1810 he published an adaptation of Haydn’s chorus, The Heavens are Telling, from his oratorio, The Creation. References

Bonaventura Furlanetto

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Bonaventura Furlanetto (27 May 1738 - 6 April 1817) was an Italian composer and music teacher, also known in his lifetime by the nickname Musin. His pupils included Anselmo Marsand and Giovanni Pacini. Life Born in Venice, he spent his childhood in the parish of San Nicolò dei Mendicoli, where he learned music almost completely self-taught except for some lessons from his amateur organist uncle Nicolò Formenti and the priest Giacopo Bolla. At the same time he was also taught philosophy and literature by Jesuits. He then embarked on an ecclesiastical career, but declined to be ordained. *Dies extrema mundi (1780) *David Goliath triumphator (1780) *Jonathas (1781) *Salomon rex Israel electus (1782) *Aurea statua a rege Nabucodonosor erecta vel pueri Hebraei in fornace ardentis ignis (1783) *Prudens Abiga (1784) *Moyses ad Rubum (1785) *Absalonis rebellio (1785) *Sisara (1786) *Abraham et Isach (1786) *De solemni Baltassar convivio (1787) *Judith triumphans (1787) *De solemni nuptiae in domum Lebani (1788) *Triumphus Jephte (1789) *Bethulia liberata (based on Betulia liberata by Pietro Metastasio, 1790) *Gedeon (1792) *De filio prodigo (1800) *Primum fatale homicidium (1800) *Il trion

Bonifazio Asioli

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Bonifazio Asioli (30 April 176926 May 1832) was an Italian composer of classical and church music. Biography Born in Correggio, Asioli was a child prodigy, commencing his study of music at five years of age, and having composed several masses and a piano concerto by the age of eight. By the time he was eighteen, he had composed five masses, twenty-four other works for church and theatre, and many instrumental pieces. Later, Asioli became a student of Angelo Morigi. Asioli is the author of theoretical treatises on music, which were published by Ricordi in Milan, and also a Trio for mandolin, violin and bass; a Duo for two voices with guitar accompaniment, published by Ricordi, and two methods for the guitar — a short one published by Ricordi and a more comprehensive work published by B. Girard & Co., of Naples. This latter work contained a diagram of the instrument and airs arranged for guitar solo. In 1787, he moved from Correggio to Turin, where he resided for nine years. In 1796, he accompanied the Duchess Gherardini to Venice, where he remained until 1799. He lived in Paris in 1810 in the service of the Empress Marie Louise, and remained there until the fall of the empire, when

Capel Bond

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Capel Bond (14 December 1730 – 14 February 1790) was an English organist and composer. Life and career He was born in Gloucester, the son of William Bond and the younger brother of painter and japanner Daniel Bond (1725–1803). He received his education at the Crypt school with his uncle, Rev. Daniel Bond, and at the age of twelve became apprentice to the organist of Gloucester Cathedral, Martin Smith. He left for Coventry in 1749, where he became organist of two large churches, St Michael and All Angels (later Coventry Cathedral), and, in 1752, Holy Trinity Church, Coventry. He married Ann Spooner, the daughter of Abraham Spooner and his second wife, Anne Birch, at Holy Trinity in 1768. Anne’s cousin Sarah Sebright (6th Baroness Sebright and mother of Henrietta, 2nd Countess Harewood) said of Capel Bond “I had seen Miss Spooner’s marriage in the news and never was more surprised how careful ought people to be that have Daughters who they admit into their families. I should have thought no man less formidable than Mr. Bond.” Such was his ‘superior merit and regular attendance’ that he was awarded an additional £10 per annum as a ‘Compliment’ from 1770. He did much to encourage music

Carel Anton Fodor

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Carel Anton Fodor or Carolus Antonius Fodor (12 April 1768 – 22 February 1846) was a Dutch pianist, conductor, and the most prominent composer of his generation in the Netherlands, writing in the manner of Joseph Haydn. He was born in Venlo. He accompanied his older brother, Carolus Emanuel, to Paris at the age of thirteen, to complete his musical studies, perhaps visiting Russia, but returning to Amsterdam in 1790. Concertising in Amsterdam and The Hague, he built a solid reputation in Dutch musical circles as a pianistic virtuoso. In 1798 he married Geertruida Tersteeg. At the death of Bartholomeus Ruloffs in 1801 he was named conductor of the orchestra of Felix Meritis, which he was to lead for twenty-five years. In the following year he was nominated to the position of the orchestra Eruditio Musica. In 1808 Louis Bonaparte appointed him to head the , precursor of the , the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1811 he established, with Johann Wilhelm Wilms and some others the series of Tuesday concerts. He died, aged 77, in Amsterdam. Anton Fodor published three symphonies (Opp. 5, 12 and 19), eight piano concertos, and a considerable output of chamber music in whi

Carl Andreas Göpfert

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Carl Andreas Göpfert (or Goepfert) (1768–1818) was a German virtuoso clarinettist, and composer. Göpfert composed in several genres, including symphonies, concerti, wind ensembles, sonatas, and songs. Carl Andreas Göpfert, in his lifetime salaried Chamber Musician to the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, excellent virtuoso on the clarinet and admirable composer, was born on 16 January 1768 in Rimpar near Würzburg, the son of a surgical officer. Initially taught singing, piano and organ by the local schoolmaster, his preference for the clarinet led him in 1780 to the celebrated Würzburg clarinet virtuoso Philipp Meissner, who may also have taught him the rudiments of composition. Göpfert’s rapidly acquired phenomenal skill on the clarinet led to his being engaged as first clarinettist of the Meiningen court orchestra at the age of 20. As his gentle character prevented him from insisting, he had less and less opportunity to become known further afield as a virtuoso, which would certainly have brought him as much acclaim as did his very popular compositions. He received a golden medal for dedicating a Fantasia militare for wind band to King Wilhelm III. In 1788 Göpfert moved to Vienna. While in

Carl Cannabich

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Carl August Konrad Cannabich (christened on 11 October 1771 – 1 May 1806) was a German composer, violinist, concertmaster and music director. Family Born in Mannheim, Cannabich was the son of the court music director Christian Cannabich, one of the most renowned composers of the Mannheim school. His grandfather was the court musician Martin Friedrich Cannabich, his sister Rose was a pianist and his sister Augusta Elisabeth a singer. He was married to the soprano Josephine Woraleck (1781-1830), the daughter of the composer Nicklas Woraleck. Life In 1778 he moved with his parents to Munich. From the age of four he played piano and violin and at the age of nine received violin lessons from Johann Friedrich Eck. He later studied composition with Joseph Graetz and Peter von Winter. Already at the age of 12 he made a concert tour through Germany together with Ludwig August Lebrun. In 1785 he travelled to Italy for two years to further his musical education. In 1788 he joined the Munich Court Orchestra as a violinist. In 1796 he worked as a theatre Kapellmeister in Frankfurt, where he also met his wife and married. In 1798 he received the title of churpfalzbaierischer Conzertmeister, was

Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf

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Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (2 November 1739 – 24 October 1799) was an Austrian composer and violinist. He was a friend of both Haydn and Mozart. His best-known works include the German singspiel Doktor und Apotheker and a number of programmatic symphonies based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Life 1739–1764 Dittersdorf was born in the Laimgrube (now Mariahilf) district of Vienna, Austria, as Johann Carl Ditters. His father was a military tailor in the Austrian Imperial Army of Charles VI, for a number of German-speaking regiments. After retiring honorably from his military obligation, he was provided with royal letters of reference and a sinecure with the Imperial Theatre. In 1745, the six-year-old August Carl was introduced to the violin and his father’s moderate financial position allowed him not only a good general education at a Jesuit school, but private tutelage in music, violin, French and religion. After leaving his first teacher, Carl studied violin with J. Ziegler, who by 1750, through his influence, secured his pupil’s appointment as a violinist in the orchestra of the Benedictine church on the Freyung. Prince Joseph of Saxe-Hildburghausen soon noticed young Ditters, and on 1

Carl Friedrich Abel

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Carl Friedrich Abel (baptised 22 December 1723 – 20 June 1787) was a German composer of the early Classical era. He was a renowned player of the viola da gamba, and produced significant compositions for that instrument. He was director of music at the Dresden court from 1743, and moved to London in 1759, becoming chamber-musician to Queen Charlotte in 1764. He founded a subscription concert series there with Johann Christian Bach. According to the Catalogue of Works of Carl Friedrich Abel (AbelWV), he left 420 compositions, with a focus on chamber music. Life Abel was born in Köthen, In 1762, Johann Christian Bach, a son of J. S. Bach, joined him in London, and the friendship between him and Abel led, in 1764 or 1765, to the establishment of the famous Bach-Abel concerts, England’s first subscription concerts. Abel died in London on 20 June 1787. In 2015 new manuscripts of Abel’s viola da gamba music were found in the library of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, in a collection from the Maltzahn family palace in the town of Milicz in Poland, originally brought back from London by . Many of them were published by Edition Güntersberg. Notes and references ;Notes ;References F

Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch

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Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch (1736–1800) was a German composer and harpsichordist. Born in Zerbst, he was the son of the composer Johann Friedrich Fasch. He was initially taught by his father. In 1756 he began service at the court of Frederick the Great of Prussia, where he served as deputy to Court harpsichordist C.P.E. Bach, whose post he attained when Bach left the court for Hamburg in 1767. In 1791 he founded the Sing-Akademie in Berlin which quickly became an important centre of Berlin’s musical life. In its concerts Fasch promoted the music of J.S. Bach and other masters of the Baroque period, as well as contemporary music. The Akademie was visited by Beethoven in 1796. Fasch also composed numerous works for the Sing-Akademie. His Mass for sixteen voices, a virtuosic mass accompanied solely by organ continuo, is a choral masterpiece of the late 18th century. Fasch died in Berlin in 1800. His grave is preserved in the Protestant Friedhof I der Jerusalems- und Neuen Kirchengemeinde (Cemetery No. I of the congregations of Jerusalem’s Church and New Church) in Berlin-Kreuzberg, south of Hallesches Tor. He was succeeded as head of the Akademie by Carl Friedrich Zelter. Life Educ

Carl Friedrich Zelter

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Carl Friedrich Zelter (11 December 1758 15 May 1832) was a German composer, conductor and teacher of music. Working in his father’s bricklaying business, Zelter attained mastership in that profession, and was a musical autodidact. Zelter was born and died in Berlin. He became friendly with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and his works include settings of Goethe’s poems. During his career, he composed about two hundred lieder, as well as cantatas, a viola concerto (performed as early as 1779) and piano music. Amongst Zelter’s pupils (at different times) were Felix Mendelssohn, Fanny Mendelssohn, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Eduard Grell, Otto Nicolai, Johann Friedrich Naue, and Heinrich Dorn. Felix Mendelssohn was perhaps Zelter’s favorite pupil and Zelter wrote to Goethe boasting of the 12-year old’s abilities. Zelter communicated his strong love of the music of J. S. Bach to Mendelssohn, one consequence of which was Mendelssohn’s 1829 revival of Bach’s St Matthew Passion at the Sing-Akademie under Zelter’s auspices. This epochal event sparked a general re-evaluation and revival of Bach’s works, which were then largely forgotten and regarded as old-fashioned and beyond resuscitation. Mendelssohn

Carl Hanke

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Johann Carl Hanke (c.1749 - 10 June 1803) was a German composer and conductor. Life He was baptised at Markt Roßwald on 5 December 1749, son of Anton (a citizen of that village) and Maria Magdalena. The Hanke family was frequently mentioned in the Silesian-Moravian border region and several of its members worked as organists and cantors. No documents survive on Johann Carl’s childhood or youth, though count Albert Joseph von Hoditz gave him a place in the children’s orchestra at the Schloss Roßwald and so it can be assumed he first took violin lessons at an early age. Famous opera and theatre productions took place at the Schloss around that time, often conducted by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf. From 1776 to 1778 Hanke led the court musicians and choir back in Roßwald, where he also completed several ballets, orchestral and chamber works, and cantatas for special occasions. In Roßwald in 1778 he married Anna Maria Stormke (1760-?), with whom he had one child, a daughter. Anna Maria’s father Franz Joseph Stormke was a steward and had married Anna Rosina (née Just), also in Roßwald. * Robert und Hannchen or Die hat der Teufel geholt (originally Der Wunsch mancher Mädchen) (libretto b

Carl Ludwig Matthes

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Carl Ludwig Matthes (born 1751) was a German oboist and composer of the classical era. While Matthes’ surviving works are relatively few in number, they do provide some insight into his compositional style. His Six Duets for two oboes, Op. 1, for example, are notable for Composer melodies and elegant harmonies, which are characteristic of the classical style. The Concerto for oboe and orchestra in C major is similarly well-crafted, and showcases Matthes’ skill as a soloist and composer. Life Matthes was born in Berlin, External links *

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

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Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German composer and musician of the Baroque and Classical eras. He was the fifth child and second surviving son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach. Bach was an influential composer working at a time of transition between his father’s Baroque style and the Classical style that followed it. He was the principal representative of the or ‘sensitive style’. The qualities of his keyboard music are forerunners of the expressiveness of Romantic music, in deliberate contrast to the statuesque forms of Baroque music. His organ sonatas mainly come from the galant style. To distinguish him from his brother Johann Christian, the “London Bach”, who at this time was music master to Queen Charlotte of Great Britain, Bach was known as the “Berlin Bach” during his residence in that city, and later as the “Hamburg Bach” when he succeeded Georg Philipp Telemann as Kapellmeister there. To his contemporaries, he was known simply as Emanuel. His second name was in honour of his godfather Telemann, a friend of his father J. S. Bach. Bach

Carl Siegemund Schönebeck

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Carl Siegemund Schönebeck (26 October 1758 in Lübben, Germany – early 1800s) was a German composer and cellist. Few of his works have survived. The compositions attributed to him show features of originality and have been compared to Ludwig van Beethoven’s. Biography Schönebeck, in line with his parents’ wishes, aspired to become a surgeon, but felt so drawn to music that at age 14 he decided to have lessons from a musician in his home town of Lübben. He had some years of study in Lübben, and later in the Silesian city of Grünberg, but was largely self-taught as a violinist and as a player of several wind instruments. However, when a cello virtuoso arrived in Grünberg, he was so fascinated by the instrument that he taught himself to play it. Two years later he was invited to join the Duke of Dohna’s orchestra in the Saxon province of Kotzenau. Then in 1780, Schönebeck became a town musician in Sorau, Lower Lusatia (now Żary, Poland). In order to continue perfecting his music, Schönebeck travelled to Potsdam, where he met the cello virtuoso Jean-Louis Duport. He also travelled to Dresden to play alongside the French cellist Jean Balthasar Tricklir. In 1787, Schönebeck joined the Duk

Carl Stamitz

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Carl Philipp Stamitz (; born in Mannheim and baptized 8 May 17459 November 1801), was a German composer of partial Czech ancestry of the Classical era. He was the most prominent representative of the second generation of the Mannheim School. He was the eldest son of Johann Stamitz, a violinist and composer of the early classical period. He received lessons from his father and Christian Cannabich, his father’s successor as leader of the Mannheim orchestra. As a youth, Stamitz was employed as a violinist in the court orchestra at Mannheim. In 1770, he began travelling as a virtuoso, accepting short-term engagements, but never managing to gain a permanent position. He visited a number of European cities, living for a time in Strasbourg and London. In 1794, he gave up travelling and moved with his family to Jena in central Germany. His circumstances deteriorated and he descended into debt and poverty, dying in 1801. Many tracts on alchemy were found in his library after his death. Stamitz wrote symphonies, symphonies concertantes, and concertos for clarinet, cello, flute, oboe, bassoon, basset horn, violin, viola, viola d’amore, and different combinations of these instruments. Some of

Carlo Besozzi

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Carlo Besozzi (1738 – 22 March 1791) was an Italian oboist composer and member of an extensive family of oboists from the eighteenth-century Naples. Nephew of Gaetano Besozzi, he was employed in the orchestra of the Elector of Dresden and travelled extensively throughout Europe with his father, playing in London, Paris, Stuttgart and Salzburg, where he received good notices from Leopold Mozart. Biography Besozzi was born in Naples, or in Dresden as reported by another source, as the son of oboist and composer Antonio Besozzi, who was undoubtedly his teacher. From 1754 Carlo Besozzi joined his father as oboist in the Dresden Kapelle, in the service of the Electress of Saxony Maria Antonia Walpurgis. However, the Dresden opera house was destroyed by the Prussians in the Seven Years’ War (1756–63), breaking up the remarkable group of musicians assembled by Elector Frederick Augustus II. He performed in Paris in December of that year and escaped to London in early 1757. He then traveled extensively through Germany, France and Italy, acquiring by that time not only almost unparalleled skill on the oboe, but also even greater reputation than his father, and spent 1758–9 playing under Nic

Carlo Graziani

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Carlo Graziani (1st half of the 18th century-1787) was an Italian composer and cello virtuoso. His compositions reflect both elements of galant style and advancements in cello playing throughout the 18th century. His works are notorious for their passagework, bow dexterity, natural and artificial harmonics, up-bow staccati, scordatura tuning (see Sonata in D), multiple stops, and elaborate dynamic contrast. Though his works are not regularly included in standard repertoire, they serve as excellent primary sources in tracking the development of cello technique throughout the eighteenth-century. Life and career Not much is known about the composer’s early years–including his exact birth and at what age did he exactly move from Asti, Italy. Nothing is known further about the composer’s time in Italy. One can conclude from his employment history and compositional output that the composer accumulated exemplary training enough to assume the role as one of the leading cello virtuosi of his time. By the early 1760s, he arrived in Paris to join the orchestra of La Pouplinière–revealing that he already garnered impressive skill and fame by the mid-eighteenth century. Graziani’s time with La

Caroline Wuiet

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Caroline Wuiet (Vuyet, Vuïet), later Baronne Aufdiener (Auffdiener) (17 August 1766 – 22 May 1835) was a French journalist, novelist and composer, best known for opera. Life Caroline Wuiet, daughter of an organist, was born in Rambouillet, France. She was considered a child prodigy at age five and was presented to Queen Marie-Antoinette by Princess de Lamballe. The queen took her as an adopted daughter and saw that she received an education in the arts. Wuiet studied music under André Grétry, painting with Greuze and theater with Beaumarchais. Wuiet began her career as a composer and librettist at the age of eighteen with Le Trompeur trompé, but was disappointed that the opera was not performed. She was given the opportunity to write a sequel to Gretry’s L’Épreuve villageoise (1784), and wrote both the music and libretto for L’Heureuse erreur with more success. She later became a concert pianist, still enjoying the patronage of Marie-Antoinette. As a Royalist, Wuiet went into hiding during the French Revolution and remained there through the Reign of Terror, leaving journals regarding the years of the French Revolution. Under the French Directory, Wuiet began composing again and en

Cecilia Maria Barthélemon

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Cecilia Maria Barthélemon (1 September 1767 – 5 December 1859) Early life Cecilia Maria Barthélemon was born in 1767. Her mother, Maria Barthélemon, was a singer and composer, and her father, François-Hippolyte Barthélemon, was a violinist and a singer. From a young age, Barthélemon learned to sing and play the harpsichord, piano, organ, and harp from her parents. Until 1788, she studied harpsichord, piano, and organ with Johann Samuel Schröter. in 1771–1772, while Barthélemon was an infant, her parents brought her on tour to Dublin. In 1776, the family toured Germany, France, and Italy, where Barthélemon sang for the King of Naples and the Queen of France. Professional life Barthélemon debuted in London as a singer on 3 March 1779 at the Haymarket Theatre, where she sang an Italian duet with her mother. Her next large-scale performance was in April 1782, when she played the part of First Fairy in the musical “The Arcadian Pastoral.” Her father led the orchestra and her mother directed the off-stage chorus. At a benefit concert for her father in April 1784, Barthélemon played a piano concerto after Act I of Thomas Arne’s opera Eliza. Her father accompanied her on the viola d’amore.

Charles John Frederick Lampe

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Charles John Frederick Lampe (173910 September 1767) was an English composer and organist, and the son of composer John Frederick Lampe and the singer Isabella Lampe (maiden name of Young). Biography Charles Lampe was born in London, one year into his parents’ marriage. His father was a successful composer of stage music and his mother was a celebrated soprano who often appeared in her husband’s operas. Isabella was also a part of the well-known Young family of musicians. Charles was named after his grandfather, Charles Young, who was a notable organist and composer. His great uncle, Anthony Young, was also a notable organist and composer. Charles’s Aunt Cecilia (1712–1789), was one of the greatest English sopranos of the eighteenth century and the wife of composer Thomas Arne. His Aunt Esther was a well-known contralto and wife to Charles Jones, a successful music publisher in England during the eighteenth century. Three of his cousins, Isabella, Elizabeth, and Polly Young were all successful singers, and his cousin Michael Arne was a successful composer. In 1758 Charles succeeded his grandfather Charles as organist at All Hallows, Barking-by-the-Tower, a post which he held until

Charles Thomas Carter

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Charles Thomas Carter (c. 1735 – 12 October 1804) was an Irish composer and organist with mixed success as an opera composer in London, but with some songs that remained popular beyond his lifetime. Life There is considerable confusion about the identity and potential family connections of various musicians called Carter in Dublin and London, three of whom abbreviated their name as “T. Carter”. The first was Timothy Carter (c. 1715–1772), a Dublin musician who became the father of the present (Charles) Thomas Carter and of Sampson Carter (c.1749–1815). Another Irish-born composer named Thomas Carter (1769–1800) was considerably younger, but died earlier – the London-published music of these two Thomas Carters during the 1790s is difficult to distinguish. (Charles) Thomas often, but not always, abbreviated his name as “C.T. Carter”. According to John O’Keeffe, Thomas was a choirboy in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, but there is no other evidence for this. He was organist at St Werburgh’s Church, Dublin, from 10 December 1751 to 7 November 1754, when the organ was destroyed by fire. There were benefit concerts on his behalf in Dublin in 1754 and 1756. He was then appointed organist

Charles-Antoine Campion

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Charles-Antoine Campion, italianized as Carlo Antonio Campioni (16 November 172012 April 1788 ) was a French-Italian composer who was born in the Duchy of Lorraine. He was a prolific composer and represented a link between Baroque compositional methods and those of the Classical style. Life Early years and employment in Livorno Campion was born in Lunéville (Meurthe-et-Moselle) in Lorraine to Jacques and Charlotte Bruget. Not much is known about his early musical education in Lorraine, but he may have been a student of Henri Desmarets. Given that his father was serving in the Lorraine court, his family was transferred to Florence, Italy at the same time as the rise to the throne of the Tuscan Granduca (Grand Duke) Francis of Lorraine in 1737. During this period of time, he presumably came into contact with Giuseppe Tartini, who was Campion’s teacher. From 1752 to 1762, Campion was Chapel Master of the Cathedral in Livorno. He was fortunate to be friends with some aristocrats, and succeeded in having his opera (Venere placata, libretto by Marco Coltellini) performed for the celebration in Livorno (at the Avvalorati Academy) of the royal wedding of Joseph II and Princess Isabella of

Charles-Guillaume Alexandre

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Charles-Guillaume Alexandre (ca.1735 – 1787 or 1788) was a French classical violinist and composer. Biography Born in Paris, Alexandre was a violinist at the Théâtre de l’Opéra-Comique from 1753 to 1755. Master of music at the Dubugrarre School of Music (1760), he became first violin of the Duke of Aiguillon then in 1783, violin teacher in Paris. He wrote operas and instrumental music. Works *1755: Le Triomphe de l’amour conjugal, spectacle orné de machines, lyrics by Giovanni Niccolo Servandoni *1756: La Conquête du Mogol par Thamas Kouli-Kan, roi de Perse, et son triomphe, spectacle à machines, lyrics by Servandoni *1761: Georget et Georgette, one-act opéra-comique, libretto by Harny de Guerville *1764: Dictionnaire lyrique portatif, ou Choix des plus jolies ariettes de tous les genres disposées pour la voix et les instrumens avec les paroles françoises sous la musique, 2 volumes, Didot *1765: La Belle Arsène, opéra-comique, lyrics by Charles-Simon Favart, music by Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny, ouverture by C-G Alexandre *1765: Les beaux airs ou simphonies chantantes pour deux violons, deux hautbois ou flute, basso fagotto et cors à volonté *1765: Le Tonnelier, one-act opéra comique

Charles-Henri de Blainville

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Charles-Henri de Blainville (1711–1769 or after 1771 ) was a French composer, cellist, pedagogue and music theorist. Biography The birthplace of Charles-Henri de Blainville remains uncertain. François-Joseph Fétis wrote that he came from Tours, which all the other biographers have copied. In the preface of his Sonatas Op. 1 of 1740 is mentioned “By Mr. Blainville de Roüen”. Blainville entered the service of the Marquise de Villeroy. He wrote vocal and instrumental works which had little success. In 1751, he made himself known by affirming that there existed a “third mode” between minor and major. He wrote two theoretical works: L’Esprit de l’art musical ou réflexions sur la musique and L’Histoire générale, critique et philosophie de la musique. He died in Paris. Works (selection) Operas *Thésée, opera (lost) *Miadas, one-act heroic comedy (Paris, 1753) (lost) Orchestral music *Symphonie à double quatuor, presented at the Concert Spirituel in 1741, lost *Six simphonies, Op. 1, c. 1750 *Six simphonies, Op. 2, c. 1750 Chamber music *Six sonates en trio, for two violins or two flutes and bass, Op. 1 (c. 1740) *Premier livre de sonates pour le dessus de viole (c. 1750) *Second livre de

Charles-Henri Plantade

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Charles-Henri Plantade (14 October 1764 – 18 December 1839) was a French classical composer and singing professor. His compositions included several operas, numerous romances, sacred music, and a sonata for harp. He taught singing at the Conservatoire de Paris and was the maître de chapelle to the courts of Louis Bonaparte in Holland and Louis XVIII in France. From 1812 to 1815 he was also the singing master and stage director of the Paris Opéra. Plantade was born in Pontoise and died in Paris at the age of 75. His elder son, Charles-François Plantade, was also a composer. Life and career Plantade was born in Pontoise, a suburb of Paris. According to his obituary in Le Ménestrel, he came from a noble family whose origins were in Languedoc. Plantade began his musical training in singing and the cello at the age of eight when he entered the school for pages in the Musique du roi, the King’s personal troupe of musicians. He went on to study singing and composition with Honoré Langlé, piano with Nicolas-Joseph Hüllmandel, and the harp with Francesco Petrini. On completing his studies Plantade became a singing teacher and began publishing collections of romances which brought him to the

Charlotte Caroline Wilhelmine Bachmann

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Charlotte Caroline Wilhelmine Bachmann, née Stöwe (2 November 1757 – 19 August 1817) was a German soprano, harpsichordist and composer. She was born in Berlin, the daughter of musician Wilhelm Heinrich Stöwe, and studied singing and harpsichord as a child. At the age of nine, she made her debut in the (Amateur Concerts) which had been established by Friedrich Benda, son of Franz Benda. She married Berlin violist Karl Ludwig Bachmann on 20 September 1785. She was one of twenty founding members of the Berlin Singakademie in 1791, and was instrumental in establishing annual performances of C. H. Graun’s Der Tod Jesu between 1797 and 1806, a tradition that continued at the Berlin court until 1884. She was well regarded as a performer in Berlin. One of her songs was published in Rellstab’s Clavier-Magazin in 1787. She died in Berlin. Works Bachman composed songs. Selected works include: *"", 1787 References

Chevalier d'Herbain

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Jean-Louis Cuchot d’Herbain (Chevalier d’Herbain; 10 April 1720 – 28 May 1768) was an 18th-century French baroque composer with a professional career in the military. Short biography Born in Strasbourg, d’Herbain was destined to a military career, and became a captain in the regiment of Tournaisis. While he was stationed in Italy, he began to compose operas: Il geloso (Rome, 1751), Il trionfo del Giglio (Bastia, 1751) and La Lavinia (Bastia, 1753). Back in Paris, he composed the music for the ballet Célime (1756) and the opéras comiques Les Deux talents (1763, on a libretto by Jean-François de Bastide) and Nanette et Lucas (1764, on a libretto by Nicolas-Étienne Framery). Some of his vocal works, including many ariettes, enjoyed lasting success. He died in Paris aged 48. Works *1751: Il geloso, intermezzo *1751: Il trionfo del Giglio / Le Triomphe du lys, opera *1753: La Lavinia, opera *1756: Iphis et Célime, ou Le Temple de l’indifférence détruit pas l’amour, opera-ballet *1763: Les Deux talents, opéra comique *1764: Nanette et Lucas, ou La Paysanne curieuse, comedy, prose with ariettes References External links * His works and presentations on CÉSAR * Operone - Chevalier d’Herbai

Chevalier de Saint-Georges

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Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George(s) (; ; 25 December 17459 June 1799) was a French violinist, conductor, composer, and soldier of African descent. Moreover, he demonstrated excellence as a fencer, an athlete, and a dancer. His historical significance lies partly in his distinctive background as a biracial free man of colour. Bologne was the first classical composer of African descent to attain widespread acclaim in Western music. He composed an array of violin concertos, string quartets, sinfonia concertantes, violin duets, sonatas, two symphonies, and an assortment of stage works, notably opéra comique. Born in the French colony of Guadeloupe, his father, Georges Bologne de Saint-Georges, was a wealthy, white plantation owner, while his mother was one of the Senegalese people Georges kept enslaved. At the age of seven, he was taken to France where he began his formal education. As a young man he won a fencing contest leading to his appointment as a “" by king Louis XVI. Having received music and musical composition lessons, he joined the orchestra , culminating in his appointment as its conductor in 1773. In 1776, Saint-Georges began conducting the Paris Opera. However, t

Christian Cannabich

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Johann Christian Innocenz Bonaventura Cannabich (baptised 28 December 1731 – 20 January 1798), was a German violinist, composer, and Kapellmeister of the Classical era. A composer of around 200 works, he continued the legacy of Johann Stamitz and helped turn the Mannheim orchestra into what Charles Burney described as “the most complete and best disciplined in Europe.” The orchestra was particularly noted for the carefully graduated crescendos and diminuendos characteristic of the Mannheim school. Together with Stamitz and the other composers of the Mannheim court, he helped develop the orchestral texture that paved the way for the orchestral treatment of the First Viennese School. Biography Background Christian Cannabich was born in Mannheim, the third child of Martin Friedrich Cannabich (1690–1773), a flautist, oboist and music teacher at the Mannheim court. Cannabich’s father was the personal flute teacher of the Prince elector Carl Theodor, which in itself created favourable conditions for Christian Cannabich’s later career. The family originally hailed from Alsace, which through history, tradition and custom has always had (and still has) close ties to the Palatinate. It is po

Christian Friedrich Penzel

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Christian Friedrich Penzel (25 November 173714 March 1801) was a German musician. Although he was a composer in his own right, he is remembered more for his association with Johann Sebastian Bach. He was one of Bach’s last pupils. He continued to be involved in performances of Bach’s music after the composer’s death, and he is known for making copies of some of Bach’s works. Life and career Born in Oelsnitz, Vogtland on 25 November 1737, Penzel was the son of a church sexton. He began his formal musical training in his native city where he studied under the cantor J. G. Nacke. He entered the St. Thomas School, Leipzig in 1749 and, given Penzel’s age at the time, this raises the question of the type of teaching Penzel received from Bach. Penzel described himself as a pupil of Bach, but perhaps he was simply referring to general teaching that Bach gave his choirboys and instrumentalists. It would seem unlikely that he attended private lessons, but this cannot be ruled out. After Bach’s death, Penzel became a prefect at the school under Bach’s successor Gottlob Harrer. The position involved him directing the boys’ choir (Thomanerchor) on occasion. Harrer needed the services of a deput

Christian Gottfried Krause

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Christian Gottfried Krause (17 April 1717 – 4 May 1770) was a German lawyer, composer and music commentator. Life Krause was born in Winzig (today Wińsko, Poland) into a musical family. His father was a Stadtpfeifer from whom he learned to play the flute, violin, keyboard and timpani. Krause studied law at the University in Frankfurt an der Oder, where he attended lectures by Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, among others. Baumgarten’s ideas on aesthetic had a profound influence on Krause. In 1746 he moved to Berlin, where he died. Krause’s treatise Von der musikalischen Poesie (1753) marked the beginning of the Ersten Berliner Liederschule (first Berlin Lieder School). Musical works * Gelobet sey der Herr (Cantata) 1758 * Der Tod Jesu (Cantata, text by Karl Wilhelm Ramler) 1758 * Oden mit Melodien 1761 * Der lustige Schulmeister (Singspiel, text by Friedrich Nicolai) 1766 * Lieder der deutschen mit Melodien in four volumes 1767-8 Krause’s instrumental output includes a small amount of chamber music, orchestral sinfonias and partitas and keyboard works. There are also numerous pieces listed in 18th century catalogues which have not survived. Literary works * Lettre à Mr. le Marquis de

Christian Gottlob Neefe

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Christian Gottlob Neefe (; 5 February 1748 – 28 January 1798) was a German opera composer and conductor. He was known as one of the first teachers of Ludwig van Beethoven. Life and career Neefe was born in Chemnitz, Saxony. He received a musical education and started to compose at the age of 12. He studied law at Leipzig University, but subsequently returned to music to become a pupil of the composer Johann Adam Hiller under whose guidance he wrote his first comic operas. In 1776, Neefe joined the Seyler theatrical company of Abel Seyler (then) in Dresden, and inherited the position of musical director from his mentor, Hiller. He later became court organist in Bonn and was the principal piano teacher of Ludwig van Beethoven. He helped Beethoven produce some of his first works. His best known work was a Singspiel called Adelheit von Veltheim (1780). In Bonn, Neefe became prefect of the local chapter of the Illuminati, the . He died in 1798 in Dessau, 8 days before his 50th birthday. Works Operas Other works *Oden von Klopstock: Serenade for piano and voice. Flensburg 1776 *Variations on the Priestermarsch aus der Zauberflöte *Twelve piano sonatas *Rondo in C major References Externa

Christian Kalkbrenner

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Christian Kalkbrenner (Hann. Münden, September 22, 1755 – Paris, August 10, 1806 ) was a German Kapellmeister, violinist, organ and keyboard player, and composer. Almost an exact contemporary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, he was a prolific composer in many fields and a force in the musical world. He rose to high honours at the courts of the Prussian Kings. For unknown reasons, Kalkbrenner left his position as Kapellmeister to Prince Henry of Prussia and went first to Naples and later on to Paris. He was the father of Friedrich Wilhelm Kalkbrenner, one of the great piano virtuosos of the first half of the 19th century. Biography Christian Kalkbrenner was born in Münden, Germany. Münden, nowadays called Hann. Münden, an old town with a historic inner city, is situated 17 kilometres north-east of Kassel. Kalkbrenner had his first musical education from his father who was town musician (Stadtmusikus) in the Hessian town of Kassel. Kalkbrenner learned to play violin and organ. In violin he was taught by Carl Rodewald; his organ teacher was Johannes Becker (born 1726), the Hessian court organist. By the time he was seventeen Kalkbrenner sang in the choir of the French opera house of Kassel

Christian Mengis

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Christian Mengis (flourished c. 1745 – c. 1766) was a German composer and horn player of the late Baroque era. Life Mengis was born in Treffurt, Thuringia.

Christian Samuel Barth

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Christian Samuel Barth (13 January 1735 – 8 July 1809) was a German oboist and composer of the classical period. Life Christian Samuel Barth was born in Glauchau, as the son of the merchant George Samuel Barth. He studied at the Thomasschule zu Leipzig, where he was educated by Johann Sebastian Bach. As an oboist, Barth worked from 1753 in the court orchestra in Rudolstadt, from 1762 in Weimar, from 1768 in Hannover and from 1772 in Kassel. Finally, in 1786, he became a member of the Hofkapelle at the royal court in Copenhagen, which was then briefly under the direction of Johann Gottlieb Naumann. On account of his age and infirmity, he was relieved from his duties in 1798 and received an annual pension of 500 Reichsthaler until his death in 1809. Barth’s two sons, Frederik Philip Carl August (1774–1804) and Christian Frederik (1787–1861), having been taught by their father, both became virtuoso performers on the oboe as well as composers. The youngest son became renowned as a touring soloist. Works It seems that most of Barth’s compositions have been lost. He is known to have composed an Ouverture in E major, op. 18, 4 oboe sonatas, a Cantata Gelobet seist du Jesu Christ, and at l

Christoph Nichelmann

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Christoph Nichelmann (13 August 1717 – 20 July 1762) was a German composer and harpsichordist. He was second keyboard player in the Royal Ensemble of Frederick the Great. Biography Born in Treuenbrietzen, from 1730 on the advice of a relative Nichelmann attended the Thomasschule in Leipzig, where he was accepted by Johann Sebastian Bach. He studied composition and was taught to play keyboard instruments by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. Bibliography * Douglas A. Lee: “Nichelmann, Christoph”, in: The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed. by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (Oxford University Press, 2001), * Thomas-M. Langner: “Nichelmann, Christoph”, in: Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 1st ed. by Friedrich Blume (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1949–1986) * Krebs, Michael Harald: Thematisch-Systematisches Verzeichnis der Werke Christoph Nichelmann. Nichelmann-Werke-Verzeichnis (NWV) (PhD thesis, Potsdam, 2002) References External links * * * Christoph Nichelmann, ein Meister aus der preußischen Provinz. * Christoph Nichelmann bachschueler.de * Friedrich der Grosse - Music for the Berlin Court CD review, magazin.klassik.com

Christoph Sonnleithner

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Christoph Sonnleithner (28 May 1734 in Szeged, Hungary – 25 December 1786 in Vienna, Austria) was an Austrian jurist and composer. He was the father of Ignaz von Sonnleithner and Joseph Sonnleithner. His daughter Anna was the mother of Franz Grillparzer. Life Sonnleithner studied legal science at the University of Vienna where he graduated with a doctorate. Later he was given work as a solicitor in the service of the princely House of Esterházy being his employer Prince Paul II Anton Esterházy de Galantha. Sonnleithner was appointed as Dean of the Juridical Faculty at the University of Vienna, and had thus the office of the court judge of the Scottish Abbey, the College of the Scots. As a composer, Sonnleithner was in contact with Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He composed 36 string quartets, all dedicated to Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, several symphonies and various church music. Additional information Sources * Notes References ;Attribution *This article is based on the translation of the corresponding article on the German Wikipedia. A list of contributors can be found there at the History section. External links *

Christoph Willibald von Gluck

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Ancestry#

Gluck’s earliest known ancestor is his great-grandfather, Simon Gluckh von Rockenzahn, whose name is recorded in the marriage contract (1672) of his son, the forester Johann (Hans) Adam Gluck (c. 1649–1722) and grandfather of Christoph. ‘Rockenzahn’ is believed to be Rokycany, located in the central part of western Bohemia (about 70 km southwest of Prague and 16 km east of Pilsen). The family name Gluck (also spelled Gluckh, Klugh, Kluch, etc.) likely comes from the Czech word for boy (kluk). one of four sons of Hans Adam Gluck who became foresters or gamekeepers. Alexander served in a contingent of about 50 soldiers under Philipp Hyazinth von Lobkowitz, the son of Ferdinand August von Lobkowitz, during the War of Spanish Succession, and, according to Gluck family tradition, rose to the level of gunbearer to the great general of the imperial forces, Eugene of Savoy. In 1711 Alexander settled outside Berching as a forester and hunter in the service of the monastery Seligenporten, Plankstetten Abbey, and the mayors of Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz. He took the vacant position of hunter in Erasbach in 1711 or 1712 (his predecessor had been found shot in the forest). About Gluck’s mother, Maria Walburga, almost nothing is known, including her surname, but she probably grew up in the same area as she was named after Saint Walburga, the sister of Saint Willibald, the first bishop of nearby Eichstätt.

Claude Balbastre

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Claude Balbastre (8 December 1724 – 9 May 1799) was a French composer, organist, harpsichordist and fortepianist. He was one of the most famous musicians of his time. Life Claude Balbastre was born in Dijon in 1724. Although his exact birthdate has been disputed, the discovery of his baptismal record has now made that date, 8 December, certain. Balbastre’s father, Bénigne, a church organist in Dijon, had 18 children from two marriages; Claude was the 16th. Three of his brothers were also named Claude. He is often confused with younger brother Claude-Bénigne Balbastre (22 Jan. 1727-before 22 March 1737). He received his first music lessons from his father, then became a pupil of Claude Rameau, the younger brother of Jean-Philippe Rameau, the most famous French musician at the time and also a native of Dijon. Balbastre settled in Paris in 1750 and studied there with Pierre Février, whom he succeeded as organist of the Saint Roch church. Jean-Philippe Rameau helped and protected Balbastre when he settled in the city, so Balbastre was quickly and efficiently introduced to the Parisian musical circles and high society, and made a brilliant career: he played at the Concert Spirituel unti

Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle

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Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle (; 10 May 1760 – 26 June 1836) was a French army officer of the French Revolutionary Wars. Lisle is known for writing and it became the French national anthem. Early life Rouget de Lisle was born at Lons-le-Saunier, reputedly on a market day. His parents lived in the neighbouring village of Montaigu. A plaque was placed at the precise spot of his birth and a statue erected in the town’s center in 1882. He was the eldest son of Claude Ignace Rouget (5 April 1735 – 6 August 1792) at Orgelet and Jeanne Madeleine Gaillande (2 July 1734 – 20 March 1811). In 1784, he was initiated into “Les Frères discrets”, a masonic lodge in Charleville, just after being promoted officer. Career He enlisted into the army as an engineer and attained the rank of captain. A royalist like his father, he refused to take the oath of allegiance to the new constitution. Rouget de Lisle was cashiered and thrown into prison in 1793, narrowly escaping the guillotine. He was freed during the Thermidorian Reaction and retired to Montaigu. was composed 11 years before by the Italian composer Giovan Battista Viotti at the court of Marie Antoinette. France had just declared war on Austria

Claus Schall

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Claus Nielsen Schall (28 April 1757 – 10 August 1835) was a Danish violinist and composer living much of his life as a subject of Denmark–Norway. Life and career Niels Pedersen Schall’s father, initially a cobbler’s apprentice, later established his own dance school. His mother was Christiane Pedersdatter, née Salling. He had two brothers, Andreas Schall and Peder Schall, who were also musicians. Early years His father, keen on involving him in dance, arranged violin lessons for him. Later, he briefly worked in an office but found it unsuitable. In 1772, he independently enrolled in the Theatre’s dance school, becoming a supernumerary in 1773. Engaging in ballets, he had the opportunity to hear various pieces of music, which he memorized on the violin due to his excellent musical memory. He supported himself by teaching dance in Roskilde and Holbæk during summers and giving music lessons in Copenhagen during winters. In 1776, during a rehearsal for the ballet “Kongen paa Jagt,” the rehearsal director fell ill, and the key to the music cabinet was misplaced. Schall played the entire music from memory and even conducted the ballet that evening when no violinist from the orchestra dar

Corona Schröter

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Corona Elisabeth Wilhelmine Schröter (14 January 1751 – 23 August 1802) was a German actress and musician best known as a singer. She also composed songs, setting texts by Friedrich Schiller and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to music. Early life Schröter was born in Guben, Holy Roman Empire. In her early years she studied many instruments, which included the keyboard and guitar. Corona and Goethe worked closely on compositions which were performed in the Weimar theater as well as published for their personal libraries between 1776 and 1782. When the amateur court theatre was replaced by professional actors in 1783, she continued to sing and act in informal settings. She also began to teach singing and took up writing and art. She formally withdrew from all court performing in 1788. She became friends with Friedrich Schiller during those years, whose poems she later set to music. Unfortunately, these lieder are lost, as are her two dramas, hundreds of arias and duets, and an autobiography given to Goethe in 1778. However, two collections of lieder were published by her, the first in 1786, followed by another in 1794, thus surviving into the present time. The first collection, which con

Cristiano Giuseppe Lidarti

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Cristiano Giuseppe Lidarti (born Christian Joseph Lidarti) (Vienna 23 February 1730 – Pisa(?) after 1793) was an Austrian composer, born in Vienna of Italian descent. Life Lidarti was a nephew of the Viennese Kapellmeister Giuseppe Bonno. While at University in Vienna, studying philosophy and law, he also began to learn to play the harp and harpsichord. In 1757 he studied with Niccolò Jommelli in Rome. Until 1784 he was a musician at chapel of the Cavalieri di S. Stefano in Pisa. His last known composition is dated 1793. In 1770, the English musician Charles Burney met Lidarti in Pisa during his travels in Italy. In 1774 Lidarti wrote an autobiography, Aneddoti musicali. Most of Lidarti’s compositions were for chamber ensembles; they also include a number of concertos and they were distinct from his more famous contemporaries Haydn and Mozart. Ester Lidarti is noted for his oratorio Ester (Hebrew: תשועת ישראל על ידי אסתר - The Salvation of Israel by the Hands of Esther) composed in 1774 to a Hebrew libretto for the Jewish community in Amsterdam, for which he also wrote some settings of religious music. Ester is believed to be the first work of the oratorio form in Hebrew. The libre

Daniel Gottlob Türk

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Daniel Gottlob Türk (10 August 1750 – 26 August 1813) was a German composer, organist, and music professor of the Classical period. Biography Born in Claußnitz, Saxony, Türk studied organ under his father and later under Johann Adam Hiller. It was Hiller who recommended Türk for his first professional position at Halle University, in Halle, Germany. On 18 April 1779 Halle University granted Türk’s request to begin lecturing on music theory, making him the University’s “Director of Music.” This appointment made Türk the second university music director in Germany. While at Halle, Türk published his treatise On the Role of the Organist in Worship which is still occasionally reprinted. Several of Türk’s dances and minuets for the piano are still popular today. He wrote 18 sonatas. His most notable contribution to the classical music canon is the Klavierschule, a teaching method for the keyboard. He also wrote a cantata, Die Hirten bey der Krippe zu Bethlehem (The Shepherds at the Cradle in Bethlehem) (1782), and some organ pieces and other choral works still in manuscript. In 1783 he married Johanna Dorothea Rosine Schimmelpfennig, by whom he had two children. He was a member of the H

Daniel Read

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Daniel Read (November 16, 1757 – December 4, 1836) was an American composer of the First New England School, and one of the primary figures in early American classical music. Life and work Read, along with his contemporaries William Billings, Oliver Holden, Supply Belcher, and Justin Morgan, was one of the primary members of a group of American composers called the Yankee tunesmiths or the First New England School. While the classical music era was in its heyday in Europe, American composers of “serious” music were setting hymn tunes in three- and four-part a cappella style, with simple folklike melodies and little regard for functional harmony. Many of these works were fuguing tunes, which begin with all voices singing together (with a melody usually based on a Protestant hymn), come to a stop, and continue with each voice entering one at a time. Nearly all were hymn tunes, developed for the use of the newly-forming singing societies. Once a private in the Massachusetts militia, later a comb-maker and owner of a general store in New Haven, Connecticut, Read was only the third American composer to put out a collection of his own music (after William Billings and Simeon Jocyln). Thi

Daniel Steibelt

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Daniel Gottlieb Steibelt (22 October 17652 October 1823) was a German pianist and composer. His main works were composed in Paris and in London, and he died in Saint Petersburg, Russia. He once challenged and lost to Ludwig van Beethoven in a piano duel. Biography Steibelt was born in Berlin, and studied music with Johann Kirnberger before being forced by his father to join the Prussian Army. After deserting, he began a nomadic career as a pianist before settling in 1790 in Paris, where he attained great popularity as a virtuoso as the result of a piano sonata called La Coquette, which he composed for Marie Antoinette. Also in Paris, his dramatic opera entitled Romeo et Juliette, which was later highly regarded by Hector Berlioz, was produced at the Théâtre Feydeau in 1793. This is held by many to be his most original and artistically successful composition. Steibelt began to share his time between Paris and London, where his piano playing attracted great attention. In 1797 he played in a concert of J. P. Salomon. In 1798 he produced his Concerto No. 3 in E containing a Storm Rondo characterized by extensive tremolos, which became very popular. In the following year Steibelt starte

Davide Perez

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Davide Perez (1711 – 30 October 1778) was an Italian opera composer born in Naples of Italian parents, and later resident court composer at Lisbon from 1752. He staged three operas on librettos of Metastasio at Lisbon with huge success in 1753, 1754, and 1755. Following the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, Perez turned from opera mostly to church music. Early years Perez was born in Naples, the son of Giovanni Perez and Rosalina Serrari, both Neapolitans. At the age of 11 he became a student at the Conservatorio di S Maria di Loreto in Naples, where he remained until 1733, studying counterpoint with Francesco Mancini, singing and keyboard playing with Giovanni Veneziano, and violin with Francesco Barbella. On completion of his studies, Perez immediately entered the service of the Sicilian Prince d’Aragona, Naselli. From 1734 date his first known pieces, the Latin cantatas Ilium Palladio astu Subducto Expugnatum and Palladium performed in Palermo’s Collegio della Società di Gesù, for the laurelling festivities. In the following years, he was active both in Palermo and Naples, as his patron became Chamberlain of the newly crowned king, Carlo I. His first opera, La nemica amante, was composed

Dismas Hataš

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Dismas Hataš (; 1 December 1724 – 13 October 1777) was a Czech composer and violinist of the early classical period. Life Hataš was born on 1 December 1724 in Vysoké Mýto, to a musical family. Many of his relatives were cantors and organists in Bohemia. In May 1751, he married the singer Anna Franziska Benda, the sister of Franz and Jiří Antonín Benda, and in October of that year was recommended by Jiří Antonín for a position as a violinist in the court orchestra in Gotha. He was to keep this position for the rest of his life. In 1756, his son Jindřich Krištof Hataš was born, whom he taught to play the violin, and who later became a composer. From December 1768 to early 1769, he performed with his wife and colleagues from Gotha in four concerts in the Netherlands. Dismas’ younger brother, Jan Václav Hataš (1727–1752) was also a composer. Works Hataš’ compositional style is typical of that which prevailed in Northern Germany in the middle of the 18th century. It preserves many baroque idioms while absorbing many classical developments which were already common in other parts of Europe. His output includes: * 3 sonatas for violin and basso continuo (in C major; G major; A major) * 6

Dmitry Bortniansky

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Dmitry Stepanovich Bortniansky (28 October 1751 – 10 October 1825) was a Russian composer of Ukrainian Cossack origin. He was also a harpsichordist and conductor who served at the court of Catherine the Great. Bortniansky was critical to the musical history of both Russia and Ukraine, with both nations claiming him as their own. is known today for his liturgical works and prolific contributions to the genre of choral concertos. He was one of the “Golden Three” of his era, alongside Artemy Vedel and Maxim Berezovsky. Bortniansky was so popular in the Russian Empire that his figure was represented in 1862 in the bronze monument of the Millennium of Russia in the Novgorod Kremlin. He composed in many musical styles, including choral works in French, Italian, Latin, German, and Church Slavonic. Biography Early years Dmitry Bortniansky was born on 28 October 1751 in the city of Glukhov, Cossack Hetmanate, Russian Empire (present-day Hlukhiv, Sumy Oblast, Ukraine). His father was Stefan Skurat (or Shkurat), a Lemko-Rusyn Orthodox religious refugee from the village of Bartne in the Małopolska region of Poland. Skurat served as a Cossack under Kirill Razumovski; he was entered in the Cossa

Domènec Terradellas

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Domènec Terradellas (baptized 13 February 1713, Barcelona – 20 May 1751, Rome) was a Spanish opera composer. The birthdate is sometimes incorrectly given as 1711. Carreras i Bulbena did extensive research in contemporary documents, such as baptismal records, and found that the correct date was 1713. All his works are thoroughly Italian in style. Career Born in Barcelona, the son of a day laborer, his early musical training is unknown. It has been said that Terradellas studied with the composer Francisco Valls in Barcelona, but Carreras i Bulbena’s research in Barcelona uncovered no evidence of this. On 23 May 1732, he entered in Naples as a student in the . He studied composition with the famous Neapolitan composer, Francesco Durante. Terradellas was one of a group of foreign-born composers who studied in Italy and adopted the Italian style. The reason for this is that Italian opera was by far the dominant genre of opera at this time, attracting composers from all across Europe: George Frideric Handel, Johann Adolph Hasse, Johann Christian Bach (all Germans), Thomas Arne (an Englishman), Josef Mysliveček (a Czech), and Vicente Martín y Soler (a Spaniard). Italy His first work, an o

Domenico Alberti

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Domenico Alberti (c. 1710 – 14 October 1746 (according to other sources: 1740 and studied music with Antonio Lotti. He wrote operas, songs, and sonatas for keyboard instruments, for which he is best known today. His sonatas frequently employ arpeggiated accompaniment in the left hand in one of several patterns that are now collectively known as Alberti bass. Alberti was one of the earliest composers to use those patterns, but was not the first or only one. The most well-known of these patterns consists of regular broken chords, with the lowest note sounding first, then the highest, then the middle and then the highest again, with the pattern repeated. Today, Alberti is regarded as a minor composer, and his works are played or recorded only irregularly. However, the Alberti bass was used by many later composers, and it became an important element in much keyboard music of the classical music era. An example of Alberti bass (Mozart’s Piano Sonata, K 545): In his own lifetime, Alberti was known as a singer, and often used to accompany himself on the harpsichord. In 1736, he served as a page for Pietro Andrea Cappello, the Venetian ambassador to Spain. While at the Spanish court, the f

Domenico Cimarosa

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Domenico Cimarosa (; 17 December 1749 – 11 January 1801) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School and of the Classical period. He wrote more than eighty operas, the best known of which is Il matrimonio segreto (1792); most of his operas are comedies. He also wrote instrumental works and church music. Cimarosa was principally based in Naples, but spent some of his career in various other parts of Italy, composing for the opera houses of Rome, Venice, Florence and elsewhere. He was engaged by Catherine the Great of Russia as her court composer and conductor between 1787 and 1791. In his later years, returning to Naples, he backed the losing side in the struggle to overthrow the monarchy there, and was imprisoned and then exiled. He died in Venice at the age of 51. Life and career Early years Cimarosa was born in Aversa, a town near Naples. His family name was Cimmarosa, which is how he is recorded on his baptismal record. He appears to have been an only child. His father, Gennaro, was a stonemason, and within days of Domenico’s birth the family moved to Naples where Gennaro found employment on the construction of the Palace of Capodimonte. His teachers were Gennaro Manna and

Domenico Della-Maria

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Domenico Della Maria (1768 – 9 March 1800) was a mandolin virtuoso and dramatic composer of operas. Early years Domenico Della Maria was born in Marseille in 1768. He was the son of Italian parents. His father Domenico was a roving mandolin player, who with his wife and friends formed an itinerant company of musicians—mandolinists, guitarists, and vocalists. During their wanderings they visited Marseille, where their playing and singing attracted more than ordinary attention. This success induced Della Maria and his wife to settle in this city, where they first commenced to teach their instruments, Domenico was born. He was taught the mandolin while a child, and a few years later he received instruction on the violoncello. He appeared publicly as an infant prodigy upon both instruments. When he was eighteen years of age Della Maria wrote his first opera, it being performed in the theatre of his native town. This work caused a great sensation among musicians of Marseille, as bearing the stamp of genius. After this success, Della Maria travelled through Italy as a mandolinist and violoncellist and did not continue his musical education until he came under the influence of Paisiello i

Domenico Dragonetti

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Domenico Carlo Maria Dragonetti (7 April 1763 – 16 April 1846) was an Italian double bass virtuoso and composer with a three string double bass. He stayed for thirty years in his hometown of Venice, Republic of Venice and worked at the Opera Buffa, at the Chapel of San Marco and at the Grand Opera in Vicenza. By that time he had become notable throughout Europe and had turned down several opportunities, including offers from the Tsar of Russia. In 1794, he finally moved to London to play in the orchestra of the King’s Theatre, and settled there for the remainder of his life. In fifty years, he became a prominent figure in the musical events of the English capital, performing at the concerts of the Philharmonic Society of London as well as in more private events, where he would meet the most influential persons in the country, like the Prince Consort and the Duke of Leinster. He was acquainted with composers Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven, whom he visited on several occasions in Vienna, and to whom he showed the possibilities of the double bass as a solo instrument. His ability on the instrument also demonstrated the relevance of writing scores for the double bass in the orch

Domenico Fischietti

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Domenico Fischietti (1725–1810) was an Italian composer. He was born in Naples and studied at the Conservatory of Sant’Onofrio Porta Capuana under the leadership of Leonardo Leo and Francesco Durante. His first opera, Armindo, premiered in 1742 at the Teatro dei Fiorentini in Naples, though there are doubts about whether he could have started composing at such a young age - it may have been by his father. In 1755 he was in Venice to present Lo speziale (the apothecary), the first opera with a libretto by Carlo Goldoni. He followed this success with La ritornata a Londra (The Return to London) in 1756, Il mercato di Malmantile (The Market of Malmantile) in 1758, Il signor dottore (The Doctor) also in 1758, and La fiera di Sinigaglia in 1760. These works, all drammi giocosi, represent Fiscietti’s chief claim to fame. In 1764, he moved to Prague where he was associated with the impresario Giuseppe Bustelli at the Divadlo v Kotcích (German “Kotzentheater”). Besides a number of operas, it is known that Fischietti’s oratorio La morte d’Abel was staged in this theater in 1763. In 1766 he became the master of the chapel court and the director of sacred music in Dresden. Here he worked with

Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (24 October 173910 April 1807), was a German princess and composer. She became the duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach by marriage, and was also regent of the states of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach from 1758 to 1775. and Ernst Wilhelm Wolf. Also her mother Princess Philippine Charlotte was a composer. Marriage and issue In Brunswick, on 16 March 1756, sixteen-year-old Anna Amalia married eighteen-year-old Ernst August II Konstantin, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach She was pregnant with their other son Prince Constantine, born three months after the father’s death. The boy was brought up under the regency and supervision of his mother, a woman of enlightened but masterful temperament. His governor was Count Eustach von Görz, a German nobleman of the old strait-laced school; but a more humane element was introduced into his training when, in 1771, Christoph Martin Wieland was appointed his tutor. In 1774 the poet Karl Ludwig von Knebel came to Weimar as tutor to the young Prince Constantine. Anna Amalia herself played a significant part in bringing together the poetry of ‘Weimar Classicism’. Johann Adam Hiller’s most successful Singspiel, Die Jagd (the

Edmund Pascha

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Edmund Pascha (17146 May 1772) was a preacher, organist and composer. He used the pen name Claudianus Ostern. Life Edmund Pascha was born in 1714 in Kroměříž, the Moravian musical centre of that time. Aged 17, he entered the Franciscan monastery at Hlohovec (western Slovakia). He studied philosophy at Beckov (western Slovakia) and theology at Uherské Hradiště (eastern Moravia). In addition to his native language he also managed Latin, German, Italian and some Hungarian. He practised music and preaching in several Franciscan monasteries of the order’s Salvatorian province, notably at Prešov (eastern Slovakia) and lastly at Žilina (northwestern Slovakia), where he died on 6 May 1772, following many years of painful illness. Works Pascha’s compositions of Slovak passionals, pastoral masses and Christmas carols exemplify Slovak Baroque music and reference Slovak literature. In his musical textbooks, he highlighted Christmas folklore and Slovak folk songs with Christmas and Easter themes. His musical works include a few textbooks in manuscript. The so-called Žilinský kancionál (ca. 1770) contained two manuscript textbooks. The first was Harmonia pastoralis (Pastierska harmónia), a Latin

Edward Miller (musician)

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Edward Miller (1731 or 1735 – 1807) was an English musician, composer and historian of Doncaster. He is most noted as the writer of the hymn tunes Rockingham and Galway. Life Miller was the son of a pavior, but left home to study music, from Charles Burney, who was then at King’s Lynn. For a time he was a flautist in Handel’s orchestra. In 1787, he published simultaneously in London and Dublin his ‘Treatise of Thorough Bass and Composition.’ In 1791, he published ‘Thoughts on the present performance of Psalmody in the Established Church of England addressed to the Clergy’ (London), and in 1792 ‘A Letter to the Country Spectator in reply to the author of his 9th Number … by a Professor of Music’ (London and Doncaster), which is a defence of ‘Fiddlers.’ In 1801 he published The Psalms of Watts and Wesley for three Voices for the use of Methodists (London), and in 1804 The History and Antiquities of Doncaster and its vicinity with anecdotes of Eminent Men, with a map, &c. (Doncaster). He was also the author of The Tears of Yorkshire on the death of the Most Noble the Marquis of Rockingham (London, 1782), and Fetis states that he began a translation of J. J. Rousseau’s Dictionnaire d

Élisabeth de Haulteterre

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Élisabeth de Haulteterre (Hotteterre) (c. 1720?–after 1768) (fl. 1737–1768) was a French composer and violinist. Despite the similarity of the name, she did not come from La Couture, the home of the Hotteterre family including Jacques Martin Hotteterre, and is probably not related. She should also not be confused with Élisabeth de Haulteterre (1738–1820) a French musician of the same name. She was known as a concert violinist, playing Jean-Marie Leclair’s sonatas at the Concert Spirituel in 1737. Her married name was Levésque. Early 18th Century French Music - A Woman’s Role Women were generally trained in opera in Paris during the Early 18th Century. Ballet and opera were on the rise during this period of time in Paris. Additionally, the Baroque era attracted patrons because of its elaborate and lush arrangements as well as the presence of the organ. During the 17th and 18th centuries, there was an increase in public secular music making as well as opportunities for women not tied directly to the church. Women began to appear in public performances often subbing for males on organ and harpsichord if they possessed the lineage and privilege to do so. Women were often seen as pianis

Elisabetta de Gambarini

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Elisabetta de Gambarini (7 September 1731 – 9 February 1765) was an English composer, singer, organist, harpsichordist, pianist, orchestral conductor and painter of the 18th century. Elisabetta’s music is considered late Baroque and Classical music. She achieved distinction as an all-around musician, performing on, and composing for a variety of instruments as well as voice. Her compositions were known to reflect that of vocal work instead of instrumental patterns. She was the first female composer in Britain to publish a collection of keyboard music. Some sources describe her voice type as a singer as a soprano, and others as a mezzo-soprano. Family Elisabetta de Gambarini was born 7 September 1731 in Holles Street, St Marylebone, Middlesex, England. She was born to Charles Gambarini (died 1754), Counsellor to the Landgrave of Hessen-Kassel and Joanna (Giovanna Paula) Stradiotti (died 1774). Her father was a nobleman from Lucca, Italy. He published A Description of the Earl of Pembroke’s Pictures in 1731. Her mother was of similar status from Dalmatia. Her mother may have been a tutor to the nobility but it is not certain. Elisabetta was the third of four children. She was the onl

Emanuel Aloys Förster

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NOTOC Emanuel Aloys Förster (26 January 1748 – 12 November 1823) was a composer and music teacher, who spent most of his life in Vienna, Austria. Early life Emanuel Aloys Förster was born in Niedersteine bei Glatz, County of Glatz (Kingdom of Prussia). Almost nothing is known of his family or parents except that his father was an administrator in an economics office. From his early youth, Emanuel composed several concertos and many sonatas purely from his correct musical ear. He acquired only later a copy of a theoretical work by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (probably Versuch über die wahre Art das Klavier zu spielen, “Essay on the true art of keyboard playing”), which he copied out. When he had left school he went to work for some years in his father’s office, and then he was called up into the Prussian army and spent the last two years of the Seven Years’ War as an oboist in the “Fouquet’schen Regiment”. After that (around 1763) he went to Mittelwalde where he lived in the intimate circle of, and studied with, the (at that time) famous organist Johann Georg Pausewang. Probably through his agency, Förster went to Prague from 1776 to 1779, after which he settled in Vienna, where h

Emerico Lobo de Mesquita

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José Joaquim Emerico Lobo de Mesquita (12 October 1746 – April 1805) was a Brazilian composer, music teacher, conductor and organist. Life Emerico was born at Vila do Príncipe (now Serro), in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. His parents José Lobo de Mesquita and Joaquina Emerenciana gave him a liberal education. He received his first music lessons (organ and music theory) from Father Manuel da Costa Dantas, who was organist and choirmaster at the church Nossa Senhora da Conceição in Serro. Soon after 1776 he went to Arraial do Tijuco (now Diamantina) to become organist and conductor at the cathedral Santo Antônio of Diamantina. On 17 January 1789, he entered the religious order Ordem Terceira de Nossa Senhora do Carmo. He founded a music school in this city and was appointed teacher of the art of music. In 1798, he worked in Vila Rica (now Ouro Preto) for the city mayor, and was also organist and choirmaster at the church Nossa Senhora do Pilar. He had a quarrel with the mayor and left for Rio de Janeiro, where he became organist of the Ordem Terceira do Carmo until his death, in April 1805. Lobo de Mesquita was an important representative of the so-called Escola de Compositores da Capi

Erik Tulindberg

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Erik Eriksson Tulindberg (February 22, 1761 – September 1, 1814) was one of the first known Finnish composers of classical music. Life Tulindberg was born in Vähäkyrö in Western Finland. He studied in Turku and then worked as a civil servant in Oulu from 1784 to 1809 and thereafter in Turku. He played the violin and cello and was appointed a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in 1797. He died in Turku at the age of 53. Music From his compositions only a violin concerto in B-flat major, six string quartets, and a polonaise with five variations for solo violin remain. He wrote the violin concerto before 1784 during his youth in Turku. The work shows “simplicity and occasional clumsiness” and the influences of Mozart, Haydn and the Mannheim School of music. His string quartets are more mature works and are better known today than the violin concerto. The string quartets are in the tradition of Haydn. A copy of Haydn’s string quartets was found among Tulindberg’s possessions after his death. Perspective Tulindberg was a contemporary of Mozart and, like Mozart, he was part of the Classical era in music. His importance stems largely from his pioneering position in the music of

Ernst Christoph Dressler

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Ernst Christoph Dressler (23 September 1734 – 6 April 1779) was a German composer, operatic tenor, violinist and music theorist. He began his career as a self taught singer and violinist, but eventually received vocal training from the renowned Italian opera singer Maria Giustina Turcotti. He became a musician at several courts before he moved to the Court Opera in Vienna and finally to Kassel. He is known for a march on which Beethoven based his first published composition. Life Born in Greußen, near Sondershausen in Thuringia, to Christian Ludwig Dressler and Catherine Elizabeth Renner, Dressler studied theology, jurisprudence and German poetry at the universities of Halle, Jena and Leipzig. In Leipzig, he educated himself in playing the violin and in singing. He moved to Bayreuth, where he took lessons from the singer Maria Giustina Turcotti, training his tenor voice, and subsequently worked as a chamber musician, court singer and secretary for Margrave Friedrich Christian. He was a talented violinist, composer and writer, in addition to his ability as a tenor. He disapproved of the then in vogue at Gotha, and in November 1766 he resigned In 1771, the prince returned to Bohemia;

Ernst Eichner

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Ernst Dietrich Adolph Eichner Ernesto Eichner (15 February 1740 in Arolsen – early 1777 in Potsdam) was a German bassoonist and composer. Biography Eichner was born to Johann Andreas Eichner (1694–1768), a court musician to the court of Waldeck. His father provided him with his primary musical education. He became widely known as a virtuoso bassoonist throughout Europe as a result. In 1762 he entered into the service of Duke Christian IV of Zweibrücken as a violinist. In 1768, he became the concertmaster of the Zweibrücken court orchestra, where he remained until 1772. He was highly respected by his contemporaries and achieved international recognition as an accomplished composer, bassoonist, and concertmaster during his lifetime. Eichner, however, died young and was quickly forgotten. To musicologists, he is known as a representative of the Mannheim School. His 31 symphonies and 20 concertos comprise the main body of his works, but he also composed chamber music including Six Flute Quartets op. 4. In 1772 his compositions were published almost simultaneously in Paris, London, and Amsterdam. Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart praised Eichner’s works in 1784 for their gracious char

Ernst Ludwig Gerber

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Ernst Ludwig Gerber (29 September 1746 in Sondershausen, Germany – 30 June 1819 in Sondershausen) was a German composer, organist, cellist, and author of a famous dictionary of musicians. His father, Heinrich Nikolaus Gerber (1702–1775), a pupil of J. S. Bach, was an organist and composer of some distinction, and under his direction Ernst Ludwig at an early age had made great progress in his musical studies. In 1765 he went to Leipzig to study law, but the claims of music, which had gained additional strength from his acquaintanceship with Johann Adam Hiller (of whom Gerber became the cellist of his orchestra Großes Concert Concert), soon came to occupy almost his sole attention. On his return to Sondershausen he was appointed music teacher to the children of the prince, and in 1775 he succeeded his father as court organist. References External links *

Ernst Wilhelm Wolf

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Ernst Wilhelm Wolf (baptised 25 February 1735 – 29 or 30 November 1792) was a German composer. Life Wolf was born in Grossen Behringen in Thuringia, today part of the Hörselberg-Hainich municipality. His elder brother Ernst Friedrich was a composer and organist who studied under Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel. Ernst Wilhelm’s musical talent manifested itself early, and already by age nine he was a skilled harpsichordist, particularly apt at figured bass realization. Wolf attended gymnasiums at Eisenach and at Gotha, where he became a choir prefect. It was in Gotha that Wolf first heard the music of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Carl Heinrich Graun; he was particularly fascinated with Bach’s work. The admiration was mutual: a performance of some of Wolf’s compositions in 1752 drew praise from Bach. Wolf and Bach’s friendship lasted throughout their lives; Wolf helped collect subscriptions for Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s für Kenner und Liebhaber (for Connoisseurs and Amateurs) works (piano sonatas and rondos). Following his brother’s advice, in 1755 Wolf entered the University of Jena. There he became the director of the collegium musicum, for which he composed a number of works. After t

Étienne Ozi

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Étienne Ozi (9 December 1754 – 5 October 1813) was a French bassoonist and composer. He is known for his concertos, symphonies concertantes, and pedagogical pieces. His works were influential in the development of the bassoon and remain a staple of the classical bassoon repertoire. Ozi’s Nouvelle Méthode de basson (1803) was regarded as one of the first complete instructional materials for the bassoon, which was at the time still seven-keyed, as compared to the far more complex modern instrument. The technical demands of Ozi’s literature spurred on its development; instrument maker Carl Almenräder in particular used his compositions to direct further development of the bassoon in his development of the key mechanism. The Méthodes were adopted by the early Paris Conservatory as a course of study, containing “detailed principles for the study of the bassoon, exercises in all keys with bass accompaniment, twelve sonatas of progressive difficulty, thirty scale variations and forty-two caprices. It also includes instructions on caring for the instrument, and methods of making the reeds.” Born in Nîmes, Ozi received his early musical experience from a military ensemble, but settled in Pa

Étienne-Joseph Floquet

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Étienne-Joseph Floquet (23 November 174810 May 1785) was a French composer, mainly of operas. He was born in Aix-en-Provence and began his career by writing church music, before moving to Paris in 1767. There, Floquet made a name for himself with the requiem he wrote for the funeral of the composer Jean-Joseph de Mondonville in 1772. Floquet’s first work for the Paris Opéra, the ballet héroïque L’union de l’amour et les arts, was a triumph, enjoying 60 performances between its premiere in September 1773 and January 1774. Floquet returned to France in 1777 to find the Parisian public was now split between the supporters of Gluck and the partisans of the Italian Niccolò Piccinni. There was little demand for operas by native French composers and Floquet struggled to have his tragédie lyrique Hellé staged. Floquet had more success with the lighter Le seigneur bienfaisant and La nouvelle Omphale. He turned to a tragic subject once more when he produced a new musical score for Philippe Quinault’s libretto Alceste, originally set by Jean-Baptiste Lully in 1674. Floquet’s version was rehearsed but then rejected by the Paris Opéra. The composer was in poor health and the disappointment at h

Federigo Fiorillo

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Federigo Fiorillo (baptized 1 June 1755 Brunswick, Germany, died after 1823) was a mandolinist and composer, who wrote thirty-six caprices for violin, also called études. Life and career Fiorillo’s father was Ignazio Fiorillo, a Neapolitan, who also played mandolin. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, Ignazio was appointed conductor at the Court Opera House at Brunswick and settled there, where his son, Federigo, was born. Federigo’s early musical education was superintended by his father. He inherited his parents’ love of the mandolin and obtained complete mastery over it, able to show mastery of delicate nuances of tone of which it was capable. References External links * *Songdiggers, has portrait.

Felice Giardini

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Felice de Giardini (12 April 1716 – 8 June 1796) was an Italian composer and violinist. Early life Felice Giardini was born in Turin. When it became clear that he was a child prodigy, his father sent him to Milan. There he studied singing, harpsichord and violin, but it was on the latter that he became a famous virtuoso. By the age of 12, he was already playing in theatre orchestras. In a famous incident about this time, Giardini, who was serving as assistant concertmaster (i.e., leader of the orchestra) during an opera, played a solo passage for violin which the composer Niccolò Jommelli had written. He decided to show off his skills and improvised several bravura variations that Jommelli had not written. Although the audience applauded loudly, Jommelli, who happened to be there, was not pleased and suddenly stood up and slapped the young man in the face. Giardini, years later, remarked: “It was the most instructive lesson I ever received from a great artist. In London During the 1750s, Giardini toured Europe as a violinist, scoring successes in Paris, Berlin, and especially in England, where he eventually settled. For many years, he served as the orchestra leader and director of

Feliks Janiewicz

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Feliks Janiewicz, in English often Felix Yaniewicz (1762 – 21 May 1848) was a Polish composer and violinist in exile. Life Janiewicz was born in Vilnius, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (now in Lithuania), in 1762. At an early age, he was violinist at the Polish Royal Chapel, after which he travelled to Vienna about 1785 to see and listen to Haydn and Mozart. From Austria, he accompanied a Polish princess to Italy, to refine his artistic abilities with the Italian masters of that day, where he lived for three years. In Paris, he appeared at the Concerts Spirituels in December 1787, and was described in the Mercure de France as a pupil of the Italian violinist Giovanni Giornovich and was immediately recognised by the Parisians as an artist of high rank. There he was employed by the Duc d’Orléans and for a short time he enjoyed the pension of a musician on the establishment of Mlle. d’Orléans; on the outbreak of the revolution he left France for London in 1790 and did not reappear until his 1792 London debut at Salomon’s Concerts among others. During the subsequent years he expanded his violin performances and musical pursuits to Manchester, Liverpool, and Ireland. In Liverpool, he me

Ferdinand Fränzl

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Ferdinand Fränzl (24 May 1767 in Schwetzingen – 27 October 1833 in Mannheim) was a German violinist, composer, conductor, opera director, and a representative of the third generation of the so-called Mannheim school. The quality of his violin playing must have been comparable to his father’s who in turn was one of the best violinists of his generation. The violinist and composer Louis Spohr, however, who heard him at least twice already in 1810 judged Fränzl’s playing as old-fashioned, reminiscent of a bygone era; he also criticised Fränzel’s impure tone. Biography Fränzl was the grandson of trumpeter and viola player Ferdinand Rudolph Fränzl. His first teacher was his father Ignaz Fränzl, a competent composer himself and one of the foremost violinists of his day. Ferdinand entered the Mannheim court orchestra in 1782. Already in 1785 he went on his first concert tour. Although already an accomplished virtuoso, Fränzl (probably supervised by his father) rounded off his education in Strasbourg. Here he received lessons in composition and counterpoint form Franz Xaver Richter and Ignaz Pleyel. The two, as disparate as they were, made a good pair of teachers for the young Fränzl. Rich

Ferdinand Kauer

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Ferdinand August Kauer (18 January 1751 – 13 April 1831) was an Austrian composer and pianist. Biography Kauer was born in Klein-Thaya (today Dyjákovičky) near Znojmo in South Moravia). He studied in Znojmo, Tyrnau, and Vienna, and later settled in Vienna around 1777. In 1781 he joined Karl von Marinelli’s newly formed company at Vienna as leader and conductor of the orchestra. From 1782 he also composed music for the theatre, including Singspiele, operas, and incidental music and songs, mostly to texts by the house poet Karl Friedrich Hensler. Their first major success was Das Faustrecht in Thüringen (The Law of the Jungle in Thüringen, 1796–1797), which was eclipsed two years later by the success of Das Donauweibchen (1798). He was Kapellmeister of the Theater in der Leopoldstadt and Theater in der Josefstadt in Vienna and also in Graz. He directed the Leopoldstadt Theater Music School and by the 1790s had become known for his popular Singspiele. In addition to his successful stage works he composed several tutorial methods for violin, flute, piano and singing (c. 1790). A tragic flood in 1830 destroyed all Kauer’s possessions, including most of his scores. He continued to work a

Ferdinand Zellbell the Younger

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Ferdinand Zellbell the Younger (171921 April 1780) was a Swedish composer and a founding member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. He was organist at Storkyrkan, the main church of Stockholm, and chief conductor at Kungliga Hovkapellet (the Royal Court Orchestra). Arguably his most accomplished composition is an opera, Il Giudizio d’Aminta, written on the occasion of the birthday of future Empress Catherine the Great of Russia. Biography Ferdinand Zellbell the Younger was born in Stockholm. He was the son of , who was also a musician and a composer. He was taught music by his father but also studied for Johan Helmich Roman. He spent the years between 1739 and 1741 with further studies in Lower Saxony; his teachers there included Georg Philipp Telemann. He started working as a substitute for his father as an organist in Storkyrkan, the main church of Stockholm, and from 1753 was permanently employed there. His father also helped him secure a position as a musician at the royal court, and he eventually rose to the position of chief conductor at Kungliga Hovkapellet and concertmaster, but this work was largely without a salary. Only from 1758 did he receive payment for his service

Ferdinando Bertoni

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Ferdinando Gasparo Bertoni (15 August 1725 – 1 December 1813) was an Italian composer and organist. Early years He was born in Salò, Republic of Venice, and began his music studies in Brescia, not far from his birthplace. Around 1740 he went to Bologna, where he studied until 1745 with the famous music theorist Giovanni Battista Martini. Career Then he moved to Venice, where in 1752 he was appointed as first organist at San Marco. From 1755 to 1777 he was choirmaster at the Ospedale dei Mendicanti, also in Venice. In the period 1778–1783 he was in London, where he composed operas for the King’s Theatre. Back to Venice in 1784, he succeeded Baldassare Galuppi in 1785 as Kapellmeister of San Marco and preserved this position until his retirement in 1808. Works A prolific writer of church music, Bertoni also composed 70 operas which fell into oblivion, except Orfeo (Venice, Teatro San Benedetto, 1776), based on the same libretto by Ranieri de’ Calzabigi for the work of Christoph Willibald Gluck, Orfeo ed Euridice (Burgtheater, Vienna, 1762). Bertoni composed this work especially for his friend Gaetano Guadagni, a castrato, who would interpret the role of Orfeo (the same role he had in

Filippo Gragnani

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Filippo Gragnani (3 September 1768 – 28 July 1820) was an Italian guitarist and composer. Gragnani was born in Livorno, the son of Antonio Gragnani. From a family of notable luthiers and musicians, Gragnani studied music in his home town with Giulio Maria Lucchesi. He began with the violin but later devoted himself to the guitar, becoming known as a virtuoso performer. Gragnani first published works for guitar and chamber music in Milan around the beginning of the 19th century with the publishers Ricordi and Monzino. During these times he travelled to Germany and settled in Paris by 1810, a center of performance and music publishing. There he befriended and became a pupil of Ferdinando Carulli, another Italian virtuoso. Gragnani dedicated three of his guitar duets to him, and in turn Carulli dedicated some duets to Gragnani. Little is known about Gragnani after 1812. The “Registro dei Morti” (Register of Deaths) of the Church of St. Martino di Salviano in Livorno indicates he died on 28 July 1820. Works Some twenty compositions are known by Gragnani, of which fifteen have opus numbers. *Tre Sonate *Tre Duetti *Sinfonia *Sonata Sentimentale *Tre Divertimenti *Tre Duetti *Trois Duos,

Florian Johann Deller

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Florian Johann Deller (bapt. 2 May 1729 in Drosendorf, Lower Austria – 19 September 1773 in Munich) was an Austrian composer and violinist. Life In 1751 he was a violinist at the court orchestra in Stuttgart. There he studied with Niccolo Jommelli. Later he became assistant to the ballet master Jean Georges Noverre and composed operas and ballets. In 1769 he was appointed Concertmaster and Hofcompositeur. In 1771 he moved to Vienna. Deller died in 1773 in the monastery of the Brothers of Mercy in Munich. His compositional output consists mostly of operas, ballet music, sonatas and minuets. He enjoyed in his lifetime a high reputation as a composer. His works have been greatly appreciated, by, among others Mozart and Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart. Many of his works are considered lost. Works * Operas ** Il tamburo notturno, 1765 ** Le Contese per amore, 1770 ** Il Maestro di Capella, 1771 ** La contadina nelle corte ** 5 other Comic Operas * Ballets **Admète et Alceste (Noverre), Stuttgart, 1761 **La mort d’Hercule (Noverre), Stuttgart, 1762 **Orfée et Euridice (Noverre), Stuttgart, 1763 **Der Sieg des Neptun (Noverre), Stuttgart, 1763 **Apollon et Daphne (Lauchery), Kassel, 1

Florian Leopold Gassmann

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Florian Leopold Gassmann (3 May 1729 – 21 January 1774 ) was a German-speaking Bohemian opera composer of the transitional period between the baroque and classical eras. He was one of the principal composers of dramma giocoso immediately before Mozart. He was one of Antonio Salieri’s teachers. Life and career Gassmann was born in Brüx, Bohemia, and was most likely trained by Johann Woborschil, the local chorus master. His father was a goldsmith who may well have opposed his son’s choice of a musical career. From 1757 until 1762, he wrote an opera every year for the carnival season in Venice, and was also appointed choirmaster in the girls’ conservatory in Venice in 1757. Many of the librettos he set were by the renowned Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni. In 1763 he was called to Vienna as court ballet composer, and was held in great affection by Emperor Joseph II. In 1764 he was appointed chamber composer to the Emperor, and in 1772 court conductor. In 1766 Gassmann met up-and-coming young Antonio Salieri in Venice, invited him to return with him to Vienna and taught him composition using Johann Joseph Fux’s textbook Gradus ad Parnassum. Salieri remained in Vienna, and succeeded Ga

Francesca Lebrun

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Francesca Lebrun (; 24 March 1756 – 14 May 1791) was a celebrated German soprano associated with the court at Mannheim, as well as an accomplished composer of sonatas. As a singer, she was renowned for her vocal dexterity and was highly sought after by such notable composers as Anton Schweitzer, Ignaz Holzbauer, and Antonio Salieri to sing the lead roles in their most challenging operas. As a composer, her twelve sonatas for piano or harpsichord with violin accompaniment, six each in opus 1 and opus 2, were first published in London, England, in 1779–1781, with further editions in London, Paris, and several German centers. The opus 1 sonatas are available in commercial recordings. Early life She was born Franziska Dorothea Danzi in Mannheim, Electoral Palatinate (present-day Germany), the eldest child of Italian-born cellist Innocenz Danzi and dancer Barbara Sidonia Margaretha Toeschi, the core of the elite elector Mannheim court performers in the late 1750s. Her two brothers, the cellist Franz Ignaz (1763–1826) and the violinist Johann Baptist, were successful composers. The violinist, composer and conductor Karl Joseph (Carlo Giuseppe) Toeschi was her maternal uncle. Career She m

Francesco Azopardi

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Francesco Azopardi (or Azzopardi) (May 5, 1748 – February 1809) was a Maltese composer and music theorist. Life and career Azopardi was born in Notabile. He received his musical training in Malta and during his stay from 1763 to 1774 in Naples at the Conservatory of San Onofrio under Carlo Cotumacci and Joseph Doll. He worked at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Mdina, and, from 1789 following the Napoleonic invasion and flight of the Knights of St. John, combined his responsibilities at Mdina with those at St. John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta. One of his successes was a setting of Metastasio’s libretto La Passione di Gesù Cristo he conducted at the Manoel Theatre in Valletta in 1782. He died in Rabat. He is known especially through his work Il Musico Prattico, which appeared in French translation by Nicolas-Étienne Framery. Works Secular music *Malta felice (cantata, 1775) *La magica lanterna (opera buffa, 1791) Sacred vocal music *La passione di Cristo (oratorio, libretto by Pietro Metastasio, 1782, 1802) *Various masses composed between 1768 and 1806 *Various sacred works composed between 1772 and 1796 *Songs, hymns and psalms composed between 1772 and 1807 Instrumental music *Overture for 2

Francesco Bianchi (composer)

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Giuseppe Francesco Bianchi (1752 – 27 November 1810) was an Italian opera composer. Born in Cremona, Lombardy, he studied with Pasquale Cafaro and Niccolò Jommelli, and worked mainly in London, Paris and in all the major Italian operatic centres of Venice, Naples, Rome, Milan, Turin, Florence. He wrote at least 78 operas of all genres, mainly in the field of Italian opera, but in the French opera too. These included the drammi per musica (opera seria) Castore e Polluce (Florence 1779), Arbace and Zemira (both Naples, 1781), Alonso e Cora (Venice, 1786), Calto and La morte di Cesare (both Venice, 1788), and Seleuco, re di Siria (Venice, 1791), and the opera giocosa La villanella rapita (Süttör, 1784). The latter of which had additional arias by Mozart. Bianchi committed suicide in Hammersmith, London, in 1810, probably out of family troubles. He was buried alongside his daughter in the churchyard of the old Kensington Church, now St Mary Abbots, Kensington. His widow published parts of his “theoretical work” in the Quarterly Music Review for 1820/1821. Private life Bianchi married Jane Jackson, who was a well-known singer. She had a continuing career after Bianchi’s death, married W

Francesco Molino

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Francesco Molino (also known as François Molino; 4 June 1768 – 1847) was an Italian guitarist, violinist, and composer. Biography Molino was born in Ivrea near Turin. He often travelled to Spain to give concerts. He was orchestral conductor during 1796–97. In 1820 he settled in Paris, where he lived for the remainder of his life. His works were largely neglected until the twentieth century, when many of them were republished. Among the best-known are his Three Sonatas, 18 Preludes and Terpsichore (a set of dances), all for solo guitar. He also wrote for other instruments in combination with the guitar, including flute and violin. In 1830 he published a guitar method. Works Francesco Molino composed more than 60 works. Guitar * Opus 1: Trois sonates faciles * Opus 5: Six thèmes avec variations * Opus 6: Trois sonates pour la guitare (Three Sonates) ** Sonata No.1 in D major ** Sonata No.2 in G major ** Sonata No.3 in C major * Opus 9: 12 Waltzes * Opus 9: 12 Variations on “Ah! Vous dirai-je maman” * Opus 11: 6 Rondos * Opus 13: 2 Fantaisies * Opus 13: 3 Rondos * Opus 15: Trois sonates * Opus 17: Grande Ouverture * Opus 18: 4 Theme and variations * Opus 28: Trois Rondeaux brillants d

Francesco Pollini

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Francesco Giuseppe Pollini (25 March 1762 – 17 September 1846) was an Italian pianist, composer and academic. Life Pollini was born in Ljubljana (now in Slovenia) in 1762, son of a medical doctor. He moved to Vienna in 1783, and was a student there of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He returned to Ljubljana, performing there as a singer and actor. In Italy he appeared as a pianist, violinist and opera singer, appearing in several cities. From 1790 he lived mainly as a piano teacher in Milan, where in 1793 he took lessons from Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli. He made guest appearances in Paris and in German cities. From 1809 he was a professor of piano at Milan Conservatory; he died in Milan in 1846. Pollini was highly regarded by his contemporaries; Vincenzo Bellini dedicated the opera La sonnambula to him. Works He composed piano music, which demand a virtuoso technique; chamber music; two operas (Il genio insubre and La casetta nei boschi); a Stabat Mater and other church music. His instruction book for pianists, Metodo pel clavicembalo, was used as a textbook at Milan Conservatory. The three-hand effect He is associated with the three-hand effect of piano playing; his biographer in A Dictio

Francisco Javier García Fajer

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Francisco Javier García Fajer El Españoleto (Nalda, Logroño 2 December 1730 – Zaragoza 1809) was a Spanish composer of the Italianate galante school. He studied at the choir school at Zaragoza Cathedral. As a young man he moved to Italy, where he was chapelmaster of the see of Terni 1754-56 and gained his Italian epithet Lo Spagnoletto, which he retained even back in Spain as El Españoleto. The Italian musical environment during the 1750s was characterised by composers on the threshold between galante and early classical such as Niccolò Jommelli and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. García Fajer returned home as maestro de capilla of la Seo in Zaragoza 1756 till his death during the French siege of Zaragoza in 1809. As part of his Italianate reforms the Spanish villancico was supplanted by the Latin responsory. García Fajer was out of favour for many years in Spain due to his promotion of Italianate musical idiom, however in recent years he has been rehabilitated and taken on his own merits as a galante composer. A conference dedicated to rehabilitation of his reputation and work was held at the University of La Rioja, Spain, in April 2007. Works * Operas – Rome 1754, 1756 * Pompeo magn

François Cupis de Renoussard

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François Cupis de Renoussard Seigneur de Renoussard, called le cadet (10 November 1732 – 13 October 1808) was an 18th-century classical French composer, cellist and music educator. Biography François Cupis de Renoussard was the son of , teacher of violin and rue de la Montagne in Brussels, and Marie-Anne de Smet. He was the brother of the famous ballerina Marie-Anne de Cupis de Camargo (1710–1770) and violinist . He was a pupil of Martin Berteau. In 1750, he entered the Paris Opéra as basse du grand chœur. He stayed there until 1770. Through his numerous compositions, which were musically of little inspiration, but had educational significance, Cupis strengthened his reputation for having given the cello in France a greater importance. François Cupis, on the one hand, stands in the same line between his teacher, Martin Berteau and Jean-Baptiste Barrière, and on the other, the brothers Jean-Louis and Jean-Pierre Duport. Works In addition to several works, not mentioned by François-Joseph Fétis, François Cupis wrote: * Arrangements: Recueil d’airs choisis des meilleurs auteurs pour violoncelle (1761) * Recueil d’airs choisis des meilleurs auteurs ajustés pour le violoncelle (Paris, L

François Devienne

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François Devienne (; 31 January 1759 – 5 September 1803) was a French composer of the Classical period and professor for flute at the Paris Conservatory. Career Devienne was born in Joinville, as the youngest of fourteen children of a saddlemaker. After receiving his first musical training as a choirboy in his hometown, he played in various Parisian ensembles as soloist and orchestra player. He studied the flute with Félix Rault; in 1780 he joined the household of Cardinal de Rohan. He was active in Paris as a flutist, bassoonist and composer, and played bassoon at the Paris Opera. He wrote successful operas in the 1790s, including (1792) which brought him much success. He was also a member of the Military Band of the French Guard, where he was given the rank of sergeant with the duty of teaching the children of his colleagues in the military band in its Free School of Music. After the Revolutionary period, when the Free School became the National Institute of Music, later chartered as the Paris Conservatory in 1795, Devienne was appointed as flute professor (1795–1803); among his students was François René Gebauer. He wrote (1793), which was reprinted several times and did much to

François Giroust

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François Giroust (10 April 1737 – 28 April 1799) was a French composer. He was born in Paris, where he was the last maître of the Chapelle royale before the French Revolution. He died, aged 62, at Versailles. Biography After having studied at the Notre-Dame de Paris with Louis Homet (1691–1767) until 1748 and afterwards with Antoine Goulet, Giroust got appointed as maître de musique (Kapellmeister) at the cathedral of Orléans, where he stayed until 1769. He was very much appreciated by his employers. He also became the leader of the music academy of Orléans (1757-1765), which became a big yet temporary success soon after his appointment. Two of his works won both 1st and 2nd place in a contest for composers of the Concert Spirituel, organised by the Tuileries in Paris, 1768. Because of this, he was appointed as kapellmeister at the church of the Saint-Innocents in Paris. Works * 6 masses, including the Coronation Mass for Louis XVI (31 June 1776) and the Missa pro defunctis for Louis XV. * 70 grands motets. * Rituel Maçonnique Funèbre “Le Déluge” (1784). * 14 oratorio’s (partly lost). * 12 Magnificat settings for the cathedral at Orléans. * Télèphe (opera, lost except for the overt

François-André Danican Philidor

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François-André Danican Philidor (7 September 1726 – 31 August 1795), often referred to as André Danican Philidor during his lifetime, was a French composer and chess master. He contributed to the early development of the opéra comique. He is widely regarded as the best chess player of his age; his book Analyse du jeu des Échecs was considered a standard chess manual for at least a century. A chess opening, an endgame position, and a checkmate method are all named for him. Life François-André Danican Philidor came from the well-known musical Philidor family. The original name of his family was Danican, but François-André’s great-grandfather, Jean Danican Philidor, was given the nickname of Philidor by Louis XIII because his oboe playing reminded the king of an Italian virtuoso oboist named Filidori whom had previously played in the choir. Philidor was the son of Andre Philidor, who was a basson-player at the court of Louis XIV. Retiring in 1724 with a pension from Louis XV, he made his home in Dreux where his son Philidor was born September 7, 1726. Philidor’s mother, Anne Elisabeth Leroy, was the second or third wife of his father and was described as “un-sophisticated and simple”

François-Joseph Gossec

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François-Joseph Gossec (; 17 January 1734 – 16 February 1829) was a French composer of operas, string quartets, symphonies, and choral works. Life and work The son of a small farmer, Gossec was born at the village of Vergnies, then a French exclave in the Austrian Netherlands, now an ancienne commune in the municipality of Froidchapelle, Belgium. Showing an early taste for music, he became a choir-boy in Antwerp. He went to Paris in 1751 and was taken on by the composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. He followed Rameau as the conductor of a private orchestra kept by the fermier général Le Riche de La Poupelinière, a wealthy amateur and patron of music. Gradually he became determined to do something to revive the study of instrumental music in France. Gossec’s own first symphony was performed in 1754, and as conductor to the Prince de Condé’s orchestra he produced several operas and other compositions of his own. He imposed his influence on French music with remarkable success. Gossec founded the Concert des Amateurs in 1769 and when he gave up his duties conducting the ensemble in 1773—succeeded by his Concertmaster Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges—he reorganised the Concert Spiri

Françoise Élisabeth Desfossez

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Françoise Élisabeth Desfossez (born Françoise Élisabeth Carraque, 4 February 1743 Paris - 27 September 1825 Paris) was a French composer and pianist. She composed sonatas for the piano. Life In 1790, three scores of sonatas for pianoforte were published in the name of Madame la comtesse DFZ, dedicated respectively to Madame la Viscountess de Ghent, to the composer and pianist Hélène de Montgeroult and to Madame Hocquart, “first president of the Court of Aydes”. In 1798, Françoise Élisabeth Desfossez signed a collection of three sonatas dedicated to the composer Ignace Pleyel, her friend and her music tutor. In 1763, she married Charles-Henri Desfossez, Count of Villeneuve, Lord of Cappy, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Dragoons and Knight of Saint-Louis at the Saint-Laurent church. She takes the title of Countess. The couple had several children: Charles-Henri in 1764; twins who died at birth; Pierre-Antoine (or Pierre-Marin) in 1767, “mute and imbecile” by birth. In 1790, a pension of 500 livres was granted to Françoise Élisabeth Desfossez “in consideration of the services of her husband, first captain of the colonel-general, dragoons, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel; to pay, for th

Frans Krafft

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Frans (or François, Francesco, Franciscus) Krafft (17 February 1729 in Brussels – 13 January 1795 in Ghent) was a composer, organist and director in the Austrian Netherlands (the current Belgium). He was organist at the Saint Bavo Cathedral in Ghent from 1769 to 1794. He is sometimes erroneously named Frans-Joseph, but that is actually his elder brother, born in 1721. He is not to be confused with his cousin, also named Frans Krafft and also born in Brussels in 1733, who later moved to Germany. Biography Little is known of his life. His father, Jan-Laurens Krafft, was a poet, writer, music publisher and composer of German descent. Frans Krafft was active as a musician and printer in Brussels from 1747 onwards. He may have studied composition under Francesco Durante in Italy, where he won a prize with the motet In convertendo. L’Echo, a music magazine from Liège, published some thirty arias by him between 1758 and 1769, two of which from his opera Le faux astrologue – in 1763 performed in Dutch as Den valschen Astrologant. He is mentioned from 1761 to 1768 as composer, organist and keyboard teacher in the Brussels Almanach nouveau – ou Le guide fidèle. On 7 April 1769 he is appointe

František Brixi

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František Xaver Brixi (; 2 January 1732 – 14 October 1771) was a Czech classical composer. He was the son of composer Šimon Brixi. Life Brixi was born on 2 January 1732 in Prague, the son of composer Šimon Brixi. He received his musical education at the Piarist gymnasium in Kosmonosy. vespers and motets, among others. He also composed secular music such as oratorios and incidental music, concertos and symphonies. His organ concertos, which have been recorded several times each, are his best-known pieces today. Brixi died of tuberculosis in Prague in 1771, at the age of 39. * Missa di Gloria in D major (c.1758) * Missa integra in D minor * Missa brevis in C major for soloists, choir orchestra and organ * Missa aulica in C major * Missa pastoralis in C major * Missa pastoralis in D major * Missa solemnis in D major for soloists, choir, orchestra and organ * Missa Dominicalis in C major * 8 Organ Concertos * Viola Concerto in C major * Sinfonia in D major * Oratorio Opus patheticum de septem doloribus Beatae Mariae Virginis * Oratorio Crux morientis Jesu Christi * Oratorio Filius Prodigus (Osek 1755) * Oratorio Judas Iscariothes – Oratorium pro die sacro Parasceves (Osek c.1770) * Lit

Frantisek Kotzwara

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František Kočvara, known later in England as Frantisek Kotzwara (1730 – September 2, 1791), was a Czech violist, virtuoso double bassist and composer. His death was one of the first recorded instances of death by erotic asphyxiation. Life and music Kotzwara was born in Prague, Bohemia, and was something of a nomad. He travelled around Europe and performed with various orchestras. His mature career was based in England, where his compositions were published from 1775 onwards. These include string quartets, serenades and string trios. In London he played in the Concerts of Antient Music, in the Handel Commemoration of 1791 and in the orchestra of the King’s Theatre. The only piece of his to have achieved renown is The Battle of Prague, a composition based on the 1757 Battle of Prague, in which the Kingdom of Prussia fought the Habsburg monarchy. The Battle of Prague was a popular piece of music during the late 18th and 19th centuries, with Mark Twain mentioning the piece in his books Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Tramp Abroad and Life on the Mississippi, W. M. Thackeray in Vanity Fair, and Thomas Hardy in A Pair of Blue Eyes. A similar piece, The Siege of Quebec, often attributed

František Xaver Dušek

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František Xaver Dušek ( or Dussek); 8 December 1731 – 12 February 1799) was a Czech composer and musician. He was one of the most important harpsichordists and pianists of his time. Biography Dušek was born in Chotěborky in the Kingdom of Bohemia (today part of Vilantice, Czech Republic). He was taught the harpsichord in Vienna by Georg Christoph Wagenseil and established himself around 1770 in Prague as a successful keyboard teacher. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was probably his guest in his Bertramka villa in Košíře, just outside Prague, although no documentation exists to support claims originating in nineteenth-century literature that he stayed there frequently. Mozart himself never reported staying there and no contemporary witness ever reported seeing him there. The best evidence that he ever stayed there comes from a reminiscence of Mozart’s son Karl Thomas Mozart that dates from 1856 and indicates that he was at the Bertramka during his second visit to Prague (during October and November 1787). Karl Thomas was not himself a witness to the incident reported, rather he only heard about it from friends of Mozart whom he met as a child in Prague during the 1790s. Furthermore, there

František Xaver Pokorný

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František Xaver Pokorný (20 December 1729, Stříbro – 2 July 1794, Regensburg) was a Czech composer and violinist of the classical period. Life and career František Xaver Pokorný was born on 20 December 1729 in Mies (now Stříbro). While young, he left his hometown for Regensburg where he studied violin playing with Joseph Riepel. In 1750 he went to Wallerstein, where he played violin in the Oettingen-Wallerstein court orchestra. In 1753 he went to Mannheim where he further studied with Johann Stamitz and Ignaz Holzbauer among others. After the death of Philip Charles Domenic Oettingen-Wallerstein in 1766 he asked for permission to leave the court for three to four years. He spent the last part of his life in the orchestra of Karl Anselm, 4th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, again in Regensburg. Nearly 150 symphonies are attributed to him, but his authorship is disputed for more than fifty of these, as after his death his surname was erased from his works and replaced by names of other authors by Theodor von Schacht, intendant of the Regensburg orchestra. Furthermore, many works for wind instruments, tens of solo concertos including 45 for harpsichord and 3 for two horns are attributed to

Franz Adam Veichtner

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Franz Adam Veichtner, also known as “Feichtner” (baptised 10 February 1741 – 3 March 1822) was a German violinist and composer of the classical era. Life Veichtner was born in Regensburg, where his father, Johann Georg, worked as a violin maker. Works * 4 Symphonies (published Mitau: Wilhelm August Steidel & Co., 1770) * Simphonie russienne (published Riga: Johann Friedrich Hartknoch; Berlin: Johann Julius Hummel, 1771) * 2 Divertimenti (published Berlin: Johann Julius Hummel; Amsterdam: au Grand Magazin de Musique, n.d. 1775 ) * Violin Concerto in A-flat major (published Riga, Johann Friedrich Hartknoch, 1775) also in manuscript (Sing-Akademie zu Berlin) External links * *

Franz Anton Hoffmeister

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Franz Anton Hoffmeister (12 May 1754 – 9 February 1812) was a German and Austrian composer and music publisher. Early years Franz Anton Hoffmeister was born in Rottenburg am Neckar, Further Austria, on 12 May 1754. At the age of fourteen, he went to Vienna to study law. Following his studies, however, he decided on a career in music and by the 1780s he had become one of the city’s most popular composers, with an extensive and varied catalogue of works to his credit. Hoffmeister’s reputation today rests mainly on his activities as a music publisher. By 1785 he had established one of Vienna’s first music publishing businesses, second only to Artaria & Co, which had ventured into the field five years earlier. Hoffmeister published his own works as well as those of many important composers of the time, including Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Clementi, Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf and Johann Baptist Wanhal. These famous composers were also among Hoffmeister’s personal friends: Mozart dedicated his String Quartet in D to him and Beethoven addressed him in a letter as my “most beloved brother”. Compositions Hoffmeister’s publishing activities reached a peak in 17

Franz Danzi

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Franz Ignaz Danzi (15 June 1763 – 13 April 1826) was a German cellist, composer and conductor, the son of the Italian cellist Innocenz Danzi (1730–1798) and brother of the noted singer Franziska Danzi. Danzi lived at a significant time in the history of European music. His career, spanning the transition from the late Classical to the early Romantic styles, coincided with the origin of much of the music that lives in our concert halls and is familiar to contemporary classical-music audiences. before he joined the superlative orchestra of the Elector Karl Theodor in 1778 as a teenager. In 1780, the first of his woodwind compositions was published at Mannheim. His father, principal cellist of the orchestra, was praised by Mozart for his playing at the premiere of Idomeneo. Danzi remained behind in a Mannheim that was rendered more provincial when Karl Theodor moved his court to Munich in 1778. After an apprenticeship with the small theatre orchestra left in Mannheim, he rejoined the main court in Munich as principal cellist — taking his father’s position — in 1784. In 1790, he married the singer and composer Maria Margarethe Marchand, with whom he travelled in an opera troupe to Leip

Franz Ignaz Beck

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Franz Ignaz Beck (20 February 1734 – 31 December 1809) was a German violinist, composer, conductor and music teacher. He spent the greater part of his life in France, where he became director of the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux. Possibly the most talented pupil of Johann Stamitz, Beck is an important representative of the second generation of the so-called Mannheim school. His fame rests on his 24 symphonies that are among the most original and striking of the Classical period. He was one of the first composers to introduce the regular use of wind instruments in slow movements and put an increasing emphasis on thematic development. His taut, dramatic style is also remarkable for its employment of bold harmonic progressions, flexible rhythms and highly independent part writing. Life Youth in Mannheim 1734–1754 Born in Mannheim, Beck began his violin studies with his father, Johann Aloys Beck (died 1742), an oboist and rector of the Choir School at the Palatinate Court in Mannheim. He also learned double bass and organ, among other instruments, and eventually came under the tutelage of Johann Stamitz, the director of instrumental music and leader of the brilliant Mannheim court orchestr

Franz Ignaz von Beecke

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Franz Ignaz von Beecke (28 October 1733 – 2 January 1803) was a classical music composer born in Wimpfen am Neckar, Holy Roman Empire. Life Von Beecke served in the Bavarian Dragoon Regiment of Zollern from 1756, during which time he fought in the Seven Years’ War. He served with distinction and was promoted to Captain. He was known at the time chiefly for his great skill in playing the harpsichord, although he composed a wide range of music as well, having studied with Christoph Willibald Gluck. He died in Wallerstein, Germany. In 1775, von Beecke met the 19-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Munich and the two engaged in a piano playing competition at the well-known inn Zum Schwarzen Adler. The poet and composer Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart, who was in the audience, wrote in his Teutsche Chronik (27 April 1775) that in his opinion, von Beecke played far better than Mozart: “In Munich last winter I heard two of the greatest clavier players, Mr Mozart and Captain von Beecke. Mozart’s playing had great weight, and he read at sight everything that we put before him. But no more than that; Beecke surpasses him by a long way. Winged agility, grace and melting sweetness.” Von Be

Franz Joseph Aumann

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Franz Joseph Aumann (also Auman, Aumon; 24 February 1728, Traismauer – 30 March 1797, Sankt Florian) was an Austrian composer. Before his voice broke, he sang in the same Viennese choir as Michael Haydn and Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, composers with whom he later in life traded manuscripts. In view of this circulation, it is not surprising that some of his music has been incorrectly attributed to Haydn. However, his Missa Profana, satirizing the stuttering and bad singing of a schoolmaster, was once attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Aumann was ordained a priest in the Augustinian Order in St. Florian in 1757, essentially staying there for the rest of his life. He wrote many mass settings. Aumann’s music was a large part of the repertoire at St. Florian in the 19th century, and Anton Bruckner availed himself of this resource for his studies of counterpoint. Bruckner focused a lot of his attention on Aumann’s Christmas responsories and an Ave Maria in D major. Bruckner, who liked Aumann’s coloured harmony, added in 1879 an accompaniment by three trombones to his settings of Ecce quomodo moritur justus and Tenebrae factae sunt. Aumann’s oeuvre also includes instrumental music,

Franz Joseph Haydn

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Early life#

Joseph Haydn was born in Rohrau, Austria, a village that at that time stood on the border with Hungary. His father was Mathias Haydn, a wheelwright who also served as “Marktrichter”, or marketplace supervisor. Haydn’s mother Maria, née Koller, had worked as a cook in the palace of Count Harrach, the presiding aristocrat of Rohrau. Neither parent could read music; however, Mathias was an enthusiastic folk musician, who during the journeyman period of his career had taught himself to play the harp. According to Haydn’s later reminiscences, his family was extremely musical, and they frequently sang together and with their neighbours. Haydn’s parents had noticed that their son was musically gifted and knew that in Rohrau he would have no chance to obtain serious musical training. It was for this reason that, around the time Haydn turned six, they accepted a proposal from their relative Johann Matthias Frankh, the schoolmaster and choirmaster in nearby Hainburg, that Haydn be apprenticed to Frankh in his home to train as a musician. Haydn therefore went off with Frankh to Hainburg; he never again lived with his parents. Life in the Frankh household was not easy for Haydn, who later remembered being frequently hungry and humiliated by the filthy state of his clothing. However, he quickly profited from his musical training, and could soon play both harpsichord and violin; he also sang treble parts in the church choir. There is reason to think that Haydn’s singing impressed those who heard him, because in 1739 he was brought to the attention of Georg Reutter the Younger, the director of music in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, who happened to be visiting Hainburg and was looking for new choirboys. Haydn passed his audition with Reutter, and after several months of further training moved to Vienna (1740), where he worked for the next nine years as a chorister. Haydn lived in the Kapellhaus next to the cathedral, along with Reutter, Reutter’s family, and the other four choirboys, which after 1745 included his younger brother Michael. The choirboys were instructed in Latin and other school subjects as well as voice, violin, and keyboard. Reutter was of little help to Haydn in the areas of music theory and composition, giving him only two lessons in his entire time as a chorister. However, since St. Stephen’s was one of the leading musical centres in Europe, Haydn learned a great deal simply by serving as a professional musician there. Like Frankh before him, Reutter did not always bother to make sure Haydn was properly fed. As he later told his biographer Albert Christoph Dies, Haydn was motivated to sing well, in hopes of gaining more invitations to perform before aristocratic audiences, where the singers were usually served refreshments. Anthony Tommasini writes that “Matthias Hyaydn must have felt guilty, if not horrified, when he received a letter from the choir director proposing that Joseph’s soprano voice be surgically preserved.”

Franz Krommer

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Franz Krommer (; 27 November 1759 – 8 January 1831) was a Czech composer of classical music and violinist. He was one of the most popular composers in 19th-century Vienna alongside Beethoven, whom he knew. Today he is mostly known for his clarinet and double clarinet concertos. Life Franz Krommer was born František Vincenc Kramář in Kamenice. His parents went by a Germanized version of their surname, Krommer. His father was an innkeeper in Kamenice until the family moved to Třebíč in 1773. From 1773 to 1776, Franz studied violin and organ with his uncle, Antonín Mattias Kramář (1742–1804), in Tuřany. He became an organist here along with his uncle in 1777. In 1785 he moved to Vienna and later to Simontornya in Hungary, where he was a violinist and later a Kapellmeister for the orchestra of the Count of Limburg Stirum. In 1790, Krommer was named choirmaster at the Cathedral of Pécs, Hungary. In 1793 he became a Kapellmeister to Count Anton II Grassalkovich. He returned to Vienna in 1795, becoming Maestro di Cappella for Duke Ignaz Fuchs in 1798. In 1818 Krommer succeeded Leopold Koželuch as Kapellmeister, composer for the Imperial Court of Austria for Francis I, the first Emperor of

Franz Lauska

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Franz Seraphin Lauska was a Moravian pianist, composer, and teacher of Giacomo Meyerbeer and Felix Mendelssohn . Around 1816 he gave piano lessons to Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn. He died in Berlin, aged 61. Works Lauska wrote a great deal of piano music (approximately 25 sonatas, rondos, variations, polonaises, capriccios, etc.), much of it technically undemanding and intended for beginners, amateurs, and his pupils. His music is uncomplicated and typical of the musical style at the time. ** Polonoise, Op. 42, for piano (Leipzig, no. date) ** Rondeaux brillants et agréables, Op. 44 (Leipzig, ca. 1820) ** Sonate agreeable, Op. 46 (Leipzig, no date) ** Der Fackeltanz, for piano four hands (Berlin, ca. 1823) *Chamber music: ** Sonate facile, Op. 18, for piano and violin (Munich, 1802–1803) Sources * Brzoska, Matthias (2001). “Meyerbeer Beer , Giacomo Jakob Liebmann Meyer " in Sadie 2001. * Meyerbeer, Giacomo;Letellier, Robert Ignatius, editor (1999). The Diaries of Giacomo Meyerbeer, Volume 1, 1791–1839. Madison, New Jersey: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. . * Sieber, Anke (2016): Franz Lauska (1764–1825). Biographie, Briefe, Werkverzeichnis. Göttingen: Hainholz . * Thompson, Os

Franz Xaver Gerl

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Franz Xaver Gerl ( – ) was a bass singer and composer of the classical era. He sang the role of Sarastro in the premiere of Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute. Life Gerl was born on in Andorf (then Bavaria, since 1780 part of Austria). He sang as a chorister as a child in Salzburg; the New Grove asserts that he was probably the pupil of Leopold Mozart. He attended the University of Salzburg, studying logic and physics. His career as a bass began in 1785 with the theatrical company of Ludwig Schmidt. He evidently had an impressively low vocal range; Peter Branscombe observes that the very low notes that Mozart included in the part of Sarastro have been “the despair of many a bass singer since”. By 1787 he had joined the theatrical company of Emanuel Schikaneder, for which he sang the demanding role of Osmin in Mozart’s opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail and other roles. In 1789 the troupe settled at the Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna. Gerl participated in a system of joint composition used by Schikaneder’s troupe, in which were produced rapidly by having several composers collaborate. As such, Gerl may have been the composer of the aria “Ein Weib ist das herrlichste Ding”, for which

Franz Xaver Süssmayr

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Franz Xaver Süssmayr or Süßmayr (; 1766 – September 17, 1803), also anglicized as Suessmayr, was an Austrian composer and conductor. Popular in his day, he is now known primarily as the composer who completed Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s unfinished Requiem. Life Süssmayr was born in Schwanenstadt in upper Austria. He received early music lessons from his father Franz Karl Süssmayr, and later was educated at Kremsmünster Abbey, where Georg Pasterwitz was a teacher. At the monastery he composed symphonies, cantatas and church music, which were performed at the abbey theatre. He moved to Vienna in 1788, where he became a student and friend of Mozart. On Mozart’s last journey to Prague in 1791, where his opera La clemenza di Tito was first performed, Süssmayr accompanied him; Süssmayr, at Mozart’s request, composed the secco recitatives for the opera. In 1792 he became the substitute conductor at the Burgtheater, and from 1794 to 1803 he was conductor at the Theater am Kärntnertor. He composed operas that were staged at these theatres and at Emanuel Schikaneder’s theatres: the Theater auf der Wieden and later the Theater an der Wien. Of special note may be the clarinet concerto (SmWV 501)

Frédéric Blasius

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Frédéric Blasius (24 April 1758, in Lauterbourg – 1829, in Versailles) was a French violinist, clarinetist, conductor, and composer. Born Matthäus (French: Matthieu, Mathieu) Blasius, he used Frédéric as his pen name on his publications in Paris. Life and career Blasius was born in Lauterbourg, a town in the far northeast corner of France on the Rhineland border of Alsace. This frontier town had been fortified in the late 17th century by Louis XIV and had a large military presence, including many musicians. was from Rastatt in Baden. His father earned his living primarily as a master tailor, but was also a musician and gave his son his first lessons. The young Blasius also received lessons from military musicians; a position he held up to 1801 and again from 1804 to 1816 During the earlier period, from 1788 to 1801, the Opéra-Comique underwent significant challenges. Up to that time the theatre had had a virtual monopoly on the performance of French comic opera in Paris, but in 1788 Marie Antoinette gave a license to open a new theatre to her hairdresser and wig-maker, Léonard Autié. Autié sold his license to the Italian violinist Giovanni Battista Viotti, who hired Luigi Cherubini

Frédéric Nicolas Duvernoy

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Frédéric-Nicolas Duvernoy (16 October 1765, in Montbéliard – 19 July 1838, in Paris) was a French composer and hornist. Biography In 1788, Duvernoy went to Paris and became a hornist at Orchestre de la Comédie italienne. On April 1, 1790, Duvernoy joined Orchestre de la Garde Nationale. Later, in 1795, he became professor of horn at the Paris Conservatoire and served until October 1815. He was also a member of Orchestre de l’Opéra de Paris between September 1796 and July 1817. He will be member of La Chapelle de l’empereur Napoléon I er where, with his brother Charles-Frédéric (clarinet), he will very closed with brothers Rodolphe and Jean Nicolas Auguste Kreutzer (violin), Delcambre (bassoon) and Dalvimare (harp). Musical works * Concerto n° 1 pour cor et orchestre * Concerto n° 2 pour cor et orchestre * Concerto n° 3 pour cor et orchestre * Concerto n° 4 pour cor et orchestre * Concerto n° 5 pour cor et orchestre (with François Devienne) * Concerto n° 6 pour cor et orchestre * Concerto n° 7 pour cor et orchestre * Concerto n° 8 pour cor et orchestre * Concerto n° 9 pour cor et orchestre * Concerto n° 10 pour cor et orchestre * Concerto n° 11 pour cor et orchestre * Concerto n° 12

Frederick the Great

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Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled King in Prussia, declaring himself King of Prussia after annexing Royal Prussia from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772. His most significant accomplishments include military successes in the Silesian wars, reorganisation of the Prussian Army, the First Partition of Poland, and patronage of the arts and the Enlightenment. Prussia greatly increased its territories and became a major military power in Europe under his rule. He became known as Frederick the Great () and was nicknamed “Old Fritz” (). In his youth, Prince Frederick was more interested in music and philosophy than war, which led to clashes with his authoritarian father, Frederick William I of Prussia. However, upon ascending to the throne, he attacked and annexed the rich Austrian province of Silesia in 1742, winning military acclaim. He became an influential military theorist, whose analyses emerged from his extensive personal battlefield experience and covered issues of strategy, tactics, mobility and logistics. Frederick was a supporter of enlightened absoluti

Friedrich Heinrich Himmel

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Friedrich Heinrich Himmel (November 20, 1765 – June 8, 1814) was a German composer. Biography Himmel was born at Treuenbrietzen in Brandenburg, Prussia, and originally studied theology at Halle before turning to music. During a temporary stay at Potsdam he had an opportunity of showing his self-acquired skill as a pianist before King Frederick William II, who thereupon provided him with a yearly allowance to enable him to complete his musical studies. This he did under Johann Gottlieb Naumann, a German composer of the Italian school, and the style of that school Himmel himself adopted in his operas. The first of these, a pastoral opera, Il primo navigatore, was produced at Venice in 1794 with great success. In 1792, he went to Berlin, where his oratorio Isaaco was produced, in consequence of which he was made court Kapellmeister to the king of Prussia. In that capacity he wrote a great deal of official music, including cantatas and a coronation Te Deum. His Italian operas, successively composed for Stockholm, St Petersburg and Berlin, were all received with great favour in their day. Of greater importance than these is a Singspiel to words by Kotzebue, called Fanchon. Himmel’s gift

Friedrich Ludwig Æmilius Kunzen

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Friedrich Ludwig Æmilius Kunzen (24 September 1761 – 28 January 1817) was a German composer and conductor who lived and worked for much of his life in Denmark. Life He was born in Lübeck, where his father, Adolph Carl Kunzen, was an organist and his grandfather, Johann Paul Kunzen (1696-1757), had composed for the Hamburg Opera in the 1720s. In 1781 he began studying law in Kiel, but his true love was music, and in 1784, encouraged by composer Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, he moved to Copenhagen to pursue a musical career. He performed as a pianist at court and in clubs, and in the next few years had successes with a memorial cantata for Count Otto Thott and music for the marriage of Crown Princess Louise Auguste to Frederik Christian II, Duke of Augustenborg, as well as theatre music. In 1788 he met the young author Jens Baggesen, and the two collaborated on the opera Holger Danske, which premiered the following year, causing the “Holger Feud,” as a result of which Kunzen temporarily left the country. For the next two years he lived in Berlin. From 1792 until 1794 he worked as musical director of the new Frankfurter National-Theater, where he put on Mozart’s Don Giovanni and The Ma

Friedrich Wilhelm Riedt

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Friedrich Wilhelm Riedt (5 January 1710 – 5 January 1783) was a German flautist, composer and music theorist of the Baroque period. Life Riedt was born in Berlin to English-born parents. His birth date is sometimes given as 24 January 1712. External links *

Gabriele Leone

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Gabriele Leone (born Naples c. 1735 – 1790) was an Italian musician and composer who lived in Paris during the middle and later part of the 18th century. A virtuoso on the violin and mandolin, he wrote an early mandolin method, Analytical method for mastering the violin or the mandolin in 1768 and composed for both instruments. He was an early teacher of the duo method, an advanced technique which would reappear in the 20th century, taught by Giuseppe Pettine in the United States. In the 1700s, the mandolin spread across Europe for the first time, through performances by masters of the instrument. One of his students was Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, the father of King Louis Philippe I (the last French king). Feathers were used as plectrums in that era, as they had been when playing the mandore. The method contained 26 dancing tunes, 6 minuets, 2 duos, a sonata and some airs. References External links *6 Violin or Mandolin Duets sheet music *Analytical method for mastering the violin or the mandolin in French *Discussion of English transcription of Leone’s method.

Gaetano Brunetti

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Gaetano (or Cayetano ) Brunetti (1744 in Fano, Papal States – 16 December 1798, Colmenar de Oreja, Madrid, Spain) was an Italian-born composer who was active in Spain during the reigns of kings Charles III and Charles IV. As well as being musically influential at court, He also became violin teacher to the future Charles IV (then Prince of Asturias), who unlike his father was an avid music lover. In 1788, when Charles IV came to the throne, Brunetti took charge of a newly formed royal ensemble, for which he composed prolifically and also programmed works by European composers of the day, such as Joseph Haydn. little of Brunetti’s music was published during his lifetime, thereby largely precluding knowledge of his music for almost two centuries. This catalogue revealed that the U.S. Library of Congress houses almost half of the surviving manuscript scores. References Sources * Further reading * External links * * Manuscript scores at the Library of Congress * Manuscripts and scores at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (via Isidore)

Gaetano Pugnani

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Gaetano Pugnani (27 November 1731 – 15 July 1798, full name: Giulio Gaetano Gerolamo Pugnani) was an Italian composer and violinist. Biography Gaetano Pugnani was born in 1731 in Turin, the city where he spent most of his life, son of Giovanni Battista Pugnani, secretary in the office of the Director of the Settlement of Turin. The Pugnani originate from the comune of Cumiana, where they held a common farm and where the musician returned often. He trained on the violin under Giovanni Battista Somis, founder of the Piedmontese school of violin playing. In 1752, Pugnani became the first violinist of the Royal Chapel of Turin, and then went on a large tour that granted him great fame for his extraordinary skill on the violin. In 1754, he was very well received at the Concert Spirituel in Paris, but in 1768 he had an even more successful musical encounter in London, directing the King’s Theatre from 1767 to 1769. During these years Pugnani worked closely with Johann Christian Bach and Carl Friedrich Abel. In 1770, Pugnani returned home to Turin and became the director of the Royal Chapel. Mozart and his father Leopold met Pugnani a year later when they visited Turin. His fame as a comp

Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington

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Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington (19 July 1735 – 22 May 1781) was an Anglo-Irish politician and composer and the father of a distinguished military commander and several politicians of Great Britain and Ireland. Early life Wesley was born at the family estate of Dangan Castle, near Summerhill, a village near Trim in County Meath, Ireland. He was a son of Richard Wesley, 1st Baron Mornington (son of Henry Colley, MP), and Elizabeth Sale (a daughter of John Sale, Registrar of the Diocese of Dublin). He was educated at Trinity College Dublin, and was elected its first Professor of Music in 1764. From early childhood he showed extraordinary talent on the violin, and soon began composing his own works. It was the future Duke of Wellington who, alone of his children, inherited something of his musical talent. Political career Wesley represented Trim in the Irish House of Commons from 1757 until 1758, when he succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Mornington. In 1759 he was appointed Custos Rotulorum of Meath and in 1760, in recognition of his musical and philanthropic achievements, he was created Viscount Wellesley, of Dangan Castle in the County of Meath, and Earl of Mornington. He was

Gennaro D'Alessandro

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Gennaro (Janvier) D’Alessandro or D’Alessandri, Alexandre, Allexandro, D’Allessandria (1717? – after 28 July 1778) was an Italian Baroque composer and harpsichordist. Biography He was a pupil in Naples of Leonardo Leo, later he became maestro di coro at the Pio Ospedale della Pietà in Venice from 21 August 1739 to 13 May 1740, then harpsichord master of Madame de Martenet and Germain-Anne Loppin de Montmort in Dijon (from 1 October 1740 to 1749), Charles-Catherine Loppin de Gemeaux, Madame de Noinvilles and Madame de La Pouplinière in Paris (1743). Back in Naples he was also singing master of Madeleine-Zoé-Anne-Marguerite Seimandy (1778) and participated in some accademie di musica at the Villa Angelica of William Hamilton together with Emanuele Barbella (1768). He met prominent figures such as Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony, Willem Carel Dierkens, Anton Raaff, Antonio Vivaldi, Carlo Goldoni, Alexandre Le Riche de La Poupelinière, Jean-Joseph de Mondonville, Charles de Brosses and Giacomo Francesco Milano Franco d’Aragona. Works Source: Sacred music * 1 Missa brevis * 1 Miserere Instrumental music * 2 sinfonias/overtures (1739-1742 c.) *Pièces de clavessin … toutes diffic

Gennaro Manna

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Gennaro Manna (12 December 1715 - 28 December 1779) was an Italian composer based in Naples. He was a member of the Neapolitan School. His compositional output includes 13 operas and more than 150 sacred works, including several oratorios. Life The son of Giuseppe Maria Manna and Caterina Feo (sister of the composer Francesco Feo), he received his musical training at the in Naples, where his uncle Francesco Feo was primo maestro. He made his operatic debut at the Teatro Argentina in Rome with Tito Manlio on 21 January 1742. Thanks to its success, he received a new commission from the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo in Venice for the carnival of the following year, where he gave Siroe re di Persia. After his return to Naples, he composed Festa teatrale per la nascita dell’Infante with Nicola Bonifacio Logroscino, which was never staged. In 1744, he was appointed maestro di cappella of the Senate of Naples, succeeding Domenico Sarro, and in January 1745, with Achille in Sciro, he made his debut at the Teatro di San Carlo with and Gaetano Majorano, which was well received. On 1 October 1755, after the death of Francesco Durante, the primo maestro of the , he took the position of interi

Georg Benda

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Georg Anton Benda (; 30 June 17226 November 1795) was a Bohemian composer, violinist and Kapellmeister of the classical period. Biography Born into a family of notable musicians in Old Benatek (today Benátky nad Jizerou), Bohemia, he studied at the Piarist Gymnasium (grammar school) in Kosmanos and at the Jesuit Gymnasium in Gitschin from 1735 to 1742. Benda was 19 when Frederick the Great bestowed upon him in 1741 the position of second violinist in the chapel of Berlin. The following year Benda was summoned to Potsdam as a composer and arranger for his older brother Franz, himself an illustrious composer and violinist. Seven years later, in 1749, he entered the service of the Duke of Gotha as Kapellmeister, where he constantly cultivated his talents for composition, specializing in religious music. A stipend from the duke allowed Benda to take a study trip to Italy in 1764. He returned to Gotha in 1766, and devoted himself to composition. In all, he wrote about ten operas, several operettas, and the melodramas , Medea and . In 1778 he resigned his position and visited Hamburg, Vienna and other cities, and finally settled at the little hamlet of Köstritz. Benda’s most important co

Georg Christoph Wagenseil

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Georg Christoph Wagenseil (29 January 1715 – 1 March 1777) was an Austrian composer. He was born in Vienna, and became a favorite pupil of the Vienna court’s Kapellmeister, Johann Joseph Fux. Wagenseil himself composed for the court from 1739 to his death. He also held positions as harpsichordist and organist. His pupils included Johann Baptist Schenk (who was to teach Ludwig van Beethoven), and Marie Antoinette. He traveled little, and died in Vienna having spent most of his life there. Wagenseil was a well-known musical figure in his day — both Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart are known to have been familiar with his works. His early works are Baroque, while his later pieces are in the Classical style. He composed a number of operas, choral works, symphonies, concertos, chamber music and keyboard pieces. Compositions Operas *La generosità trionfante (1745) *Ariodante (1745) *La clemenza di Tito (1745) *Demetrio (1746) *Alexander der Grosse in Indien (1748) *Il Siroe (1748) *L’olimpiade (1749) *Andromeda (1750) *Antigono (1750) *Euridice (1750) *Armida placata (1750) *Vincislao (1750) *Le cacciatrici amanti (1755) *Prometeo assoluto (1762) *Catone (?) *Merope (1766) Concer

Georg Druschetzky

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Georg Druschetzky (born Jiří Družecký; 7 April 1745 – 21 June 1819) was a Czech composer, oboist and timpanist. Biography Druschetzky was born Jiří Družecký in Jemníky on 7 April 1745. He studied oboe with the noted oboist and composer Antonio Besozzi in Dresden. He then joined the band of an infantry regiment in Cheb (), with which he was later stationed (sequentially) in Vienna, Enns, Linz, and Branau. In 1777 he was certified as a drummer. In 1783 he moved to Vienna, where he became a member of the Tonkünstler-Sozietät. Three years later he was Kapellmeister for Anton Grassalkovič of Gyaraku and moved to Bratislava. It is believed he started writing music in the 1770s, most of it for his band. He also wrote chamber music and music for orchestra, including 27 Symphonies and Concertos for various instruments. A couple of his operas survive, but one suite of incidental music and a ballet are lost. Druschetzky is credited with one of the earliest uses of the BACH motif. Druschetzky died in Buda on 21 June 1819. Selected compositions ;Stage * Mechmet, Opera * Zemira, Opera * Perseus and Andromeda, Incidental music to the play * Inkle and Yariko, Ballet ;Orchestral * Concerto in B maj

Georg Joseph Vogler

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Georg Joseph Vogler, also known as Abbé Vogler (15 June 1749 – 6 May 1814), was a German composer, organist, teacher and theorist. In a long and colorful career extending over many more nations and decades than was usual at the time, Vogler established himself as a foremost experimenter in baroque and early classic music. His greatest successes came as performer and designer for the organ at various courts and cities around Europe, as well as a teacher, attracting highly successful and devoted pupils such as Carl Maria von Weber. His career as a music theorist and composer however was mixed, with contemporaries such as Mozart believing Vogler to have been a charlatan. Despite his mixed reception in his own life, his highly original contributions in many areas of music (particularly musicology and organ theory) and influence on his pupils endured, and combined with his eccentric and adventurous career, prompted one historian to summarize Vogler as “one of the most bizarre characters in the history of music”. Biography Vogler was born at Pleichach in Würzburg. His father Jared Vogler was a violin maker and instrument-maker for the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg. The young Vogler studied l

Georg Matthias Monn

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Georg Matthias Monn (born Johann Georg Mann 9 April 1717, Vienna – 3 October 1750, Vienna) was an Austrian composer, organist and music teacher whose works were fashioned in the transition from the Baroque to Classical period in music. Together with Georg Christoph Wagenseil and Josef Starzer, Monn formed the Viennese Pre-Classical movement whose composers are nowadays mostly known only by their names. However, his successful introduction of the secondary theme in the symphony was an important element for the First Viennese School (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert) that would come some fifty years later. Biography Much less is known about Monn’s life than about his musical ideas. Only his appointments as an organist are known, at first in Klosterneuburg near Vienna. Afterwards, he was appointed in the same position at Melk in Lower Austria and at the Karlskirche in Vienna’s Wieden district. He died of tuberculosis aged 33. His brother, (1726–1782), was also a composer whose works have sometimes been confused with Monn’s. The reason for this is that most of Monn’s compositions only survive in copies from the 1780s and could therefore also be the works of his younger brother. Th

Georg Michael Telemann

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Georg Michael Telemann (20 April 1748 – 4 March 1831) was a German composer and theologian. Telemann was born in Plön,

Georg Pasterwitz

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NOTOC Georg Pasterwitz, baptized as Robert Johannes Ivo Pasterwitz (7 June 1730 – 26 January 1803) was an Austrian composer and teacher. He was born in Bierhütte, near Passau. First educated at Niederaltaich, he entered the Benedictine monastery in Kremsmünster in 1749. When he took his vows in 1750, he adopted the name “Georg” as his religious name. He then enrolled at the University of Salzburg, studying theology, law and mathematics. It was during this time that he met Johann Ernst Eberlin, who became his music teacher. Pasterwitz completed his studies in 1759 and soon started teaching philosophy at the monastery’s Ritterakademie, eventually rising to teach courses in mathematics, physics, economics, and political science; since about 1755 he was also active as composer, producing stage works for the monastery almost every year. Between 1767 and 1783 Pasterwitz served as the monastery’s choir director. Due to reforms started by Joseph II, he had to give up some of his duties and became instead the monastery’s treasurer and eventually official representative, when it was threatened with dissolution in 1785. Pasterwitz died in 1803 in Kremsmünster, having served as dean of the

Gervais-François Couperin

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Gervais-François Couperin (22 May 1759 – 11 March 1826) was a representative of the famous Couperin family of composers and organists. Biography He studied with his father Armand-Louis Couperin. In 1789, Gervais-François replaced his father at the Sainte-Chapelle organ. Gervais-François succeeded his brother Pierre-Louis Couperin at Notre-Dame de Paris, a position he held until the Revolution. He was later an organist at St-Gervais-et-St-Protais and Saint-Merri (1818–1826). He married Hélène Thérèse Frey, a singer, with whom he had a daughter, Céleste Thérèse (1793–1860), who succeeded him briefly as the organist at St-Gervais-et-St-Protais. She became the last member of the Couperin musical dynasty. Gervais-François Couperin died in Paris on 11 March 1826 at the age of 66. Works *1782: Rondo in D major for harpsichord or pianoforte *1788: Deux Sonates Op. 1 for harpsichord or pianoforte with violin and violoncello ad libitum *1790: Ah ! Ça ira !, variations for harpsichord *1797: Ouvertures d’Iphigénie et de Démophon for the pianoforte and violin ad libitum *1797: Les Incroyables et Les Merveilleuses for pianoforte *1799: Premier Recueil contenant six Romances, avec accompagnement

Giacomo Gotifredo Ferrari

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Giacomo Gotifredo Ferrari (baptised 2 April 1763 – 2 December 1842) was born in Rovereto in the Italian Alps, and was an Italian composer and singing teacher who spent most of his career in France and England. Four of his operas, I due svizzeri, II Rinaldo d’Asti, L’eroina di Raab, and Lo sbaglio fortunato premiered in the King’s Theatre, London. He also composed two ballets, a Mass, and numerous piano sonatas. Principal works Operas * I due Svizzeri (opera buffa in one act, premiered King’s Theatre, London, 14 May 1799) * II Rinaldo d’Asti (opera buffa in two acts, premiered King’s Theatre, London, 16 March 1802) * L’eroina di Raab (opera seria in two acts, premiered King’s Theatre, London, 8 April 1813) * Lo sbaglio fortunato (opera buffa in one act, premiered King’s Theatre, London 8 May 1817) Ballets * Borea e Zeffiro (premiered King’s Theatre, London, 1805) * La dama di spirito a Napoli (premiered King’s Theatre, London, 1809) Books * Breve tratto di canto italiano, also published in English translation as Concise Treatise on Italian Singing (1818) * Studio di musica teorica pratica (1830) * Anedotti piacevoli e interessanti occorsi nella vita Giacomo Gotifredo Ferrari, da Rov

Giacomo Rust

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Giacomo Rust or Rusti (1741 in Rome, Italy – 1786 in Barcelona, Spain) was an Italian opera composer, probably of German ancestry. Not a great deal is known about Rust. Between 1763 and 1777, Rust was active in Venice, where his first opera, a dramma giocoso, La contadina in corte, to a libretto by Niccolò Tassi, was performed in 1763. During this period, Rust acquired great fame as opera composer, not only in Italy, but also abroad, which gained him an invitation to be employed in the service of the Archbishop of Salzburg. On 12 June 1777, he was named a choir master at the Salzburg court, a post that he abandoned towards the end of the year. Some time later, Rust returned to Venice to continue his operatic activity. In 1783, he settled down in Barcelona, where he assumed the office of the Maestro de capilla. Works The following is the list of the operas composed by Rust. Notes References * Bauman, Thomas and Hintermaier, Ernst (1992), “Rust, Giacomo” in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) External links *

Giacomo Tritto

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Giacomo Domenico Mario Antonio Pasquale Giuseppe Di Tritto (2 April 1733 – 16 September 1824) was an Italian composer, known primarily for his fifty-four operas. He was born in Altamura, and studied in Naples; among his teachers were Nicola Fago, Girolamo Abos, and Pasquale Cafaro. Amongst his pupils were the young Vincenzo Bellini around 1821, plus Ferdinando Orlandi. He died in Naples. Biography Giacomo Tritto was born in Altamura. He began studying music at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in Naples, where his teachers included Nicola Fago, Girolamo Abos, and Pasquale Cafaro. Also in Naples, in 1754, he began his career as an opera composer with the performance of the opera buffa Le nozze contrastate at the Teatro dei Fiorentini. However, advised by his teacher Cafaro not to continue his just-begun theatrical career, he left the stage for about ten years. He resumed opera composition in 1764 with the staging of Fedeltà in amore at the Teatro Nuovo (Naples). From that point on, until 1810, he composed no fewer than 54 operas. Operas *Le nozze contrastate (opera buffa, 1754, Naples) *La fedeltà in amore (opera buffa, libretto by Francesco Cerlone, 1764, Naples) *Li furbi

Gian Francesco de Majo

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Gian Francesco de Majo (24 March 1732 – 17 November 1770) was an Italian composer. He is best known for his more than 20 operas. He also composed a considerable amount of sacred works, including oratorios, cantatas, and masses. Life and career Born in Naples, Majo was the son of composer Giuseppe de Majo. He began his musical education with his father and then studied with his uncle Gennaro Manna and his great uncle Francesco Feo. At the age of 13 he became the harpsichordist at the royal chapel in Naples and at 15 began helping his father with his duties there as maestro di cappella. In 1758 he was made second organist at the royal chapel. On 7 February 1759 his first opera, Ricimero, re dei goti, premiered in Parma. This was soon followed by a series of successful operas mounted in Naples. In 1761 and 1763 Majo traveled to Northern Italy, where he presented several of his compositions and studied for a short period with Giovanni Battista Martini. After a short time in Naples, he went to the court in Vienna, where he was commissioned to write the opera Alcide negli orti esperidi for the coronation of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor. He then spent some time in Mannheim and Madrid bef

Gioacchino Cocchi

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Gioacchino Cocchi (circa 1712 – 11 September 1796) was a Neapolitan composer, principally of opera. Cocchi was probably born in Naples in about 1712, although his place of birth has also been given as Padua. His first works were performed in Naples and in Rome; the most successful was La maestra, written in Naples in 1747. It was performed at the Teatro Nuovo sopra Toledo of that city in the spring of 1747, and at the Teatro Formagliari of Bologna in October of the same year; on 11 March 1749 it was given at the King’s Theatre in London, and in 1752 at the Teatro de’ Fiorentini of Naples, with the title La scaltra governante. It was performed as La scaltra governatrice at the Académie de Musique in Paris on 25 January 1753, and as Die Schulmeisterin in 1754 at the Schlosstheater in Berlin. The work established a solid international reputation for Cocchi. He was in Venice from 1749 to 1757; there he became maestro di cappella of the Ospedale degli Incurabili, standing in for Vincenzo Legrenzo Ciampi, who had been given permission to visit London for an extended period. While in Venice, he taught composition to Andrea Lucchesi, who later was appointed Kapellmeister in Bonn. Cocchi tr

Giovanni Battista Gervasio

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Giovanni Battista Gervasio (c. 1725 - c. 1785) was an Italian musician and composer. Born in Naples he was one of the first generation of virtuoso-mandolinists who left Italy and played the mandolin in Europe in the 18th century. He was a composer for the mandolin and his works can be found scattered in 18th century collections such as the Gimo music collection and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. He also wrote a mandolin method Methode facile pour apprendre a quatre cordes, instrument pour les dames (Easy method for learning four-string instruments for ladies), published in Paris in 1767. He performed in London 1768 and in Frankfurt-on-the-Main on December 10, 1777, and the Concert Spirituel in Paris on December 24, 1784 . *Mandolin Sonata in D major (Sonata Per Camera di Mandolino e Basso ), mandolin and bass (Gimo 142)(Gimo 143) * Trio in D major (Trio a Due Mandolini e Basso), 2 mandolins and bass (Gimo 150) * 2016. Centaur Records. Gimo-Samling: 18th Century Sonatas & Trio Sonatas for Mandolin, played by Duo Acquavella. External *Public domain sheet music for Gervasio References * (For a free and complete download please visit https://alextimmerman.nl/articles-and-books/)

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

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Giovanni Battista Draghi (; 4 January 1710 – 16 or 17 March 1736), usually referred to as Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (), was an Italian Baroque composer, violinist, and organist, leading exponent of the Baroque; he is considered one of the greatest Italian musicians of the first half of the 18th century and one of the most important representatives of the Neapolitan school. Despite his short life and few years of activity (he died of tuberculosis at the age of 26), he managed to create works of high artistic value and historical importance, such as La serva padrona (The Maid Turned Mistress), which played an important role in the development and diffusion of the opera buffa in Europe, L’Olimpiade, considered “one of the finest opere serie of the early eighteenth century”, and Stabat Mater, which is among the most important works of sacred music of all time. In his lifetime, he wrote a total of 10 works for the stage, including 3 two-part intermezzos. Biography Born in Jesi in what is now the Province of Ancona (but was then part of the Papal States), he was commonly given the nickname “Pergolesi”, a demonym indicating in Italian the residents of nearby Pergola, which was the birth

Giovanni Fouchetti

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Giovanni Fouchetti (, fl.1757-1789) published one of the earliest method books for the mandolin, c. 1771. According to Philip J. Bone, Fouchetti was also known as Fouquet, and he lived in Paris during the 18th Century. He was a professor there in 1788. He is also credited with creating a Parisian school of mandolinists, along with Eduardo Mezzacapo, Gabriele Leone, and Gervasio. His book Méthode pour apprendre facilement á jouer de la mandoline á 4 et á 6 cordes; dans la quelle on explique les differents coups de plume nécessaires pour cet instrument. On y a joint six sérenades et six petites sonates (Method for learning to play easily the mandolin of four or six strings. In which different pen strokes are needed to explain this instrument, with six serenades and six small sonatas) was republished in 1983 with methods by Gabriele Leone and Pietro Denis, both of whose methods were originally published in 1768. The 1983 book was called Méthodes de mandolin de Leone, Fouchetti, Denis. Controversy One of Giovanni Fouchetti’s works Allegro from the fourth sonata was published by Hoffmeister under the name Pietro Fouchetti; no one who has addressed the issue has come up with a reason. Re

Giovanni Marco Rutini

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Giovanni Marco Rutini (25 April 1723 – 22 December 1797) was an Italian composer. He is most known for his sonatas which influenced Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Haydn. Biography He was born in Florence and studied at the Naples Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini. At the conservatorio, he studied composition under the guidance of Leonardo Leo, harpsichord with Nicola Fago and violin with Vito Antonio Pagliarulo. He graduated in 1744, but stayed to teach for several years. In 1748 he moved to Prague and joined the Locatelli ensemble. In the beginnings of his career he devoted himself mainly to the kapellmeister activities, and composed predominantly the cembalo sonatas. Rutini performed his first “Prague opera”, Alessandro nell´Indie, in 1750. Another opera, Semiramide riconosciuta, was dedicated to the “nobility of the Czech Kingdom”. Rutini later moved with Locatelli and his group to Russian St. Petersburg. He composed there the comic operas, mainly to the librettos of Carlo Goldoni. He was also the piano teacher of Catherine II, the future Russian empress. In the early 1760s he returned to Florence, and continued composing operas. He married in April 1761. He continued t

Giovanni Paisiello

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Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini. Life Paisiello was born in Taranto in the Apulia region and educated by the Jesuits there. He became known for his beautiful singing voice and in 1754 was sent to the Conservatorio di S. Onofrio at Naples, where he studied under Francesco Durante, and eventually became assistant master. For the theatre of the Conservatorio, which he left in 1763, he wrote some intermezzi, one of which attracted so much notice that he was invited to write two operas, La Pupilla and Il Mondo al Rovescio, for Bologna, and a third, Il Marchese di Tidipano, for Rome. Works Operas * R 1.00 La moglie in calzoni (18.2.1764, Modena) * R 1.01 Il ciarlone (12.5.1764, Bologna) – lost * R 1.02 I francesi brillanti (24.6.1764, Bologna) * R 1.03 Madama l’umorista, o Gli stravaganti (26.1.1765, Modena) – lost * R 1.04 L’amore in ballo (carnival 1765, Venice S Moisè) * R 1.05 La mascherata delle nozze di Bacco e d’Arianna (11.2.1765, Modena) * I bagni d’Abano (spring 1765, Parma) * Il negligente (1765, P

Giovanni Punto

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Jan Václav Stich, better known as Giovanni Punto (28 September 1746 in Žehušice – 16 February 1803 in Prague) was a horn player from Bohemia and a pioneer of the hand-stopping technique which allows natural horns to play a greater number of notes. Early life Stich was born in Žehušice in Bohemia. His father was a serf bonded to the estate of Count Joseph Johann Thun und Hohenstein, but Stich was taught singing, violin and finally the horn. The Count sent him to study horn under Joseph Matiegka in Prague, Jan Schindelarz in Munich, and finally with A. J. Hampel in Dresden (from 1763 to 1764). Hampel first taught Stich the hand-stopping technique which he later improved and extended. Stich then returned to the service of the Count, where he remained for the next four years. At the age of 20 Stich and four friends ran away from the estate. The Count, who had invested heavily in Stich’s education, dispatched soldiers with orders to knock out Stich’s front teeth to prevent him ever playing the horn again, but they failed to capture the group, and Stich crossed into Italy. Punto around Europe On arriving in Italy, Stich changed his name to Giovanni Punto (an approximate Italianisation of

Girolamo Abos

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Girolamo Abos, last name also given Avos or d’Avossa and baptized Geronimo Abos (16 November 1715 – May 1760), was a Maltese-Italian composer of both operas and church music. Born in Valletta, Malta, son of Gian Tommaso Abos, whose father was a Frenchman from Castellane and Rosa Farrugia, Abos studied under Leonardo Leo and Francesco Durante in Naples. In 1756, he became Maestro al Cembalo (Director of Music) at the Italian Theatre in London. In 1758 he returned to Italy as a teacher at the Conservatorio della Pietà de’ Turchini in Naples, where Giovanni Paisiello was one of his pupils . He wrote fourteen operas for the opera houses in Naples, Rome, and London, of which Tito Manlio (Naples, 1751) was the most successful. After 1758 he composed a good deal of church music, including seven masses and several litanies. He died in Naples. Many of his sacred works, oratorios, and the opera Pelopida have been edited by the Australian musicologist and conductor Richard Divall, and are freely available. List of operas composed by Abos References *Stabat Mater Gerolamo Abos ed. Joseph Vella Bondin Recent Researches in the Music of the Classical Era, 68, A-R Editions, Inc., Middleton, Wiscon

Giuseppe Bertini (composer)

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Giuseppe Bertini (January 20, 1759 – March 15, 1852) was an Italian composer, choral conductor, lexicographer, scholar, and Roman Catholic priest. References

Giuseppe Bonno

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Giuseppe Bonno (29 January 1711 – 15 April 1788) was an Austrian composer of Italian origin. (His name is sometimes given as Josef or Josephus Johannes Baptizta Bon.) The son of a footman from Brescia who served at the Austrian court, he was born in Vienna and studied music with Johann Georg Reinhardt, imperial court organist, later Kapellmeister of St Stephen’s. A gifted pupil, he was then sent to Naples in 1726 where he studied church music under Francesco Durante and opera under Leonardo Leo. He moved back to Vienna in 1736, becoming a court composer there, and working as Kapellmeister to the Prince of Saxe-Hildburghausen in the 1750s and 1760s. In 1774, Bonno was made Imperial court conductor to Joseph II, following the death of Florian Leopold Gassman. He died in Vienna. While Bonno’s music is rarely heard today, he was a prominent figure in the Viennese musical life of his time and his works were often performed. He worked with two main librettists: Giovanni Claudio Pasquini and Metastasio. The latter was Bonno’s contemporary in Vienna, and the composer wrote the first music for Metastasio’s Il natale di Giove (also set by Hasse), Il vero omaggio, Il re pastore (later set by

Giuseppe Cambini

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Giuseppe Maria Gioacchino Cambini (Montelupo Fiorentino, 8 april 1746Netherlands? 1810s? or Paris? 1825?) was an Italian composer and violinist. Life Unconfirmed information Information about his life is scarcely traceable. Louis-Gabriel Michaud, French scholar and François-Joseph Fétis, Belgian musicologist, drafted his biography, and Cambini himself speaks about his past in an article published in Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung in 1804. However, all of these documents are full of errors and, therefore, need to be verified. It is not possible to confirm his personal data (only Fétis indicates his date of birth and, more possibly to Filippo Manfredi, who was almost certainly his violin teacher. Fétis wrote about his unfortunate operatic debut in Naples in 1766, after which, during his return to Livorno by the sea, Cambini was kidnapped by pirates, who treated him terribly until his liberation by a Venetian aristocrat. a fact that reduces its reliability. this quartet would represent the first formation of this emerging genre in Italy, if not in all of Europe. For many years, this information fostered a gigantic legend about the importance of the role of Cambini in defining the str

Giuseppe Gazzaniga

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Giuseppe Gazzaniga (5 October 1743 – 1 February 1818) was a member of the Neapolitan school of opera composers. He composed fifty-one operas, particularly opera buffa. Biography Born in Verona, Gazzaniga was initially intended for the priesthood at the urging of his devout parents. He eventually convinced his father to allow him to pursue a career in music and began studies first in Venice and then at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana in Naples. While there, he was a pupil of Niccolò Piccinni and Nicola Porpora. Gazzaniga presented his first opera, Il barone di Trocchia, at the Teatro di San Carlo in 1768. He would spend the next several decades writing mostly operas in Italy with the exception of a few trips to Dresden, Vienna, and Prague. His most successful opera was his Don Giovanni Tenorio written in 1787 to a libretto by Giovanni Bertati, possibly an inspiration for the libretto of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. His last opera, Martino Carbonaro, was performed at the Teatro San Moisè in Venice in 1801. He also wrote a symphony and three piano concertos. In 1791, he became musical director of Crema Cathedral in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, where he composed n

Giuseppe Gherardeschi

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Giuseppe Gherardeschi (3 November 1759 - 6 August 1815) was an Italian organist and composer. He was born and died in Pistoia. He began to study music with his father Domenico, who was the maestro di cappella at Pistoia Cathedral, and his uncle Filippo Maria Gherardeschi. He continued his studies with Nicola Sala in Naples at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini. On returning to his home city he was appointed organist at the Church of Santa Maria dell’Umiltà and later succeeded his father as director of music at Pistoia Cathedral. As a composer he wrote vocal music (sacred and secular) as well as instrumental music (solo, chamber and orchestral). Works Vocal music Secular Music *Daliso e Delmita (opera, 1782) *Angelica e Medoro (cantata, 1783) *L’apparenza inganna (opera, 1784) *L’ombra di Catilina (cantata, 1789) *L’impazienza (cantata, 1798) *La speranza coronata (cantata, 1804–1809) *Other arias, duest and choral works Sacred Music *Il sacrificio di Jeft (oratorio, 1803) *30 Masses *37 Lamentations *90 Motets *5 Te Deum *Altri lavori sacri minori Instrumental Music *6 sonatas for harpsichord or fortepiano and violin obbligato *Several concertoni *Quintet for wind instrumen

Giuseppe Nicolini (composer)

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Giuseppe Nicolini (or Niccolini; 29 January 1762 – 18 December 1842) was an Italian composer who wrote at least 45 operas. From 1819 onwards, he devoted himself primarily to religious music. He was born and died at Piacenza. The music conservatory of Piacenza is named after him. Operas Nicolini’s operas include: *La famiglia stravagante (dramma giocoso, 1793, Parma) *La clemenza di Tito (opera seria, libretto by Pietro Metastasio, 1797, Livorno) *I due fratelli ridicoli (Li fratelli ridicoli) (dramma giocoso, libretto by Filippo Livigni, 1798, Rome) *Il trionfo del bel sesso (dramma giocoso, libretto by Giovanni Bertati, 1799) *I baccanali di Roma (1801, Milan) *Il geloso innamorato (farsa, libretto by Giambattista Lorenzi, 1804, Naples) * (opera seria, libretto by Michelangelo Prunetti, 1807, Rome) *Le due gemelle (farsa, 1808, Rome) *Coriolano ossia L’assedio di Roma (opera seria, libretto by Luigi Romanelli, 1808, Milan) *Angelica e Medoro ossia L’Orlando (opera seria, libretto by Gaetano Sertor from Pietro Metastasio, 1810, Turin) *Abradate e Dircea (opera seria, libretto by Luigi Romanelli, 1811, Milan) *Quinto Fabio (Quinto Fabio Rutililiano) (opera seria, libretto by Giusepp

Giuseppe Paolucci

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Giuseppe Paoloucci (May 25, 1726 – April 24, 1776) was an Italian composer, conductor and organist of Baroque music. Life and work Giuseppe Paolucci was the only son of Domenico di Giuseppe and Anna Maria di Stefano Lucatelli. From 1729 to 1741 he was registered with his father and his second wife Francesca Soldi as a member of the Sienese parish of San Pietro a Ovile. He was educated in the convent of the monastery of San Francesco in Prato and in the monastery of Santa Croce in Florence and was a member of the Franciscan order. From March 1750 he studied counterpoint at the Convent of San Francesco in Bologna with Padre Giambattista Martini and then in 1756 became Maestro di Capella of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice. He left Venice in August 1769 and in 1770 took over the work of conductor and organist at the church of San Martino in Senigallia attached to the monastery. From February 1772 until his death he was capellmeister at the Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi. Paolucci conducted an extensive correspondence of around 150 letters (archived in the Museo della Musica, Bologna) with Padre Martini on musical and other artistic subjects. The catalog of handwritten wor

Giuseppe Santarelli

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Giuseppe Santarelli (1710–1790) was an Italian castrato, composer, choir conductor, voice teacher, and Roman Catholic priest. He was named a knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Life and career Born in Forlì, he entered a monastery in the Order of Saint Augustine at a young age where he was eventually ordained. The exact details of his musical training are unknown, although it is clear he must have been thoroughly trained in music composition, music theory, and in singing. He was active on the opera stage in Venice during the 1740s. In 1749 he became a singer in the Sistine Chapel Choir in Vatican City, ultimately being appointed conductor in 1770. He was also for many years the cantor at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. In 1761 he published an essay on the organisation of the Sistine Chapel Choir, under the title: Informazione del Cantor Fra’ Giuseppe Santarelli Cappellano d’onore dell’Eminentissimo e Reverendissimo Signor Cardinale Alessandro Albani come Ministro Plenipotenziario delle Loro MM. Imp. e Reali presso la S. Sede. In risposta ad un Biglietto di esso Eminentissimo (Roma, Komarek). As a teacher of singing his notable pupils included Muzio Clementi and V

Giuseppe Scarlatti

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Giuseppe Scarlatti (1718 or 18 June 1723, Naples – 17 August 1777, Vienna) was a composer of opere serie and opere buffe. He worked in Rome from 1739 to 1741, and from 1752 to 1754 in Florence, Pisa, Lucca and Turin. From 1752 to 1754, and again from 1756 to 1759, he worked in Venice and for short periods in Milan and Barcelona. In 1760 he moved to Vienna, where he enjoyed the friendship of Christoph Willibald Gluck. “The third most important musician of his clan”, it is still uncertain whether he was born on 18 June 1723 (to Tommaso Scarlatti, c.1669-1760) as the nephew of Alessandro or in 1718 as nephew of Domenico. Giuseppe Scarlatti was married to the Viennese singer Barbara Stabili who died about 1753. By 1767 he had married Antonia Lefebvre, who that year bore him a son; she died three years later. Scarlatti died intestate in 1777 in Vienna. Works Operas Dubious attributions *La madamigella (libretto by Antonio Palomba, 1755, Naples) *Il mercato di Malmantide (dramma giocoso per musica, libretto by Carlo Goldoni, 1758, Venice) Other works *La Santissima Vergine annunziata (oratorio, 1739, Rome) *Componimento per musica (serenata, 1739, Rome) *L’amor della patria (serenata, li

Giusto Fernando Tenducci

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Giusto Fernando Tenducci, sometimes called “il Senesino” (c.1735 Castration was illegal in both church and civil law, but the Roman Church employed castrati in many churches and in the Vatican until about 1902; and throughout the 17th and 18th centuries the public paid large sums of money to listen to the spectacular voices of castrati in the opera houses. In 1753, when he was about seventeen, Tenducci made his professional opera appearance in Venice, as Gasparo in Ferdinando Bertoni’s Ginevra. In 1768, he returned to London from Edinburgh where he remained for most of the rest of his life, except for a period between 1771 and 1778 when he appeared in many roles in Italy, then traveled to Paris. He taught singing to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Paris in 1777–8. Impressed with his teacher’s singing abilities, Mozart wrote a concert aria for him which is now lost (K. 315b). He returned to Italy just months before his death in January 1790 in Genoa. Marriage: 1766–1772 Although a castrato, Tenducci married 15-year-old Dorothea Maunsell secretly in 1766. The marriage was repeated in July 1767 with a licence granted by the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore. Two portraits of Tenducci were pa

Gottfried August Homilius

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Gottfried August Homilius (2 February 1714 – 2 June 1785) was a German composer, cantor and organist. He is considered one of the most important church composers of the generation following Bach’s, and was the main representative of the empfindsamer style. Life Homilius was born in Rosenthal, Saxony, the son of a Lutheran pastor, and was educated at the in Dresden. He then studied law at Leipzig University and the organ. It has often been repeated that he was a student of Johann Sebastian Bach, but there is no contemporary written evidence to support this, and strong contextual evidence against it. From 1742 he was organist at the Dresden Frauenkirche, and from 1755 until his death Kreuzkantor, the cantor at the Kreuzkirche in Dresden with the associated responsibility of music director at the Kreuzkirche, the Sophienkirche, and the Frauenkirche and the Kreuzschule. After the destruction of the Kreuzkirche during the Seven Years’ War he worked mainly at the Frauenkirche. Works Homilius predominantly composed church music. He is known for his Passions for services on Good Friday. One of them, a cantata Passion, was printed during his lifetime in 1775. Of four oratorio Passions after

Gottfried Rieger

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Gottfried Rieger (1 May 1764 – 13 October 1855) was a Czech-German composer, conductor and teacher. He lived for many years at Brno in what is today the Czech Republic. Life Rieger was born on 1 May 1764 in Tropplowitz in Austrian Silesia in the Kingdom of Bohemia, Habsburg monarchy (now Opavice, part of Město Albrechtice in the Czech Republic). His father owned some land here on the Geppersdorf Estate, and was a musician. He received music lessons from his father, and played at village festivals. He became at age 13 a member of the private orchestra at Geppersdorf Castle (today Linhartovy Castle) of Count . Here he learned to play more instruments. On the recommendation of Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, he studied music theory with Father Damasus Brosmann, rector of the Piarist monastery at Bílá Voda. He moved to Brno in 1787, where from 1790 he directed the orchestra of the civic theatre, and was a music teacher. Count Haugwitz offered him in 1805 the post of Kapellmeister at his castle at Náměšť nad Oslavou, and he was resident there until 1808; he then returned to Brno, resuming as music teacher and for two more years director of the theatre orchestra. He established a music ins

Gottlieb Graupner

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NOTOC Johann Christian Gottlieb Graupner (6 October 1767 – 16 April 1836) was a musician, composer, conductor, educator and publisher. Born in Hanover, Germany, he played oboe in Joseph Haydn’s orchestra in London. After moving to the United States in the 1790s, he co-founded the Philharmonic Society (ca. 1810–1825) and the Handel and Haydn Society (est. 1815) in Boston, Massachusetts. Some historians call Graupner “the father of Negro songs”, based on the reminiscences of performer Charles T. White (1821-1891). One historian of jazz writes: “In 1795…Graupner…arrived in Charleston, Virginia, from Hanover, Germany, listened to banjo music and Negro songs, and learned. In 1799, donning blackface, he introduced himself as ‘The Gay Negro Boy’ in an interlude between acts at the Federal Street Theatre in Boston. This was the beginning of Negro minstrels and minstrelsy.” According to another account, thereafter “he specialized in popularizing Negro songs.” However, more recent historians have cast doubt upon these claims. In 1801, with fellow musicians Philip Trajetta and François Mallet, he founded a music academy in Boston, called the American Conservatorio of Boston. It was th

Guillaume Lasceux

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Guillaume Lasceux (3 February 1740 - 1831) was a French organist, improviser and composer. Biography Born in Poissy, Lasceux began his career as an organist in the parish of St-Martin of Chevreuse in 1758. He moved to Paris in 1762 to study music composition for five years with Charles Noblet, organist and harpsichordist of the Opera. He succeeded him to the Mathurins in 1769. In the same year, he was appointed organist at St-Aure, and 10 years later, at the , with similar posts at the College of Navarre and the . In 1769, he replaced Claude-Nicolas Ingrain on the organ of the Saint-Étienne-du-Mont church, of which he officially became titular in 1774. During the Revolution, he lost most of his posts and had to earn a living by accompanying the theophilantropic ceremonies in Saint-Étienne-du-Mont, converted into a “Temple of Branch piety”. He resumed his organist’s post in 1803, after the restoration of Catholic worship there, and retired on 2 January 1819. Recognized as a virtuoso on the organ, harpsichord or forte-piano, Lasceux became famous for his improvisations inspired by the Last Judgement. Works His work includes vocal pieces, chamber music and numerous organ pieces. * 176

Hampartsoum Limondjian

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Hampartsoum Limondjian (; 1768 – 29 June 1839) was an Ottoman Armenian composer of Armenian church, inclined to composition of classical music and Ottoman classical music. He was a musical theorist who developed the “Hamparsum” notation system used as the main music notation for Western Armenian and Ottoman classical music until the 20th-century introduction of European notation systems, and is still in use by the Armenian Apostolic Church. Limondjian was referred to as Baba Hamparsum (Father Hampartsoum) in Ottoman imperial court music circles. The name Համբարձում, transliterated as Hampartsoum in Western Armenian or Hambardzum in Eastern Armenian, means “ascension”. Biography Early life Hampartsoum Limondjian was born in 1768 on Çukur Street in the Pera (Beyoğlu) district of Istanbul. His father Sarkis and his mother Gaderina, who had recently moved to Istanbul from Harput, were poor, and could only send their son to primary school. After primary school, Limondjian started working for a tailor. His love for music was eminent, and as a kid, Limondjian started attending Armenian churches where he received his music lessons for free. Marriage and children Hampartsoum Limondjian marr

Hardenack Otto Conrad Zinck

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Hardenack Otto Conrad Zinck (also: Hartenack; 2 July 1746 in Husum – 15 February 1832 in Copenhagen) was a German-Danish composer. Early years At the age of 5, the young Otto performed for King Frederick V of Denmark, and before he turned 12 his father had taught him to play violin, flute and piano. Until he was 19, he attended Latin school in Husum, Germany and traveled to Hamburg around the age of 21–22 where he sang in a church choir. He studied music, and sang under the guidance of music director Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, who became his idol. Hamburg 1767 Zinck participated in the musical life, becoming an important flute player in Hamburg and composing flute pieces. In 1774–76 he gave subscription concerts, a few at a time, at which large vocal concerts were held. He also tutored, and married his pupil Susanne Elisabeth Pontet (born in 1745 of French origin) on 27 September 1774. On 17 December 1777, the coupe were employed at the chapel of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in Ludwigslust, where Zinck became flutist, and his wife a soprano singer. Here he composed six piano sonatas (1782). Copenhagen 1786 In September 1786, Zinck and his wife traveled to Copenhagen, where they performed a

Heinrich Christoph Koch

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Heinrich Christoph Koch (10 October 1749 – 19 March 1816) was a German music theorist, musical lexicographer and composer. In his lifetime, his music dictionary was widely distributed in Germany and Denmark; today his theory of form and syntax is used to analyse music of the 18th and 19th centuries. Life Koch was born in Rudolstadt, in the federal state of Thüringen. In his youth, he was a violinist in the Rudolstadt court orchestra and from 1772 as a chamber musician. He was taught music by his father - a valet to Johann Friedrich von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, prince of the small state of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt; later he was tutored in violin and composition by Christian Gotthelf Scheinpflug, the prince’s band leader. Although his lowly circumstances precluded a university education, the prince - and his successors - encouraged his musical training and sent him to different German cities. He studied for periods in Weimar (with Carl Andreas Göpfert), Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin and Hamburg. After that, he spent the rest of his life in Rudolstadt. In 1792, he was appointed Kapellmeister (effectively director of music) by von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt; this post was formerly held by his tuto

Hélène de Montgeroult

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Marquise Hélène de Montgeroult born Hélène Antoinette Marie de Nervo (2 March 1764 – 20 May 1836) was a French composer and pianist. Recognised as one of the best fortepiano performers and improvisers of her time, and a published composer, de Montgeroult adapted to the rapid development of her instrument by makers such as Érard. She is considered by her biographer Jérôme Dorival as a bridge between classicism and romanticism. He describes her as “the missing link between Mozart and Chopin”. Biography Origins Hélène Antoinette Marie de Nervo was born on 2 March 1764 in Lyon into an unlanded family of recent nobility, though they did have lands in Beaujolais (inherited from J. A. Rique, Hélène’s godfather), in Oingt and Theizé (the Château de Rochebonne). Her father, Jean-Baptiste de Nervo, had several roles within the judicial authorities in Lyon and had inherited his title of nobility of the first degree as an advisor to the Court of Currencies and to the seneschal and presidial courts of the Court of Lyon from his father who had bought the title. The family of Hélène’s mother, Anne Marie Sabine Mayeuvre de Champvieux, had land ties to the Monts du Lyonnais (Manor of Champvieux in

Hélène-Louise Demars

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Hélène-Louise Demars (1736–1778) was a French composer and music teacher. Demars wrote several cantatas dedicated to nobles such as Mademoiselle de Soubise of the Rohan family and Madame La Marquise de Villeroy. She went on to become a teacher of several instruments such as the harpsichord and the violin. Early life Demars was born in 1736 in France, probably in Paris. Her father, Jean-Odéo Demars was a musician at two churches in Paris. After her father died in 1756, she lived with her mother and siblings in the Rue St. Thomas du Louvre. Personal life In 1759, Demars married Jean-Baptiste Vernier, a violinist and music dealer specializing in foreign editions. It is unknown if she and her husband had any children. Career and works Demars’ most cited-work, “L’Horoscope” is dedicated to Mademoiselle de Soubise of the Rohan family. It was performed for de Soubise as early as 21 November 1748, when Demars was about 12 years old. It was published in the Mercure de France in 1749. Demars dedicated her work “Hercule et Omphale” to Madame La Marquise de Villeroy. She composed several other works. Demars became a member of a literary circle run by Alexandre Le Riche de La Poupelinière, an i

Henri Moreau (composer)

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Henri Moreau (15 July 17283 November 1803) was a composer and teacher born in Liège in what is now modern-day Belgium. He studied with Bartolomeo Lustrini and Antonio Aurisicchio and he is known to have taught André Ernest Modeste Grétry. Moreau composed religious works which were never printed but would have included Christmas carols popular at the time in Liège. Moreau wrote a number of instrumental works, for example 6 trios, which are known to have been written in Liège around 1777 but were subsequently lost. In 1783 his treatise L’harmonie mise en pratique was published by Chez J. G. M. Loxhay. The method was aimed at those studying composition or accompaniment, with a table of two, three and four-part chordal formations with consonances and dissonances to help with practicing, along with fugues and organ points, all of which were collated from notable examples. Works * Te Deum *Sonatas: 2 violins-double bass (1777) References

Henri-Joseph de Croes

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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

Henri-Montan Berton

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Henri-Montan Berton (17 September 1767 – 22 April 1844) was a French composer, teacher, and writer, mostly known as a composer of operas for the Opéra-Comique. Career Henri-Montan Berton was born the son of Pierre Montan Berton. He is principally remembered as a composer of operas, most of which were first performed at the Opéra-Comique. Riding a wave of anti-clericalism which arose at the time of the French Revolution, his first real success was with Les rigueurs du cloître (23 August 1790), “in which a young nun is saved from entombment at the hands of a corrupt mother superior.” Later more notable operas include Montano et Stéphanie (15 April 1799), Le délire (7 December 1799), and La Romance (26 January 1804). One of his greatest early successes was Aline, reine de Golconde (3 September 1803), which was performed internationally. Later in his career he tried tragedy with Virginie, which was premiered by the Paris Opera at the Salle Le Peletier on 11 June 1823, and received a total of 39 performances. His greatest success was Les deux mousqetaires, which was premiered by the Opéra-Comique at the Salle Feydeau on 22 December 1824 and continued to be performed each year up to 1834

Hermann Raupach

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Hermann Friedrich Raupach (December 21, 1728 – December 12, 1778) was an 18th-century German composer. Biography Hermann Raupach was born at Stralsund in Germany, the son and pupil of composer and organist (1686–1744) and the nephew of Lutheran church historian (1682–1745). Raupach was a harpsichordist, who became the assistant of Vincenzo Manfredini, at the Russian Imperial Court Orchestra in Saint Petersburg in 1755. In 1758 he was appointed a Kapellmeister and court composer. Some of his operas were performed in Russian. His Alceste (Альцеста, 1758) is regarded as “the second Russian opera” (after Araja’s Tsefal i Prokris, 1755). The role of Admet in this opera was sung by Dmitry Bortniansky, called the “Orpheus of the Neva River”. In 1762 Raupach left Saint Petersburg for Hamburg and then to Paris, where he met Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and improvised with him on harpsichord in 4 hands. Mozart arranged some movements from his sonatas for piano and string orchestra. The Sonata for Piano and Violin in A major, that was listed as K. 61, first appeared under Mozart’s name in the Breitkopf & Härtel OEuvres in 1804. It had been in Baron Taddäus von Dürnitz collection, and was mistakenl

Ignatius Sancho

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Charles Ignatius Sancho (c. 1729 – 14 December 1780) was a British writer, composer and abolitionist. Born on a slave ship in the Atlantic Ocean, Sancho was sold into slavery in the Spanish colony of New Granada. After his parents died, Sancho’s owner took the two-year-old orphan to Britain and gave him to three sisters living in Greenwich, where he remained for eighteen years. Unable to bear being a servant to them, Sancho ran away to Montagu House in Blackheath, London where John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu taught him how to read and encouraged Sancho’s budding interest in literature. After spending some time as a butler in the household, Sancho left and started his own business as a shopkeeper, while also starting to write and publish various essays, plays and books. Sancho quickly became involved in the nascent British abolitionist movement, which sought to outlaw both the slave trade and the institution of slavery itself, and he became one of its most devoted supporters. Sancho’s status as a property-owner meant he was legally qualified to vote in a general election, a right he exercised in 1774 and 1780, becoming the second known British African to have voted in Britain afte

Ignaz Fränzl

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Ignaz Fränzl (3 June 1736 – 6 September 1811 (buried)) was a German violinist, composer and representative of the second generation of the so-called Mannheim School. Mozart, who heard him at a concert in November 1777, wrote of him in a letter to his father: He may not be a sorcerer, but he is a very solid violinist indeed. Fränzl carried the Mannheim violin technique, established by Johann Stamitz, one step further to real virtuosity. Mozart, quite a good violinist himself and thoroughly acquainted with the instrument, praised Fränzl’s double trill and said he had never heard a better one. Biography The son of trumpeter and viola player Ferdinand Rudolph Fränzl, Ignaz Fränzl was born and died in Mannheim. He entered the Mannheim court orchestra in 1747 as a violinist, probably as a scholar (i.e. apprentice) similar to Christian Cannabich, another composer-violinist of the Mannheim school. In the personnel list of 1756 he is documented as a first violinist together with Cannabich and Carlo Giuseppe Toeschi. As was the case with many of his colleagues of the Mannheim court orchestra, Fränzl also travelled to Paris on a few occasions where he performed at the Concert Spirituel. In 17

Ignaz Holzbauer

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Ignaz Jakob Holzbauer (18 September 1711 – 7 April 1783) was an Austrian composer of symphonies, concertos, operas, and chamber music, and a member of the Mannheim school. His aesthetic style is in line with that of the Sturm und Drang movement of German art and literature. Biography Holzbauer was born in Vienna. Despite the opposition of his parents, who intended him for the law, he studied music, and in 1745 became Kapellmeister to Count Rottal and at the Court Theatre of Vienna. Later he was Kapellmeister at Stuttgart, Germany. His operas include Il figlio delle selve, which was the opening performance of the Schlosstheater Schwetzingen in 1753. Its success led to a job offer from the court at Mannheim, Germany, where he stayed for the rest of his life, continuing to compose and teach, his students including Johann Anton Friedrich Fleischmann (1766–1798), the pianist, and Carl Stamitz. Holzbauer died in Mannheim, having been entirely deaf for some years. His opera Günther von Schwarzburg, based on the life of the eponymous king, was an early German national opera, a performance of which Mozart and his sister attended, during which they met Anton Raaff, who was later to premiere

Ignaz Pleyel

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Ignaz (Ignace) Joseph Pleyel (; ; 18 June 1757 – 14 November 1831) was an Austrian composer, music publisher and piano builder of the Classical period. He grew up in Austria (then part of the Holy Roman Empire), and was educated there; in his mid-twenties he moved to France, and was based in France for the rest of his life. Life Early years He was born in in Lower Austria, the son of a schoolmaster named Martin Pleyl. Despite the fact that some sources claim that he had 37 siblings, he was the eighth and last child of his father’s first marriage to Anna Theresia née Forster and he had eight more half siblings from his father’s second marriage to Maria Anna née Placho. While still young, he probably studied with Johann Baptist Wanhal, and from 1772 he became the pupil of Joseph Haydn in Eisenstadt. As with Beethoven, born 13 years later, Pleyel benefited in his study from the sponsorship of aristocracy, in this case Count Ladislaus Erdődy (1746–1786). Pleyel evidently had a close relationship with Haydn, who considered him to be a superb student. Among Pleyel’s apprentice work from this time was a puppet opera Die Fee Urgele, (1776) performed in the marionette theater at the palace

Ignaz Vitzthumb

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Ignaz or Ignace Vitzthumb (also Witzthumb; 14 September 1724 – 23 March 1816) was an Austrian musician, composer and conductor active in the Austrian Netherlands. He was also music director of the La Monnaie theatre in Brussels. Life Vitzthumb was born in Baden bei Wien. Arriving in Brussels in 1735 at the age of 11, he entered the service of archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria as a child-singer in her choir. Taught by Jean-Joseph Fiocco, then choirmaster of the Brussels chapel royal, Vitzthumb became a court drummer at sixteen, a post he held for more than 40 years alongside other roles. His half-brother, François-Antoine Vitzthumb, was a trumpeter in the court and his son Paul Vitzthumb (1761–1838) succeeded him as court drummer. After the War of the Austrian Succession, in which he had served in a regiment of Hungarian hussars, he returned to Brussels and took part in several chambers of rhetoric and compagnies bourgeoises, of which there were Francophone as well as Flemish versions. He showed off his talents as a violinist, conductor and theatre director, and was a member of the Concert bourgeois. He is also mentioned among the court musicians as a composer, tenor and violin

Ignazio Fiorillo

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Ignazio Fiorillo (11 May 1715 – June 1787) was an Italian composer. He is known as an author of opera seria, often composed to the libretti of Pietro Metastasio. Biography Fiorillo was born in Naples, Italy. His musical education was supported by Count Ferdinand Otto von Traun, who allowed him to study at the Naples Conservatory, as a pupil of Leonardo Leo and Francesco Durante. His career began with opera L’egeste, premiered in Trieste in 1733. Another opera, Il vincitor di se stesso, was performed in 1741 in Venice, and Fiorillo introduced himself as an opera composer also in Milan and Padua. In the middle of the 1740s, he made several European tours as a member of the ensemble of Phillip Nicolini, specialised in children mime (Teatro dell’Opera Pantomima dei Piccolo Hollandesi di Nicolini). Fiorillo was engaged as a composer for their performances. In 1749, he resided with Nicolini in Braunschweig, at the court of Carl I. von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel. Fiorillo was appointed court composer in 1750, and Nicolini became the director of court theatres. In 1762, Fiorillo was engaged by Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel at his court in Kassel. He significantly improved the qual

Isidore Bertheaume

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Isidore (or Julien) Bertheaume (ca. 1752 – 20 March 1802) was a French classical composer and violinist. Biography Born in Paris, Bertheaume was a child prodigy. He was the nephew of violinist Jacques Lemière the eldest (who died in 1771). According to the Mercure de France of April 1761, at the age of nine and a half, he obtained great success at the Concert Spirituel with a sonata by Lemière and another by Felice Giardini. In 1767, he joined the Orchestra of the Paris Opera and became its first violin in 1774. Then in 1788, he was appointed concertmaster of the Opéra-Comique orchestra. Between 1788 and 1791, he conducted the orchestra of the Concert Spirituel. In 1791 Bertheaume left France and held several posts in northern Germany until 1801. Via Copenhagen and Stockholm he emigrated to Russia, where he became first violin in Tsar Alexander I’s court orchestra. He died a few months after arriving at St-Petersburg. Bertheaume was a rival of Giovanni Battista Viotti in Paris and was considered an outstanding virtuoso, although not quite of Viotti’s caliber. His compositions are ideally written for the violin and were highly regarded by his contemporaries. After the performance of

Ivan Khandoshkin

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Ivan Yevstafyevich Khandoshkin (; 1747 – 29 or 30 March 1804) was a Russian violinist and composer of Cossack origin. He has been described as “the finest Russian violinist of the eighteenth century”. Works Khandoshkin’s extant works comprise six violin sonatas and several variation cycles based on folk songs. His music (primarily for the violin) is comparable to music by his contemporaries such as Giuseppe Tartini’s student Antonio Lolli (whose stunts on the violin preceded Paganini), Gaetano Pugnani, Ludwig Spohr, and many others. His music was unfamiliar to the average western ear until recently. In 1996 Elena Denisova recorded three of his violin sonatas for Talking Music where they were released in the following year. In 2016 she performed them at the Salzburg Festival. Anastasia Khitruk performed several works and recorded them for Naxos in St. Petersburg’s St. Catherine’s Church in 2005. “Viola concerto” The so-called Khandoshkin viola concerto in C Major was purported to be written in 1801. It was published in Moscow by the State Publishing House in 1947 and released in the Soviet Union on the Melodya record label, with Rudolf Barshai playing viola and conducting the Moscow

Ivan Mane Jarnović

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Ivan Mane Jarnović (; 26 October 1747 – 23 November 1804) was a violinist and composer during the 18th century, often said to have been Italian but whose family was of Ragusan (today in Croatia) origin. There is no evidence that he ever lived in the Croatian lands to which both his paternal and maternal lineages have been traced. He later appears to have held French citizenship, escaping to England during the revolution. His career spanned Europe as he performed and/or sojourned in almost all major centres including Paris, Berlin, Warsaw, St Petersburg, Vienna, Stockholm, Basel, London, Dublin, amongst others. It appears he was a pupil of Antonio Lolli and he was an acquaintance of Joseph Haydn, with whom he shared concert programmes in London. Jarnović was reputedly born at sea en route from Dubrovnik to Palermo, Sicily (or was possibly born in Palermo), where he was baptised in the church San Antonio Abate on 29 October 1747. He died in St Petersburg, Russia on 23 November 1804. Biographical gaps Whole periods of his life - his youth and other interludes - remain unaccounted for, while details as to his origins and identity have proven to be elusive. There are plausible arguments

Jacob French

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Jacob French (July 15, 1754 – May 1817) was a singing master and one of the first American composers, sometimes called Yankee tunesmiths. “A student of William Billings, French adopted Billings’ innovative approach to psalmody … His music tends to be more complex in its structure, rhythm, and counterpoint than most of his contemporaries.” “Along with William Billings, he is regarded as one of the finest composer of anthems in the New England tradition.” French’s Farewell Anthem appears in Southern Harmony, 1835, as well as The Sacred Harp from 1844 to the present. He was born in Stoughton, Massachusetts. His brother, Edward, also composed a few tunes. Some of French’s choral music was adapted by American composer John Cage for his Apartment House 1776 and subsequently arranged for string quartet as part of 44 Harmonies by violinist Irvine Arditti. These were recorded and issued by Mode Records along with adaptations by Cage of other Colonial-period hymnists. Publications *The New American Melody (1789) *The Psalmodist’s Companion (1793) *Harmony of Harmony (1802) List of works *Heavenly Vision *Beauty *Dormant *Happiness *Farewell Anthem (Scores available at the Choral Public Dom

Jacopo Puccini

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Jacopo (or Giacomo) Puccini (; 26 January 1712 16 May 1781) was an 18th-century Italian composer who lived and worked primarily in Lucca, Republic of Lucca. He was the first of five generations of composers, the most famous of whom was his great-great-grandson, the opera composer Giacomo Puccini. Career Puccini studied in Bologna under Giuseppe Carretti, who was maestro di cappella at Bologna’s San Petronio Basilica. In Bologna Puccini became friends with Padre Martini. Puccini was known as an excellent organist. He was the teacher of opera composer Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi. Compositions * Messa a 3 (1760). Consists of Kyrie, Gloria, and Credo. Scored for 2 violins in unison, cello, bass, continuo, and three-part chorus (SSA or SAA). Original title: 1760/ Messa Piena a 3 voci, cioè Canto, e due Alti/ Con violini a beneplacito Unis: soni / Per il Concerto di S. Giovannetto/ di Giacomo Puccini. * Jacopo Puccini (“Giacomo Puccini senior”): 26 January 1712 – 16 May 1781. * Antonio Benedetto Maria Puccini: 30 July 1747 – 10 February 1832. * Domenico Vincenzo Maria Puccini: 5 April 1772 – 25 May 1815. * Michele Puccini: 27 November 1813 – 23 Jan 1864. * Giacomo Puccini: 22 December 18

Jacques Duphly

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Jacques Duphly (also Dufly, Du Phly; 12 January 1715 – 15 July 1789) was a French harpsichordist and composer. Early career as an organist He was born in Rouen, Province of Normandy, France, the son of Jacques-Agathe Duphly and Marie-Louise Boivin. As a boy, he studied the harpsichord and organ, and was employed as organist at the cathedral in Évreux. He obtained his first position at the cathedral of St. Eloi at the age of nineteen. In 1740 he added a second position at the church of Notre Dame de la Ronde, which he maintained with the help of his sister Marie-Anne-Agathe, who substituted for him. According to Louis-Claude Daquin: For some time he was organist at Rouen, but doubtless finding that he had a greater gift for the harpsichord, he abandoned his first instrument. One may suppose that he did well, for he passes in Paris for a very good harpsichordist. He has much lightness of touch and a certain softness, which, sustained by ornaments, marvelously render the character of his pieces. According to Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg he devoted himself to the harpsichord in order not to spoil his hand with the organ. He published four volumes of harpsichord music in 1744, 1748, 1756 a

Jakob Suppan

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jakob Suppan (, July 27, 1734 – April 11, 1810) was a composer and musician from the Holy Roman Empire. Early life and education Suppan was born in Schrötten in the Duchy of Styria in the Holy Roman Empire, now part of the municipality of Hengsberg in Styria, in southeast Austria. He was the second of ten children born to the smallholder Hans Suppan and Benigna (née Höller) Suppan, and he was baptized Jacob Suppan. His surname indicates Slovene ancestry on his father’s side; Slovenes once relocated to the Hengsberg area in large numbers from the Haloze region and the Slovene Hills. He probably received his music education from the local organist Andreas Dämb (1702–1753), and he then entered the Jesuit University of Graz in 1749 as the recipient of a scholarship founded by the Hengsberg parish priest Rupert Brenner. His enrollment at the university is recorded as Suppan Jacob, plebejus Hinspergensis ‘Jacob Suppan, a common man from Hengsberg’. Career Suppan relocated to Kamnik (now in Slovenia) before 1757, where he was initially an assistant to the teacher and organist Valentin Götzl. and in 1760 he became Götzl’s successor as the teacher and choirmaster at the women’s church in .

Jakub Gołąbek

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Jakub Gołąbek (born 1739 in Silesia, died 30 March 1789 in Kraków) was a Polish composer and singer (tenor). Biography The first confirmation of Gołąbek’s stay in Kraków is a marriage certificate to Marcjanna Celińska from November 4, 1766, preserved in the parish archives of Wawel Cathedral in Kraków. In 1773, he became a singing teacher at the Jesuit music dormitory in Kraków, headed by Józef Zygmuntowski. As a musician, he was active first in the chapel of the St. Mary’s Church, and from around 1774 until the end of his life in the chapel of the Wawel Cathedral, in which he sang and for which he composed. In the years 1781 to 1787 he was a singing teacher at Wacław Sierakowski’s music school; he participated in concerts organized by him, including in 1773 at the court of Bishop Kajetan Sołtyk, when Gołąbek’s Cantata in Honor of St. Stanislaus was performed. Works Gołąbek’s music played a significant role in shaping the Polish classical style. It is typical of early classicism, drawing on the style of both Baroque music and the Viennese classics in terms of sonata form, theme structure, treatment of the bass part (basso continuo), and the use of elements of galant style in slow m

Jakub Jan Ryba

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jakub Šimon Jan Ryba (surname also Poisson, Peace, Ryballandini, Rybaville; 26 October 1765 – 8 April 1815) was a Czech teacher and composer of classical music. His most famous work is the Czech Christmas Mass (“Hey, Master!”; Česká mše vánoční, “Hej mistře!”). Life Ryba was born on 26 October 1765 in Přeštice near Plzeň. His father was a schoolteacher, which was a very poorly paid occupation at the time. In 1780 Ryba went to Prague, where he studied at the Piarist gymnasium. His teacher Cassianus Hanel taught him music. Ryba was a very good student and he soon started to compose. He dreamt of being a famous composer. In 1784 his father ordered him to work as a teacher in Nepomuk. Ryba reluctantly obeyed, but he was soon fired. After wandering for a few months, he received a message that his mother had died. After a long illness, he moved to Mníšek pod Brdy. Being popular among local inhabitants for performing music, he was quite happy there, but after some hesitation he accepted a schoolteacher position in Rožmitál pod Třemšínem. The school prospered under his supervision, but he had constant conflicts with the local pastor and council. His frequent requests for funds for repairs

James Lyon (composer)

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James Lyon (July 1, 1735 – October 12, 1794) was an American composer of the colonial and Federal eras in New England. Life James Lyon was born in Newark, New Jersey on July 1, 1735. It is known that his father was Zopher Lyon, but that he was orphaned at an early age. In 1750, Isaac Lyon and John Crane became James’ guardians, until the age of twenty-one. Lyon then attended college at Nassau Hall, and afterwards obtained a master’s degree from College of Philadelphia. Lyon became a Presbyterian minister, and left from Philadelphia for Nova Scotia, but he was unable to support his family, and subsequently accepted a job at the new settlement of Machias, Maine. After his first year there, the parish invited him to remain at a raised salary and he remained there with a few interruptions, until his death on October 12, 1794. Music The first evidence of Lyon composing was during his college days at the commencement of 1759 at Nassau Hall, when President Samuel Davies delivered an oration, and where the ceremony concluded with an ODE, set to music by Lyon. In 1761, when a candidate for a master’s degree at the College of Philadelphia, one of his works was performed on the same program a

James Nares (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

James Nares (19 April 1715 – 10 February 1783) was an English composer of mostly sacred vocal works, though he also composed for the harpsichord and organ. Life Nares was born in Stanwell, although soon after his family moved to Oxfordshire. His brother was a justice, Sir George Nares. He began his career as Deputy Organist of St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, and was later appointed Organist of York Minster in 1735. He married soon after that. before returning to the Chapel Royal in 1756 to become organist and composer to George III, succeeding Maurice Greene. *Six Fugues for Organ, 1772 *Three Easy Harpsichord Lessons, 1778 *A Treatise on Singing, 1778 *The Royal Pastoral, 1778 *Collection of Catches, Canons and Glees, 1778 *Six Organ Fugues, 1778 *Second Treatise on Singing, with a set of English duets, 1778 *Twenty Anthems, 1778 *A Morning and Evening Service and Six Anthems, 1788 Sources * James Nares. Il Principio or a Regular Introduction to playing on the Harpsichord or Organ, a Facsimile of the Original Edition of 1760 with Introduction Notes by Robin Langley, London, Oxford University Press, 1981. Notes References Sources * External links * James Nares at the Nares g

James Oswald (composer)

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James Oswald (baptised 21 March 1710 – 2 January 1769) was a Scottish composer, arranger, cellist, and music publisher, who was appointed as Chamber Composer for King George III and also wrote and published many Scottish folk tunes. Life Oswald was born in Crail, Scotland in 1710, being baptised on 21 March, and died in Knebworth, Hertfordshire on 2 January 1769. In London Oswald eventually set up his own publishing house and published the Caledonian Pocket Companion, a collection of Scottish folk tunes, some with his own variations. This ran to 12 volumes and many editions. Like many others whose works feature in the Wighton Collection in Dundee, he was a member of “The Temple of Apollo”, a secret musical society of composers in London along with Thomas Erskine, 6th Earl of Kellie, John Reid, Charles Burney and others. Oswald’s first wife, Mary Ann, died in 1756. He married Leonora Robinson Lytton after she was widowed in 1762. Leonora was the aunt of Richard Warburton Lytton. Compositions He wrote variations of popular Scottish folk tunes, arranged these for the fiddle and composed other original tunes in the same genre. He published his chamber works under the nom de plume “Dott

Jan Křtitel Kuchař

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Jan Křtitel Kuchař (; 5 March 1751 – 18 February 1829) was a Czech organist, mandolinist, harpsichordist, music composer, operatic conductor and teacher. Life and career Kuchař was born on 5 March 1751 in Choteč, Bohemia, Holy Roman Empire. Soon after his birth, Kuchař’s parents moved to Mlázovice, where he lived out his childhood. He achieved basic music knowledge in Vrchlabí with the organist Alex Thám. Later he studied at the Jesuits seminary in Hradec Králové and Jičín. He was a student of the organist Josef Seger in Prague. He wrote piano excerpts from both operas, as well as from the opera Così fan tutte. In addition, he composed recitatives for an Italian version of The Magic Flute. In 1790, Kuchař left the church after being nominated as organist of the Strahov Monastery, in the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, on 1 September. He accepted the offer and played organ at the Strahov Monastery. He continued to teach mandolin, organ and the theory of music. He also began to perform stand-alone concerts and his reputation soon spread, for in 1791 he was appointed conductor of the opera, Prague, and he officiated there for many years, during which time several of his o

Jan Ladislav Dussek

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Jan Ladislav Dussek (baptised Jan Václav Dusík, with surname also written as Duschek or Düssek; 12 February 1760 – 20 March 1812) was a Czech classical period composer and virtuoso pianist. He was an important representative of Czech music abroad in the second half of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. Some of his more forward-looking piano works have traits often associated with Romanticism. Dussek was one of the first piano virtuosos to travel widely throughout Europe. He performed at courts and concert venues from London to Saint Petersburg to Milan, and was celebrated for his technical prowess. During a nearly ten-year stay in London, he was instrumental (sic) in extending the size of the pianoforte, and was the recipient of one of John Broadwood’s first 6-octave pianos, CC-c4. Harold Schonberg wrote that he was the first pianist to sit at the piano with his profile to the audience, earning him the appellation “le beau visage.” All subsequent pianists have sat on stage in this manner. He was one of the best-regarded pianists in Europe before Beethoven’s rise to prominence. His music is marked by lyricism interrupted by sudden dynamic contrasts. As well as h

Jan Stefani

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Jan Stefani (c. 1746-1829) was a Polish composer and violinist. Life Stefani was born in Prague, and probably studied music there before moving to Italy. Around 1765, he was employed by Franz Joseph, Count Kinsky as a military bandmaster. Also, he would become a violinist at the court of Joseph II. In Vienna, Prince Andrzej Poniatowski offered him a position in the Polish Royal Court. Stefani accepted, and in 1779 went to Warsaw with a group of musicians. He joined King Stanisław II August’s nine-person band, which developed into a court orchestra. In 1795, the Third Partition of Poland caused this orchestra to disband. For the next four years, Stefani wrote music for St. John’s Archcathedral. After Wojciech Bogusławski became director of the National Theatre in 1799, Stefani played with the first violins. He kept this position until 1818. Stefani died on 23rd February 1829. He is buried in the Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw. Works Stefani is renowned for one work, the singspiel Cud mniemany, czyli Krakowiacy i Górale (The Supposed Miracle, or Cracovians and Highlanders), composed in 1794 with a libretto by Bogusławski. The opera is set in Kraków, where the two lovers Stach and Basia,

Jan Zach

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jan Zach, also known in German as Johann Zach (b. Čelákovice, Bohemia, bap. 13 November 1699 – Ellwangen, 24 May 1773) was a Czech composer, violinist and organist. Although he was a gifted and versatile composer capable of writing both in Baroque and Classical idioms, his eccentric personality led to numerous conflicts and lack of steady employment from about 1756 onwards. Life Zach was born in Dehtáry near Brandýs nad Labem, Bohemia into a wheelwright’s family. In 1724 he moved to Prague and started working as violinist at St Gallus and at St Martín. According to Dlabacž, he studied organ under Bohuslav Matěj Černohorský, who lived in Prague from 1720 to 1727. Zach’s career as organist started at St Martín, and by 1737 he was also playing the organ at the monastic church of the Merciful Brethren and the Minorite chapel of St Ann. In 1737 he competed for the position of organist at St. Vitus Cathedral, but was not successful. Details of what happened next are unknown: he was reported to have left Bohemia, but apparently remained in Prague at least until 1740. By early 1745 he was living in Augsburg and then on 24 April 1745 he was appointed Kapellmeister of the Electoral orchestra

Jane Mary Guest

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Jane Mary Guest, also known as Jenny Guest and later as Jane Mary Miles, (c. 1762 – 20 March 1846) was an English composer and pianist. A pupil of Johann Christian Bach, and initially composing in the galante style, and which were also published in Paris in 1784 and Berlin in 1785. On 29 August 1789 she married Abram or Abraham Allen Miles, an accountant, in London. During the 1790s she taught and gave performances in Bath, including at concerts directed there by Venanzio Rauzzini, who was another of her teachers. One of the concerts was a private concert for Joseph Haydn in which she improvised on a theme of Haydn’s. She also wrote some unpublished concertos which do not seem to have survived. In 1804 she became the piano tutor of Princess Amelia, the youngest daughter of George III, and in 1806 to the Prince Regent’s daughter Princess Charlotte of Wales. However Amelia died in 1810 after years of illness, while all of Charlotte’s staff were fired in 1814 by her father. Guest remained Charlotte’s tutor at least until that time. Her husband Abram died in 1832 and she died on 20 March 1846 in Blackheath, London, where she had been living with her daughter Louisa. She was buried with

Jane Savage

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jane Savage (born 1752/1753, died 1824) was an English harpsichordist and composer. She was the daughter of English musician and composer William Savage (c. 1720–1789) and his wife Mary Bolt Savage. It is likely that Jane Savage accompanied her father from his estate near Tenterden in Kent to London in 1780 or 1781 and lived in Red Lion Square, Holborn. Most of her music was published in this period. In 2020, Hymn for Christmas Day, an anthem setting the text “While shepherds watched their flocks by night”, composed in around 1785 and performed by the Asylum for Female Orphans in London, was rediscovered and published by the Church Music Society. It is the earliest known example of an anthem for the Church of England to have been written by a female composer. After her father and mother died, Savage married merchant R. Rolleston in about 1790. It is unclear whether she continued her career in music. She did not publish any compositions in her married name. Works Selected works include: *Six Sonatas for Harpsichord or Piano (1783) *Six Rondos for the Harpsichord or Pianoforte, Opus 3 (1786) * Strephan and Flavia, A Favourite Cantata (voice and keyboard instrument) (1786) * A Favouri

Jean-Baptiste Bréval

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Jean-Baptiste Sebastien Bréval (6 November 1753 – 18 March 1823) was a French cellist and composer. He wrote mostly for his own instrument, including pedagogical works as well as virtuoso display pieces. Life Bréval was born in Paris, and went on to study with François Cupis (1735-1810) and Martin Berteau. By 1774, he was an active cello teacher. In 1775, he published his opus 1, six concertante quartets. In 1776, he became a member of the «Société Académique des Enfants d’Apollon». Kicking off his career by performing one of his sonatas at a Concert Spirituel in 1778, he became a member of their orchestra from 1781 to 1791, and from 1791 to 1800 he played in the orchestra of the Théâtre Feydeau. Later he became involved in the administration of the «Concerts de la rue de Cléry» and a member of the Paris Opera orchestra. He retired from the orchestra in 1816. The Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung states that Bréval taught at the Conservatoire although this can not be verified by Conservatoire documents. However, Bréval’s compositions were definitely used for instruction at the Conservatoire. Bréval died in Colligis, Aisne. Compositions Bréval compositions written between 1775 and 180

Jean-Baptiste Davaux

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Jean-Baptiste Davaux (19 July 1742 – 2 February 1822) was a French classical violinist and composer. Biography Born in La Côte-Saint-André, Davaux came from a bourgeois family. His father was King’s Counselor and receiver in the salt attic. He received his first musical education from his parents. He began the violin, in addition to the mandolin. In 1767, Davaux went to Paris, where he quickly acquired a reputation as a violinist and composer. He received a number of public extra-musical appointments and, after the French Revolution, held an official position in the Ministry of War. He then received a pension and the Legion of Honour (28 September 1814) for his thirty years of service. He retired in 1816. He then lived in his home in Yvelines and half of his time in Paris where he gave private concerts. Davaux’s first publications date from 1768, two ariettes, Les charmes de la liberté and Le portrait de Climène (both lost), followed by two opéras comiques presented in 1785 and 1786: Théodore, ou Le bonheur inattendu, libretto by B.-J. Marsollier des Vivetières, after a comedy by Hugh Kelly (False Delicacy), now lost, and Cécilia, ou Les trois tuteurs based on a novel by Fanny Burn

Jean-Baptiste Janson

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Jean-Baptiste Janson (9 March 1742 – 2 September 1803) was a French cellist and composer of the classical period. Life Jean-Baptiste Janson was a pupil of Martin Berteau. At age thirteen he played at the Concert Spirituel of Paris and was musician of Louis François, Prince of Conti. He traveled abroad and returned to Paris only after Jean-Pierre Duport left for Berlin in 1773. “Surintendant de la musique de Monsieur” circa 1786, he became a bass teacher at the founding of the Conservatoire de Paris on 3 August 1795. He retired in 1802. Selected works * Six Sonates à violoncelle et basse Op. 1 (Paris, 1765) * Six Sonates à violoncelle et basse Op. 2 (Paris, La Chevadière, 1768) * Trois Concertos à violoncelle et basse (Op. 3) * Six Sonates pour le violoncelle et la basse Op. 4 (1774) * Six Trios pour 2 violons et violoncelle obligé Op. 5 (1777) * Six Concertos pour le violoncelle à grand orchestre Op. 6 (1780) * Six Quatuors concertans pour 2 violons, alto et violoncelle Op.7 * Trois Quatuors concertans pour 2 violons, alto et violoncelle Op.8 (1784) * Trois Symphonies à grand orchestre (Paris, Leduc, 1785) * Messe Solemnelle d’action de grâce (1789) * Te Deum (1789) * Six Nouveaux

Jean-Baptiste Krumpholz

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Jean-Baptiste Krumpholz (; Czech: Jan Křtitel Krumpholtz) (8 May 1742 – 19 February 1790) was a Czech composer and harpist who lived in the Holy Roman Empire. Biography Krumpholz was born in, near Zlonice. He was the brother of Wenzel Krumpholz, violinist and mandolin player. He learned music from his father while growing up in Paris; in 1773 he played a successful harp concerto in the Burgtheater in Vienna. After serving three years in Count Esterházy’s court orchestra (1773–1776), during which he is said to have taken counterpoint lessons with Joseph Haydn, he embarked on a successful concert tour of Europe. In Paris and Metz, he worked along with manufacturers Jean Henri Naderman, his son François Joseph Naderman, and Sébastien Érard towards improving the construction of the harp. He composed concertos and sonatas for harp and chamber music. Krumpholz drowned himself in the Seine after his wife—former pupil Anne-Marie Krumpholtz (1755–1824), also a virtuoso harpist—eloped to London. He was 47. The story that this was with pianist Jan Ladislav Dussek is apocryphal. Style Krumpholz composed 52 sonatas, 6 concertos and many preludes and variations for the harp. He wrote also harp d

Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, or Lemoyne, (; 3 April 1751 – 30 December 1796) was a French composer, chiefly of operas. Born in Eymet, Dordogne, he first worked as a musician in Berlin and Warsaw, where in 1775 he produced his first opera, Le bouquet de Colette, starring his pupil Antoinette de Saint-Huberty (née Clavel). He returned to France and wrote the tragic opera Électre, which received its premiere in 1782. Lemoyne claimed his music was following the example of Christoph Willibald Gluck, then the greatest influence on French opera, but when Électre failed, Gluck rejected any association with the younger composer. Lemoyne turned to Gluck’s rivals, Niccolò Piccinni and Antonio Sacchini, as musical models for his next two tragedies, Phèdre (1786) and the Egyptian-set Nephté (1789), which had more success. His later operas are less important. He died in Paris. Operas * Le bouquet de Colette, premiered 1775 in Warsaw * Électre, tragédie lyrique in three acts, libretto by Nicolas-François Guillard, premiered 2 July 1782 at the Académie Royale de Musique (Paris opera) * Phèdre, a tragédie mise en musique in three acts, libretto by François-Benoît Hoffman, premiered 26 October 1786 at Fo

Jean-Baptiste Nôtre

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Jean-Baptiste Nôtre (4 September 1732 – 20 February 1807) was a French composer and organist. Biography Born in Toul, Jean-Baptiste Nôtre’s father, Jacob Notter, from Mels near Sargans in Switzerland, married in Toul in 1721 and settled there, after serving as a soldier in the Esly regiment; he became the Swiss of the cathedral, under the French name Jacques Nôtre. Jean-Baptiste Nôtre, who was initially a choirboy in the cathedral, probably received his first organ lessons from the organists Noirel et Martelet. In 1754, the canons awarded him a scholarship to train for six months in Paris by Guillaume-Antoine Calvière (1695–1755), one of the organists of the Chapelle Royale and titular at Notre-Dame de Paris. When he returned, they named him organist of the Toul Cathedral, which had a magnificent instrument built by between 1751 and 1755. He was asked to appraise the organs of the Cistercian abbey Notre-Dame de Beaupré. (1775), the (1778), the (1779), as well as those of the Nancy Cathedral (1787, 1789). In 1793, he was commissioned to estimate the organs of all the churches in Toul, which became national property. Even though the French Revolution suspended his activities for a wh

Jean-Baptiste Rey

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Jean-Baptiste Rey (18 December 1734 – 15 July 1810) was a French conductor and composer. Rey was born at Lauzerte. He remains the longest-serving conductor of the Paris Opera; his tenure spans from the last years of the monarchy to Napoleon’s Empire (1776–1810). As such, he conducted most performances of masterpieces by Gluck, Piccini, Sacchini, Salieri, Gretry, Méhul, Haydn, Mozart, Spontini, etc., many of whom he cooperated with closely. He was the author of an opera, Apollon et Coronis (1781) and several other pieces and arrangements. Rey also wrote the third act of Sacchini’s Arvire et Évélina (1788). Before his nomination at the Academie royale, Rey gained fame as a conductor in the theatres of Toulouse, Montpellier, Marseille, Bordeaux and Nantes. He was called to Paris in 1776 to assist the then first conductor, Louis-Joseph Francœur, whom he replaced in 1781. In 1779, he was named Maître de musique of Louis XVI’s royal chamber. In 1781, Apollon et Coronis, the opera he composed with his brother, the cellist Louis-Charles-Joseph Rey, was performed. He kept his position at the Opera throughout the Revolution and participated in a number of revolutionary ceremonies. In 1799, h

Jean-Benjamin de La Borde

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Jean-Benjamin François de la Borde (5 September 1734 – 22 July 1794) was a French composer, writer on music and fermier général (farm tax collector). Born into an aristocratic family, he studied violin under Antoine Dauvergne and composition under Jean-Philippe Rameau. From 1762 to 1774, he served at the court of Louis XV as premier valet de la chambre, losing his post on the death of the king. He wrote many operas, mostly comic, and a four-volume collection of songs for solo voice, Choix de chansons mises en musique illustrated by Jean-Michel Moreau. Many of the songs from the collection were later published individually through the efforts of the English folksong collector Lucy Etheldred Broadwood. His Essai sur la musique ancienne et moderne was published in 1780. La Borde was guillotined during the French Revolution in 1794. Operas In popular culture La Borde’s role at court is embellished in a fictional book series about police commissioner “Nicolas Le Floch” by Jean-François Parot. The stories have also been adapted for a television series in which La Borde appears regularly. He is portrayed by Benjamin Lavernhe in 2023 film Jeanne du Barry. References

Jean-François Le Sueur

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Jean-François Le Sueur (more commonly Lesueur; ; 15 February 17606 October 1837) was a French composer, best known for his oratorios and operas. Life He was born at Plessiel, a hamlet of Drucat near Abbeville, to a long-established family of Picardy, the great-nephew of the painter Eustache Le Sueur. Beginning as a chorister at the collegial church of Abbeville, then at the cathedral of Amiens, where he pursued his music studies, Le Sueur was named chorus master at the cathedral of Sées. He went to Paris to study harmony with the Abbé Nicolas Roze, chorus master at the Saints-Innocents. Le Sueur was named to positions at Dijon (1779), Le Mans (1782), then at Tours (1783) before he succeeded Roze at the Saints-Innocents at Paris. Finally, in 1786, after a competition, he was made music director at Notre-Dame de Paris. For the Feast of the Assumption, he innovated by introducing an orchestra, with great success, and his sacred concerts at the main feasts of the Church filled the cathedral to overflowing but incurred resistance in ecclesiastical circles. He replied by publishing a pamphlet Exposé d’une musique imitative et particulière à chaque solennité (1787). The cathedral chapter

Jean-Frédéric Edelmann

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Jean-Frédéric Edelmann (born Johann Friedrich Edelmann; 5 May 1749 – 17 July 1794) was a French classical composer. He was born in Strasbourg to a Protestant family of Alsatian descent. After studying law and music, he moved to Paris in 1774 where he played and taught the piano. It is possible that Edelmann worked for some time in London. During the French Revolution he was appointed administrator of the Bas-Rhin. In late May 1794 he was arrested after a false accusation of treason (he was in fact an opposer of the terroristic policy and paid the hatred of Saint-Just). Sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Tribunal on 17 July 1794 (29th Messidor), he was executed the same day by guillotine in Place de la Barrière du Trône together with his brother Louis, other two Strasbourg citizens, and the sixteen Carmelite nuns of Compiègne (only eleven days before the fall of Robespierre). His work was praised by Haydn and Mozart. Edelmann composed two operas, an oratorio and various pieces of chamber music. Works list Published works * Op. 1 No. 1 \ Keyboard Sonata in E flat major * Op. 1 No. 2 \ Keyboard Sonata in E major * Op. 1 No. 3 \ Keyboard Sonata in D major * Op. 1 No. 4 \ Keyboard

Jean-Henri Naderman

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Jean-Henri Naderman (baptised 20 July 1734 – 4 February 1799) was one of the leading harp-makers in Paris in the 18th century, and also a music publisher. He supplied the Royal Household with his instruments and wrote his music in classical style, with a large influence of the baroque. He had two sons, François Joseph Naderman, renowned harpist, and Henri Naderman, harp maker. Life Jean-Henri Naderman was baptised (and presumably born) in Lichtenau in the archdiocese of Paderborn, but emigrated to France around 1756 where he began working as a harp manufacturer. Later in 1777 he was licensed to work as a music publisher. He rose to fame when he was commissioned to create and perfect the harps of Queen Marie-Antoinette on her arrival in France, together with the Czech composer and harpist Jean-Baptiste Krumpholtz. The Naderman single-pedal harp is supposed to have been modelled after the successful eighteenth-century Bavarian single-action mechanism pedal harp, whose manufacture, although claimed by several other harp makers including Jean Paul Vetter of Nuremberg and Johann Hausen of Weimar, is often attributed to Jacob Hochbrucker. Jean-Henri Naderman died in Paris. Works *Petite

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

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Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, philosophe, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolution and the development of modern political, economic, and educational thought. Rousseau’s Discourse on Inequality, which argues that private property is the source of inequality, and The Social Contract, which outlines the basis for a legitimate political order, are cornerstones in modern political and social thought. Rousseau’s sentimental novel Julie, or the New Heloise (1761) was important to the development of preromanticism and romanticism in fiction. His Émile, or On Education (1762) is an educational treatise on the place of the individual in society. Rousseau’s autobiographical writings—the posthumously published Confessions (completed in 1770), which initiated the modern autobiography, and the unfinished Reveries of the Solitary Walker (composed 1776–1778)—exemplified the late 18th-century “Age of Sensibility”, and featured an increased focus on subjectivity and introspection that later characterized modern writing. Biogra

Jean-Joseph de Mondonville

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Jean-Joseph de Mondonville (, 25 December 1711 (baptised) – 8 October 1772), also known as Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville, was a French violinist and composer. He was a younger contemporary of Jean-Philippe Rameau and enjoyed great success in his day. Pierre-Louis Daquin (son of the composer Louis-Claude Daquin) claimed, “If I couldn’t be Rameau, there’s no one I would rather be than Mondonville”. Life Mondonville was born in Narbonne in Occitania (South France) to an aristocratic family which had fallen on hard times. In 1733, he moved to Paris where he gained the patronage of the king’s mistress Madame de Pompadour and won several musical posts, including violinist for the Concert Spirituel. His first opus was a volume of violin sonatas, published in 1733. He became a violinist of the Chapelle royale and chamber and performed in some 100 concerts. Some of his grands motets were also performed that year, receiving considerable acclaim. He was appointed sous-maître in 1740 and, in 1744, intendant of the Chapelle royale. He produced operas and grand motets for the Opéra and Concert Spirituel respectively, and was associated with the Théatre des Petits-Cabinets, all the while ma

Jean-Paul-Égide Martini

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jean-Paul-Égide Martini, also known as Jean-Paul-Gilles Martini (31 August 1741 – 14 February 1816) was a French composer of German birth during the classical period. He is best known today for the vocal romance “Plaisir d’amour,” on which the 1961 Elvis Presley pop standard “Can’t Help Falling in Love” is based. He is often confused with the Italian composer Giovanni Battista Martini, so is sometimes known as Martini Il Tedesco (“Martini The German”). Life and career Martini was born Johann Paul Aegidius Martin in Freystadt, Bavaria, as the son of the schoolmaster Andreas Martin and his wife Barbara. He was educated at the Jesuit seminary in Neuburg an der Donau and later started a study of philosophy in Freiburg im Breisgau, which he quit unfinished. He temporarily adopted the code name “Schwarzendorf”, presumably trying to cover his tracks for the fear of being urged to refund his education costs. He re-adopted his original family name in the Italianized form “Martini” after moving to France. There, he established a successful career as a court musician. In 1764, he married Marguerite Camelot. Having directed concerts for Queen Marie Antoinette, he adapted to the changing regime

Jeremiah Dencke

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Jeremiah Dencke was born October 2, 1725, in Langenbielau, Silesia and died May 28, 1795, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He joined the Moravian Congregation at Gnadenfrei and was called to Moravian center in Herrnhut in 1748, where he became an organist. He emigrated to the American colonies in 1761 on the same ship with the father of Johann and Simon Peter. year. The oldest existing American Moravian art music is a set of seven solos and three duets Dencke composed for the Single Brethren’s observance in 1765. It was performed in both Nazareth and Bethlehem, whose diaries use the term Vest Psalm when referring to it. Jeremiah Dencke was a Moravian and one of the first American composers. List of works * Meine Seele erhebet dem Herrn * Gehet in dem Geruch Seines Brautigams-Namens * Gesegnet bist du, sein Volk * Meine Herz dichtet ein feines Lied Discography * Flowering Of Vocal Music In America 1767–1823 * Lost Music Of Early America – The Moravians * Music from 18th-Century Pennsylvania (1976) * Christmas in Early America (1994) * Giuseppe Martucci (1995) * America Sings, Volume I: The Founding Years (1995) References

Jeremiah Ingalls

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Jeremiah Ingalls (March 1, 1764 – April 6, 1838) was an early North-American composer, considered a part of the First New England School. Biography Jeremiah Ingalls was born in Andover, Massachusetts, in 1764. When he was thirteen, his father, Abijah Ingalls, died of hardships suffered during the American Revolutionary War. In 1791, Ingalls married Mary Bigelow of Westminster, Massachusetts, and while living in Vermont worked variously as a farmer, cooper, taverner and choirmaster. Ingalls served as the choirmaster at the Congregational Church in Newbury, Vermont from 1791 to 1805, and the choir gained a reputation attracting many people from the surrounding area. In 1805 Ingalls published The Christian Harmony. Ingalls served as a deacon in the church, but in 1810, he was excommunicated from that congregation. In 1819 he moved to Rochester, Vermont and then Hancock, Vermont. Ingalls was described as short and corpulent with a high voice and an advanced skill at the bass viol. Many of Ingalls’ family members were also known for their musical ability. Ingalls died in Hancock, Vermont, in 1838, aged 74. List of tunes *Northfield *Christian Song *New Jerusalem *Fillmore *Apple Tree *R

João de Sousa Carvalho

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João de Sousa Carvalho (22 February 1745c. 1798) was the foremost Portuguese composer of his generation. Born in Estremoz, he studied music from 1753 at the Colégio dos Santos Reis in Vila Viçosa, then from 1761 at the Conservatório di Sant’ Onofrio a Porta Capuana in Naples. In 1766 his setting of Metastasio’s operatic libretto La Nitteti was performed in Rome. The following year, he joined the Irmandade de Santa Cecília at Lisbon and was appointed professor of counterpoint in the Seminário da Patriarcal, where he later served as mestre (1769–1773) and mestre de capela (1773–1798). In 1778, he became music teacher to the royal family. He died in 1798 in Alentejo at the age of 53. His numerous church works are written in a style similar to that of Niccolò Jommelli and, sometimes, Haydn. Several of his opere serie and serenatas were performed at the royal palaces of Ajuda and Queluz. Some of his keyboard music survives and is occasionally played today. His Opera Buffa L’amore industrioso was discovered by conductor and scholar David Chernaik in the Biblioteca da Ajuda in manuscript, and performed in London and Oporto in 2000-2002. Some compositions *L’amore industrioso, 1769 (revive

Johan Wikmanson

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Johan Wikmanson (28 December 1753 – 10 January 1800) was a Swedish organist and composer. Biography Wikmanson was born in Stockholm and, except for 18 months spent in Copenhagen studying mathematics and instrument making, lived his entire life in the Swedish capital. He was reputed to be a superb organist and for many years held the post of organist at the Storkyrkan, Stockholm’s principal church. He was also an accomplished cellist. His teachers included Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler and Joseph Martin Kraus. Nonetheless, like most Swedish musicians of this era, he was unable to earn his living solely as a practicing musician and was forced to find employment as a government accountant, working for the Royal Swedish National Lottery. He did, however, obtain some recognition during his lifetime. In 1788, he was made a member of the Swedish Royal Academy and later was put in charge of its music program. As a composer, Wikmanson is remembered for his five string quartets, all published after his early death from tuberculosis in 1800. His close friend, Gustav Silverstolpe, published what he felt were the three best at his own expense, titling them Opus 1. Later, Silverstolpe gave the rights

Johann Abraham Peter Schulz

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Johann Abraham Peter Schulz (31 March 1747 – 10 June 1800) was a German musician. He is best known as the composer of the melody for Matthias Claudius’s poems “Der Mond ist aufgegangen” and “Wir pflügen und wir streuen”, and the Christmas carol “Ihr Kinderlein kommet”. Life Schulz was born in Lüneburg, where he attended St. Michaelis school from 1757 to 1759 and then the Johanneum from 1759 to 1764. In 1765, he was the student in Berlin of composer Johann Kirnberger, and then taught in Berlin himself. In 1768 Kirnberger recommended Schulz for the position of music teacher and accompanist to the Polish Princess Sapieha Woiwodin von Smolensk. Schulz traveled with her for 3 years throughout Europe, where he came into contact with many new musical ideas. He served as the conductor of the French Theatre in Berlin from 1776 to 1780 and from 1780 to 1787 he was the Kapellmeister of Prince Henry in Rheinsberg. Schulz then went on to serve as Court Kapellmeister in Copenhagen from 1787 to 1795 before returning to Berlin. He died in Schwedt. Schulz wrote operas, stage music, oratorios, and cantatas, as well as piano pieces and folk songs; he also wrote articles on music theory for Johann Geo

Johann Adam Hiller

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Johann Adam Hiller (25 December 1728 – 16 June 1804) was a German composer, conductor and writer on music, regarded as the creator of the Singspiel, an early form of German opera. In many of these operas he collaborated with the poet Christian Felix Weiße. Hiller was a teacher who encouraged musical education for women, his pupils including Elisabeth Mara and Corona Schröter. He was Kapellmeister of Abel Seyler’s theatrical company, and became the first Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Biography By the death of his father in 1734, Hiller was left dependent to a large extent on the charity of friends. He came from a musical family, and also learned the basics of music from a school master in his home town, Wendisch-Ossig. From 1740 to 1745, he was a student at the Gymnasium in Görlitz, where his fine soprano voice earned him free tuition. He died at the age of 75 in Leipzig in 1804. He was the father of the composer Friedrich Adam Hiller (c. 1767–1812), but he was not related to the musician Ferdinand Hiller. Operas A theme from Hiller’s opera Der Aerndtekranz (1771) was the basis for Max Reger’s orchestral Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Hiller (1907). Literary

Johann André

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Johann André (28 March 1741 – 18 June 1799) was a German musician, composer and music publisher of the Classical period. He was born and died in Offenbach am Main. In 1774, as the patriarch of a Huguenot family, André founded one of the first music publishing houses to be independent of a bookshop, in Offenbach am Main. Among his closest friends in Offenbach were Goethe, at the time of his engagement to Anna Elisabeth Schönemann, and he is pictured in the seventeenth book of Goethe’s autobiography Dichtung und Wahrheit with an Offenbach am Main background in 1775. In 1777, André was appointed musical director at the German theatre in Berlin, the Deutsches Theater, without having to abandon Offenbach am Main, however. He composed some 30 operas, ballads and songs. His son, Johann Anton André (1775–1842), followed his footsteps into composing and music theory. After taking over the music publishing business from his father in 1799, Johann Anton André acquired Mozart’s musical legacy from Mozart’s widow Constanze in Vienna. She entrusted him with writing concluding measures to the overture to Don Giovanni, so that it could be performed in concert. He developed the music publishing bus

Johann Andreas Streicher

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Johann Andreas Streicher (13 December 1761 – 25 May 1833) was a German pianist, composer and piano maker. In 1793, he married Nannette Streicher (1769–1833), another piano maker and daughter of Augsburg piano maker Johann Andreas Stein. In 1794, they moved to Vienna. From that time, Streicher worked as a piano teacher and became increasingly known for his compositions. The Streicher piano-making business provided at least one fortepiano to Beethoven in his early years, of which the composer was fond, writing that it was “too good for me … because it robs me of the freedom to produce my own tone”. Works * (S. Johann Andreas Streicher ): Schiller’s Flucht von Stuttgart und Aufenthalt in Mannheim von 1782 bis 1785. Stuttgart und Augsburg, Verlag der J ohann . G eorg . Cotta’schen Buchhandlung Inhaber: Georg von Cotta , 1836. Incomplete text of the biography without the final chapters. * (Johann)Andreas Streichers Schiller-Biographie. Hrsg. von Herbert Kraft. (Mannheim, Wien, Zürich 1974) (Forschungen zur Geschichte Mannheims und der Pfalz, hrsg. von der Gesellschaft der Freunde Mannheims und der ehemaligen Kurpfalz. Mannheimer Altertumsverein von 1859, Neue Folge, 5). First complete

Johann August Just

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__NOTOC__Johann August Just (c. 1750 in Gröningen, Holy Roman Empire – December 1791? in The Hague) was a German keyboard player, violinist and composer. He wrote a number of works for keyboard and chamber ensembles, many of a pedagogical nature, and at least two one-act operas. He was a pupil of Johann Kirnberger, and later became music master to the Princess of Orange. There is much uncertainty about his date of birth (variously given as 1750, 1758, or 1760) and date and place of death. It appears that he was born in Gröningen in Germany, but a number of reference articles have confused this with Groningen in the east of the Netherlands. Some of his works have been recorded by the German ensemble Trio 1790. Works (incomplete list) Keyboard and chamber ensemble *Opus 1: Six divertissements pour clavecin et violon *Opus 2: Six sonates pour le clavecin ou le piano-forte, avec accompagnement de violon ou flûte et violoncelle ad libitum - also referred to as Piano trios *Opus 3: Six favourite sonatinas for the harpsichord composed for the use of beginners *Opus 4: Six concertos with instrumental parts for a violon principal with accompaniments *Opus 5: Six sonatinas for the harpsichor

Johann Baptist Henneberg

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Johann Baptist Henneberg (5 December 1768 – 27 November 1822) was an Austrian composer, pianist, organist and Kapellmeister. Career Born in Vienna, Henneberg was Kapellmeister from 1790 to 1801 at the Theater auf der Wieden, then until 1803 at the Theater an der Wien. Later he was employed as an organist by the prince Nikolaus II, Prince Esterházy in Eisenstadt, where he also conducted opera performances. From 1814, Henneberg was choir master at the Augustinian Church, Vienna, and from 1818 to 1822 organist in the Imperial court orchestra, the Wiener Hofmusikkapelle. Henneberg played a decisive role in the rehearsal of Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute. After Mozart himself conducted the premiere on 30 September and 1 October 1791, Henneberg conducted the following performances. Henneberg also created several operas himself, which enjoyed great popularity at the time. In 1797 he composed together with Ludwig van Beethoven menuets and allemandes for a mask ball of the Pension Society for Performing Artists, which was performed on 26 November 1797 in the Großer Redoutensaal of the Vienna Hofburg. Henneberg died in 1822 in Vienna, aged 53. Work (operas) * Der Stein der Weisen, with Bened

Johann Baptist Neruda

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Johann Baptist Georg Neruda (, c. 1708 – c. 1780) was a Czech classical composer, violinist and cellist. Life Neruda’s dates of birth and death are only approximations (1708 according to the Grove Dictionary, other sources list 1707 or 1710 ). He was born in Rosice in Bohemia (today the Czech Republic), but it is unclear in which Rosice (either in Rosice near Chrudim or in today’s part of Pardubice) to a well-respected musical family. After spending his earlier years gaining a good reputation as a violinist and conductor in Prague and German lands, Neruda became Konzertmeister of the Dresden court orchestra. He died in Dresden around 1780. His sons Antonín and Ludvík were also members of Staatskapelle Dresden. Organist Josef Neruda was his great-grandson. Cellist Franz Xaver Neruda was his great-great-grandson. Violinists Wilma Neruda and Maria Neruda were his great-great-granddaughters. Works His compositional output includes eighteen symphonies, fourteen instrumental concertos (including a trumpet and a bassoon concerto), sonatas, sacred works and an opera Les Troqueurs. One of the composer’s most significant works is the Concerto in E-flat for Trumpet and Strings written for Joh

Johann Baptist Novak

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Johann Baptist Novak (, 1756 – January 29, 1833) was a Slovene composer. Life Novak was born in Ljubljana, at that time part of the Holy Roman Empire, 1756. He died in Ljubljana on January 29, 1833. Due to the quality of his music, the theatrical play approached opera in character. Along with some cantatas, this is one of Novak’s more prominent musical works, most of which have been lost. In 2007, Novak’s “Birthday Cantata” ( ‘Cantata for a Mother’s Birthday or Namesday’) was performed for the first time in Ljubljana. It is not known when it was written. It is preserved in the archives of the in Trieste. This cantata—written for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass accompanied by a small orchestra (flute, string quartet, and double bass) to a German text by an unknown author that celebrates maternal love—was written by Novak for the celebration of the birthday of a lady in some noble or wealthy bourgeois house. Notes References

Johann Baptist Wanhal

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Johann Baptist Wanhal (12 May 1739 – 20 August 1813) was a Czech composer of the Classical period. He was born in Nechanice, Bohemia, and died in Vienna. His music was well respected by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert. He was an accomplished instrumentalist as well; a proficient organist, he also played the violin and cello. Name Wanhal and at least one of his publishers used the spelling Waṅhal, the dot being an archaic form of the modern háček. Other attested variants include Wanhall, Vanhal and Van Hall. The modern Czech form Jan Křtitel Vaňhal was introduced in the 20th century. Biography Birth and youth in Bohemia: 1739–1760/61 Wanhal was born in Nechanice, Bohemia, into serfdom in a Czech peasant family. He received his first musical training from his family and local musicians, the organist Anton Erban being one of his most prized mentors, and excelled at violin and organ at an early age. From these humble beginnings, he was able to earn a living as a village organist and choirmaster. He was also taught German from an early age, as this was required for someone wishing to make a career in music within the Habsburg empire. Journe

Johann Carl Friedrich Rellstab

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Johann Carl Friedrich Rellstab (27 February 1759 – 19 August 1813) was a German composer, writer, music publisher, and critic who was born and died in Berlin. Rellstab was a very influential figure in Berlin’s musical life. Career He performed in student concerts 1768 to 1775 at the Joachimsthal Gymnasium in Berlin. He studied with Johann Friedrich Agricola from 1773 to 1776, and composition with Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch. Around the turn of the century Rellstab began to write criticism for the Vossische Zeitung, the oldest daily in Berlin. Rellstab’s compositions include a Te Deum, a mass, numerous cantatas, lieder, and an unperformed singspiel, Die Apotheke, among other works. His son Ludwig Rellstab was also a music critic and a poet. Rellstab’s eldest daughter, Caroline Rellstab (1793–1813), was a singer noted for her extraordinary range extending to F 6 . She sang at Breslau from 1811, and was particularly well known for her role as the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. Published works Source: * Versuch über die Vereinigung der musikalischen und oratorischen Declamation, hauptsächlich für Musiker und Componisten mit erläuternden Beyspielen (1786) * Über die

Johann Christian Bach

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Johann Christian Bach (5 September 1735 – 1 January 1782) was a German composer of the Classical era and the youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach received his early musical training from his father, and later from his half-brother, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach in Berlin. After his time in Berlin he made his way to Italy to study with the famous Padre Martini in Bologna. While in Italy, J.C. Bach was appointed as an organist at the Milan Cathedral. In 1762 he became a composer to the King’s Theatre in London where he wrote a number of successful Italian operas and became known as “The English Bach”. Bach is responsible for the development of the sinfonia concertante form. He became one of the most influential figures of the classical period, influencing compositional styles of prolific composers like Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. There are two others named Johann Christian Bach in the Bach family tree, but neither was a composer. Life Johann Christian Bach was born to Johann Sebastian and Anna Magdalena Bach in 1735 in Leipzig, Germany. His father, Johann Sebastian Bach, instructed him in his early musical training. After his father’s death, he moved to Berlin to pur

Johann Christian Friedrich Hæffner

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Johann Christian Friedrich Hæffner (2 March 1759 in Oberschönau – 28 May 1833 in Uppsala) was a German-born Swedish composer. Hæffner received his first musical education with the Schmalkalden organist Johann Gottfried Vierling. He studied in Leipzig from 1776, and then worked as a music conductor in theatres in Frankfurt am Main and Hamburg from 1778 to 1780. He moved to Stockholm, Sweden in 1781 at the invitation of the German congregation there (Tyska kyrkan) to assume the position of organist, which he held until 1793. The same year (1781) he was employed at the Royal Theatre in Stockholm as well as conductor of the orchestra for the Stenborg theatres. In 1786 Hæffner was appointed assistant conductor of the Royal Orchestra (hovkapellet) and from 1795 to 1807 he held the post of hovkapellmästare (Chief conductor of the Royal Orchestra). He was also an instructor at the Royal Dramatic Training Academy. He was married twice, first to the Swedish actress and singer Elisabeth Forsselius. Since King Gustaf IV Adolf closed the Royal Opera (and its orchestra) in 1807, Hæffner moved to Uppsala, where in 1808 he was appointed Director musices of the university and simultaneously was emp

Johann Christian Jacobi (oboist)

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Johann Christian Jacobi (1719 – 1784) was a German oboist and composer of the Baroque period. Life Jacobi was born in Tilsit, Prussian Lithuania (now Sovetsk, Russia). He had his first lessons on the oboe from his father, a skilled player of the violin and oboe. After the premature death of his father, he spent a period of self-tuition before moving to Berlin where he immediately sought lessons with the royal Kammermusicus and famous oboe virtuoso Peter Glösch. In 1746, he was accepted into the Hofkapelle of Frederick the Great and, at this time, began studying composition with his colleague, the flautist Friedrich Wilhelm Riedt. By 1754, Jacobi was employed as the principal oboist in the Hofkapelle of Frederick the Great’s cousin, Charles Frederick Albert, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt in Berlin. On the recommendation of Johann Joachim Quantz, in 1768 King Frederick appointed Jacobi as the director of the Hautboistenschule in Potsdam, responsible for training the nearly 2,000 oboists in the Prussian army. Jacobi was a member of the “Freitagsakademien” (Friday academies), a musical society which met each Friday at the house of Johann Gottlieb Janitsch. For Jacobi, Janitsch was sa

Johann Christian Kittel

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Johann Christian Kittel (18 February 1732 – 17 April 1809) was a German organist, composer, and teacher. He was one of the last students of Johann Sebastian Bach. His students included , , Johann Wilhelm Hässler and Christian Heinrich Rinck. Biography Kittel was born and died in Erfurt. He first studied with Jakob Adlung. He moved to Leipzig in 1748 and was a favourite – and the last – pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach until Bach’s death two years later. He was appointed organist and teacher in Langensalza in 1751, following which he returned to Erfurt as organist of the Barfüßerkirche, in 1756, moving to the Predigerkirche in 1762. He refused many generous and more munificent offers, including one in 1790 from Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel to travel to Italy, remaining in Erfurt for the rest of his life. He played many evening recitals there and was famous as a virtuoso organist. Goethe, Herder, and Wieland all went to hear him play, and he made a concert tour to Hamburg in 1800, remaining there for a year while preparing a book of chorales for Schleswig-Holstein. Compositions He considered himself to be “grounded in the principles of Bach” and aimed “to awaken, maint

Johann Christoph Altnickol

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Johann Christoph Altnickol, or Altnikol, (baptised 1 January 1720, buried 25 July 1759) was a German organist, bass singer, and composer. He was a student, copyist and son-in-law of Johann Sebastian Bach. Biography Altnikol was born in Berna bei Seidenberg, Oberlausitz, and first educated at the Lauban Lyceum in 1733. He was employed as a singer and assistant organist at St Maria Magdalena, Breslau, between 1740 and 1744. He began studying theology at the University of Leipzig from March 1744, after being granted four thalers as a viaticum in January of that year. From Michaelmas 1745 he sang as a bass in Johann Sebastian Bach’s choirs (asserted by Bach in May 1747 when Altnickol claimed a grant of 12 thalers in April/May 1747 for the work), something he should not have been allowed to do as a university student. He also served as a scribe for Bach, copying for example The Well-Tempered Clavier. He was recommended by W. F. Bach as the successor to his post at Dresden in April 1746, with the assertion that he had studied keyboard and composition with his father, but was not awarded the appointment. He was appointed as organist and schoolmaster at Niederwiesa, near Greiffenberg, Sile

Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach

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Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (21 June 1732 – 26 January 1795) was a German composer and harpsichordist, the fifth son of Johann Sebastian Bach, sometimes referred to as the “Bückeburg Bach”. Born in Leipzig and the Count stood as godfather to his son Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach. J.C.F. educated his son in music as his own father had, and Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst went on to become music director to Frederick William II of Prussia. In April 1778 he and Wilhelm travelled to England to visit Johann Christian Bach. J. C. F. Bach died in 1795 in Bückeburg, aged 62. Assessment The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica says of him: “He was an industrious composer, … whose work reflects no discredit on the family name.” He was an outstanding virtuoso of the keyboard, with a reasonably wide repertory of surviving works, including twenty symphonies, the later ones influenced by Haydn and Mozart; hardly a genre of vocal music was neglected by him. A significant portion of J. C. F. Bach’s output was lost in the World War II destruction of the Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung in Berlin, where the scores had been on deposit since 1917. Musicologists Hansdieter Wohlfahrth, who catalogued his wo

Johann Christoph Kellner

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Johann Christoph Kellner (15 August 1736 – 1803) was a German organist and composer. He was the son of Johann Peter Kellner. Life He was born in Gräfenroda, Thuringia, Germany, where he studied music with his father, moving to Gotha to study with Georg Benda in 1754, returning home in 1755. He went on to live in Amsterdam and The Hague between 1762 and 1763, eventually settling in Kassel, Hesse, Germany, in 1764, where he was appointed court organist and cantor in the Lutheran church in 1772. He died there in 1803. He wrote a treatise on music theory entitled (Principles of basso continuo), Op. 16, pt. 1 (Kassel, 1783, 1796), which was very successful. Most of his compositions are keyboard works in a similar galant style to his father’s, with homophonic textures and clear song-like melodies. His concertos for harpsichord or piano anticipate the Viennese classical concerto, and share common features with his contemporary C. P. E. Bach. Many of his works were popular in their own time, as demonstrated by their inclusion in several 18th-century collections. Compositions Concertos for piano or harpsichord Published in Frankfurt: *Op. 4: 1 concerto *Op. 5: 3 concertos *Op. 7: 3 concerto

Johann Ernst Altenburg

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Johann Ernst Altenburg (15 June 1734 – 14 May 1801) was a German composer, organist and trumpeter. He is not to be confused with a similarly named composer in the 1620s who contributed to the collection Angst der Hellen und Friede der Seelen. Life Altenburg was born in Weißenfels. His father, Johann Kaspar Altenburg (1688–1761), worked from 1709 as a field trumpeter under Johann Adolf II, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, and from 1711 as head trumpeter for the duke’s brother, Duke Christian von Sachsen-Weissenfels at his residence, Castle Neu-Augustusburg in Weissenfels. Here, Johann Ernst Altenburg was born on 15 June 1734. By age 18 the young Altenburg had received a formal acquittal as trumpeter. He studied organ for at most two years with Johann Theodor Roemhildt and Johann Christoph Altnikol. From Merseburg and Landsberg near Halle, where he worked for a brief time as an organist, he went to Bitterfeld in 1767 and received his lifetime post as an organist. He stayed at this post until his death on 14 May 1801, although the post was hardly sufficient. Work Altenburg as a composer is most known for his six harpsichord sonatas. He achieved musicological importance through his publicatio

Johann Ernst Bach II

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Johann Ernst Bach (28 January 1722 – 1 September 1777) was a German composer of the Classical Period. He was the son of Johann Bernhard Bach. Life Johann Ernst Bach, the son of Johann Bernhard Bach, was born in Eisenach and baptized on 30 January 1722. In his early life, Bach studied at the Lateinschule in Eisenach from 1732 to 1735. On 16 January 1737 he entered the Thomasschule in Leipzig, where he then became a pupil of his uncle Johann Sebastian Bach. Being a student of J.S Bach, he assisted his uncle in copying his music. During the years of 1740 to 1741, he studied law at the Universität Eisenach. He returned to Eisenach in 1741 or 1742 and filled in for his ailing father as a choirmaster and organist. In 1748, he became his father’s official assistant, and in 1749 he was his successor. He continued to practice law as well. In 1756, he was appointed Hofkapellmeister “in view of his well known skill and musical knowledge”. Due to the fusion of the courts, he frequently travelled between Weimar, Gotha, and Eisenach; during this time, he worked with Georg Benda on the reorganization of the Hofkapelle. When it was dissolved in 1758, after the death of Duke Ernst August, he retain

Johann Franz Xaver Sterkel

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Johann Franz Xaver Sterkel (3 December 1750 in Würzburg – 12 October 1817 in Würzburg) was a German composer and pianist in the 18th and early 19th centuries. He was educated at the University of Würzburg and in 1778 he became chaplain and musician at the court in Mainz. He lived in Regensburg (from 1802 to 1810), then in Aschaffenburg, and finally retired to Würzburg in 1815. At first Sterkel was an organist in Neumünster. In 1774 he was ordained a priest. He moved to Mainz and became court chaplain, but toured Italy as a pianist from 1779 to 1782. After a visit to Italy in 1782, where he met Padre Martini, he returned to Mainz, becoming music director to the Electoral orchestra in 1793. From 1793 to 1797 he was court Kapellmeister at Mainz. When the capella was disbanded, he went to Würzburg, Regensburg and later Aschaffenburg, where he served the Grand Duke of Frankfurt. From 1810 to 1814, as a prolific and successful composer he wrote mostly instrumental music, including symphonies and concertos, chamber works with keyboard solo, piano sonatas and piano duets. Many of the sonatas have a lyricism and loose-knit structure pointing towards Franz Schubert. Among his vocal works are

Johann Friedrich Agricola

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Johann Friedrich Agricola (4 January 1720 – 2 December 1774) was a German composer, organist, singer, pedagogue, and writer on music. He sometimes wrote under the pseudonym Flavio Anicio Olibrio. Biography Agricola was born in Dobitschen, Thuringia. Leipzig While a student of law at Leipzig (1738–41) he studied music under Johann Sebastian Bach. Berlin In 1741 Agricola went to Berlin, where he studied musical composition under Johann Joachim Quantz. He was soon generally recognized as one of the most skillful organists of his time. The success of his comic opera, Il filosofo convinto in amore, performed at Potsdam in 1750, led to an appointment as court composer to Frederick the Great. In 1759, on the death of Carl Heinrich Graun, he was appointed conductor of the royal orchestra. He married the noted court operatic soprano Benedetta Emilia Molteni, despite the king’s prohibition of court employees marrying each other. Because of this trespass, the king reduced Molteni’s and Agricola’s combined salaries to a single annual salary of 1,000 Thalers (Agricola’s annual salary alone had been 1,500 Thalers). Agricola died in Berlin at age 54. Legacy Agricola wrote a number of Italian oper

Johann Friedrich Ernst Benda

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Johann Friedrich Ernst Benda (also Ernst Friedrich Johann Benda or Ernst Benda; baptized 10 October 1749 – 24 February 1785) was a German musician and composer of Czech origin. Life Johann Friedrich Ernst Benda was the eldest son of the court musician and Kapellmeister Joseph Benda. He was baptized on 10 October 1749 in Berlin. From an early age, he received instruction on piano and violin from hs father, and in 1766 at the age of 19, was employed in the royal Hofkapelle of Frederick the Great in Berlin as Kammermusikus. In 1770, together with the violist Carl Ludwig Bachmann, he founded the so-called Liebhaberkonzerte, which he directed until his death. These performances, which continued until 1797, took place in the Corsicaischen Saale opposite Monbijou Palace (today Oranienburger Straße) and were mostly subscription events with his own orchestra and choir. One notable guest soloist was Johann Friedrich Reichardt, who later married Juliane Benda (d. 1785) and then Minna Brandes (daughter of actor and poet Johann Christian Brandes). Wilhelm Otto Gottlieb Benda (1775–1832), one of three sons of Johann Friedrich Ernst Benda became Kriminalrat and mayor of Landsut, Silesia (today Ka

Johann Friedrich Peter

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Johann Friedrich Peter (sometimes John Frederick Peter) (May 19, 1746 – July 13, 1813) was an American composer of German origin and the one who first brought the music of Joseph Haydn to the United States. Bio Johann Friedrich Peter was born on May 19, 1746, in Heerendijk, Holland, to German parents Susannah Peter and Moravian pastor John Frederick Peter. Peter was educated in Holland and Germany before coming to America with his brother Simon in 1770. He began to compose music for the church shortly after his arrival in America, and for a time, served as an organist and violinist in the Moravian congregations of Nazareth, Bethlehem and Lititz in Pennsylvania. In 1780, he moved to Salem, North Carolina, and received his ordination as a Moravian deacon on September 16 of that year. He married Catharina Leinbach in 1786 in Salem, North Carolina and lived there until their departure in 1790. All of Peter’s known compositions are sacred concerted vocal works or anthems composed for worship services with the exception of the string quintets. His six string quintets for two violins, two violas, and a violoncello are among the earliest examples of chamber music known by a North American

Johann Friedrich Reichardt

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Johann Friedrich Reichardt (25 November 1752 – 27 June 1814) was a German composer, writer and music critic. Early life Reichardt was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, to lutenist and Stadtmusiker Johann Reichardt (1720–1780). Johann Friedrich began his musical training, in violin, keyboard, and lute, as a child. Reichard’s father was a student of Timofey Belogradsky, who in turn was a student of Sylvius Leopold Weiss. When Reichardt was ten years old, his father took the choir in which he sang, the “Wunderknaben”, on a concert tour in East Prussia. After being encouraged by Immanuel Kant, Reichardt later studied Jurisprudence and Philosophy in his hometown and in Leipzig from 1769 to 1771. In 1771, he escaped civil service by embarking on a Sturm-und-Drang tour as a virtuoso. He returned to Königsberg in 1774 and became the Kammersekretär (Chamber Secretary) in Ragnit. After Reichardt sent his opera Le feste galanti as a sample piece to Friedrich II, he was appointed to the position of the Royal Prussian Court Kapellmeister, a position previously held by Carl Heinrich Graun. Two years later, he already withdrew from the job and married the singer, pianist and Lieder composer Julia

Johann Georg Albrechtsberger

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Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (3 February 1736 – 7 March 1809) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist, widely regarded as one of the leading figures in counterpoint and composition theory during the Classical period. He was a prolific composer of church music, orchestral works, and keyboard pieces, though he is best remembered for his influence as a teacher. Albrechtsberger was a mentor to several important composers, most notably Ludwig van Beethoven, whom he instructed in counterpoint and fugue. His theoretical writings and pedagogical methods had a lasting impact on 19th-century composition, and his treatises on harmony and counterpoint remain highly regarded. He was also a friend of Haydn and Mozart. In addition to his teaching contributions, Albrechtsberger held several prestigious positions, including Kapellmeister of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. He was a composer though his works are little performed today. Biography Albrechtsberger was born at Klosterneuburg, near Vienna. He originally studied music at Melk Abbey and philosophy at a Benedictine seminary in Vienna, and became one of the most learned and skillful contrapuntists of his age. Albrechtsberger

Johann Georg Benda

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Johann Georg Benda (; 30 August 1714 – 4 December 1752) was a Czech violinist and composer. He was active in the Electorate of Saxony. Life Johann Georg Benda was born on 30 August 1714 in Benátky nad Jizerou, External links *

Johann Georg Heinrich Backofen

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Johann Georg Heinrich Backofen (6 July 1768 in Durlach – 10 July 1830? in Darmstadt) was a German clarinetist, composer, and painter. In his time, Backofen enjoyed great fame; he was not only known as a composer and virtuoso of the clarinet but also played the harp, flute, and basset horn. His year of death is not known with certainty; the year 1839 is found in some documents. Selected works * Deux valses et deux allemandes à deux et quatre mains pour le piano (2 Waltzes and 2 Allemandes for Piano 2- and 4-Hands), Op. 1 (published 1834) * Concerto in B major for clarinet and orchestra, Op. 3 (Bonn, 1809?) * 13 Variazioni sull’ aria “Ey mein lieber Augustin” for harp, Op. 4 (Hamburg, 1801) * Concertante for harp, basset horn and cello ad libitum, Op. 7 (Leipzig, 1800?) * Concertante for harp, viola and cello ad libitum, Op. 8 * Quintet in F major for basset horn and string quartet, Op. 9 * Sinfonia concertante in A major for 2 clarinets and orchestra, Op. 10 (Leipzig, 1810?) * 3 Duos concertants for 2 clarinets, Op. 13 (Leipzig, 1803) * Quintet for clarinet and string quartet, Op. 15 (Leipzig, 1805?) * Concerto in E major for clarinet and orchestra, Op. 16 (Leipzig, 1809?) * Concert

Johann Georg Hermann Voigt

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Johann Georg Hermann Voigt (14 May 1769 – 24 February 1811) was a German organist, cellist, violist and composer. Life Born in Osterwieck, Voigt was the son of Stadtmusikus’ C. C. Voigt from the town of Osterwieck in the northern Harz foreland. At the age of seven years, he went in 1776 to his maternal grandfather, the town musician J. G. Rose in Quedlinburg, who gave him private piano and violin lessons until 1780. The death of his father and grandfather forced Voigt to look for other possibilities of musical education, whereby his stepfather also supported him. In 1785 Voigt found a position as violinist at the Great Concert, the later Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, in the fair city of Leipzig. In 1788 he enrolled at the University of Leipzig. From 1789 he was also active in church music. In 1790 he accepted an offer as an organist at the Moritzburg castle in Zeitz, where as an artist in the end of the small town he did not find the hoped-for artistic satisfaction and suffered from a lack of recognition. Already after a relatively short time he quit the service at Zeitz castle organist and returned to Leipzig. Friedrich Fleischer, Leipzig 1864, . In 1801 he was accepted into the o

Johann Georg Lickl

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Johann Georg Lickl, also Ligkl, Hans-Georg Lickl, (11 April 1769 – 12 May 1843) was an Austrian composer, organist, Kapellmeister in the main church of Pécs, and piano teacher. Biography Lickl was born in Korneuburg, Lower Austria, and orphaned as a child. He studied under Witzig, who was the organist at the church of Korneuburg. He relocated to Vienna in 1785 and studied under Albrechtsberger and Joseph Haydn. He also formed a close friendship with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart whom he also took lessons from. Later in the 1780s, he became organist at the Carmelite church in Leopoldstadt. He collaborated with Emanuel Schikaneder on a number of Singspiele in the 1790s, working in the Theater auf der Wieden. He died, aged 74, in Fünfkirchen (), southern Royal Hungary, Imperial Austria. He wrote operas, one wind quintet, three string quartets, and served as a Kapellmeister at several churches. From 1807 until his death he was choirmaster at what is now Pécs. A large portion of his output is sacred music, including masses and requiems. In 1843, some of his piano- and chamber music works were published by Tobias Haslinger (Vienna), Johann Anton André (Offenbach) and (Augsburg). His sons, Karl

Johann Georg Röllig

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Johann Georg Röllig (or Johann George Roellig as his autograph signature indicates)(1710–1790), brother of composer Johann Christian Roellig (b.1716), was a German composer, organist and Kapellmeister at the Court of Anhalt-Zerbst. From the age of 17, Roellig was a student at the Dresden Kreuzschule. According to his autobiography, J.G. Roellig studied composition, with court composer Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745), lessons paid for by Count von Brühl, the Saxon Prime Minister, indicating that the young composer had come to attention of one of the most important figures at the Dresden court. In 1736, he matriculated at the University of Leipzig to study theology. In 1737, Prince Johann August of Anhalt-Zerbst heard Roellig perform and appointed him Court Organist and Court Musician. On the death of court Kapellmeister, Johann Friedrich Fasch, in 1758, Roellig (along with the court Konzertmeister, Carl Hoeckh) assumed some of his duties, particularly in continuing to supply the court with cantatas. Following Hoeckh’s death in 1773, Roellig was finally appointed Kapellmeister in 1774. Works As is common with many composers of the period, little of what was once a large corpus of sacr

Johann Gottfried Bernhard Bach

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Johann Gottfried Bernhard Bach (11 May 1715 – 27 May 1739) was a German musician. It is not known whether he composed, and his career as an organist is not in itself notable, but his life throws light on his famous father, Johann Sebastian Bach. Johann Gottfried was the fourth child of Johann Sebastian and Maria Barbara Bach to reach adulthood. Early life He was born in Weimar, where his father was employed until 1717, when the family moved to Köthen. His mother died in Köthen in 1720 and his father remarried the next year. Education In 1723, J.S. Bach was appointed Thomaskantor in Leipzig. He is believed to have moved to Leipzig partly because of the educational opportunities there for his sons. J.G.B. Bach attended the Thomasschule, where his father was responsible for the musical education that was an important part of the curriculum. He also studied privately with his father. Musical career In contrast to his elder brothers Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel, Johann Gottfried did not get the opportunity to study at Leipzig University after finishing school. Like his father before him, he auditioned for posts as a musician. He first served as organist at the Marienkirch

Johann Gottfried Müthel

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Johann Gottfried Müthel (January 17, 1728 – July 14, 1788) was a German composer and noted keyboard virtuoso. Along with C.P.E. Bach, he represented the Sturm und Drang style of composition. As far as is known, he was the first to use the term fortepiano in a published work, in the title of his Duetto für 2 Clavier, 2 Flügel, oder 2 Fortepiano (1771), which reflects the rising popularity of the instrument at that time. Biography He was born in Mölln in the Duchy of Lauenburg, the fifth of nine children. His father was Christian Caspar, an organist and friend of Georg Philipp Telemann. He studied music with his father, and later Johann Paul Kunzen in Lübeck. When only 19 years of age, he became a court organist and harpsichordist for Duke Christian Ludwig II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, in Schwerin. In 1750 he was given leave to become the student of Bach in Leipzig. He became Bach’s last pupil, beginning study only three months before the master’s death. In that time, he notated a number of the blind composer’s final works, including parts of the Orgelbüchlein. According to Bach’s biographer Philipp Spitta, he was present at Bach’s deathbed, and took over his duties for nine weeks. Sub

Johann Gottfried Pratsch

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Johann Gottfried Pratsch (; ; , also called Prach; c. 1750), was a Prussian-born composer of music. He spent most of his life in Russia, and sometimes supported himself by teaching music to students at the Smolnïy Institute and at the St. Petersburg Theatre School. Life Pratsch was born in Silesia in 1750, and was Czech by ethnicity. He worked as a piano teacher in Saint Petersburg in the 1770s. He taught music at the Smolnїy Institute from 1780 to 1785. In 1784, the St. Petersburg Theatre School appointed him harpsichord teacher. He collaborated with Nikolay Lvov on a collection of Russian folk songs, which was published in 1790. The collection, called “Sobraniye Narodnїkh Russikikh Pesen s Ikh Golosami” (“Collection of Russian Folk Songs with Their Tunes”), influenced composers in Russia and throughout the world, including composers such as Alexander Glazunov, Alexander Gretchaninov, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Igor Stravinsky, Gioachino Rossini, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Carl Maria von Weber, Fernando Sor, and Ludwig van Beethoven. Works *Rondo in F major *Sonata for piano in C major, Opus no. 1 *Fandango for piano, Opus no. 2 (1795) *Cello sonata in A minor, Opus 6 Publications * 1790: A

Johann Gottfried Vierling

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Johann Gottfried Vierling (January 25, 1750 – November 22, 1813) was a German organist and composer. Life and career Vierling was born in Metzels. From 1763 he studied at the Lyzeum in Schmalkalden. In 1768 he succeeded his teacher Johann Nikolaus Tischer (1707–74) as organist in Schmalkalden. He later continued his musical studies with Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Johann Philipp Kirnberger. Vierling died in Schmalkalden. Vierling composed several collections of easy organ pieces, a four-voice organ chorale book (1790) and cembalo music such as two trios, one quartet and six sonatas. Two handwritten annual volumes of Kirchenkantaten are preserved. He also published a handbook on the art of basso continuo, “Allgemein faßlicher Unterricht im Generalbaß”. Among Vierling’s students was Johann Christian Friedrich Hæffner, who became a famous musician in Sweden. Through Vierling, Hæffner was a third-generation pedagogical descendant of Johann Sebastian Bach. Works *Achtundvierzig kurze und leichte Orgelstücke *48 leichte Choralvorspiele, Leipzig *Sonata in C-major for cembalo / organ *Prelude in c-minor for organ *About 160 cantatas *Choralbuch auf vier Stimmen zum Gebrauch bey dem öffe

Johann Gottlieb Goldberg

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Johann Gottlieb Goldberg (; baptized 14 March 1727 – 13 April 1756) was a German virtuoso harpsichordist, organist, and composer of the late Baroque and early Classical period. He is best known for lending his name, as the probable original performer, to the renowned Goldberg Variations of J. S. Bach. Life Goldberg was born in Danzig (Gdańsk), (Crown of Poland), and was baptized there on 14 March 1727 at St. Mary’s Church, Gdańsk. Little is known for certain about his childhood, other than that he was an exceptionally talented performer, attracting the attention of Hermann Karl von Keyserling, the Russian ambassador to Saxony, around 1737. Goldberg was reported to have studied with both J. S. Bach and Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Bach’s eldest son, though the periods of study are not known; Goldberg may have studied with J. S. Bach as early as 1737, shortly after Keyserling recognized his talent in Danzig, and Goldberg may have studied with W. F. Bach at any time before 1745, since W. F. Bach was in Dresden throughout Keyserling’s tenure there as ambassador. The most famous part of Goldberg’s life is the portion, probably in 1741, recounted by J. S. Bach’s biographer Johann Nikolaus Fo

Johann Gottlieb Naumann

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Johann Gottlieb Naumann (17 April 1741 – 23 October 1801) was a German composer, conductor, and Kapellmeister. Life Johann Gottlieb Naumann was born in Blasewitz, Dresden and received his musical training from the teachers at his town school, where he was instructed in piano and organ. Later, he studied at the Kreuzschule in Dresden and was a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor. In Dresden he was taught by the organist and cantor of the Kreuzschule, Gottfried August Homilius, a student of Bach. In May 1757, he traveled to Italy with the Swedish violinist Anders Wesström. The composer Giuseppe Tartini encountered Naumann in 1762 and took an interest in his work. Later that year, he made his debut as an opera composer in Venice with Il tesoro insidiato. Following his successful 1764 production of Li creduti spiriti, he was engaged as the second church composer at the Dresden court, on the composer Johann Adolf Hasse’s recommendation. The chord sequence which became known as the Dresden amen was composed by Naumann for use in the Court Church in Dresden. Such was its popularity that it spread to other churches in Saxony, both Catholic and Lutheran. It was also used by later composers, in

Johann Hartmann

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Johann Ernst Hartmann (24 December 1726 – 21 October 1793) was a Danish classical composer and violinist. He is remembered in particular for his two operas on texts by Johannes Ewald in which he helped creating a national musical style. The first of these, Balders død, builds on the old Nordic mythology and uses dark colours when depicting the old Gods and Valkyries. The second, Fiskerne, describes contemporary fishermen’s lives, and uses melodies inspired by the Scandinavian folk style. Most of the works of Hartmann were destroyed in the fire of Christiansborg Castle shortly after his death. Hartmann was the ancestor of a long line of musicians and composers and other cultural personalities in Denmark. Life Johann Hartmann was born in Groß-Glogau in Silesia on Christmas Eve 1726. In 1754 he started as violinist in the orchestra of the Archbishop of Breslau, Count Schaffgotsch; later he became concertmaster in the small town of Rudolstadt, and then in Plön under Duke Frederick Charles. When the Duke died in 1761, his Duchy became Danish, the Plön Chapel was dissolved and Hartmann together with some of the other orchestra musicians went to Copenhagen. In Copenhagen he was immediatel

Johann Karl Ordonez

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Johann Karl Rochus Ordonez (19 April 1734 – 6 September 1786), also known as Carlo d’Ordonez, was one of a number of composers working in Vienna during the second half of the eighteenth century. Ordonez was not a full-time professional musician. Most of his working life was spent in the employment of the Lower Austrian Regional Court and his musical activities were pursued in his spare time. Nothing has come to light concerning his general education. Of his musical training we also know nothing although from his contemporary reputation as a violinist it can be inferred that he received lessons from an early age. Ordonez’s professional activities included membership of two prestigious performing bodies: the k.k. Hof- und Kammermusik (where he was employed as a Kammermusikus) and the Tonkünstler-Societät in which he was active both as a violinist and as a composer. Ordonez was an early member of the Tonkuenstler-Societaet, an organization devoted to raising money through public concerts for the widows and orphans of musicians, and maintained a close association from 1771, the year of its foundation, until 1784. Ordonez also performed regularly in the houses of the nobility. Dr Charle

Johann Kirnberger

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Johann Philipp Kirnberger (also Kernberg; 24 April 1721, Saalfeld – 27 July 1783, Berlin) was a musician, composer (primarily of fugues) and music theorist. He studied the organ with Johann Peter Kellner and Heinrich Nicolaus Gerber, and starting in 1738 he studied with the violinist Meil in Sondershausen, but most significant is the time he spent from 1739 until 1741 (with breaks) studying performance and composition with Johann Sebastian Bach. Between 1741 and 1751 Kirnberger lived and worked in Poland for powerful magnates including Lubomirski, Poninski, and Rzewuski before ending up at the Benedictine Cloister in Lviv (then part of Poland). He spent much time collecting Polish national dances and compiled them in his treatise . Kirnberger played a significant role in the intellectual and cultural exchange between Germany and Poland in the mid-18th century. Kirnberger became a violinist at the court of Frederick the Great in 1751. He was the music director to the Prussian Princess Anna Amalia from 1758 until his death. Kirnberger greatly admired Johann Sebastian Bach, deeming him “the greatest of all composers”. Kirnberger sought to secure the publication of all of Bach’s choral

Johann Ludwig Krebs

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Johann Ludwig Krebs (baptized 12 October 1713 – 1 January 1780) was a German Baroque musician and composer for the pipe organ, harpsichord, other instruments and orchestras. His output also included chamber music, choral works and concertos. Life Krebs was born in 1713 in Buttelstedt to Johann Tobias Krebs, an organist. At least three of his brothers were musically talented. Krebs was sent to Leipzig to study organ, lute, and the violin. Krebs studied with Johann Sebastian Bach on the organ. Bach (who had also instructed Krebs’s father) held Krebs in high standing. From a technical standpoint, Krebs was unrivaled next to Bach in his organ proficiency. However, Krebs found it difficult to obtain a patron or a cathedral post. His Baroque style was being supplanted by the newer galant music style and the classical music era. Krebs took a small post in Zwickau, Krebs’s Fantasia in F minor for oboe and organ is one of his best-known works, as is the Eight Short Preludes and Fugues that are sometimes attributed to him as well as to his father and J. S. Bach. He is also remembered for two large-scale concertos for lute and orchestra. Krebs’s three sons became well-known performers in thei

Johann Michael Vogl

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Johann Michael Vogl (August 10, 1768 – November 19, 1840), was an Austrian baritone singer and composer. Though famous in his day, he is remembered mainly for his close professional relationship and friendship with composer Franz Schubert. Vogl was born in Steyr. As a young man he enrolled at the Gymnasium at Kremsmünster, where he studied languages, philosophy, and sang in several musical productions by his friend Franz Süßmayr (the same man who completed Mozart’s Requiem). In 1786 Vogl went to Vienna to study, and later to practice law. In 1795 he debuted at the Vienna Hofoper, and quickly attracted a following for both his acting capability and the beauty of his voice. In 1813, Franz Schubert attended a performance of Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride in which Vogl sang the role of Orestes; Schubert never forgot the experience and determined to write for Vogl. The following year, when Vogl sang the role of Pizarro at the premiere of the final version of Beethoven’s Fidelio, it is said that the 17-year-old Schubert actually sold his schoolbooks in order to afford a ticket. When composer and singer finally met, in 1817, Vogl was as impressed with the quality of Schubert’s music as Schu

Johann Nikolaus Forkel

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Johann Nikolaus Forkel (22 February 1749 – 20 March 1818) was a German musicologist and music theorist, generally regarded as among the founders of modern musicology. His publications include the two-volume Allgemeine Geschichte der Musik (General History of Music), among the first attempts at a history of Western music and the “ground-breaking music bibliography” Allgemeine Litteratur der Musik. one which is of particular value today, as he was still able to correspond directly with Bach’s sons Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, and thereby obtained much valuable information that would otherwise have been lost. His library, which was accumulated with care and discrimination at a time when rare books were cheap, forms a valuable portion of the Berlin State Library and also of the library of the Königliche Institut für Kirchenmusik . He died at Göttingen. Selected works Forkel’s writings include: *Über die Theorie der Musik (Göttingen, 1777) *Musikalisch kritische Bibliothek (Gotha, 1778) *Allgemeine Geschichte der Musik (Leipzig, 1788, 1801) *Allgemeine Litteratur der Musik: oder, Anleitung zur Kenntniss musikalischer Bücher, welche von den ältesten bis auf die

Johann Peter Salomon

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Johann Peter Salomon (20 February 1745 baptized – 25 November 1815) was a German violinist, composer, conductor and musical impresario. Although an accomplished violinist, he is best known for bringing Joseph Haydn to London and for conducting the symphonies that Haydn wrote during his stay in England. He also knew and worked with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Life Johann Peter Salomon was born in January 1745 into a Jewish family in Bonn (but was baptized as an infant) and was the second son of Philipp Salomon, an oboist at the court in Bonn. His birth home was at Bonngasse 515, coincidentally the later birth home of Beethoven. In 1758, at the age of thirteen, he became a violinist in the orchestra of the Elector Clemens August at Bonn. Seven years later, Salomon went on tour and traveled to Berlin and Frankfort. Following this he arrived in Rheinsberg where he soon became the concert master and composer for the orchestra of Prince Heinrich of Prussia. several art songs, a number of concertos, and chamber music pieces. He is perhaps best known today, however, as a concert organizer and conductor. Haydn wrote his symphonies numbers 93 to 104 for these trips, som

Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg

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Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg (10 January 1760 – 27 January 1802) was a German composer and conductor from the Classical period. Zumsteeg championed the operas of Mozart in Stuttgart, staging the first performances there of Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte. He also was a prolific composer of Lieder and ballads. His ballads had a great influence on the young Franz Schubert, who imitated a number of Zumsteeg’s as studies (some even in exactly the same keys) while he was a teenager. Life and early career Zumsteeg was born in Sachsenflur, Lauda-Königshofen, in a military camp to his father Rudolph Zum Steeg. He received an education at the Karlsschule Stuttgart after the death of both parents. Zumsteeg was initially admitted as a stucco worker, however his musical aptitude soon allowed him transfer to the music department. There Zumsteeg became intimate friends with Friedrich Schiller. A setting for Schiller’s drama, Die Räuber (1782) is an example of the type of close collaboration that Zumsteeg undertook with prominent poets. Zumsteeg showed promise as a virtuoso cellist, and in 1778 claimed the highest award in the performance division of the Karlsschule for the sixth time

Johann Schobert

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Johann Schobert (c. 1720, 1735 or 1740 – 28 August 1767) was a composer and harpsichordist. His date of birth is given variously as about 1720, about 1735, or about 1740, his place of birth as Silesia, Alsace, or Nuremberg. He died after eating poisonous mushrooms that he insisted were edible. Career In 1760 or 1761, Schobert moved to Paris, France, where he served in the household of Louis François I de Bourbon, prince de Conti. He composed many books of sonatas for his instrument, most of them with an accompanying part for one or more other instruments. Schobert also wrote harpsichord concertos, symphonies and the opéra comique Le Garde-Chasse et le Braconnier. In Paris, Schobert came into contact with Leopold Mozart during the family’s grand tour. Reportedly, Schobert was offended by Mozart’s comments that his children played Schobert’s works with ease. Nevertheless, Schobert was a significant influence on the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who arranged a number of movements from Schobert’s sonatas for use in his own piano concertos. Mozart biographer Dyneley Hussey writes that it was Schobert’s music that opened up Mozart to the possibility of adopting a poetic stance in his mu

Johann Stamitz

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Johann Wenzel Anton Stamitz (; 18 June 1717 – 27 March 1757) was a Czech composer and violinist. Stamitz is considered the founding father of the Mannheim school, a composition style that his two surviving sons, Carl and Anton Stamitz, continued. His music is stylistically transitional between the Baroque and Classical periods and he is recognised for many innovations. Life Stamitz was born in Deutschbrod, Bohemia (now Havlíčkův Brod, Czech Republic), into a family that came from Marburg (now Maribor, Slovenia). Stamitz spent the academic year 1734–1735 at the University of Prague. After only one year, at the likely age of seventeen he left the university to pursue a career as a violin virtuoso. His activities during the six-year period between his departure from the university in 1735 and his appointment in the German city of Mannheim around 1741, are not known in detail and historical accounts of his life contain many presumptions or approximations. He was appointed by the Mannheim court in 1741 or 1742, likely at the age of twenty-four. His engagement there most likely resulted from contacts made during the Bohemian campaign and coronation of Charles VII of Bavaria, a close ally

Johann Vogel (composer)

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Johann Christoph Vogel (also given as Fogel) (18 March 1756, in Nuremberg – 28 June 1788, in Paris) was a German composer. Life He spent most of his life working in France. He moved to Paris in 1776, and entered the service of the Duke of Montmorency and then of the Count of Valentinois as a horn player. He composed a great number of orchestral and chamber works but is best remembered for his oratorio Jephté, performed at the Concert Spirituel in September 1781, and for his two operas. Although his music was received favourably, his works never became extremely popular because they were deemed as ’too complicated and baroque’. Vogel was an enthusiast for the operas of Gluck, and his first opera, La toison d’or, is dedicated to the composer as ’législateur de la musique’. In places it appears to be a faithful stylistic imitation of Gluck’s two Iphigenia operas, Iphigénie en Tauride and Iphigenie auf Tauris , but with a fuller orchestration and a greater lyricism in the arias. The opera was written in 1781 but was not performed until 5 September 1786 at the Opéra National de Paris. It played for only 12 performances and was met with limited success since it seemed old-fashioned and c

Johann Wilhelm Cornelius von Königslöw

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Johann Wilhelm Cornelius von Königslöw (16 March 1745 – 14 May 1833) was a German composer and musician active at the St. Mary’s Church, Lübeck. Life Born in Hamburg, he studied piano and singing with his father. At 13 years old, the boy became a soprano in the Lübeck Marienkirche under Adolph Kunzen, who taught him composition, organ, and violin. He also learned the cello. Königslöw became his assistant in 1772, taking over the direction of the Abendmusiken in 1773, and succeeding Kunzen in 1781. In 1776, he married Margarete Catharina Friedlein. Königslöw was a leading figure in Lübeck’s musical activities. He conducted Good Friday concerts, annual evening concerts, promoted amateur concerts, and founded a choral society. In 1810, he discontinued the evening concerts due to financial problems, and later in 1823 also stopped conducting the amateur concerts. Königslöw continued conducting the Good Friday until 1832. He died in 1833 in Lübeck. His music show the influence of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Most of Königslöw’s compositions were composed for the Abendmusiken. They are mostly within the Classical style, except for various stylistic

Johann Wilhelm Hertel

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Johann Wilhelm Hertel (9 October 1727 – 14 June 1789) was a German composer, harpsichord and violin player. He was born in Eisenach, into a family of musicians. His father, Johann Christian Hertel (1697–1754) was Konzertmeister (from 1733) and director of music at the Eisenach court, while his grandfather, Jakob Christian Hertel (c. 1667-c. 1726), had been Kapellmeister in Oettingen and later Merseburg. At an early age Johann Wilhelm accompanied his father, an accomplished viola da gamba player, on tour at the harpsichord. He also learned the violin, which he studied with Franz Benda. In 1742 he came with his father to Mecklenburg-Strelitz where he was active playing both instruments. Among his pupils there was Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch (1736–1800). After further music studies in Zerbst and Berlin, Hertel moved to the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, where he made a successful career, initially as principal and later becoming court composer, and likewise undertaking teaching. During the reign of Duke Christian Ludwig II, Hertel wrote primarily representative instrumental music, while during the reign of his successor, Frederick II (called ’the pious’) he focused on sacred music.

Johannes Matthias Sperger

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Johannes Matthias Sperger, also often Johann, (Czech: Jan Matyáš Sperger; 23 March 1750 – 13 May 1812) was an Austrian double bassist and composer. Sperger was born in Feldsberg, and trained from 1767 in Vienna as a contrabassist and composer. He worked from 1777 in the Hofkapelle of the Archbishop of Pressburg. From 1778 he was also a member in the Wiener Tonkünstlersozietät, participating in its concerts several times playing his own works and as soloist. From 1783 to 1786, Sperger was a member of the Hofkapelle of count Ludwig von Erdödy in Kohfidisch. From 1789 he was employed as first contrabassist of the Mecklenburg Schwerin Hofkapelle in Ludwigslust. He was a prolific composer, writing at least forty-four symphonies, numerous instrumental concertos, including eighteen for contrabass. He also wrote sonatas, rondos and dances, cantatas, choral works, and airs. He died in Ludwigslust in 1812 aged 62. Notes External links * *

Johannes Spech

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Johannes (or János) Spech (10 December 1767 – 24 November 1836) was a Hungarian classical era composer. He was born in Bratislava. Musicologist Dezsö Legány theorized that Spech must have been inspired to study music by the rich musical life of the city, where the opera theater regularly programmed works by Haydn, Mozart, and other acknowledged masters of the time. Spech received primary music education, but also studied law, and in 1792 he became a law clerk in Buda. A few years later he left for Vienna to study with Haydn. Researcher Tia DeNora notes that a discrepancy exists in biographical materials related to the next decades of Spech’s life. Sources chosen for the New Grove dictionary suggest that Spech subsequently left for Hungary and worked as a civil servant intermittently for a number of years, while also being a theater conductor and pursuing a composer’s career. However, Spech’s great-grandson, when interviewed by the legendary scholar H. C. Robbins Landon, claimed that Spech followed his studies with Haydn by an extensive four-year course in the Paris Conservatory, after which he returned to Hungary and concentrated entirely on his musical career. He died in Oberlimba

John Alcock (organist, born 1740)

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John Alcock ( 28 January 1740 – 30 March 1791) was an English organist, who composed several songs between 1770 and 1780. Biography John Alcock was born around 1740, to Margaret Alcock, née Beaumont (1711–1792), and John Alcock (1715–1806), himself a famous composer and organist. He was born in Plymouth, Devon and baptised there on 28 January 1740. He learned to play the organ through his father’s position as organist and master of the choristers at Lichfield Cathedral, working under him as a chorister. By the age of twelve he was deputising for his father on occasion. and “Expressly Composed for the use of Country Choirs”, stating his position as “Batchelor in Music and Organist of Walsall” on the title page. Those of Alcock’s published works, noted by the Dictionary of Composers for the Church in Great Britain and Ireland, are ‘Arise, O Lord, and Lift Up’ and ‘The Lord is King’. References External links *

John Antes

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John Antes (24 March 1740 – 17 December 1811) was the first American Moravian Missionary to travel and work in Egypt, one of the earliest American-born chamber music composers, and the maker of perhaps the earliest surviving bowed string instrument made in America. Although Antes is often recognized for his choral works, such as Go Congregation Go! and Surely he has Bourne our Griefs, his three string trios have also attracted attention and the lost “six Quartettos” remain a tantalizing mystery. Biography John Antes was born on March 24, 1740, in Frederick, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. In 1745, Antes entered the Moravian Boys Boarding School, where he received music education from Johann Christoph Pyrlaeus. Although Pyrlaeus might now be first-known as a teacher of Antes, he was the founder of the Bethlehem collegium musicum, a capable singer, instrumentalist, and organist, and was also a missionary to Native Americans. In 1752, John entered the boys school in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and in 1760, was admitted into the Single Brethren’s choir, also in Bethlehem. Antes was ordained as a Moravian Minister in January 1769, and he left for Egypt that same month to serve as a missio

John Bennett (composer)

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John Bennett (or Bennet; c. 10 March 1735, Liverpool – September 1784, in London) was an English organist and composer. Biography Details of Bennett’s life are limited, but it is known that he married one Sarah Everett in 1756 in Holborn and died in September 1784. He was buried on 24th of that month, after serving as organist at St Dionis Backchurch, Fenchurch Street in London, for over thirty years. He had outlived his wife who was buried on 15 April 1778. Both were buried at the church. Charles Burney notes that he had been a pupil of Johann Christoph Pepusch and that he ‘knew the rules of counterpoint very well’. Pearce, writing admittedly later in 1907, claims that Bennett was “an organist of sufficient talent to attract G. F. Handel to his performances”. As was fairly typical in the eighteenth century, he was a diverse musician; he played the organ and the viola, taught the harpsichord, and performed at The Drury Lane Theatre as a singer in the chorus and as a dancer. Burney notes that he had ‘played the tenor = viola and occasionally was a Chorus singer and figurante in processions’. According to Thomas Mortimer’s The Universal Director (1763) and the title page of Bennett’s

John Christmas Beckwith

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John Christmas Beckwith (25 December 1759 – 3 June 1809) was an English organist and composer. Life Beckwith was born in Norwich on 25 December 1759, son of Edward Beckwith (1734–1793). His father and uncle were lay clerks at Norwich Cathedral. He was for many years pupil and assistant successively of the organist and composer William Hayes, and his son Philip Hayes, at Magdalen College, Oxford. As an organist he took very high rank in his day. He had many pupils, including the organist Zechariah Buck, the composer Stephen Codman, the singer Thomas Vaughan and the writer on music Edward Taylor, who said of him: “I have never heard Dr. Beckwith’s equal upon the organ either in this county or in Germany. … Neither is this my opinion only, but that of every competent judge who has heard him”. In Norwich, Beckwith was much involved in “musical meetings”, usually held in St Peter Mancroft; they supported charities, some of which he was associated with as a founder. In 1794 he was appointed organist of St Peter Mancroft. He took both the Mus. Bac. and Mus. Doc. degrees at Oxford in 1803, and in 1808 succeeded Thomas Garland as organist of Norwich Cathedral. Beckwith died of a stroke on 3

John Christopher Smith

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John Christopher Smith (born Johann Christoph Schmidt; 17123 October 1795) was an English composer who, following in his father’s footsteps, became George Frideric Handel’s secretary, student and amanuensis. Life John Christopher Smith was the son of Johann Christoph Schmidt (John Christopher Smith Sr.) (died 1763), Handel’s first copyist in London. His father, known to Handel from Halle, was summoned from Germany in 1716. He brought his family to London around 1720. John Christopher Smith Jr. had a few lessons from Handel and Johann Christoph Pepusch but studied mostly with Thomas Roseingrave. He later became Handel’s secretary, musical assistant and amanuensis, when blindness prevented Handel from writing or conducting in his later years. The last year when Handel conducted performances of his oratorios was 1752. Handel fell out with Smith Sr. in the 1750s, but remained on good terms with the son. From 1753 to the composer’s death in 1759, Smith conducted Handel’s oratorios that were to be performed in those years. Handel bequeathed to Smith the keyboard instruments in his house at 25 Brook Street and his manuscripts. There was interest in reproducing Handel’s music mechanically,

John Collett (composer)

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John Collett (c1735-1775) was an English violinist and composer. He is credited with composing the first British four movement symphony. He later moved to Aberdeen, Scotland and then Edinburgh, where he remained for the rest of his life. There he was associated with the Edinburgh Musical Society and became a member of the Cape Club. He set fellow Cape Club member Robert Fergusson’s words to a cantata, Ode on the Rivers of Scotland (1772, now lost). Another substantial cantata, The Birthday Cantata for Andrew Crosbie, was composed in Edinburgh the following year, and has survived. His Six Solos for the Violin (with harpsichord thoroughbass) were published around 1758. He wrote pantomime theatre music for David Garrick’s The Hermit (at Drury Lane in 1766), and songs for the Vauxhall pleasure gardens. His Six Symphonies or Overtures, op. 2, dedicated to Thomas Earl of Kelly, were published in 1766, and like Kelly’s symphonies they reflect the Mannheim Style popular at the time. Number 3, originally the overture to the burletta Midas, presented at Covent Garden in February 1764, became well known. References

John Foster (composer)

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John Foster (1752–1822) of High Green in the parish of Ecclesfield, West Riding of Yorkshire was a coroner and amateur musician. He composed two books of sacred music in a 19th-century classical style published between 1817 and 1822, Sacred Music and A 2d Collection of Sacred Music. Both books were published in York by Samuel Knapton (the father of the organist and composer Philip Knapton). They comprise 17 settings of metrical psalm and hymn texts (8 in the first book and 9 in the second), with orchestral and keyboard accompaniments, and are dedicated to Richard Lumley-Saunderson, 6th Earl of Scarbrough. There are copies of both books in the Sheffield Local Studies Library. Foster is now best known as the composer of a tune known as Old Foster, to which the words While shepherds watched their flocks by night are sung in the South Yorkshire pub carolling tradition (for example, at the Fountain Inn at Ingbirchworth). A version of the tune is also sung at Castleton, Derbyshire, where it is known as Prince of Orange and used with the words Hark, the glad sound! the Saviour comes, by Philip Doddridge. The tune was originally published in A 2d Collection of Sacred Music as a setting of

John Mahon (composer)

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John Mahon (also Mahone, Mahoon; 1749–1834) was an Irish composer, clarinetist, violinist, and viola player. Life Mahon was born in Oxford into an Irish family of musicians. His father William Mahon * Duets (4) for 2 Clarinets: No. 4 in B Flat Major * Duets (4) for 2 Clarinets: No. 1 in F Major References Further reading * A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660–1800. pp. 56–57 External links * * Mahon family * John Mahon * Mahon Clarinet CDH55261 [SH]: Classical CD Reviews - December 2006 MusicWeb-International * Oxford Music

John Marsh (composer)

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John Marsh (31 May 1752 – 31 October 1828) was an English gentleman, composer, diarist and writer born in Netherseal, Derbyshire, England. A lawyer by training, he is known to have written more than 350 compositions, including at least 39 symphonies. While today known primarily for his music, he also had strong interest in other fields, including astronomy and philosophy, and wrote books about astronomy, music, religion, and geometry. Life and career Marsh lived in Dorking, Gosport, Romsey, Salisbury and Canterbury before settling in Chichester in 1787 until his death in 1828. As a concert organizer, he was responsible for the music making in the towns and cities where he worked, especially in Chichester, where he led the subscription concerts for some 35 years. Marsh was perhaps the most prolific English composer of his time. His own catalogue of compositions lists over 350 works, of which he lists 39 symphonies. Of these, only the nine that Marsh had printed are extant, together with three one-movement finales. His style owes much to Handel and Corelli and it is close to other composers of the time, such as William Boyce. Many of his works are also reminiscent of early Haydn symp

John Sale (singer)

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John Sale (1758 – 11 November 1827) was an English bass singer of church music, and a singer and composer of glees. Life He was born in London in 1758, the son of John Sale (1734–1802). From 1767 to 1775 Sale was a chorister of St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle and of Eton College, and of both was lay vicar from 1777 to 1796. In 1788 he was appointed gentleman of the Chapel Royal, in 1795 vicar choral of St Paul’s Cathedral, and in 1796 lay vicar of Westminster Abbey. In 1800 he succeeded Richard Bellamy as Almoner of St Paul’s and Master of the Choristers, which posts he held until 1812. In 1818, becoming senior gentleman or father of the Chapel Royal, he was excused further duty and attendance. His obituary in The Harmonicon noted: “His aid was generally required in those charming glee parties which were formerly so much the fashion, where his smooth, agreeable voice, and subdued manner of using it, rendered him a valuable assistant.” Family Two sons had musical careers: John Bernard Sale (1779–1856) was a bass singer, and organist at St Margaret’s, Westminster; George Charles Sale (1796–1869) was organist at St Mary’s, Newington and later at St George’s, Hanover Square. Composi

John Stafford Smith

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John Stafford Smith (bapt. 30 March 175021 September 1836) was an English composer, church organist, and early musicologist. He was one of the first serious collectors of manuscripts of works by Johann Sebastian Bach and a friend of his son Johann Christian Bach. Smith is best known for writing the music for “The Anacreontic Song”, which became the tune for the American patriotic song “The Star-Spangled Banner” following the War of 1812, and in 1931 was adopted as the national anthem of the United States. Early life and education John Stafford Smith was born in Pitt Street, Gloucester on March 13, 1750 and was baptised in Gloucester Cathedral, England, on 30 March 1750, the son of Martin Smith, organist of Gloucester Cathedral from 1743 to 1782. He attended the Gloucester cathedral school, where he became a boy-singer. He furthered his career as a choir boy at the Chapel Royal, London, and also studied under Dr William Boyce. He married Elizabeth Boyce, the daughter of Dr William Boyce, at St Philip & St Jacob Church, Bristol, on 25 November 1775. Career By the 1770s he had gained a reputation as a composer and an organist. He was elected as a member of the select Anacreontic Socie

John Stanley (composer)

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Charles John Stanley (17 January 1712 Old Style – 19 May 1786) was an English composer and organist. Biography John Stanley was born in London on 17 January 1712. At about the age of two, he fell on a marble hearth with a china basin in his hand, an accident which left him almost blind. He began studying music at the age of seven. Under the guidance of Maurice Greene, composer and organist at St. Paul’s Cathedral, he studied “with great diligence, and a success that was astonishing” (Burney). At the age of nine he played the organ, probably as an occasional deputy, at All Hallows, Bread Street. When he was eleven years old, Stanley was appointed organist to the church at a salary of £20 per annum. When he was fourteen “in preference to a great number of candidates” (Burney) he was chosen as organist at St Andrew Holborn, and at the age of seventeen became the youngest person ever to obtain the Bachelor of Music degree (B.Mus.) from the University of Oxford. In 1734 he was appointed organist to the Society of the Inner Temple, a position which he held until his death in 1786. It was at the ancient Temple Church that his brilliant playing upon the organ and harpsichord attracted the

John Taylor (Unitarian hymn writer)

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John Taylor (30 July 1750 – 23 June 1826) was an entrepreneur, poet and composer of both secular (political) songs and hymns from Norwich, England. Early life John Taylor was born to Richard (1719–1762) and Margaret Taylor (née Meadows, 1718–1781), and was baptised in the parish of St. George’s Colegate, Norwich. Richard Taylor was a local manufacturer and son of Dr. John Taylor. At age eight, Taylor was sent to study with a businessman in the village of Hindolveston. Politics He developed an interest in local politics, joining the Whig party as a radical reformer, emerging as their leader in Norwich. He made social contact with HRH Duke of Sussex, the Duke of Albemarle, and Mr Coke, Squire of Holkham Hall (later Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester), who was nationally known as an agriculturalist. Taylor first sung his song The Trumpet of Liberty at the famous Whig banquet at Holkham Hall on 5 November, 1788 to celebrate the centenary of the English Revolution. The Duke of Sussex “called on Taylor” to sing his song again on January 20, 1820 at “a great public dinner at St Andrews Hall, Norwich”. On this occasion, “old John Taylor of Norwich” was reluctant to perform: “No please your

John Valentine (composer)

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John Valentine (7 June 1730 – 10 September 1791) was an English violinist, violist and composer. Biography John Valentine was born in Leicester, England, the son of John Valentine and his wife Sarah. By 1759 John Valentine owned and operated a music shop on New Bond Street in Leicester, which he later moved to other locations. He sold instruments and music and taught lessons in various instruments including keyboard and horn. Valentine performed at concerts in the area mostly as a violinist or violist, and played in the Handel Commemoration concerts in memorial for George Frederic Handel in London in 1784. John Valentine was a member of a musical family in Leicester. He was the great-nephew of composer Robert Valentine. John’s son Thomas Valentine (1759 – c. 1800) was also a violinist, who performed in the Handel Commemoration and in the London area for at least a decade. John’s uncle, Henry Valentine, played oboe and also operated a music shop in Leicester. John Valentine married Tabitha Simpson (b. 1728) in 1755 and they had six children, including Sarah, John, Charles and Ann. Ann Valentine was a composer with work available in modern editions. Sarah (1771–1843) served as an org

Jonathan Battishill

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Jonathan Battishill (May 1738 – 10 December 1801) was an English composer, keyboard player, and concert tenor. He began his career as a composer writing theatre music but later devoted himself to working as an organist and composer for the Church of England. He is considered one of the outstanding 18th century English composers of church music and is best remembered today for his seven-part anthem Call to Remembrance, which has long survived in the repertoires of cathedral choirs. Biography Battishill was born in London. Beginning at the age of nine, he sang as a chorister at St. Paul’s Cathedral initially under the direction of composer Charles King. After his voice broke he studied organ, music composition, and singing under William Savage, almoner and master of the choristers. He became a highly skilled organist and was particularly talented at extempore playing; a skill that soon attracted attention and led to his appointment as William Boyce’s deputy at the Chapel Royal. During the mid-1750s he began appearing as a tenor soloist in London concerts. One of his earliest engagements was on 16 March 1756 in a concert of Handel’s Alexander’s Feast at the Great Room, Dean Street, wh

José Herrando

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José Herrando (Valencia, c. 1720/1721-Madrid, 1763) was a Spanish violinist and composer. Career Herrando was a friend of the writer and mathematician Diego de Torres Villarroel and a fixed musician for some theater companies in Madrid, for which he composed several pieces, such as for the comedy Manos blancas no ofenden (White hands do not offend) by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. He spent some time in the service of the Duke of Arcos theater, to which he dedicated his Arte y puntual explicación del modo de tocar el violín con perfección y facilidad (Art and timely explanation of how to play the violin with perfection and ease) published in Paris in 1756. This was the first published attempt by a Spaniard at teaching this instrument. Its front featured an engraving by Carmona with his portrait. Herrando was first violinist for the Royal Chapel of the Incarnation when, in 1754 he wrote Seis sonatinas para violín de cinco cuerdas y bajo armónico, no cifrado (Six sonatinas for five-string violin and bass) dedicated to the castrati singer Carlo Broschi, Farinelli, a musician who was with the Spanish court during the reign of Felipe V, whose soprano voice was the only one capable of takin

José Maurício (Portuguese composer)

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José Maurício (Coimbra, 19 March 1752 - Figueira da Foz, 12 September 1815 ) was a Portuguese composer mainly known for his prolific production of sacred music. A native of Coimbra, Mauricio began as singer and organist and rose to become both chapel master at Coimbra Cathedral, and music professor at the Universidade de Coimbra during the reforms of João VI. Works *Requiem *Miserere Like many other church composers of his time he also composed secular songs, modinhas. References External links * Marcello Piras - “Musica nera e teatro” (youtube parte 1-5), italian

José Maurício Nunes Garcia

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José Maurício Nunes Garcia (September 20, 1767 – April 18, 1830) was a Brazilian composer and priest, who is known as one of the greatest exponents of Classicism in the Americas. Born in Rio de Janeiro to bi-racial parents, Nunes Garcia lost his father at an early age. His mother perceived that her son had an inclination for becoming a musician and, for this reason, improved her work to allow him to continue his musical studies. Nunes Garcia became a Catholic priest and, when King John VI of Portugal came to Rio de Janeiro with 15,000 people in tow, Nunes Garcia was appointed Master of the Royal Chapel. He sang and played the harpsichord, performing his compositions as well as those of other composers such as Domenico Cimarosa and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He was a very prestigious musician in the royal court of John VI. His musical style was strongly influenced by Viennese composers of the period, such as Mozart and Haydn. Today, some 240 musical pieces written by Nunes Garcia survive, and at least 170 others are known to have been lost. Most of his compositions are sacred works, but he wrote also some secular pieces, including the opera Le due gemelle and the Tempest Symphony. Inf

Josef Antonín Sehling

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Josef Antonín Sehling (also Seeling, Seling, Sölling; 7 January 1710 – 19 September 1756) was a Bohemian composer and violinist of the baroque period. Life Sehling was born in Toužim (German: Teusing), Western Bohemia. From an early age, he received music lessons from the local cantor, and later completed his education in Prague and Vienna. From 1737, he was second violinist in the Orchestra of St. Vitus Cathedral, and around the same time, he worked as a court musician and composer for Count Morzin at his palace in Prague. In 1740, he became choir director at the Church of Our Lady beneath the Chain in the Malá Strana district of Prague, and at the same time filled in as the choir director at St. Vitus and the Barnabite St. Benedictus. Sehling was a very prolific composer of sacred music, namely arias, masses, requiems, motets and offertoria. Manuscript copies of his works are scattered throughout libraries, among others, in Nymburk, Roudnice nad Labem, Broumov, St. Vitus Cathedral, and in the monastery of the elizabethans. He was possibly associated with Christoph Willibald Gluck. Among his pupils were the sopranist Johann Christian Preissler from Polevsko and the Premonstratensi

Josef Fiala

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Josef Fiala (; 3 February 1748 – 31 July 1816) was a Czech composer, oboist, viola da gamba virtuoso, cellist and pedagogue of the Classical period. Life He was born in Lochovice in Bohemia and began his musical career there as an oboist in the service of Countess Valpruga Netolická. The countess supported his studies of oboe with Jan Šťastný in Prague. He also studied violoncello and viola da gamba with František Josef Werner. In 1774, he left to Bavaria to play the oboe in the orchestra of Count Ernst Kraft von Oettingen-Wallerstein. In 1777 he moved to Munich to serve in the court orchestra of Elector Maximilian Joseph. Here he married Josefina Procházková, a daughter of his colleague from the orchestra, horn player Matyáš Procházka. That year in Munich, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart befriended Fiala and was greatly impressed by his compositions. After the death of the Elector in 1778 Mozart helped him secure a position in Salzburg. From 1778 to 1785, Fiala lived in Mozart’s birth house at Getreidegasse No. 9 in Salzburg. He was an oboist for archbishop Hieronymus von Colloredo’s orchestra and played violin and violoncello in Salzburger Landestheater. In 1785 Fiala moved to Vienna, wh

Josef Mysliveček

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Josef Mysliveček (9 March 1737 – 4 February 1781) was a Czech composer. He contributed to the formation of late eighteenth-century classicism in music. Mysliveček provided his younger friend Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with significant compositional models in the genres of symphony, Italian serious opera, and violin concerto; both Wolfgang and his father Leopold Mozart considered him an intimate friend from the time of their first meetings in Bologna in 1770 until he betrayed their trust over the promise of an operatic commission for Wolfgang to be arranged with the management of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. His closeness to the Mozart family resulted in frequent references to him in the Mozart correspondence. Biography Mysliveček was born in Prague, one of twin sons of a prosperous mill owner, and studied philosophy at Charles-Ferdinand University before following in the footsteps of his father. No documentation exists to support claims that he was actually born in Horní Šárka, a rural district to the north and west of Prague in the early eighteenth century. He achieved the rank of master miller in 1761 but gave up the family profession in order to pursue musical studies. In Prague

Josef Reicha

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Josef Reicha (12 February 1752 – 5 March 1795), also spelt Rejcha, was a Czech cellist, composer and conductor. He was the uncle of composer and music theorist Anton Reicha. Josef Reicha was born in Chudenice. In 1761 he moved to Prague, where he was taught cello by Franz Joseph Werner. In 1771, Reicha became first cellist in the orchestra of Prince () Kraft Ernst von Oettingen-Wallerstein. Together with the famous violinist Anton Janitsch, who also played in the orchestra, Reicha toured several European cities during the late 1770s and visited Leopold Mozart in Salzburg in 1778. In his letters to Wolfgang Amadeus, Leopold praised Reicha’s cello playing and compared the style of one of his cello concerts to those by Wolfgang Amadeus. Reicha adopted his nephew Anton in 1780 (Josef married in 1779, but the marriage produced no children) and subsequently taught him the violin and the piano. In 1785 Josef was made director of the orchestra in Bonn by Maximilian Francis of Austria, Elector of Cologne; the whole family moved to Bonn. Anton became a member of the court orchestra through his uncle. Other members included the young Beethoven, who played the viola and the organ, and Nikolaus

Josef Schnabel

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Joseph Ignaz Schnabel (24 May 1767 – 16 June 1831) was a German composer and church musician. Life He was born in Naumburg am Queis in Silesia, now in Poland. He came from a family of musicians and was taught early on by his father. As a child he was a chorister of Vincent Church in Breslau (today Wrocław, Poland). From the age of 12 he attended the Matthias Gymnasium because he wanted to become a priest. However chronic ear-ache developed after he fell into some water and he was considered to be no longer suitable for a priest’s life. After he left the Gymnasium he began teacher-training. In 1790 he became a school-master. He was noticed because of the good music performances of his pupils. From 1797 he worked as a violinist at the Vincenzkirche in Breslau and later as an organist at St. Klara. In 1798 he became a violinist and concertmaster in Breslau’s theatre orchestra. On April 1, 1805 he was its Director of Music. In 1812 he became the Director of Music at the university, also teaching at the Catholic seminary and was also director of the Royal Institute of Sacred Music. In 1819 he founded the Association of Sacred Music at the university with Friedrich Wilhelm Berner and Joh

Josef Seger

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Josef Seger (born Josef Ferdinand Norbert Segert, last name also Seeger or Seegr) (21 March 1716 – 22 April 1782) was an organist, composer, and educator from Bohemia. After graduating in philosophy from the Charles University in Prague and studying music under Bohuslav Matěj Černohorský, Jan Zach, and others, Seger became organist of two churches in Prague and remained there until his death. An extremely prolific composer, Seger became one of the most important representatives of the Czech organ school of the 18th century. He was also an influential teacher: his pupils included Jan Antonín Koželuh and Josef Mysliveček, and his figured bass exercises served many generations of teachers. Life Seger was born in Řepín, near Mělník, in Bohemia. He studied at the Jesuit Gymnasium in Prague and later graduated in philosophy at the Charles University. He also studied organ playing with Bohuslav Matěj Černohorský, counterpoint with Jan Zach and František Tůma, and, according to Dlabacž, figured bass with Felix Benda. Around 1741 Seger became organist to the Church of Our Lady in front of Týn and in 1745 he acquired a similar post at the Crusaders’ church in Prague. He held both positions u

Joseph Aloys Schmittbaur

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Joseph Aloys Schmittbaur (also Schmittbauer; 8 November 1718 - 24 October 1809) was a German composer, Kapellmeister, instrument maker and music teacher. Life Joseph Aloys Schmittbaur was born in Bamberg and received his musical education from the organ builder of the Würzburg court Johann Philipp Seuffert. He was also a pupil of Niccolò Jommelli, probably in Bologna. Around 1750 he was employed in the court of Rastatt, where he became concertmaster in 1759 and Kapellmeister in 1766. During this time he set German and Italian works for the stage. After the dissolution of Rastatt chapel in 1771, he became concertmaster of the Badische Staatskapelle in Karlsruhe. In January 1775, Schmittbaur was given the position of Kapellmeister of Cologne Cathedral, where he was deeply influenced by the conservative musical activities of the musical academies. Two years later, upon the death of Giacinto Sciatti in 1777, he returned to Karlsruhe to become Kapellmeister. He retired from his duties as Kapellmeister in 1804, leaving his place at the court to his son, Ludwig Joseph Abbe (1755-1829), a composer of Lieder. Three other children of his were musicians: August (b. 1763) was a clarinetist and

Joseph Benda

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Joseph Benda (; c. 7 May 1724 – 22 February 1804) was a Czech violinist and composer active in the Kingdom of Prussia. Life Joseph Benda was baptised on 7 May 1724. He was born in Benátky nad Jizerou, the son of a weaver Jan Jiří Benda and his wife Dorota Brixi, daughter of the village cantor from Skalsko and member of the large Czech musical family. Five of Joseph’s siblings achieved success as musicians; older brothers František, Jan Jiří and Jiří Antonín as violinist composers, and younger sister Anna Franziska as an operatic soprano. External links *

Joseph Dall'Abaco

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Joseph Abaco (full name Joseph (Giuseppe) Marie Clément Ferdinand dall’Abaco) (27 March 171031 August 1805) was an Italian violoncellist and composer. He was born and baptised in Brussels, the capital of the Spanish Netherlands, on 27 March 1710, and was musically trained by his father, Evaristo Felice dall’Abaco. At age nineteen Abaco entered into the service of the Prince-elector of Cologne at Bonn and played in the court chamber orchestra. He was appointed its music director in 1738. He traveled to England in 1740. In 1753 he moved to Verona, in the Republic of Venice, where he worked as a member of the Philharmonic Academy. In 1766 he was given the title of baron by Prince Maximilian of Bavaria. Abaco wrote nearly 40 cello sonatas, the 11 Capricci for Violoncello Solo, and other works. Many of his compositions were written in an old-fashioned, Baroque style, despite himself living a very long life well into the Classical era. Abaco died at his estate, Arbizzano di Valpolicella, Napoleonic Italy, near Verona, at the age of 95, on 31 August 1805. * Capricci for solo cello, edited by Christian Bellisario, Daniele Bianchi and Andrea Friggi (The White Prince Edition, 2006). Referenc

Joseph Karl Ambrosch

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Joseph Karl Ambrosch (; 6 May 1759 – 8 September 1822) was a Czech tenor opera singer and composer. Early life Born in Český Krumlov, Ambrosch lived in Berlin as a tenor opera singer since 1791. Since 1792 he has been part of the ensemble of the Berlin Royal National Theater, which August Wilhelm Iffland had led since 1796. Ambrosch appeared in plays as well as in operas and musical plays. One of his most successful roles was that of the landowner Weller in the German version of Ferdinando Paer’s Poche ma buone, ossia Le donne cambiate (1800), (first performance on 25 May 1807). In Mozart’s The Magic Flute he sang Papageno over 21 times between 1806 and 1812. He mostly played smaller supporting roles in plays. In Julius von Voss’s comedy (premiered on 29 January 1810) he played the role of a Jew. Together with the singer and actor , he published the three-part collection , which contained works by numerous contemporary composers, including a large number of songs composed by himself. Both were members of the Berlin Masonic lodge . Ambrosch died in Berlin in 1822, aged 63. References Further reading * Arrey von Dommer: “Ambrosch, Joseph Karl”, in: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB

Joseph Leopold Eybler

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Joseph Leopold Eybler (8 February 1765 – 24 July 1846) was an Austrian composer and contemporary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Life Eybler was born into a musical family in Schwechat near Vienna. His father was a teacher, choir director and friend of the Haydn family. Joseph Eybler studied music with his father before attending Stephansdom (the cathedral school of St. Stephen’s Boys College) in Vienna. He studied composition under Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, who declared him to be the greatest musical genius in Vienna apart from Mozart. He also received praise from Haydn who was his friend, distant cousin and patron. In 1792 he became choir director at the Karmeliterkirche (Carmelite Church) in Vienna. Two years later he moved to the Schottenkloster, where he remained for the next thirty years (1794–1824). Eybler also held court posts, including that of court Kapellmeister (chapel master) (1824–33). The Empress Marie Therese commissioned many works from him, including the Requiem in C minor (1803). Friendship with Mozart Through Joseph Haydn, Eybler met Mozart, who gave him some lessons and entrusted him with the rehearsal of his opera Così fan tutte. Eybler also conducted some per

Joseph Martin Kraus

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Joseph Martin Kraus (20 June 1756 – 15 December 1792), was a German-Swedish composer in the Classical era who was born in Miltenberg am Main, Holy Roman Empire. He moved to Sweden at age 21, and died at the age of 36 in Stockholm. He has been referred to as “the Swedish Mozart”, although his music is rarely performed today. He is best known for having been a sacred music composer, while his symphonic output was much higher than is extant today. He composed in a wide array of forms, and took his greatest aesthetic influence from Haydn and Mozart. His competency and artistic skills were praised almost universally during his time. Life Childhood Kraus was born in the South German town of Miltenberg in Lower Franconia, the son of Joseph Bernhard Kraus, a county clerk in the Archbishopric of Mainz, and Anna Dorothea née Schmidt. His father’s family, originally from Augsburg, had a small restaurant in Weilbach near Amorbach, while his mother was a daughter of the master-builder at Miltenberg Johann Martin Schmidt. They had 14 children, of whom seven died in childhood; Marianne Kraus was a sister of Joseph’s. After a short stay in Osterburken, the Kraus family moved in 1761 to Buchen (in

Joseph Schubert (composer)

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Joseph Schubert (20 December 1754 – 28 July 1837) was a German composer, violinist, and violist. Schubert was born in Varnsdorf, Bohemia (now Czech Republic) to a musical family. He received his early musical education from his father, who was a cantor, and then in Prague. In 1778, he moved to Berlin to study the violin with Paul Kohn, director of the royal orchestra there. In 1779, Schubert obtained a position as violinist in the court of Heinrich Friedrich, the Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt. In 1788, he accepted a post as violist in the court orchestra of Dresden, where he remained until his death in 1837. Schubert gained recognition as a versatile composer, cited in the 1812 edition of Ernst Ludwig Gerber’s lexicon of composers. His œuvre includes 15 masses, 4 operas, 17 sonatas, and 49 concertos for solo instruments. The Saxon State Library in Dresden holds the manuscripts of three viola concertos attributed to him. Published works *Concerto for Viola and Orchestra in C major (Schott Music, ed. Karlheinz Schultz-Hauser) External links * biography (in German) * References

Joseph Schuster (composer)

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Joseph Schuster (11 August 174824 July 1812) was a German composer. Life and career Schuster was born in Dresden, where he received his first musical training from his father, a court musician, and from Johann Georg Schürer. Thanks to a scholarship from the Saxon Prince-electors, he was able to study with Giovanni Battista Martini and counterpoint in Venice with G. Pera from 1765 to 1768. In 1776, he completed his first opera seria Didone abbandonata, after a libretto by Metastasio. It was given at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples and by all accounts was a great success. In the same year, the opera seria Demofoonte premiered in Forlì. In the following years, Schuster’s position was solidified with operatic successes in Naples and Venice. He was also recognized in Germany as an accomplished composer, and his singspiel, Der Alchymist, oder Der Liebesteufel is considered one of the finest examples of the art form. Most of his works are assigned to the opera buffa, but he also composed religious works, chamber music and orchestral music. Schuster’s work is also found in the string quartets appendix of the Köchel catalogue (No. 210 et seq,), and for a long time the “Milan Quartets” (1772–

Joseph Touchemoulin

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Joseph Touchemoulin (23 October 1727 – 25 October 1801) was a French violinist and composer of the classical period who mainly worked in Bonn and Regensburg. Biography Born in Chalon-sur-Saône, Joseph Touchemoulin, the son of the town’s oboist Louis Touchemoulin and his wife Jeanne Roulot, had been employed as a violinist at the court of the elector of Cologne of Bavaria in Bonn from a very early age. This enabled him to study in Italy, where he was taught by Giuseppe Tartini who was also the one who inspired Touchemoulin to develop his compositional skills. He returned to Bonn in 1753, where his salary was augmented by 1,000 fl. in March 1753. One of his symphonies was performed successfully at the Paris Concert Spirituel on 15 August of the following year. On 4 February 1761, he was appointed, contrary to customary practice, as Kapellmeister in Bonn instead of the more senior singer Ludwig van Beethoven the Elder, the grandfather of the composer of the same name. But only two days later the Elector died. The halving of the musician’s salaries by his successor Maximilian Friedrich von Königsegg-Rothenfels prompted Touchemoulin to resign and to take up a position at the court of th

Joseph Weigl

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Joseph Weigl (28 March 1766 – 3 February 1846) was an Austrian composer and conductor. Life Wiegl was born in Eisenstadt, Austrian Empire. The son of Joseph Franz Weigl (1740–1820), the principal cellist in the orchestra of the Esterházy family, he studied music under Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. He became Kapellmeister at the court theatre in Vienna in 1792, and from 1827 to 1838, was vice-Kapellmeister of the court. Weigl composed a number of operas, both Italian and German and in various genres, although most of his late works are pieces of sacred music. His best known work was the opera Die Schweizerfamilie (1809). He also set Emanuel Schikaneder’s libretto Vestas Feuer (1805), after his close friend Ludwig van Beethoven had composed a single scene and then abandoned it. Weigl died in Vienna in 1846. His younger brother Thaddäus Weigl was a composer and music publisher. Operas (first performed in Vienna, unless otherwise noted) * Die unnütze Vorsicht oder Die betrogene Arglist, puppet opera in one act, (1783) * Il pazzo per forza, opera in two acts (1788) * La caffettiera bizzarra, komische Oper in three acts (1790) * Der Strazzensa

Joseph-François Garnier

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Joseph-François Garnier (18 June 1755 – 31 March 1825) was a French oboist and composer. Life Joseph-François Garnier was born in 1755 in Lauris, Vaucluse, to a family of modest means. His father was a shoe-maker in the Place Jean d’Autan. His uncle was a bassoonist, who brought him to Paris to learn the oboe. In 1769 Garnier joined the orchestra of the Royal Academy of Music (which was to become the National Opera of Paris after the Revolution), playing oboe and flute. Over the course of his long career with this orchestra, from 1775 to 1808, Garnier earned a grand reputation also for performing at the Concert Spirituel public concert series from 1787 to 1791 as solo oboist, occasionally in performances of his own compositions. From 1792, he taught oboe at the National Guard where he became friends with the violinist Rodolphe Kreutzer, who dedicated his oboe concerto to Garnier and with whom Garnier gave the concerto’s first performance. Garnier joined the National Conservatory of Music (founded by the Convention) in 1795, where he was one of five professors of oboe (along with Bernard Delcambre, Gebauer, François Félix-Miolan and François Sallantin. Garnier was dominant at the Co

Josepha Barbara Auernhammer

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Josepha Barbara Auernhammer (25 September 1758 – 30 January 1820) was an Austrian pianist and composer. Biography Auernhammer was born in Vienna, the eleventh of fifteen children born to Johann Michael Auernhammer and Elisabeth (nee Timmer). Of the fifteen children, only three lived past the age of thirty. Auernhammer studied with, among others, Leopold Anton Kozeluch, and Mozart, who dedicated a number of works to her and with whom she performed a number of works that required four hands. On 27 June 1781, Mozart wrote of her: “Almost every day after dinner I am at H: v: Auernhammer’s - The Miss is a monster! - plays delightfully though, however, she lacks the genuine fine and lilting quality of cantabile; she plucks too much.” That year, Mozart dedicated his Violin Sonatas K. 296 and K. 376–80 to her. Auernhammer became a much-admired concert pianist and teacher throughout Vienna. She corrected the printing of several sonatas by Mozart, and her piano playing together with Mozart was described enthusiastically by Abbé Stadler. During a house concert in Vienna Passauerhof on 23 November 1781, she played Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos, K. 448 and the Double Concerto, K. 365. Further

Josephus Andreas Fodor

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Josephus Andreas Fodor (21 January 1751 – 3 October 1828) was a Dutch violinist and composer of the Classical era. Life Josephus Andreas Fodor was born in Venlo, the son of a squire who had been stationed in Hanover, and his wife Maria Elisabeth Messemaecker, who came from a musical family.

Józef Elsner

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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)

Józef Kozłowski

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Józef Kozłowski (, also or ; 1757/1759 – 11 March 1831) was a Russian composer of Polish origin. Biography For the most part of his life Józef Kozłowski was attached to the Russian Imperial Court, for which he wrote most of his music. In Russia he became popular especially for his patriotic polonaises. Sources vary as to Kozłowski’s time and place of birth. The Polish academia traditionally considers him as a native of Warsaw, born on 10 September 1759. According to the Encyclopedia of Literature and Art of Belarus (1985), he was born in 1757 in Kozlovichi manor near Propoysk (modern Slawharad, Belarus). Author of encyclopedia entry V. D. Bobrovsky based his claim on the data from a metric book he found in Sokolovo, Slawharad District. An obituary in Northern Bee, presumably written by Thaddeus Bulgarin, described Kozłowski as a “descendant of Belarusian nobility.” Kozłowski’s uncle, Vasily Fyodorovich Trutovsky (a famous hussler in his time), noticing his nephew’s musical abilities, took him to study in St. John’s Church in Warsaw, where the young musician received a musical education and underwent practice as a chanter, violinist and organist. For many years Kozlowski was associa

Juliane Reichardt

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Juliane Reichardt, née Benda (14 May 1752 – 9 or 11 May 1783), was a pianist, singer and composer from the Kingdom of Prussia. Biography Reichardt was born in Potsdam, the youngest of the six children of violinist and composer Franz Benda (1709–1786), who was concert master at the court of Frederick II. Her mother was Franziska Louise Eleonore Benda (née Stephanie) (1718–1758). Her older sister Maria Caroline Wolf (née Benda) (1742–1820) was later also a well-known singer, pianist and composer. She took music lessons from her father and appeared in concerts in Berlin as a singer and pianist. She married writer and composer Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752–1815) in 1776 and had a three children, the second of whom was Louise Reichardt (1779–1826). After her marriage with Johann Friedrich Reichardt, the couple moved to Berlin, from there onwards to Hamburg, Weimar and Königsberg. Juliane Reichardt died of puerperal fever in Berlin. Since 1733, Franz Benda was in the service of the Prussian Crown Prince, later Frederick II, who initially resided in Ruppin and after his enthronement in Potsdam in 1740. The Benda family lived in the small Potsdam, suburb of Nowawes, where Juliane Benda

Justin Heinrich Knecht

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Justinus or Justin Heinrich Knecht (30 September 1752 – 1 December 1817) was a German composer, organist, and music theorist. Biography He was born in Biberach an der Riss, where he learnt to play the organ, keyboard, violin, and singing. He attended a Lutheran collegiate institution in Esslingen am Neckar from 1768 to 1771, when he became Lutheran preceptor and music director in Biberach, which was a free imperial city until 1803, and had a rich cultural life. He became organist of St Martin’s church in 1792, which was used simultaneously by Lutherans and Catholics. He led an energetic, busy musical life; he composed for the theatre and church, organised subscription concerts, and taught music theory, acoustics, aesthetics, composition, and instruments at the Gymnasium, which was affiliated to the Musikschule in 1806. He went to Stuttgart in December 1806 in the hopes of a post there as Kapellmeister or similar, but after being appointed Direktor beim Orchester by the King of Württemberg in April 1807, he returned in 1808 to his former life in Biberach where he remained for the rest of his life. Works Collections are in the Wieland-Archiv, Biberach, and the Kick collection at the

Kane O'Hara

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Kane O’Hara (1711 or 1712 – 17 June 1782) was an Irish composer and playwright. Biography O’Hara was born at Templehouse, Connaught, Ireland, the second son of Kean O’Hara, high-sheriff of County Sligo. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in 1735. In 1757 he was a co-founder member, with the Earl of Mornington, of the Musical Academy in Dublin. His first publicly performed piece was the burletta Midas, stylistically a bridge between ballad opera and comic opera. The work mixes Irish, English, French and Italian popular airs in O’Hara’s arrangements with spoken recitatives. “O’Hara’s verse rarely rises above clever doggerel.” In 1774, Kane established a theatre in Dublin called Mr. Punch’s Patagonian Theatre, which in 1776 transferred to London, producing puppet show versions of operas and burlettas. He went blind in 1781 but continued his interest in theatre until his death in Dublin the following year. A number of his papers and manuscripts are held at the National Library of Ireland. Works *Midas: An English Burletta (Dublin, 1762) *The Golden Pippin: An English Burletta (London, 1773) *The two Misers: A Musical Farce (London, 1775) *April-Day. A Burletta (London, 1777) *To

Karl Alois, Prince Lichnowsky

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Karl Alois, Prince Lichnowsky of Woschütz (, also known as Carl Alois, Fürst von Lichnowsky-Woschütz; 21 June 1761 – 15 April 1814) was the second Prince Lichnowsky and a chamberlain at the Imperial Austrian court. He is remembered for his patronage of music and his relationships with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Life Karl Alois, Prince Lichnowsky was born in Vienna in 1761. Karl Alois was born as the eldest son of Prince Friedrich Karl Johann Amadeus von Lichnowsky-Werdenberg (1720-1788) and his wife, Countess Maria Karolina von Althann (1741-1800). Although Lichnowsky spent most of his time in Vienna, it was actually in Prussia that he held the title of Prince. His estates were located in Grätz, in the Austrian part of the historic province of Silesia, most of which was conquered by Prussia earlier in the century. The location is today called Hradec nad Moravicí and is within the borders of the Czech Republic. In his youth (1776 to 1782) he was a law student, studying in Leipzig and in Göttingen. While in Göttingen he met Johann Nikolaus Forkel, who later was to become famous for writing the first biography of J. S. Bach. Lichnowsky at the time began to colle

Karl Hermann Heinrich Benda

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Karl Hermann Heinrich Benda (also Carl Benda), (baptised 2 May 1748 – 15 March 1836) was a German violinist and composer of Bohemian origin. Life Karl Benda was the younger of two sons of the violinist and composer Franz Benda. His godparents were the margraves Friedrich Heinrich (Brandenburg-Schwedt) and Karl Friedrich Albrecht von Brandenburg-Schwedt as well as the Russian envoy Hermann Carl von Keyserlingk. Like his sisters Wilhelmine, Maria Carolina, Sophie Anna Henriette, Juliane and his brother Friedrich, he received music lessons from his father Franz Benda. In 1766, Karl was accepted in the Hofkapelle. As a violin virtuoso, especially in his performance of adagios, Karl Benda closely resembled his father. They were also said to be similar in character, stature and physiognomy. He was also a prized piano teacher; among his students were King Friedrich Wilhelm III as well as his brother Ludwig, who gave him a lifelong patronage. Other students of Karl Benda were Carl Friedrich Rungenhagen, the actor and singer and the singer Luise Rudorff, whom he saw performing in the Weimarer Hoftheater in 1792, when he was visiting his sisters Wilhelmine and Maria Carolina. Karl Benda was

Karl Kohaut

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Karl Ignaz Augustin Kohaut (baptised August 26, 1726 – August 6, 1784) was an Austrian diplomat, lutenist and composer of Czech descent. He is considered (along with Bernhard Joachim Hagen) to be one of the last important composers of music for Baroque lute. Career He was born in Vienna to Jakob Kohaut, musician to Prince Adam von Schwarzenberg. He entered civil service in 1756 or 1757. He accompanied Joseph II to his coronation in Frankfurt in 1764. In the same year he also accompanied Count Kaunitz to Paris. By 1778, he had become court secretary. In 1761, he published his first work, a divertimento for lute, two violins and basso continuo, in Leipzig. It is his only published work. He dedicated two cantatas to celebrate Emperor Joseph’s (at that time an Archduke of Austria) visit to the Melk Abbey. He played the violin in Gottfried van Swieten’s Sunday concerts, in which Haydn’s and Mozart’s works were played. The manuscripts of his first concerto and some of his trio sonatas came to the possession of the Belgian musicologist François-Joseph Fétis. His lute divertimento and five lute concertos have been recorded by John Schneiderman. References External links *

Koide Ichijūrō

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Koide Ichijūrō (湖出市十郎, died 29 October 1800) was a Japanese kabuki composer-performer (唄方 uta-kata) of “long songs” (長唄 naga uta) of the Edo period. He was at first a student of Yoshizumi Kosaburo 1st (1699-1753) and identified himself as Yoshizumi Ichijuro. From 1747 he appeared at the Morita-za, one of the three venues of Edo. Afterwards he became a disciple of Fujita Yoshiji 1st (1714-1771）, and changed his own stagename to Fujita Okada. In 1768 he took the name Koide, and in opposition to Fujita Yoshiji’s monopoly on the Ichimura-za, became active at the Nakamura-za, together with Nakamura Fujiro 1st (1719–86), receiving recognition also in Osaka. During the Meiwa-Tenmei period (1764–89) when the meriyasu genre of solo songs was in vogue he received recognition for shirotae (白妙, “white cloth cherry”) and the kouta song kurokami (“black hair”). The name Ichijūrō was taken up by 2nd, 3rd, (and according to one tradition a 4th) generation of performers of his songs. References

Leonhard von Call

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Leonhard von Call (19 March 1767 – 19 February 1815), sometimes referred to as “Leonhard de Call”, was an Austrian composer and virtuoso on the mandolin and guitar. During his lifetime he focused less on performing and more upon teaching and writing music for others to play. Life He was born in Eppan an der Weinstraße, South Tyrol. Although his village is in northern Italy today, it was part of the Tyrol in the Holy Roman Empire when he was growing up. Following World War I the area became part of Italy in 1919. After participating in the War of the First Coalition, which ran 1792 to 1797, he was awarded the Order Pour le Mérite, and became a civil servant at the Imperial Kammerzahlamt (Imperial Chamber Payments Office). At age 40, he married Maria Wilhelmina Brabee, who was 18 years his junior. They had five children. He died in Vienna. In 2006, the music school in his hometown was named after him. Career in music Von Call had grown up studying music, practicing with mandolin, guitar and flute, and in 1801, he commenced a professional career in Vienna teaching mandolin and guitar. He wrote for these instruments during this time, and Germans appreciated the flowing melodies combine

Leopold Friedrich Raab

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Leopold Friedrich Raab (1721 - after 1786) was a German composer and violinist of the baroque to early classical era. Raab was born in Glogau (now Głogów, Poland).

Leopold Hofmann

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Leopold Hofmann (also Ludwig Hoffman, Leopold Hoffman, Leopold Hoffmann; 14 August 1738 – 17 March 1793) was an Austrian composer of classical music. Biography Hofmann was the son of a highly educated civil servant, and at the age of seven became a chorister in the chapel of the Empress Elisabeth Christine, where his choral director and teacher was very likely František Tůma. He was also a student later on of Georg Christoph Wagenseil and Giuseppe Trani (violin). His studies included at various points violin, harpsichord and composition. In 1758 Hofmann secured what may have been his first appointment, as “musicus” at St. Michael’s. He is known to have become choral director at St. Peter’s Church in 1764 and, in 1766, kapellmeister. In 1769 he became a teacher to the royal family. The position of kapellmeister at the Cathedral of St. Stephan, a post he acquired in 1772, was among his next responsibilities. At this time he declined the directorship of the Imperial Chapel, but did apply there two years later, in 1774, failing in his application. (Giuseppe Bonno became director of the Imperial Chapel, which had become open upon the death of Florian Leopold Gassmann.) On 9 May 1791, at

Leopold Koželuch

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Leopold Koželuch (, born Jan Antonín Koželuh, alternatively also Leopold Koželuh, Leopold Kotzeluch; 26 June 1747 – 7 May 1818) was a Czech composer and music teacher. He was born in Velvary and moved to Prague to further his musical education, before moving again to Vienna in 1778, where he was based for the remainder of his career. In Vienna he achieved renown as a composer, pianist and teacher, and from 1792 until his death in 1818 he held royal appointments as Kammer Kapellmeister (music director) and Hofmusik Compositor (composer), as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s successor. Koželuch’s compositional output included sonatas and concertos for keyboard, the instrument in which he specialised, as well as chamber music, choral music and opera. Life Koželuch was born on 26 June 1747 in Velvary, Bohemia, Habsburg monarchy (present-day Czech Republic). His father was Antonín Bartholomäus Koželuh, a shoemaker. He was baptised Jan Antonín, but by 1773 he had adopted the name Leopold to avoid confusion with his elder cousin, the composer Jan Antonín Koželuh. After starting his musical education in Velvary, Koželuch moved to Prague where he studied with his cousin and František Xaver Dušek, t

Leopold Mozart

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Johann Georg Leopold Mozart (14 November 1719 – 28 May 1787) was a German composer, violinist, and music theorist. He is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule (1756). Life and career Childhood and youth Mozart was born in Augsburg on 14 November 1719, son of Johann Georg Mozart, a bookbinder, and his second wife Anna Maria Sulzer. From an early age, Mozart sang as a choirboy. He attended a local Jesuit school, , where he studied logic, science, and theology, graduating magna cum laude in 1735. Mozart studied then at the St. Salvator Lyzeum. While a student in Augsburg, Mozart appeared in student theater productions as an actor and singer, and became a skilled violinist and organist. He also developed an interest, which he retained, in microscopes and telescopes. Although his parents had planned a career for Leopold as a Catholic priest, this apparently was not Leopold’s own wish. An old school friend told Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1777, “Ah he Leopold was a great fellow. My father thought the world of him. And how he hoodwinked the clerics about becoming a priest!” Mozart withdrew f

Lorenz Christoph Mizler

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Lorenz Christoph Mizler von Kolof (also known as Wawrzyniec Mitzler de Kolof and Mitzler de Koloff; 26 July 1711 – 8 May 1778) was a German physician, historian, printer, mathematician, Baroque music composer, and precursor of the Enlightenment in Poland. Family of origin Lorenz Christoph Mizler was born in Heidenheim, Middle Franconia to Johann Georg Mizler, a court clerk to the Margrave of Ansbach at Heidenheim, and Barbara Stumpf, of St. Gallen, Switzerland. Education His first teacher was N. Müller, a minister from Obersulzbach, Lehrberg, from whom Mizler learned the flute and violin. From 1724 to 1730, Mizler studied at the Ansbach Gymnasium with Rector Oeder and Johann Matthias Gesner, who became director of the St. Thomas School, Leipzig, from 1731 to 1734. Mizler enrolled at Leipzig University on 30 April 1731, where he studied theology. His teachers there included Gesner, Johann Christoph Gottsched, and Christian Wolff. He earned a BS in December 1733 and a MS in March 1734. During this time, he also pursued the study of composition and had some association with Johann Sebastian Bach, whom, he wrote, he had the honor to call his “good friend and patron.” Mizler moved to Wi

Louis Adam

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Louis Adam or Jean-Louis Adam (born Johann Ludwig Adam) (3 December 1758 – 8 April 1848) was a French composer, music teacher, and piano virtuoso. Life and career Born in Muttersholtz, Alsace, the son of Mathias Adam and Marie-Dorothée Meyer, Adam taught himself violin and harp without a teacher, before going to Paris in 1775 to study piano and harpsichord with Jean-Frédéric Edelmann. Shortly after he wrote two concertante symphonies for harp, piano and violin, which were performed at a Concert Spirituel. Friedrich Kalkbrenner, Henry Lemoine, and Jean-Baptiste Bréval. In addition to being a skilled pianist, he composed a number of piano pieces that were in vogue at the time, especially some variations on Le Bon roi Dagobert. He also wrote two standard instruction books for piano: Méthode ou principe générale du doigté pour le forté-piano (1798) and Méthode nouvelle pour le piano (1802). In 1804, he published the Méthode de piano du Conservatoire, an influential work, which contributed to the advancement of piano technique in Paris. Adam was married three times. His second wife was the sister of the Count de Louvois; the couple had a daughter, Sophie, later married to Colonel Genot.

Louis-Armand Chardin

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Louis-Armand Chardin, called Chardiny (1755 – 1 October 1793) was an 18th-century French composer. Biography Born in Fécamp, Chardin made his debut at the Paris opera in 1780 as baritone and was finally received the following year. He stood out for the beauty of his voice and the purity of his singing. Nevertheless, he acted coldly and never knew how to enliven the stage. The role which made him most honoured was that of Theseus in Œdipe à Colone. Chardin was a composer, and we know of him several small operas that he wrote for the , such as: le Pouvoir de la nature, in one act, 1786; la Ruse d’amour, in one act, 1786; le Clavecin, 1787; Clitandre et Céphise, 1788. In 1787 he had l’Anneau perdu et retrouvé performed at the Comédie-Italienne. He is also known for the music of a melodrama entitled: Annette et Basile. Chardin was one of the first to set music to Florian’s romances Estelle and Galatée. His oratorio Retour de Tobie was given at the Concert spirituel the same year. Chardin wrote the recitatives of Paisiello’s Le Roi Théodore à Venise, when this work, translated by Moline, was performed at the Opera on 11 September 1787. It is also necessary to add to the list of his dram

Louis-Emmanuel Jadin

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Louis-Emmanuel Jadin (21 September 1768 – 11 April 1853) was a French composer, pianist and harpsichordist. Jadin was born in Versailles. He learned piano from his brother Hyacinthe Jadin and later worked at the Théâtre de Monsieur. His first opera was staged in Versailles in 1788. The following year he took the position of second keyboardist at the Théâtre de Monsieur. In 1792 he became a musician in the National Guard. In 1802 he acted as a professor of music and in 1806 was director of the Théâtre Molière. He later won fame as a pianist and taught at the Paris Conservatory. He was made Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur in 1824. Many of his works were published in Paris, where he died. The playwright and chansonnier Adolphe Jadin was his son. Selected works Operas *1788 Guerre ouverte ou Ruse contre ruse 3 Acts *1790 Constance et Gernand 1 Act *1790 Joconde after Jean de La Fontaine 3 Acts *1790 La religieuse danoise ou La communauté de Copenhague 3 Acts (also called Le Duce de Waldeza) *1791 La vengeance du bailli ou La suite d’Annette et Lubin 2 Acts *1791 L’heureux stratagème 2 Acts *1792 Amélie de Monfort 3 Acts *1792 L’avare puni 1 Act *1793 Les talismans 3 Acts *1793 Le coi

Louis-Luc Loiseau de Persuis

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Louis-Luc Loiseau de Persuis (4 July 1769 – 20 December 1819) was a French violinist, conductor, choirmaster, teacher, composer, and theatre director. After commencing his studies of music in his hometown of Metz, Persuis moved to Paris in 1787, and entered the orchestra of the Opéra in 1793. His entire career was within this institution; he became choirmaster in 1803, then conductor in 1810, replacing Jean-Baptiste Rey. He simultaneously worked in administrative rôles, as manager, musical inspector-general (1816), stage manager (1817), then chief director from 3 September 1817 until 13 November 1819, on which date illness forced him to resign. Persuis composed ballets, operas, and opéras comiques. His greatest success was Le triomphe de Trajan (1807), written in collaboration with Le Sueur. From 1810 to 1815, Persuis was the most performed composer at the Opéra, with 157 performances, largely due to Trajan. His opéras comiques found favour at the Théâtre Favart. He also adapted others’ works, for example the oratorio Les Croisés (Die Befreyung von Jerusalem, 1813) by Maximilian Stadler. Persuis taught singing at the Conservatoire de Paris until 1802. His name was proposed for a si

Ludwig Abeille

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Johann Christian Ludwig (Louis) Abeille (20 February 1761 in Bayreuth – 2 March 1838 in Stuttgart) was a German pianist, organist, conductor, music teacher and composer. Life His father was baronial valet and his mother was Christine Louise Abeille, both of whom were employed at the Bayreuth court. Starting at age eleven, he was educated at the Karlsschule in Stuttgart, where his teachers were Antonio Boroni, Ferdinando Mazzanti, and Johann Gottlieb Sämann. In 1782, he became a member of the musicians of the Court at the Duke of Württemberg in Stuttgart. He joined the faculty of Karl’s High School (Hohe Karlsschule), a rigorous military academy, in 1786. In 1802, he became concertmaster and later organist of the Court, replacing Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg. In this position, Abeille served as Maestro di Capella to the Duke for several years. In 1815, he became court organist at the court church and director of the Stiftsmusik. He retired in 1832. Ludwig Abeille was married to Henriette Hedwig née Haug, the daughter of the instrument maker Johann Friedrich Haug and his first wife Christine Dorothea Herdle (1736–1766). Christine was a daughter of the Ludwigsburg court musician Johann Jako

Ludwig August Lebrun

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Ludwig August Lebrun (baptized 2 May 1752 – 16 December 1790) was a German oboist and composer. Life Lebrun was born in Mannheim. The well-known and celebrated oboe virtuoso (a contemporary described being “charmed by his divine oboe”) played with the orchestra at the court of the Prince-Elector Carl Theodor in Mannheim. He started playing with the orchestra at the age of 12 and became a full member at the age of 15. His father, also an oboist probably from present-day Belgium, worked from 1747 at the Mannheim court. He was a contemporary of Carl Stamitz and Anton Stamitz, and belonged to the Mannheim school. In the summer of 1778 he married the soprano Franziska Danzi, one of the most outstanding and well-known singers of the time and the sister of composer Franz Danzi. With her, he travelled extensively across Europe: Milan, Paris, London, Vienna, Prague, Naples, Munich and Berlin. The couple’s playing and singing complemented each other perfectly and arias with obbligato oboe were written for them, as for instance those in Günther von Schwarzburg (1777) by Ignaz Holzbauer, L’Europa riconosciuta (1778) by Antonio Salieri and Castore e Polluce (1787) by Georg Joseph Vogler. The mu

Ludwig Wenzel Lachnith

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Ludwig Wenzel Lachnith (Prague, 7 July 1746 – Paris, 3 October 1820) was a Bohemian horn player and versatile composer influenced by Joseph Haydn and Ignaz Pleyel. Today he is chiefly remembered because of his adaptations of operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The French composer and writer Hector Berlioz immortalized him in a diatribe in his autobiography. Biography Lachnith was born in Prague. After early studies with his father Franz, an able church musician in Prague, Lachnith from 1768 onwards became a member of the court orchestra in Zweibrücken. In 1773 he went to Paris to study French horn with Johann Josef Rudolf (Rodolphe) and later composition with François-André Danican Philidor. Since 1783 he was living permanently in Paris, where his symphonies were played in the Concerts de la Reine (i. e. Marie Antoinette). With the onset of the French Revolution he got in trouble with the new authorities and had to resign from his post at the Paris Opera. He fled from the terror of the revolution in 1790, came back and henceforth eked out a meagre existence by giving private lessons and arranging operas and even oratorios for Parisian theatres. In 1801 he became instructor at the Pa

Ludwig-Wilhelm Tepper de Ferguson

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Ludwig-Wilhelm Tepper de Ferguson (Lewis-William Ferguson-Tepper, Tepper von Ferguson, Louis-Guillaume Tepper de Ferguson; 18 December 1768, Warsaw – 12 September 1838, Paris) was a Polish–Russian musician and composer, a music teacher mainly associated with the Imperial Lycée in Tsarskoye Selo (near St Petersburg, Russia). Biography Origin of the family Ludwig-Wilhelm Tepper de Ferguson was born in Warsaw as the sixth child and third son of the extremely wealthy Polish banker Piotr Fergusson Tepper and his wife Maria-Philipina, née Valentin d’Hauterive. The surname ‘Ferguson’ indicates the Scottish origin of the family. Indeed, in 1703, his grandfather William Ferguson of Inverurie had emigrated from Scotland to Poland. In 1714, William Ferguson married Katherina-Concordia Tepper, a sister of the wealthy and influential merchant and banker, furrier and fur trader Pjotr Tepper of Poznań. Pjotr Tepper managed the large-scale international trade using family connections, and imported goods to Poland from many countries, including Britain. William Ferguson and Katherina-Concordia had three sons. One of them, Peter (1732–1794), who would become Ludwig-Wilhelm’s father, entered into par

Luigi Boccherini

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Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini (, also ; ; 19 February 1743 – 28 May 1805) was an Italian composer and cellist of the Classical era whose music retained a courtly and galante style even while he matured somewhat apart from the major classical musical centers. He is best known for the minuet from his String Quintet in E, Op. 11, No. 5 (G 275), and the Cello Concerto in B major (G 482). The latter work was long known in the heavily altered version by German cellist and prolific arranger Friedrich Grützmacher, but has recently been restored to its original version. He is also particularly well known for his Musica notturna delle strade di Madrid (Night Music of the Streets of Madrid). Boccherini’s output also includes several guitar quintets. The final movement of the Guitar Quintet No. 4 in D (G 448) is a fandango, a lively Spanish dance. Biography Boccherini was born into a musical family in Lucca, Italy in 1743. He was the third child of Leopoldo Boccherini, a cellist and double-bass player, and the brother of Giovanni Gastone Boccherini, a poet and dancer who wrote libretti for Antonio Salieri and Joseph Haydn. Luigi received his first music lessons at age five by his father, who taught

Luigi Capotorti

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Luigi Capotorti (17 March 1767 – 17 November 1842) was an Italian composer of both sacred and secular music. He was the maestro di cappella of several Neapolitan churches; the composer of ten operas, five of which premiered at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples; and a teacher of composition and singing whose students included Stefano Pavesi and Saverio Mercadante. Born in Molfetta, he studied violin and composition at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio in Naples and spent his entire career in that city. In his later years, Capotorti retired to San Severo, where he died at the age of 75. Life Capotorti was born in the southern Italian town of Molfetta the son of Maria née Berardi and Michelangelo Capotorti. He showed an early talent as a violinist and at the age of 12 was hired by the town’s cathedral to play whenever the Eucharist was carried outside. In 1783 his father enrolled him in the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio in Naples where he studied violin under Michele Nasci and counterpoint and composition under Giuseppe Millico, Giacomo Insanguine, and Niccolò Piccinni. Further reading *Panunzio, Maria Pia (1999). Un musicista molfettese a Napoli. Società di Storia Patria per la Puglia (

Luigi Cherubini

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Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini ( ; ; 8 or 14 September 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian Classical and Romantic composer. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the greatest living composer of his era. Cherubini’s operas were heavily praised and interpreted by Rossini. Early years He was born Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini in Florence in 1760. There is uncertainty about his date of birth. Although 14 September is sometimes stated, evidence from baptismal records and Cherubini himself suggests 8 September is correct. Perhaps the strongest evidence is his first name, Maria, which is traditional for a child born on 8 September, the feast-day of the Nativity of the Virgin. From opera to church music After Les deux journées, Parisian audiences began to favour younger composers such as Boieldieu. Cherubini’s opera-ballet Anacréon was an outright failure and most stage works after it did not achieve success. Faniska, produced in 1806, was an exception, receiving an enthusiastic response, in particular by Haydn and Beethoven. Les Abencérages (1813), an heroic drama set in Spain during the last days of

Luigi de Baillou

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Pietro Luigi Francesco de Baillou (27 July 1736 – 14 March 1804)

Luka Sorkočević

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Count Luka Sorkočević (; January 13, 1734 – September 11, 1789) was composer from the Republic of Ragusa. His music has been preserved, like other Sorkočević family possessions, in the archives of the Dubrovnik Franciscan convent. He is known as the first Croatian symphonist. Biography Luka (Lukša) Sorkočević was born in Dubrovnik and received an extensive education. His music teacher was the Italian composer Giuseppe Valentini, who was maestro di cappella of Dubrovnik Cathedral in the 1750s. He continued his education in Rome where he studied musical composition with Rinaldo di Capua. Later, Sorkočević married a girl from the Luccari (Lukarević) family and held several posts in various branches of Dubrovnik politics and society. During his relatively brief stint in Vienna as the ambassador to the imperial court he met several leading composers of his time, like Gluck and Haydn, and the famous poet Metastasio – a valuable experience for his later life and work. With serious health problems, he committed suicide by throwing himself from the third floor of his palace in Dubrovnik in 1789, at the age of 55. Although he also wrote a few vocal pieces, his most interesting works are the

Maciej Kamieński

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Maciej Kamieński (13 October 1734, Sopron – 25 January 1821, Warsaw) was a Polish classical composer of Slovak origin. He studied music in Sopron, where his patron was Count Henckl von Donnersmarck. After his death (1760), Kamieński moved to Vienna to continue his education. There in 1762, he heard young Mozart play. He visited Warsaw for the first time in 1773: this year the publishing house of J. Engel issued some harpsichord works by Kamieński (today lost). He gave piano and singing lessons, held an inn in Warsaw (on Świętojerska street) and organized public concerts at Dulfowski manor house. Compositions Kamieński’s output includes 8 operas (2 German, 6 Polish), which the composer himself called operettas. Nędza uszczęśliwiona (1778) was long considered the first Polish opera to be performed in public theatre. It opened a new era for Polish musical theatre. Kamieński’s musical language shows a mixture of styles, from baroque and galant to classical. There are also some characteristics of opera buffa. They all are present in Nędza uszczęśliwiona. After his successes, Kamieński turned more and more towards folklore, using structures from authentic Polish folk music. It can be cle

Maciej Radziwiłł

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Prince Maciej Radziwiłł (; 10 November 1749 – 2 September 1800) was a Polish–Lithuanian noble (szlachcic), composer and librettist. Biography Around 1780, Maciej (Matthias) lived at Nieśwież, the house of Karol Radziwiłł, voivode of Vilnius, who maintained a company of actors, musicians and dancers there and at his estates in Alba (near Nieśwież), Ołyka, Słuck, Biała Podlaska and elsewhere. While at Nieśwież, Radziwiłł wrote the libretto for Jan Dawid Holland’s opera Agatka, czyli Przyjazd pana (‘Agatha, or The Master’s Arrival’) which was performed on 17 September 1784 during King Stanisław August’s visit to Nieśwież. He also wrote the libretto and composed the music for the three-act opera Wójt osady albiańskiej (‘The Headman of the Settlers at Alba’) which premiered in Alba on 4 November 1786. Radziwiłł was owner of Szydłowiec, Grand Podkomorzy of Lithuania since 1786, and castellan of Vilnius since 1788. He moved to Vilnius where he composed some instrumental and orchestral music and was awarded with the Order of the White Eagle on February 18, 1788. Sources *Alina Nowak-Romanowicz: “Prince Maciej Radziwiłł”, Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed September 20, 2008), (subscr

Madame Ravissa

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Madame Ravissa de Turin (Genovieffa Bernardina Maria Vignola Ravissa de Turin) (mid 18th century – 20 February 1807) was an Italian singer and composer. She was from Turin, but apparently lived in Paris from 1778 until 1783. She published six sonatas for harpsichord in Paris in 1778, where she was described as Maîtresse de Clavecin et de Chant italien. A copy of the sonatas survived in the collection of Kaiser Franz II of Austria. In 1933 the manuscript was discovered in storage at the by musicologist Ernst Fritz Schmid, and is now housed at the Austrian National Library in Vienna. In 1778 her work was described in the Parisian Almanach as “bold modulations that the Italians love and our timorous composers do not dare to allow themselves”. Works *Six Sonatas pour le Clavecin, Op. 1, Sonatas I–III by Madame Ravissa de Turin. Edited by Claudia Schweitzer. For harpsichord or period instrument and modern pianos. Furore Verlag. . Sonatas IV–VI. . References Further reading * “Genovieffa Ravissa” by Claudia Schweitzer and Elke Schröder (10 April 2018), MUGI (in German)

Maddalena Laura Sirmen

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Maddalena Laura Sirmen (; 9 December 1745 – 18 May 1818), commonly known as Madame Sirmen, was an Italian composer, violinist, and opera singer of the musical Classical period. Biography Birth and background Maddalena Laura Lombardini was born on 9 December 1745 in Venice. Her parents, Piero Lombardini and his wife, Gasparina (née Gambirasi), were poor, though they came from noble origins. At a young age, Maddalena showed musical talent and later began her studies at San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti. Whilst attending San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti, Maddalena received violin lessons from Giuseppe Tartini, visiting him in Padua. By the age of fourteen, she was teaching violin. In 1785, in Paris, Maddalena delivered her last performance as a violinist. After she ended her solo career, Maddalena returned to Italy, where she died on 18 May 1818 at the age of 72. Notes References Citations Works cited * * * * * External links * *

Mademoiselle Beaumesnil

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Henriette Adélaïde Villard or Henriette-Adélaïde de Villars, known under the stage name of Mlle Beaumesnil (30 August 1748 – 5 October 1813), was a French opera singer and composer. Biography Mlle Beaumesnil began working in minor comedy roles from the age of seven and debuted as a soloist at the Paris Opera in 1766, substituting for the primadonna Sophie Arnould in the title role of Berton and Trial’s Sylvie. She later sang in many premieres and revivals, patiently hoping that she would finally replace Arnould after her retirement. When the latter left the company in 1778, however, Rosalie Levasseur was preferred and Beaumesnil protested publicly in a letter to the Journal de Paris on 27 December to the effect that she had suffered an act of injustice. She gave rise to a bitter quarrel, also managing to get some sort of compensation by being entrusted the female lead in Gluck’s unsuccessful last opera Echo et Narcisse in September 1779, and did not carry out her threat to resign until 1781, when she finally left the stage. Around the same period she married tenor “Philippe” (Philippe Cauvy, 1754-ca 1820), a celebrated member of the Opéra-Comique (or, to be precise, the Comédie Ita

Manuel Blasco de Nebra

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Manuel Orlandi Blasco de Nebra (2 May 1750 – 12 September 1784) was a Spanish organist and composer who lived in Seville. He was the son of José Blasco de Nebra (Lacarra), the organist of Seville Cathedral since 1735, and became his assistant organist in 1768, taking over in 1778. He was renowned for his excellent sight-reading and playing of the organ, harpsichord and fortepiano, of which some impression can be obtained from his surviving compositions. During his short life (he predeceased his father), he composed about 170 works, although only 30, all for keyboard instrument, are still in existence. Six sonatas were recovered and edited by musicologist Robert Parris from the first edition of the Sonatas, Op.1 , held at the Library of Congress in Washington. Another twelve sonatas and the six pastorellas were found at the Monastery of Montserrat (Catalonia), which have since been published by Egtved in an edition by the Danish musicologist Bengt Johnsson. Later still, María Inmaculada Cárdenas Serván discovered a further six sonatas at the Encarnación Monastery of Osuna (in the province of Seville), which she published with the support of the Spanish Musicology Society. Two other

Marcello Bernardini

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Marcello Bernardini (or Marcello da Capua; near Capua, 1730 or 1740 – around 1799) was an Italian composer and librettist. Little is known of him, save that he wrote 37 operas in his career. His father was most likely the composer Rinaldo di Capua. Operas * La schiava astuta (intermezzo, 1765, Rome) * La pescatrice (farsetta, 1768, Rome) * Il Don Chisciotte della Mancia (dramma giocoso, libretto by Giovanni Battista Lorenzi, 1769, Turin) * Il cavaliere errante (farsetta, libretto by Marcello Bernardini, 1770, Rome) * La donna di spirito (farsetta, libretto by Marcello Bernardini, after that for La vedova scaltra by Carlo Goldoni, 1770, Rome) * La molinara astuta (intermezzo, 1770, Rome) * Amore in musica (opera buffa, 1773, Rome) * La contessina (dramma giocoso, libretto by Marco Coltellini, after Carlo Goldoni, 1773, Rome) * La bella forestiera ossia La viaggiatrice fortunata (farsetta, 1776, Rome) * La finta sposa olandese (farsetta, 1777, Rome) * L’isola incantata (intermezzo, 1778, Rome) * L’ambizione delusa (intermezzo, 1779, Rome) * Il bassà generoso (intermezzo, 1780, Rome) * Il vecchio ringiovanito (intermezzo, 1781, Rome) * Le vendette giocose ossia Il conte pasticcio (int

Marcos Portugal

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Marcos António da Fonseca Portugal (24 March 1762 – 17 February 1830), also known as Marco Portogallo in Italian, was a Portuguese-Brazilian classical composer, who achieved great international fame for his operas. Biography Marcos António da Fonseca Portugal was born in Lisbon. He studied music at the Patriarchal Seminary in Lisbon where, as a 14-year-old student, he wrote his first work, a Miserere. He later worked as composer and organist at the Patriarchal See, and was maestro at the Theatre of Salitre in Lisbon from c. 1784. He lived in Italy from late 1792 to 1800, possibly funded by the prince regent D. John, the later King John VI of Portugal. He wrote 21 operas for various Italian theatres. The first, I due gobbi (also known as Confusioni della Somiglianza), premiered in Florence in the spring of 1793. His version of The Marriage of Figaro, titled La pazza giornata, ovvero Il matrimonio di Figaro (The Crazy Day, or The Marriage of Figaro), to a libretto by Gaetano Rossi, premiered in Venice in 1799. Like most theatre composers of the time, Portugal set several librettos that had proven successful for earlier operas, such as Metastasio’s Demofoonte (premièred at La Scala, M

Margarethe Danzi

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Maria Margarethe Danzi ( Marchand; 1768 – 11 June 1800) was a German composer and soprano. Maria Margarethe Marchand was born in the Holy Roman Empire. Some sources give her birthplace as Munich and others Mannheim, and it was possible that the family was on tour in Frankfurt on the date of her birth. She was the daughter of the singer, actress and dancer Magdalena Brochard Marchand and Theobald Hilary Marchand, director of the National Theatre of Mannheim. Margarethe studied music and composition in Munich with Franziska Lebrun and in Salzburg with Leopold Mozart. She apprenticed in supporting roles and debuted in 1787 at the age of 12 at the Mannheim Court Theater, performing the title role in The Youth by Johann Jakob Engel. In 1790, she married conductor and composer Franz Danzi, and performed with him as prima donna of the troupe Domenico Guardasoni on European concert tours. After 1796, Margaret also performed as prima donna at the Munich Court Theatre. She died in Munich of pulmonary disease. Works List of works *Six Sonatas for Keyboard (ca. 1786) — lost (Leopold Mozart unsuccessfully tried to make Torricella publish these sonatas) *Three sonatas for pianoforte with violin

Maria Carolina Wolf

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Maria Carolina Wolf, née Benda, (1742 – 2 August 1820) was a German pianist, singer and composer. Life Maria Carolina Wolf’s father was Franz Benda, first violinist and composer at the court of Frederick II, her aunt Anna Franziska Hattasch was a chamber singer and her uncle Georg Benda was conductor, both with appointments at the court of the Duke of Gotha. Wolf received piano and singing lessons from her father. Before her appointment at the court, Benda had looked after her father’s household because of the death of her mother in 1758. However, in 1761 she went on a concert tour with her father to Gotha, Weimar and Rudolstadt, during which her father remarried. At the Weimar court, Maria Benda met the Hofkonzertmeister Ernst Wilhelm Wolf, who received an appointment at the Duchess’ court in 1768. Two years later the couple were married. In 1775 Anna Amalia handed over the business of government to her son Carl August. Ernst Wilhelm Wolf remained as conductor under his reign, and Maria continued working as a singer. The Duchess developed an interest in theater, introduced in 1776 by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Maria Wolf worked in the plays as an actress and singer and with her h

Maria Hester Park

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Maria Hester Park (née Reynolds) (29 September 1760 – 7 June 1813) was a British composer, pianist, and singer. She was also a noted piano teacher who taught many students in the nobility, including the Duchess of Devonshire and her daughters. Biography Before her marriage, Maria Hester Park gave four well-received performances, mostly in the Oxford area, on both the piano and the harpsichord. Her first public appearance was at the age of twenty-two as Maria Hester Reynolds in the Hanover Square concert series with a concerto on the harpsichord. She played a Clementi duet with Jane Mary Guest on 29 April 1783, a concerto at Willis’s Rooms in March 1784 and a performance as Mrs Park (“late Reynolds”) in May 1791. she ended her career as a performer, although she earned even more fame as composer and teacher. Her marriage appears to have been happy; several of her husband’s love poems to her still exist. She corresponded with Joseph Haydn, who, on 22 October 1794, sent her a sonata of his composition (Hob. XVI:51) and a thank you letter in exchange for two of her pieces. She died in Hampstead, London at the age of 53, after many years of ill health. The Parks had five daughters and a

Maria Rosa Coccia

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Maria Rosa Coccia (4 January 1759 – November 1833) was an Italian harpsichordist and composer. She achieved fame as a child, after composing sonatas and an oratorio that was performed at the Oratory S. Filippo Neri, in defiance of a tradition that women were not allowed to attend the event. After passing the examination for the Roman Accademia di Santa Cecilia, she was admitted to the academy. Life Maria Rosa Coccia was born in Rome on 4 January 1759 and studied with Sante Pesci. At the age of 13, Coccia composed six sonatas for harpsichord and the oratorio Daniello, which was performed the same year in the Oratory S. Filippo Neri, in defiance of a tradition that women were not allowed to attend the event. In 1716 Pope Clement XI had decreed that anyone practising music in Rome must enter the Accademia di Santa Cecilia and pass the exam to become Maestro di Capella. At 16 Coccia passed the exam and received the title, but because of her gender was never allowed to execute the duties of the position, though her music was performed. Her examination piece was hic vir despiciens mundum, and was ‘widely acclaimed’. In 1780 Maestro di Cappella Francesco Capalti of attacked Coccia’s exami

Maria Teresa Agnesi Pinottini

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Maria Teresa Agnesi Pinottini (; ; 17 October 1720 – 19 January 1795) was an Italian composer. Though she was most famous for her compositions, she was also an accomplished harpsichordist and singer, and the majority of her surviving compositions were written for keyboard, the voice, or both. Life Maria Teresa was born in Milan to Pietro Agnesi, a member of the lesser nobility. He provided early education for both Maria Teresa and her more famous older sister, Maria Gaetana, a mathematics and language prodigy who lectured and debated all over Europe while her sister performed. It was this education that allowed for Maria Teresa to fulfill her passion for music. Maria Teresa was married to Pier Antonio Pinottini on 13 June 1752, and they settled in a district populated by intellects and artists, but eventually suffered severe financial ruin. Pinottini died not too long afterwards. Maria Teresa died in Milan in 1795. Career Maria Teresa had several famous performances, perhaps the most famous on 16 July 1739, when famous French traveller Charles de Brosses was very impressed by her music. He was not the only one; Count Gerolamo Riccati wrote several letters praising her compositions

Maria Theresia Ahlefeldt

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Maria Theresia von Ahlefeldt (16 January 1755 – 20 December 1810) was a German born aristocrat and a Danish composer. She is known as the first female composer in Denmark. Biography Born in Regensburg, Maria Theresia was the eldest child of Alexander Ferdinand, 3rd Prince of Thurn and Taxis (1704–1773) and his third wife, Princess Maria Henriette Josepha of Fürstenberg-Stühlingen (1732–1772). She was a younger half-sister of Karl Anselm, 4th Prince of Thurn and Taxis and niece of Maria Augusta of Thurn and Taxis. She grew in a cultural environment at the princely court in Regensburg, which was a centre of French, German and Italian opera, theatre, ballet, pantomimes and concerts. She was instructed in clavecin playing with her sisters and displayed an early talent of music composition. Maria Theresia was engaged to Prince Joseph of Fürstenberg (1758–1796) from 1772 until her affair with an elderly German Prince Philipp of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen (1702–1781) in 1776. Her family, however, refused permission for her to marry Philipp. In 1780 in Prague, she married the Danish noble Count Ferdinand of Ahlefeldt-Langeland (1747–1815), against the will of her family. This marriage against t

Maria Theresia von Paradis

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Maria Theresia Paradis (May 15, 1759 – February 1, 1824) was an Austrian musician and composer who lost her sight at an early age, and for whom her close friend Mozart may have written his Piano Concerto No. 18 in B-flat major. She was also in contact with Salieri, Haydn, and Gluck. Early life Maria Theresia Paradis was the daughter of Joseph Anton Paradis, Imperial Secretary of Commerce and Court Councilor to the Empress Maria Theresa, for whom she was named. The Empress, however, was not her godmother, as was often believed. Between the ages of 2 and 5 she lost her eyesight. She received a broad education in the musical arts from: * (music theory and composition) * Leopold Kozeluch (piano) * Vincenzo Righini (singing) * Antonio Salieri (singing and composition) * Abbé Vogler (music theory and composition). By all accounts, Paradis had an excellent memory and exceptionally accurate hearing, as she was widely reported to have learned over sixty concertos by heart, as well as a large repertoire of solo and religious works. In 1773 she was commissioned to perform an organ concerto by Antonio Salieri which survives but without its second movement. By 1775, Paradis was performing as a

Maria Zubova

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Maria Voinovna Zubova (Russian: Мария Воиновна Зубова), (1749?–1799) was a Russian poet, composer, and concert singer, known for her rendition of folksongs. She was born in Saint Petersburg and was the daughter of Vice-Admiral Warrior Yakovlevich Rimsky-Korsakov. She was married to Afanasy Nikolaevich Zubov (1738–1822), Governor of Kursk from 1782 to 1791. With her husband, on June 19, 1780, they moved into an estate located near Murom, Vladimir Oblast, regarded as one of the most ancient cities within Russia. Composer Zubova was the creator of heartfelt poems and a composer of salon songs during the late 18th and was considered by the Russian Writer Daniil Mordovtsev as one of the “literary daughters of Lomonosov and Sumarokov.” Only a small portion of her musical work was published, the majority being published in Saint Petersburg during 1770. She was also a minor translator of French literature, although her work remains unpublished. She is most recognized for her folksong “I am moving to the desert…” written in 1791, whose words are now commonly used within the Russian vernacular. The second line of the first stanza is used, e.g., “From the beautiful places here,” to denote a

Marianna Martines

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Marianna Martines, also Marianne von Martinez (4 May 1744 – 13 December 1812), was an Austrian composer, pianist, and singer of the Classical period, based in Vienna. Early life Marianna Martines’s paternal grandfather was a Spanish soldier who had settled in Naples. Her father, Nicolo Martines, grew up there and for a time pursued a career as a soldier. He later changed careers, serving in Vienna as Maestro di Camera (major-domo) at the papal nuncio; that is, the Pope’s embassy to the Austrian Empire. For service to the Empire, Marianna’s brother Joseph in 1774 acquired a patent of nobility, hence the “von” in the family surname. In his youth in Italy, Nicolo had befriended the poet Pietro Trapassi, who wrote under the name Metastasio. The latter had risen in eminence, to the point that in 1730 he was called to Vienna to serve as the Poet Laureate of the Empire. Metastasio resided with the Martines family for the entire rest of his life (from about 1734 to 1782). His presence would prove crucial to Marianne’s career. The Martines family lived in an apartment in a large building on the Michaelerplatz in Vienna, “a stately building still standing in the Kohlmarkt”, the so-called “Al

Marie Emmanuelle Bayon Louis

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Marie-Emmanuelle Bayon Louis (6 June 1745, Marcei – 29 March 1825, Aubevoye) was a French composer, pianist, and salonnière. Contemporaries credited Mlle Bayon (or Baillon) for making the fortepiano popular in France. In 1770 she married the architect Victor Louis. Her surviving works are, as Bayon, a collection of six keyboard sonatas, three of them with violin accompaniment, opus 1 (1769), and, as Louis, the two-act opéra-comique, Fleur d’épine (“May-Flower”), first performed in 1776. Other works discussed during her lifetime include further instrumental chamber music and opéra-comiques, and music for La fête de Saint Pierre performed in 1771. Life In her dedicatory preface to the op. 1 sonatas Bayon’s reference to “the many kindnesses bestowed upon me since my tenderest infancy” by the family of Madame la Marquise de Langeron suggests that her musical training came through such patronage. From the age of about twenty-one she was associated with Madame de Genlis’s salon on the rue de Grenelle. Her good friend, the encyclopedist and philosophe Denis Diderot, who hired her as music teacher for his daughter, Angélique, compared Bayon’s music to that of Domenico Alberti, Johann Chris

Markus Heinrich Grauel

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Markus Heinrich Grauel (sometimes Marcus Heinrich Graul; 17?? – 1799) was a German composer and cellist of the classical period. Life Grauel was born in Eisenach, though his birth year remains unknown. The earliest available information concerning Grauel’s career is a mention of him working alongside his father-in-law, Johann Christian Hertel, at the court of the duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in Neustrelitz at the time of the Hofkapelle’s dissolution in 1753, when he was forced to search for employment elsewhere. After leaving Neustrelitz, Grauel was employed by Johann Nepomuk Gotthard Graf von Schaffgotsch in Berlin. He began his employment at the Prussian court in Berlin on 1 December 1763, where he remained until his death in 1799. The majority of contemporary accounts concerning Grauel date from his time in Berlin. Most notably, Charles Burney, after his visit to Berlin in 1772 wrote: “M. Grauel, a violoncello performer in the King’s band, played a concerto; it was but ordinary music; however, it was well executed, though in the old manner, with the hand under the bow.” On the contrary, his compositional skill was mentioned favourably by two contemporary commentators, Ernst Lud

Martha Llwyd

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Martha Llwyd (1766 – 16 October 1845), born Martha Williams, was a Welsh poet and Methodist hymnwriter. Due to health problems, Llwyd was unable to walk. She was carried aloft in her chair. Early life Martha Williams was born at Nantbendigaid Farm in Cynwyl Elfed, Carmarthenshire. Her family moved to Y Felin farm in the neighbouring parish of Llanpumsaint when she was a baby. She was regularly visited by the Methodist leader and fellow hymnwriter William Williams Pantycelyn to discuss their work, and it is alleged that some of her hymns were published under his name. Very little of Martha Llwyd’s work remains, and most of her hymns have been lost to posterity. Some of Llywd’s hymns were published in 1925, as recalled by John Evan Davies (Rhuddwawr). Another descendant is Dafydd’s mother, poet Menna Elfyn. Personal life In 1785 Martha Williams married Dafydd Llwyd, a local blacksmith and prominent member of the village’s Methodist community. The couple lived together in the centre of the village and had nine children, six boys and three girls, born between 1787 and 1807. The rigours of raising such a large family took its toll on her health and with time she became unable to walk. N

Mary Ann Wrighten

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Mary Ann Wrighten Pownall, née Mary Matthews, (b. 1751, d. 12 August 1796) was an English singer, actress and composer. Life Mary Ann Matthews was born in England of a jeweler father and shop-keeper mother. She was apprenticed to organist Charley Griffith where she learned music, and made her debut on the stage at about age 15. She married actor James Wrighten in about 1769 in Birmingham, and the couple came to London to work in Drury Lane, where she quickly became successful as a singer and actress with Garrick and Sheridan at Drury Lane and Covent Garden. The couple had two daughters, Mary and Charlotte. They divorced in 1786 in a public scandal, and Mary Ann Wrighten emigrated to the United States to work for theater manager John Henry. Her first American appearance was at the Southwark Theater in Philadelphia in 1792, billed as Mrs. (Hugh) Pownall. She also appeared in New York City, and settled in Charleston, where she died during a yellow fever epidemic in 1796. Mary Ann Powell was scheduled to sing a concert on August 6th, 1796, and after she and her family were expected to return to England. However, on August 2nd Mary Ann discovered her daughter Charlotte had married theat

Matthias Vanden Gheyn

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Matthias Vanden Gheyn ( or ; 7 April 1721 – 22 June 1785) was a Flemish musician from the Baroque/Classical transition period. He is a descendant of the famous bell founding family of the same name. During his life, Vanden Gheyn was considered an outstanding virtuoso of the carillon and organ. He is most famous for composing eleven preludes for carillon, which have become standard repertoire among carillonneurs worldwide since the early 1900s. His spot in history was earned in large part due to the tireless research of his biographer Xavier-Victor-Fidèle van Elewyck, a law and music scholar who considered Vanden Gheyn to be the greatest musician of the Southern Netherlands in the 18th century. Biography Matthias Vanden Gheyn was born in Tienen, Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium) into a celebrated family of Flemish bell founders, which in the context of bellfounding, first appeared in Mechelen in 1506, and continued into the 19th century and beyond through the foundry activities of the Van Aerschodt and Sergeys families. He was the oldest son of André-François II Van den Gheyn, the head of the family foundry at the time. In 1725, André-François II was commissioned by the city counci

Maxim Berezovsky

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Maxim Sozontovich Berezovsky ( ; ; c. 17452 April 1777) was a composer of secular and liturgical music, and a conductor and opera singer, who worked at the Saint Petersburg Court Chapel in the Russian Empire, but who also spent much of his career in Italy. He made an important contribution to the music of Ukraine. Together with Artemy Vedel and Dmitry Bortniansky, both of whom have cited him as an influence, Berezovsky is considered by musicologists as one of the three great composers of 18th-century Ukrainian classical music, and one of the Russian Empire’s first composers. Berezovsky’s place of birth and his father’s name are known only from verbal accounts. He is traditionally thought to have been educated at the ; he may have also attended the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, although this is uncertain. In 1758, he was accepted as a singer into the capella at Oranienbaum, before being employed at the imperial court of Catherine II in Saint Petersburg, where he received lessons from the Italian composer Baldassare Galuppi. In 1769, Berezovsky was sent to study in Bologna. There he composed secular works, including Demofonte, a three-act opera seria that was the earliest Italian-style opera

Maximilian Stadler

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Maximilian Johann Karl Dominik Stadler, Abbé Stadler, born August 1748, in Melk – 8 November 1833, in Vienna), was an Austrian composer, musicologist and pianist. In 1766, he entered the Benedictine Monastery in Melk Abbey, where he served as Benedictine monk, and then Prior from 1784 to 1786. In 1786, he was Abbot of the Monastery of Lilienfeld, and from 1789 in Kremsmünster Monastery. From 1791, he lived in Linz and from 1796 in Vienna, where he settled the estate of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and was in charge of the Imperial Music Archive. From 1803, he worked as a parish priest of Großkrut in Lower Austria, until he retired in 1816 to Vienna to devote himself to music. Stadler was among the most prominent personalities of Viennese musical life at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. He befriended Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert and wrote numerous essays on Mozart, as well as completed some of Mozart’s unfinished works. He worked on an unfinished Materialen zur Geschichte der Musik unter den österreichischen Regenten (Materials on the History of Music under the Austrian Regency), regarded as the first history of music in Austria. Most of his works

Michael Arne

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Michael Arne (c. 174014 January 1786) was an English composer, harpsichordist, organist, singer, and actor. He was the son of the composer Thomas Arne and the soprano Cecilia Young, a member of the famous Young family of musicians of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Like his father, Arne worked primarily as a composer of stage music and vocal art song, contributing little to other genres of music. He wrote several songs for London’s pleasure gardens, the most famous of which is Lass with the Delicate Air (1762). A moderately prolific composer, Arne wrote nine operas and collaborated on at least 15 others. His most successful opera, Cymon (1767), enjoyed several revivals during his lifetime and into the early nineteenth century. Biography Early life and career Michael Arne was born most likely in 1740 in the Covent Garden area of London. Music historian Charles Burney, a close friend of the Arne family, indicates that he was Thomas Arne’s natural son but there is some speculation among modern scholars that he may have been adopted. There is no record for Michael Arne at St Paul’s, Covent Garden, where most of the Arne family were christened. His father, Thomas Arne, was the

Michael Haydn

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Johann Michael Haydn (; 14 September 1737 – 10 August 1806) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period and the younger brother of Joseph Haydn. Life Michael Haydn was born in 1737 in the Austrian village of Rohrau, near the Hungarian border. His father was Mathias Haydn, a wheelwright who also served as “Marktrichter”, an office akin to village mayor. Haydn’s mother Maria, Koller, had previously worked as a cook in the palace of Count Harrach, the presiding aristocrat of Rohrau. Mathias was an enthusiastic folk musician, who during the journeyman period of his career had taught himself to play the harp, and he also made sure that his children learned to sing. Michael went to Vienna at the age of eight, his early professional career path being paved by his older brother Joseph, whose skillful singing had landed him a position as a boy soprano in the St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna choir under the direction of Georg Reutter, as were Johann Georg Albrechtsberger and Franz Joseph Aumann, both composers with whom Haydn later traded manuscripts. By Michael’s 12th birthday he was earning extra money as a substitute organist at the cathedral and had, reportedly, performed preludes an

Michael Kelly (tenor)

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Michael Kelly (25 December 1762 – 9 October 1826) was an Irish tenor, composer and theatrical manager who made an international career of importance in musical history. One of the leading figures in British musical theatre around the turn of the nineteenth century, he was a close associate of playwright and poet Richard Brinsley Sheridan. He also became friends with some of the most famous musicians in Europe of the time such as Mozart, Haydn, Storace, and Paisiello, and created roles for the operas of all three composers. With his friend and fellow singer Nancy Storace, he was one of the first tenors of that era from Britain and Ireland to become famous in Italy and Austria. In Italy he was also known as O’Kelly or even Signor Ochelli. Although the primary source for his life is his Reminiscences, doubt has been cast on the reliability of his own account, and it has been said that ’ a ny statement of Kelly’s is immediately suspect.’ Dublin beginnings Michael Kelly’s father Thomas, a Roman Catholic wine merchant and dancing-master, held an important social position as Master of Ceremonies at Dublin Castle, the seat of British government in Ireland. Michael was given a serious music

Michèl Yost

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Michèl Yost (Paris, 1754 – Paris, July 5, 1786) was a French clarinetist and cofounder of the French clarinet school. He was a brilliant instrumentalist and even known beyond the boundaries of France. Yost was a friend of Johann Christoph Vogel. Joseph Beer (1744–1811) was Yost’s teacher. Yost himself was a clarinet teacher counting famous clarinetists such as Xavier Lefèvre amongst his pupils. Compositions Although most compositions were published under his own name, some are the result of a cooperation with other musicians such as Johann Christoph Vogel. Some of his concertos have been recorded by Dieter Klöcker. * Concerto no. 1 * Concerto no. 2 in B flat * Concerto no. 3 in B flat * Concerto no. 4 * Concerto no. 5 in E flat * Concerto no. 6 * Concerto no. 7 in B-flat major for Clarinet and Orchestra (“de Michel et Vogel”) * Concerto no. 8 in E-flat major for Clarinet and Orchestra (“de Michel et Vogel”) * Concerto no. 9 in B-flat major for Clarinet and Orchestra (“de Michel et Vogel”) * Concerto no. 10 in B flat (“de Michel et Vogel”) * Concerto no. 11 in B-flat major for Clarinet and Orchestra (“de Michel et Vogel”) * Concerto no. 12 in B flat (“de Michel et Vogel”) * Concerto

Michelangelo Valentini

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Michelangelo Valentini (1720–1768) was an Italian composer and organist. Biography and work Michelangelo Valentini was born in Naples, around 1720. He was probably a student of Leonardo Leo. He debuted as an opera composer at the Teatro Nuovo (Naples) with the comic opera Il Demetrio. He remained in Naples for most of his life, associated with the Teatro dei Fiorentini, where many of his operas were performed. His works include the cantata Regina Valentini, eight operas, and twenty independent arias. His opera using the plot of La clemenza di Tito, in this case using a libretto by Antonio Palomba, was watched by Mozart in 1770, some 20 years before Mozart’s opera seria of the same name. Michelangelo Valentini died in Naples at some point after 1768. Operas *Il Demetrio (libretto by Antonio Palomba). Opera buffa. First performance in Naples, 1745. *La Villana nobile (Antonio Palomba). Comic opera. Naples, 1748. *La clemenza di Tito (Antonio Palomba). Dramatic opera. Bologna, 1743. *Solimano (Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca). Dramatic opera. Turin, 1756. *La sconfitta di Darío (Carlo Deodato Morbilli). Dramatic opera. Genoa, 1757. *Viriate (Pietro Metastasio). Dramatic opera. Pavia, 17

Michele Stratico

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Giuseppe Michele Stratico (31 July 1728 – 31 January 1783) was a Venetian composer and violinist of Greek descent. Biography Stratico was born in Zara, Republic of Venice (today Zadar in Croatia). His father, the Cretan Greek Giuseppe Battista Stratico de Candia or Stratikos (ca. 1690-28 November 1770 ), left Crete shortly before 1718. The island of Crete was declared a province of the Ottoman Empire in 1646 after the occupation of the western part of the Ottomans during the Great Cretan War. The Venetians maintained control of the capital until 1669, when Francesco Morosini surrendered the keys of the city of Heraklion to the Ottomans. The fortresses of Souda, Gramvousa and Spinalonga, located on small islands near Crete, remained under Venetian control until 1715, when they also fell under Ottoman control. After spending a few years in Bari, Giovanni Battista found shelter in Zara in 1720 or 1721, where he married in 1725 Maria Castelli di Chio (ca. 1700 – 18 April 1796 ). Her brother, Ivan Antun II Castelli (1706–78), was bishop of Kotor (1744). On 5 November 1725 Giuseppe Battista confirmed his nobility from Crete at the civic municipality of the town Nin. Four of their twelve

Mlle Duval

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Mlle Duval (short for Mademoiselle Duval) (c. 1718 – after 1775) was an 18th-century French composer who wrote the second opera by a woman ever performed at the Paris Opera. Biography Mlle Duval, whose first name is unknown, was a French composer and dancer who was an accomplished harpsichordist.

Mme Delaval

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Mme. Delaval or Madame De La Valle, birthname Adélaïde-Suzanne-Camille Larrivée, (October 12, 1763 – c. 1804) was a French harpist, pianist and composer. Delaval was born in Paris to opera singers Henri Larrivée and Marie-Jeanne Larrivée Lemière. She had one sister, Agathe-Elisabeth-Henriette, who was given violin lessons while Adelaide focused on the harp. Both girls were students of Jean-Baptiste Krumpholz. When their parents separated in 1767, the girls provided for their guardian and aunt, Elisabeth-Henriette Larrivée, by touring through French provinces in concerts. Adelaide married Pierre Delaval on August 3, 1790, in Lyon. They moved with Agathe to London during the French Revolution. She was employed by Johann Peter Salomon for concerts at Hanover Square in London in 1790 and played for the first Haydn concert in 1792. She was also employed by the Ashleys for concerts in Covent Garden in 1796. Her works have been edited for publication by harpist Jessica Suchy-Pilalis. Works Delaval’s compositions were mostly for the harp and agreed with the salon culture of c. 1800 Paris. She wrote her Op. 3 for her daughter, Camilla, to perform at Willis’s Room in London when the child wa

Muzio Clementi

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Muzio Filippo Vincenzo Francesco Saverio Clementi (23 January 1752 – 10 March 1832) was an Italian composer, virtuoso pianist, pedagogue, conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer who was mostly active in England. Encouraged to study music by his father, he was sponsored as a young composer by Sir Peter Beckford, who took him to England to advance his studies. Later, he toured Europe numerous times from his long-standing base in London. It was on one of these occasions, in 1781, that he engaged in a piano competition with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Influenced by Domenico Scarlatti’s harpsichord school and Joseph Haydn’s classical school and by the stile Galante of Johann Christian Bach and Ignazio Cirri, Clementi developed a fluent and technical legato style, which he passed on to a generation of pianists, including John Field, Johann Baptist Cramer, Ignaz Moscheles, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Friedrich Kalkbrenner, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, and Carl Czerny. He was a notable influence on Ludwig van Beethoven and Frédéric Chopin. Clementi also produced and promoted his own brand of pianos and was a notable music publisher. Because of this activity, many compositions by Clementi'

Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli

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Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli (; 4 April 1752 – 5 May 1837) was an Italian composer, chiefly of opera during the classical period. Life Early career Zingarelli was born in Naples, where he studied (from the age of 7) at the Santa Maria di Loreto conservatory under Fenaroli and Speranza. In 1789–1790 Zingarelli went to Paris to compose Antigone. He left France hurriedly at the time of the revolution and eventually returned to Italy. He was appointed maestro di cappella at Milan Cathedral in 1793, and remained there until 1794, when he took up the prestigious post of maestro di cappella at the Basilica della Santa Casa, Loreto. Rome In 1804, Zingarelli was appointed choir master of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Seven years later he publicly refused, as an Italian patriot, to conduct a Te Deum for Napoleon’s new-born son, known as King of Rome, in St. Peter’s Basilica. As a result of this refusal he was captured and taken to Paris. Nevertheless, the Emperor was a great admirer of Zingarelli’s music and soon gave the composer his liberty. In addition, Zingarelli was awarded a state pension. Naples In 1813, Zingarelli moved to Naples, where he became director of the conservatory. Then in 181

Niccolò Jommelli

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Niccolò Jommelli (; 10 September 1714 – 25 August 1774) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he was responsible for certain operatic reforms including reducing ornateness of style and the primacy of star singers somewhat. Biographical information Early life Jommelli was born to Francesco Antonio Jommelli and Margarita Cristiano in Aversa, a town some 24 km north of Naples. He had one brother, Ignazio, who became a Dominican friar and was of some help to him in his elder years, and three sisters. His father was a prosperous linen merchant, who entrusted him for musical instruction to Canon Muzzillo, the director of the choir of Aversa Cathedral. When this proved successful, he was enrolled in 1725 at the Conservatorio di Santo Onofrio a Capuana in Naples, where he studied under Ignazio Prota alongside Tomaso Prota and Francesco Feo. Three years later he was transferred to the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini, where he was trained under Niccolò Fago, with Don Giacomo Sarcuni and Andrea Basso, as second maestri (maestri di canto), or singing teachers. He was greatly influenced by Johann Adolf Has

Niccolò Piccinni

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Niccolò Piccinni (; 16 January 1728 – 7 May 1800) was an Italian composer of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and opera. Although somewhat obscure today, Piccinni was at one time one of the most popular opera composers — particularly of the Neapolitan opera buffa — of the Classical period of music of the mid- to late-18th century. Life Piccinni was born in Bari, in the Apulia region of Italy. From the age of fourteen, he was educated at the Conservatory of San Onofrio by Leonardo Leo and Francesco Durante, due to the intervention of the Bishop of Bari. His father, although himself a musician, was opposed to his son following the same career. Piccinni’s first opera, Le donne dispettose, was produced in 1755 with the patronage of Prince Vintimille. La buona figliuola represented a special moment in the history of eighteenth-century music, in which comedy began to take on a new dramatic force. It was the moment at which the self-consciously sentimental theatrical project of Carlo Goldoni (the opera’s librettist) was married with the developing musical language of classicism. This can especially be seen in the sensitive writing of Cecchina’s act 2 aria “Una povera ragazza”. The

Nicola Conforto

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Nicola Conforto (25 September 1718 – 17 March 1793) was an Italian composer. He studied music in his hometown at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto (Music conservatories of Naples), under the tutorship of Giovanni Fischetti and Francesco Mancini . After receiving his training, he made his debut during the carnival of 1746 in Naples as an opera composer with La finta vedova (The false widow). In the following years he staged his other works both in Naples and in Rome; the fame he achieved thanks to these successes meant that in 1750 he received the commission from the Teatro San Carlo for his first opera seria, Antigonus . In 1749 he married the singer Zefferina Anselmi, with whom he had three children. In 1751 he wrote the cantata Gli orti esperidi (The Hesperides gardens) in honor of the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, to celebrate the name day of the Spanish king Ferdinand VI on 30 May 1752 he presented the drama Siroe, and on 23 September 1754 for the birthday celebrations of the King of Naples Charles III he presented L’eroe cinese (the Chinese hero). These latter two works gained much acclaim in Madrid, so much so that in 1756 he was named compositore d’opera di cort

Nicola Sala

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Nicola Sala (7 April 1713 – 31 August 1801) was an Italian composer and music theorist. He was born in Tocco Caudio and died in Naples. He was chapel-master and professor at Naples, having devoted himself to the collection of the finest models of printed music. Biography Sala studied music in Naples at Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini from 1732 to 1740 under Nicola Fago and Leonardo Leo. Some of his pupils were Carlo Lenzi, Giuseppe Gherardeschi, Benedetto Neri, Étienne-Joseph Floquet, Adalbert Gyrowetz, Louis Julien Casels de Labarre, Ercole Paganini, Gaspare Spontini, and many others. He probably wrote his first composition, the opera Vologeso, staged first in Rome, in 1737. In 1745 he was accepted as successor to Leo in the position of master of the royal chapel. In the sixties represented some of his works at the Teatro di San Carlo, including the drama Zenobia, composed by his pupil Ambrogio Minoja, was well received. In 1787 he became second master of the Pieta Turchini, where he stayed for 47 years as teacher and director of the conservatory. He was one of the most important Neapolitan teachers, having taught many musical composers. He wrote several pedagogical treatis

Nicolas Dalayrac

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Nicolas-Marie d’Alayrac (; bapt. 13 June 175326 November 1809), nicknamed the Musician poet, more commonly Nicolas Dalayrac, was a French composer of the Classical period. Intended for a military career, he made the acquaintance of many musicians in the Parisian salons, which convinced him of his true vocation. Among his most popular works, Nina, or The Woman Crazed with Love (1786), which tackles the theme of madness and arouses real enthusiasm during its creation, premiered on 23 November at the Stroganov Palace. The Two Little Savoyards (1789), which deals with the rapprochement of social classes, a theme bearing the ideals of the French Revolution, Camille ou le Souterrain (1791), judged as his best production or even Léon ou le Château de Monténéro (1798) who by his leitmotifs announces a new genre. His first compositions were violin duos, string trios and quartets. He published them under a pseudonym with Italian consonance. The quartets were very successful, and the true identity of their author was eventually discovered. According to René-Charles Guilbert de Pixérécourt, he was initiated into Freemasonry and was a member of the Masonic lodge of «The Nine Sisters». In 1778 h

Nicolas Roze

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Nicolas Roze (17 January 1745 – 30 September 1819) was a French composer and music theorist. Biography Born in Mercurey, Roze was a choirboy at the , Nicolas Roze was noted for his beautiful voice and received a good musical training. He was not twelve years old when he composed a motet with orchestra. He was invited to enter the King’s music as a page, but his parents preferred to have him finish his studies at the Beaune college and then at the Autun seminary. A master of music in Beaune from 1767 to 1769, he had a mass of his composition performed there, and went to Paris to present it to Antoine Dauvergne, superintendent of the music of the king. In 1769, the latter commissioned him the motet Dixit insipiens, given to the Concert Spirituel. His first published work was a Quartet for flute and strings in C minor (1769). After spending a few years at the Cathédrale Saint-Maurice d’Angers, he settled in Paris, where in 1775 he became a chapel master in the . In 1779, after a dispute with the ecclesiastical authorities, he devoted himself to the teaching of music and wrote his system of harmony, which was published by Jean-Benjamin de La Borde. His motet Vivat in æternum was perfor

Nicolas Séjan

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Nicolas Séjan (17 March 1745 – 16 March 1819 He was appointed to the Chapelle Royale in 1789. He lost his charges during the French Revolution, but later recovered some of them. He left a few works for the harpsichord and the pianoforte as well as the organ. Nicolas Séjan was Louis-Nicolas Séjan’s father, his successor at the church of Saint-Sulpice. He died in Paris on 16 March 1819 and was buried at Montmartre Cemetery. See also * French organ school * References External links * * Noël suisse on data.bnf.fr * Swiss Noel - Nicolas Séjan on YouTube * Nicolas Séjan on isni.org * Biographie sur le site “Musica et Memoria” * Nicolas Séjan on IdRef * Nicolas Séjan on Musicalics

Nicolas-Jean Lefroid de Méreaux

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Nicolas-Jean Lefroid de Méreaux (1745–1797) was a French composer born in Paris. According to music critic François-Joseph Fétis, Méreaux studied music under French and Italian teachers before becoming the organist of the Church of Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas. He wrote several motets for the church and had his oratorio Esther performed at the Concert Spirituel in 1775. His first published work was the cantata Aline, reine de Golconde in 1767. He went on to compose several operas. His son, Joseph-Nicolas Lefroid de Méreaux (1767–1838), was also a composer, mostly of piano music. - Le retour de tendresse comédie mêlée d’ariettes 1 act Louis Anseaume 1 October 1774 Théâtre des Italiens - Laurette opéra 1 act Danzel de Malzeville 23 July 1777 Comédie Italienne - Alexandre aux Indes tragédie lyrique 3 acts Étienne Morel de Chédeville 26 August 1783 Paris Opéra - Œdipe à Thèbes tragédie lyrique 3 acts Comte Duprat de Lantouloubre 30 December 1791 Paris Opéra - Fabius tragédie lyrique 3 acts J. Martin (known as Barouillet) 9 August 1793 Paris Opéra - References Sources * Félix Clément and Pierre Larousse Dictionnaire des Opéras, Paris, 1881. Available online here * Benoît Dratwicki, “Foreig

Niel Gow

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Niel Gow (22 March 17271 March 1807) was a Scottish fiddler in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Early life Gow was born in Strathbraan, Perthshire, in 1727, as the son of John Gow and Catherine McEwan. The family moved to Inver in Perthshire when Niel was an infant. He started playing the fiddle when very young, and at age 13 received his first formal lessons from one John Cameron of Grandtully. In spite of being something of a musical prodigy, he originally trained as a weaver, but eventually gave up that trade to become a full-time musician. He was widely considered the best fiddle player in Perthshire, an area which was renowned for its musicians—the story goes that at age 18 he entered a competition that was being judged by John McCraw, a blind musician, who awarded him the first prize and then went on to claim that he “would ken his bow hand among a hunder players” (detect Niel’s style among a hundred players). This attracted the attention of the Duke of Atholl, who became Gow’s patron, and also ensured his employment for balls and dance parties put on by the local nobility. In time he became renowned as a fiddler. Musical career According to John Glen (1895), Gow comp

Nikolaus Zmeskall

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Count Nikolaus Zmeskall von Domanovecz (20 November 1759, Leštiny, Kingdom of Hungary (present day Slovakia) – 23 June 1833, Vienna, Austria) was an official in the Hungarian Court Chancellery, living in Vienna. He was a musician and friend of Ludwig van Beethoven. Life Zmeskall was educated at Neusohl (now Banská Bystrica in Slovakia), and studied philosophy and law at the universities of Trnava and Pest. After qualifying as a lawyer he moved to Vienna in 1784, where he was a civil servant at the Hungarian Court Chancellery. He was an amateur musician, and according to his own account he had lessons in composition from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Georg Albrechtsberger. He was a founding member of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna, and was a member of its committee from 1813 to 1825. His compositions include string quartets, a piano rondo and several cello sonatas; they are in the archives of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. Beethoven dedicated his String Quartet No. 11 in F minor (published in 1816) to Zmeskall. In May 1824 Zmeskall, despite being in poor health, was present at the premiere of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Beethoven, a month before his death, wrot

Olivier Aubert

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Pierre François Olivier Aubert (1763 – c.1830) was a French cellist, guitarist and composer. He mostly abbreviated his name as “P. F. Olivier Aubert”. Biography Aubert was born in Amiens. After having received initial musical training in his home town, he studied the cello autodidactically. In 1787 he is first mentioned as a cello teacher in Paris. He played in various musical theatres and opera houses and was a member of the orchestra of the Opéra-Comique for 25 years. After having heard Ferdinando Carulli perform in Paris in 1808, he also turned to the guitar; it is not known whether he had any formal tuition on this instrument. His chief merit is having published two good instruction books for the cello at a time when works of that kind were rare and much needed. Besides solo music for his two instruments, he wrote also chamber music including string quartets. In a pamphlet entitled Histoire abrégée de la musique ancienne et moderne he expressed his opinion about several writings on ancient and modern music. Aubert frequently published his compositions himself. He died in Paris aged around 67. Works Chamber music * 3 String Quartets, Op. 1 (Zurich, 1796) * 3 String Quartets, Op.

P. D. Q. Bach

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P.D.Q. Bach is a fictional composer created by the American composer and musical satirist Peter Schickele for a five-decade career performing the “discovered” works of the “only forgotten son” of the Bach family. Schickele’s music combines parodies of musicological scholarship, the conventions of Baroque and Classical music, and slapstick comedy. The name P.D.Q. is a parody of the three-part names given to some members of the Bach family that are commonly reduced to initials, such as C.P.E. for Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach; PDQ is an initialism for “pretty damned quick”. Schickele began working on the character while studying at the Aspen Music Festival and School and Juilliard, and performed a variety of P.D.Q. Bach shows over many years. The Village Voice mentions the juxtaposition of collage, bitonality, musical satire, and orchestral surrealism in a “bizarre melodic stream of consciousness … In P.D.Q. Bach he has single-handedly mapped a musical universe that everyone knew was there and no one else had the guts (not simply the bad taste) to explore.” In 2012, Schickele reduced his touring due to age. On December 28 and 29, 2015, at The Town Hall in New York, he performed two con

Pasquale Anfossi

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Pasquale Anfossi (5 April 1727 – February 1797) was an Italian opera composer. Born in Taggia, Republic of Genoa, he studied with Niccolò Piccinni and Antonio Sacchini, and worked mainly in London, Venice and Rome. He wrote more than 80 operas, both opera seria and opera buffa, although he concentrated on church music, especially oratorios, during his last years. Anfossi died in Rome in 1797. Career Aiming at first to become a performer, he studied violin at the Neapolitan Loreto Conservatorium from 1744 to 1752, and played in an opera orchestra for ten years. He then turned to composing, studying with Sacchini and Piccinni. The first performance of his own work, the opera buffa La Serva Spiritosa was at the Rome Carnival in 1763, though his authorship of the work was not clearly established at the time. It appears he preferred to work under his teacher Sacchini, supplementing his tutor’s works. Nevertheless, he made a breakthrough with his dramma giocoso L’incognita perseguitata in 1773 in Rome. By 1782 he had written about 30 operas, performed mainly in Venice and Rome, although on occasion also in other parts of Italy and in Vienna. His first London performance was Il trionfo de

Paul Wranitzky

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Paul Wranitzky (; 30 December 1756 – 29 September 1808) was a Moravian classical composer. His half brother, Antonín, was also a composer. Life Wranitzky was born in Neureisch (Nová Říše) in Moravia, today Czech Republic. He studied at the Faculty of Theology of University of Olomouc and later a theological seminary in Vienna. At age 20, like so many other Czech composers of that period, he moved to Vienna to seek out opportunities within the Austrian imperial capital. From 1790, he conducted both royal theater orchestras. He was highly respected by Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven; the latter two preferred him as conductor of their new works (e.g., Beethoven’s First Symphony in 1800). Wranitzky was a prolific composer. His output comprises ten operas, 44 symphonies, at least 56 string quartets (some sources give a number as high as 73) and a large amount of other orchestral and chamber music. His opera, Oberon – The Fairy King from 1789 was a favorite in this genre and inspired Emanuel Schikaneder to write the libretto of The Magic Flute for Mozart in 1791; in the mid-1790s, Goethe sought to collaborate with Wranitzky on a sequel to the Mozart opera. Today, Wranitzky is attributed as b

Pedro António Avondano

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Pedro António Avondano (16 April 1714 - 1782) was a Portuguese composer of Italian parentage. Pedro António was born and died in Lisbon. His father Pietro Giorgio Avondano of Genoa, was a violinist at the court of João V, one of many Italian musicians at the Portuguese court. Pedro António Avondano is mainly noted, like Domenico Scarlatti, for his harpsichord sonatas and sacred music. Works, editions and recordings * comic opera Il mondo della luna, with libretto by Carlo Goldoni * oratorio Il voto di Jefte * oratorio Adamo ed Eva * sacred works, inc. Tantum ergo * sinfonie Editions * Forty-nine Lisbon minuets by Pedro Antonio Avondano ed. Mary Farrar Hatchette, Tulane University of Louisiana, 1971 - 334 pages. Recordings * Avondano. Sonata in C major. Sousa Carvalho. Toccata in G minor, Allegro in D major. Ruggero Gerlin (harpsichord). Philips © 835769I.Y LP, 1967 * Harpsichord works. Rosana Lanzelotte. Portugaler, 2006. *Il mondo della luna, Naxos, 2020 *La Morte d’Abel, Presto Music, 2023 Some of Avondano’s works were revived at the Festival d’Ambronay in 2006. References External links * * Biography (in Portuguese)

Peter K. Moran

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Peter K. Moran (30 June 1767 – 10 February 1831) was an Irish pianist, composer, and music publisher – probably the earliest classical composer from Ireland to emigrate to the United States. Life Moran was probably born in Dublin and studied with Philip Dwyer (died 1802) and Philip Cogan (1750–1833). He appeared at concerts in Dublin between March 1799 and June 1816. His earliest compositions were published in Dublin from c. 1796 and reprinted there until the late 1820s. In 1817, Moran emigrated to the USA with his wife, a singer. While Kinkeldey described him as a “Boston musician”, the Moran couple was evidently very active in New York’s concert life, even their daughter making her début as a singer and pianist in 1820, aged five. Moran was organist at Grace Episcopal Church (c. 1823–7), and St John’s Chapel (1828–31), performed for the Handel and Haydn Society in 1820 and for the New York Choral Society’s first concert in 1824. He also played the cello in the García Opera Company in New York in 1825, performed with the Philharmonic Society, and was concertmaster of the Musical Fund Society. From 1822 to 1823 he ran a piano and music store and published about 25 pieces, including

Peter Mandrup Lem

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Peter Mandrup Lem (baptized 7 June 1758 - 12 January 1828) was an eighteenth-century Danish violin virtuoso. Among his few compositions always mentioned by his contemporaries are his both symphonies, violin concertos, piano pieces and an oratorio, although none of them is known to be preserved. Biography Life Peter Lem was born in Copenhagen and received his first education from his father, John Lem, accountant for Skillings-Ligkassenthen, and his mother Kirstine, née Tonnesen. Still as a child he drew the attention of concert master Johann Hartmann, of whom he became a pupil. As a twelve-year-old child he could perform “even the most difficult concertos and solos, not without admiration from those who listened to him”, which was read in the Adresseavisen after the boy had had his debut as soloist and member of Det musikalske Selskab at a concert in Rådhusstræde (City Hall Street) on 1 February 1770. The following year he was admitted to the Royal Chapel and traveled with royal subsidy abroad to seek further education, staying especially in Vienna and Italy, and returned to Copenhagen in 1783. On 11 February 1784 he gave a concert at the Royal Danish Theatre, where he received tumu

Peter Winter

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Peter Winter, later Peter von Winter, (baptised 28 August 1754 – 17 October 1825) Further reading * Linda Tyler: “Winter, Peter”, in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera (London: Macmillan 1992), . External links * * Peter (von) Winter operone.e

Petros Peloponnesios

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Petros Peloponnesios (“Peter the Peloponnesian”) or Peter the Lampadarios (c. 1735 – 1778) was a cantor, composer and teacher of Byzantine and Ottoman music. He served as second domestikos between his arrival about 1764 until the death of Ioannes Trapezountios, and it is assumed that he became lampadarios (leader of the left choir) between 1770 and 1778 at the Great Church of Constantinople, after Daniel the Protopsaltes became Archon Protopsaltes. Large parts of the monodic chant sung in several current traditions of Orthodox Chant are transcriptions of his compositions. He wrote these as a teacher of the “New Music School of the Patriarchate”. Life Petros was born at Tripolis, Rumelia Eyalet between 1730 and 1740. According to Georgios Papadopoulos he was educated in monastic communities of Smyrna. In 1764 he came to Constantinople to study with Ioannes Trapezountios, the Archon Protopsaltes, while Daniel like Ioannes student of Panagiotes Halacoğlu was Lampadarios at the Great Church of Constantinople. Petros could serve there as second domestikos who was usually in charge to notate the versions sung by the cantors with the higher ranks. Between 1770 and 1778 he served as lampad

Philip Cogan

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Philip Cogan (1750 – 3 February 1833) was an Irish composer, pianist, and conductor. Biography Cogan was born in Cork, where he was a choirboy and vicar choral at St Fin Barre’s Cathedral. In 1772, he was appointed a stipendiary at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, but left the post a few months later due to ill health. From 1780 to 1806 he was organist at St Patrick’s Cathedral. He also conducted the orchestras of the Smock Alley and Crow Street theatres “to the detriment of his church duties”. In fact, Cogan’s compositions for the stage outnumber those for the church by far. He not only wrote operas himself (The Rape of Proserpine, 1776; The Ruling Passion, 1778; etc.), but also collaborated with other Dublin composers, as in The Contract (1782, with John Andrew Stevenson, Tommaso Giordani, and one Laurent). In 1787, Cogan was a co-founder of the Irish Musical Fund Society. He was an active participant in Dublin’s musical life for many years including performances in the annual “Commemoration of Handel” festivals at the Rotunda and at various charity concerts in both Catholic and Protestant churches. Cogan was a much sought-after teacher and counted among his pupils a number of no

Philip Hayes (composer)

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Philip Hayes (baptised 17 April 1738 – 19 March 1797) was an English composer, organist, singer and conductor. Life and career Hayes was born in Oxford. His early musical education was overseen by his father William Hayes. He was awarded the degree of B.Mus in 1763 for the masque Telemachus and received his doctorate in 1777. He sang at the Chapel Royal in London from 1767, but returned to Oxford in 1776 to take up the post of organist at New College, Oxford and to assist his ailing father, whom he succeeded as Heather Professor of Music in 1777. He also replaced him as organist of Magdalen College, Oxford, and the University Church, and added the post of organist at St John’s College in 1790. His professorial ‘lectures’ took the form of specially composed odes and oratorios which were performed in the Oxford Music School. In 1780 he was appointed conductor of the annual Festival of the Sons of the Clergy held at St Paul’s Cathedral, and in 1791 he presided over Haydn’s visit to Oxford. As a conductor, he was one of the first English musicians to use a roll of paper with which to beat time but he was best known for his difficult personality and corpulence. His frequent trips to Lon

Philipp Christoph Kayser

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Philipp Christoph Kayser (10 March 1755 – 24 December 1823) was a German pianist, composer, orchestra musician, music teacher and poet. He was a close friend of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Life Kayser was born in Frankfurt on 10 March 1755, the son of the organist of the St. Catherine’s Church, Frankfurt. His father gave him his first music lessons. He studied music theory with Georg Andreas Sorge. Already at grammar school, Kayser became friends with Friedrich Maximilian Klinger, who was three years older and later became the most successful playwright of the Sturm und Drang movement. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe also joined him later, as did the Strasbourg poet Heinrich Leopold Wagner and the Livonian Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz, who lived in Strasbourg and visited Frankfurt from time to time. In 1774, Kayser became a freemason in the Zurich lodge Modestia cum libertate. In 1775, Kayser moved to Zurich. Goethe paid him a visit there in 1775 and 1779. Goethe was so enthusiastic about his songs, that he sent him his Singspiel “Jery und Bäteli” for setting to music. First Kayser refused. However, this did not harm Goethe - he still stood by him as his chosen composer. “What I apprecia

Pierre Desvignes

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Pierre Desvignes (27 September 1764 – 27 January 1827) was a French composer. Life Born in Velars-sur-Ouche (Burgundy) (modern department of Côte-d’Or), from a family of modest farmers, Desvignes was quickly noticed for his voice and admitted as Altar server (child singing in the choir) of the . He received extensive training there, designed to turn these young singers into future professional performers. He then received further training at the musical school of the Dijon Cathedral where he had the chance to have as his teacher Jean-François Lesueur, who had himself been trained in chœurs d’église (in Picardy) before the French Revolution in 1789. It was there that Desvignes composed his first major work in 1780, a 4-part Mass. Resolutely modern in inspiration, this small piece (a four-part choir and four soloists, without instruments) requires high level performers: for centuries, all members of the church choirs were professional, until the brutal suppression of the ecclesiastical chapters in 1790. Lesueur then had him appointed Kapellmeister to the Évreux Cathedral. He was 17 years old. Desvignes stayed only a few months in this position, which he left in 1782 to become chapel

Pierre Gaveaux

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Pierre Gaveaux (6 October 1760 – 5 February 1825) was a French operatic tenor and composer, notable for creating the role of Jason in Cherubini’s Médée and for composing Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal, the first operatic version of the story that later found fame as Fidelio. Early life Gaveaux was born in Béziers and sang in the cathedral choir there from the age of seven. Although intending to enter the priesthood, he also took lessons in composition. He next became first tenor at the Basilica of Saint-Seurin in Bordeaux, studying with Franz Ignaz Beck, and subsequently decided to follow a career in music, becoming a conductor at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux as well as continuing to sing. Career as a singer After a period in Montpellier, he moved to Paris where, on 26 January 1789, he took part in a performance of Giacomo Tritto’s Le Avventure Amorose, which marked the inauguration of the Théâtre de Monsieur company in the Salle des Machines at the Tuileries Palace. He subsequently performed with the company in operas such as Paisiello’s L’Infante de Zamora (in 1789), and on 18 July 1791 he sang the role of Floresky in the première of Cherubini’s Lodoïska. When the company moved to

Pierre-Joseph Candeille

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Pierre-Joseph Candeille (8 December 1744 – 24 April 1827) was a French composer and singer, born in Estaires. He studied at Lille before moving to Paris, where he worked singing basse-taille in the chorus of the Opéra and the Concert Spirituel between 1767 and 1781, except for a brief period (1771—1773) he spent in Moulins. From 1784, he became a full-time composer. He worked at the Opéra as choirmaster from 1800 to 1802 and again from 1804 to 1805, before retiring to live in Chantilly. Candeille wrote four symphonies, as well as ballets, divertissements and sacred music (including a mass and a Magnificat). None of his operas achieved much success, with the exception of his revision of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Castor et Pollux. Candeille’s version was premiered at the Paris Opéra on 14 June 1791. By 1 January 1793, it had had 50 performances. It continued to be one of the most popular operatic works in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic period and was last staged in 1817. Candeille retained much of Rameau’s original music, including “almost all the dances.” Candeille was the father of the composer, singer and actor Amélie-Julie Candeille. Works Staged works All information from Julian

Pierre-Louis Couperin

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Pierre-Louis Couperin (14 March 1755 – 10 October 1789) was a French organist and composer, a member of the famous Couperin dynasty of composer-organists. Life Like his brother Gervais-François, Pierre-Louis Couperin studied with his father Armand-Louis Couperin. On 19 April 1773, the board of Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais appointed him as successor to his father. Pierre-Louis Couperin occupied the traditional positions held by his family: he was an organist at Notre-Dame de Paris, where his brother succeeded him, but also at Saint-Gervais, Saint-Jean-en-Grève, the Carmes-Billettes and the Chapelle royale. Pierre-Louis Couperin died shortly after his father and was buried with him in the Saint-Gervais church in the chapel de la Providence. Compositions Source: *Romances for harpsichord *1782: Air de Malbrough mis en variations *1784: Allegro *1784: Air de Tibulle et d’Élie *1787: Romance de Nina mise en variations pour le clavecin, ou piano-forte Bibliography *Anthony, James R. (1997), French Baroque Music from Beaujoyeulx to Rameau, Portland, Amadeus Press *Beausant, Philippe (1980), François Couperin , Paris, Fayard *Benoit, Marcelle (rep.) (1992), Dictionnaire de la musique en Fra

Pieter Hellendaal

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Pieter Hellendaal (1 April 1721 – 19 April 1799) was a Dutch composer, organist and violinist. At the age of 30, he migrated to England where he lived for the last 48 of his 78 years, and where he was known as Peter Hellendaal. He was one of the most notable 18th-century composers of Dutch origin. His son, also Peter Hellendaal (sometimes known as Peter Hellendaal the younger) was also a professional musician. Life Early and student years Hellendaal was born in Rotterdam on 1 April 1721, the son of Neeltje Lacroix and Johannes Hellendaal. Johannes earned a living to support his family as a candle-maker while seeking paid gigs, and teaching and working with amateur musicians. As a father, Johannes provided his son Pieter with an intense musical education, including organ and violin. In addition to his highly creative compositions and prodigious craft as a performer, Pieter in maturity maintained himself by compositions and self-publications that respected and supported amateur musicians. In 1731, the Hellendaal family moved to Utrecht where Pieter – still juvenile – became organist for the church, a highly visible and prestigious position: Popularly known as the “Santa Claus” Church

Pieter van Maldere

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Pieter van Maldere, known also as Pierre van Maldere (16 October 1729 – 1 November 1768) was a Flemish violinist and composer. He was a violinist of the Royal Chapel, the court orchestra in Brussels of the governor-general of the Austrian Netherlands, Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine. After an international career which brought him to Dublin, Paris and Vienna, he returned to Brussels where he became a director of the Brussels opera house (De Munt/La Monnaie). He was the leading composer of the Austrian Netherlands in the mid-18th century. His symphonies, exemplary for the galant style, merged French stylistic elements with Viennese and Italian influences. Life Van Maldere was born in Brussels and educated as a violinist and composer, probably by the Kapellmeisters of the Brussels Royal Chapel, first Jean-Joseph Fiocco and later Henri-Jacques de Croes. From 1749 he was a violinist at the Royal Chapel, the court orchestra of the Austrian Netherlands, Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine. From 1751 to 1753, van Maldere was director of the Philarmonick Concerts in Dublin. William Manwaring published the Six Trios for 2 Fiddles and thorough Bass composed by Sieur Van Maldere in Dubl

Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi

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Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi (9 December 1728 – 19 November 1804) was an Italian opera composer of the classical period. Biography Guglielmi was born into the Guglielmi family of musicians in Massa. He went to London, according to Charles Burney, in 1768, but according to Francesco Florimo in 1772, returned to Naples in 1777. He continued to produce operas at an astounding rate, but was unable to compete successfully with the younger masters of the day. In 1793 he became maestro di cappella at St Peter’s, Rome, where he died in 1804. He was a very prolific composer of Italian dramma giocoso and commedia per musica operas, and there is in most of his scores a vein of humour and natural gaiety not surpassed by Domenico Cimarosa himself. In opera seria he was less successful. But here also he shows at least the qualities of a competent musician. Considering the enormous number of his works, his unequal workmanship and the frequent instances of mechanical and slipshod writing in his music need not surprise us. He also wrote oratorios and miscellaneous pieces of orchestral and chamber music. Of his eight sons two at least acquired fame as musicians: Pietro Carlo Guglielmi (1763-1827), a

Pietro Denis

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Pietro Denis (1720–1790), also known as Pierre Denis, was a French mandolin virtuoso and teacher, and composer. He studied under Giuliano in Naples and established himself in Paris. He is best known for his compositions Sonata for Mandolin & Continuo No. 1 in D major and Sonata No. 3 for Mandolin. He also wrote a mandolin instruction method, Méthode pour apprendre à jouer de la mandoline sans Maître (method to learn how to play mandolin without a teacher), published Paris in 1768. He wrote another mandolin method, published in Paris in 1792, and was the author also of Four collections of airs for the mandolin; a New system of practical music, issued in Paris in 1747. Denis also wrote a French translation of Tartinf’s Tratto delle appogiature si asceudenti che discendeiiti per il violino, under the title of Traite des agremens de la musique, compose par le celebre Giuzeppe Tartini a Padua, et traduit par le Sigr. P.Denis. This volume was published by M. de la Chevardier, Paris. *“A vous dirai-je maman” for two mandolins *Variations on Air de Lison for two mandolins *Prelude for solo “discordant” mandolin *Variations for solo mandolin *Kleine Stücke und Variationen : für zwei Mandoli

Pietro Nardini

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Pietro Nardini (12 April 1722 – 7 May 1793) was an Italian composer and violinist, a transitional musician who worked in both the Baroque and Classical era traditions. Life Nardini was born in Livorno and at the age of 12 became a pupil of Giuseppe Tartini in Padua. In 1740 he moved to Lucca. He was invited to the court of Maria Theresa in Vienna more than once. In 1762 he moved to Stuttgart, where he joined the court of Charles Eugene, Duke of Württemberg and performed at his summer residence Ludwigsburg Palace. He was appointed conductor, succeeding Niccolò Jommelli. In 1765 he traveled to the courts of Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Prince Francis Xavier of Saxony. In 1770 he moved back to Italy to assist the suffering Tartini. The next year he became Kapellmeister, succeeding Carlo Antonio Campioni in Florence. The rest of his life he stayed at the court of Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, but performed in Naples, Pisa and Rome. As a friend of Leopold Mozart, he witnessed the arrival of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on his first visit to Italy and his attempts to find a sustainable position in 1770–1771. He also met the Bohemian composer Václav Pichl, Kapellmeister t

R. J. S. Stevens

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Richard John Samuel Stevens (27 March 1757 – 23 September 1837) was an English composer and organist. He composed some highly regarded English glees, and wrote a number of volumes of recollections, diaries and other literary material that provides valuable background on the musical life of late 18th century and early 19th century England. He bridges the gap between old Handel and Queen Victoria. Biography Stevens was born at Little Bell Alley, just off Coleman Street in London, and was apprenticed to William Savage, Master of the Boys at St Paul’s Cathedral until his voice broke in 1773. He took up various organ and technig jobs until his first official appointment, as organist of St Michael’s Cornhill in May 1781. In 1786 he succeeded John Stanley as organist at Temple Church, and in 1796 succeeded John Jones as organist of Charterhouse. Many of these positions were held simultaneously. In 1808 he received yet another appointment, as music master at Christ’s Hospital. Besides being valuable in themselves, these appointments helped him to attract the wealthy pupils on whom his living substantially depended. In 1810 Stevens married Anna Jeffery, after a long courtship; in 1811 they

Rafael Antonio Castellanos

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Rafael Antonio Castellanos (c. 1725–1791) was a Guatemalan classical composer. His style is that of the late Spanish baroque, pre-classical, and classical periods, with frequent reference to Guatemalan folk music idioms. Life From an early age, Castellanos trained as an apprentice under his uncle Manuel José de Quirós, chapelmaster of the cathedral of Santiago de Guatemala. In 1740, the young Rafael signed a composition for voice and basso continuo, on the Latin text of the Second Lamentation of Jeremiah. This piece reflects his mastery of baroque writing and an unusual expressive talent. In 1745 he became a journeyman and was admitted as a member of the cathedral orchestra as first violin, sometimes also playing harp. During the 1750s he produced various of his own compositions for the matins services, along with those of his uncle. When Quirós died in 1765, Castellanos was appointed his successor as chapel master, with the duties of conducting cathedral music during matins, vespers, and Mass, and of composing suitable music for different liturgical occasions. After the earthquake of 1773 life changed dramatically in the City of Santiago de Guatemala, which would shortly move to t

Raynor Taylor

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Raynor Taylor (1747 – 17 August 1825) was an English organist, music teacher, composer, and singer who lived and worked in the United States after emigrating in 1792. Active in composing music for the theater, outdoor pleasure garden, and the Anglican Church and Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States, he was one of the first notable composers active in America. Biography Raynor Taylor was born in Soho, in Westminster, London, England, between August and November 1747. As a boy he sang in the choir at the Chapel Royal for many years, notably singing at the funeral of George Frideric Handel in 1759. Music historian J. R. Parker reported that Taylor’s hat accidentally dropped into the composer’s grave during the funeral ceremony. He studied organ, singing, and music composition with Samuel Arnold in London as a teenager, and at the age of eighteen became the organist at Chelmsford. In 1765 he was appointed the resident composer and musical director for the Sadler’s Wells Theatre and the Marylebone Gardens, serving in both positions for more than 25 years. In 1792 Taylor immigrated to the United States, partially due to the encouragement of his pupil Alexander Reinagle. He in

Richard Langdon

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Richard Langdon (1729 – 8 September 1803) was a British organist, mainly at Exeter Cathedral, where he spent his early years, and later at Bristol Cathedral and Armagh Cathedral. He also composed church music. Early career He was born in Exeter in 1729, son of Charles Langdon and a grandson of Tobias Langdon (1683–1712), Vicar choral of Exeter Cathedral. In the summer of 1738, Richard became a chorister at Exeter Cathedral and retained this until spring 1748; by then he had become a secondary. Sub-chanter John Hicks was ordered to teach Richard the organ on 1 December 1744. On 16 June 1753, he was appointed as Vicar choral of Exeter Cathedral following the death of former organist John Silvester; soon after, on 23 June, was also appointed the cathedral’s organist. Langdon’s early career was marked without complaints over him or his competence and he taught writing and arithmetic to the choristers. From 1757 to 1769, large sums of money were paid to Richard for subscriptions to volumes of William Boyce’s compositions. The only criticism of Langdon by the cathedral was on 3 March 1759 due to his “frequent” absence and disobedience of the sub-chanter. Soon after on 7 April 1759, he wa

Richard Woodward (organist)

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Richard Woodward the younger (c.1743/44 – 22 November 1777) was an Irish composer and organist, probably of English birth. Biography Woodward was probably born in Salisbury and became a choirboy of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, in 1751, following the appointment of his father (of the same name) from Salisbury to the Dublin cathedral choir as a lay vicar choral. In 1764 Woodward was awarded a gold medal by the Hibernian Catch Club (which has been referred to as the oldest surviving musical society in Europe) for his canon Let the Words of My Mouth, which is inscribed on his memorial at Christ Church Cathedral. In 1771, Trinity College conferred upon him the degree of MusD. He had several students, including British composer Harriet Wainwright. At the age of 22, in 1765, Woodward was appointed organist at Christ Church Cathedral as successor to George Walsh and choral vicar at St Patrick’s Cathedral. His memorial records that he was “Preceptor to the Children of the two Choirs, Dublin.” He died in Dublin aged 33. Music Woodward was a composer of Anglican church music. His folio of glees and anthems formed the first collection of cathedral music published by an Irish composer. Wood

Robert Mackintosh

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Robert Mackintosh (c 1745–1807), known as ‘Red Rob’ on account of the colour of his hair, was a Scottish composer and violinist, active in Edinburgh at the end of the 18th century. He was known for his compositions of strathspeys, reels, and jigs, as well as minuets and gavottes. Biography Mackintosh was born in Tullymet, near Pitlochry, Perthshire, about 1745. Around 1773, he was living in Skinner’s Close, just off Edinburgh’s High Street, employed as a music teacher and playing in the orchestra of the Edinburgh Musical Society. His first collection of music was published in 1783, including 54 pieces, including 17 reels. During 1785-88 he was working in Aberdeen, leading the ‘Gentleman’s Concerts’. His second collection was published in Edinburgh in 1793, including 73 pieces, including more reels and strathspeys. A third collection, including 117 pieces, followed in 1796. He later went to London where in 1804 he produced his fourth collection of a further 113 pieces. He died in London in 1807. Works *The Diamond Reel (Miss Steel of Norwich) (1st collection) *Honourable Mrs. Campbell of Lochnell (2nd collection) *Miss Elizabeth (Betty) Robertson (2nd collection) *Miss Ann Munro’s Q

Rodolphe Kreutzer

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Rodolphe Kreutzer (15 November 1766 – 6 January 1831) was a French violinist, teacher, conductor, and composer of forty French operas, including La mort d’Abel (1810). He is probably best known as the dedicatee of Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 9, Op. 47 (1803), known as the Kreutzer Sonata, though he never played the work. Kreutzer made the acquaintance of Beethoven in 1798, when at Vienna in the service of the French ambassador, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte (later King of Sweden and Norway). Beethoven originally dedicated the sonata to George Bridgetower, the violinist at its first performance, but after a quarrel he revised the dedication in favour of Kreutzer. Biography Kreutzer was born in Versailles, and was initially taught by his German father, who was a musician in the royal chapel, with later lessons from Anton Stamitz. He became one of the foremost violin virtuosos of his day, appearing as a soloist until 1810. He embedded with the Army of Italy under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1797, charged with copying Italian musical manuscripts and returning them to France as trophies. He was a violin professor at the Conservatoire de Paris from its foundation in 1795 until 1826

Roman Hoffstetter

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Roman Hoffstetter (born 24 April 1742, in Laudenbach, near Bad Mergentheim, Holy Roman Empire; died: 21 May (Baker’s) or June (New Grove 2nd) 1815, in Miltenberg-am-Main, Germany; alternative spelling Romanus Hoffstetter) was a classical composer and Benedictine monk who also admired Joseph Haydn almost to the point of imitation. Hoffstetter wrote “everything that flows from Haydn’s pen seems to me so beautiful and remains so imprinted on my memory that I cannot prevent myself now and again from imitating something as well as I can.” In 1965, the musicologist Alan Tyson (with H.C. Robbins Landon) published the finding that the entire set of six String Quartets long-admired as Haydn’s Op. 3, including the Andante cantabile of No. 5 in F Major known as Haydn’s Serenade, were actually by Roman Hoffstetter. Further discoveries have purported to establish Hoffstetter’s authorship of the first two of the six quartets, but not the other four. Little is known about his early training or life, though it is likely that he came from a musical family. He was a twin; the other was Johann Urban Alois Hoffstetter, who became director of the Franconian province of the Teutonic Order and also a sma

Salvatore Viganò

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Salvatore Viganò (March 25, 1769 – August 10, 1821) was an Italian choreographer, dancer and composer. Viganò was born in Naples. He studied composition with Luigi Boccherini (his uncle) and by the mid-1780s was composing original music. He produced early dance compositions in Bordeaux and Vienna. In 1788, he appeared as a dancer on the stage in Venice. He performed in the coronation festivities of Charles IV of Spain in 1789. He became a pupil of the French dancer and choreographer Jean Dauberval. In 1791, he and his wife achieved success as a dancing team in Venice, where he choreographed his first ballet, Raoul de Créqui. He was ballet master in Vienna and collaborated with Beethoven on the ballet The Creatures of Prometheus. He returned to Italy in 1804 and became the ballet master of La Scala ballet school in Milan. He is considered the father of a new kind of performance called "" where the pantomime served the dance and the ensembles were very significant. He died in Milan. Viganò’s elder sister, Vincenza Viganò-Mombelli was also a dancer and the librettist of Rossini’s first opera Demetrio e Polibio. Major works * La vedova scoperta, 1783 (opera) * The Creatures of Promethe

Samuel Arnold (composer)

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Samuel Arnold (10 August 1740 – 22 October 1802) was an English composer and organist. Arnold was born in London (his mother is said to have been Princess Amelia; his father was Thomas Arnold). He began writing music for the theatre in about the year 1764. A few years later, he became the director of music at Marylebone Gardens, for which he wrote much of his popular music. In 1777, he worked for George Colman the Elder at the Little Theatre, Haymarket. In 1783, he became organist at the Chapel Royal and in 1793 he became the organist at Westminster Abbey, where he was eventually buried. He also wrote the earliest version of Humpty Dumpty. He was a close friend and associate of Haydn. Works Arnold’s best-known works include: *The Maid of the Mill (1765) *Abimelech (1768) *The Prodigal Son (1773) *Incidental music for Macbeth (1778) *The Baron Kinkvervankotsdorsprakingatchdern (1781) *The Castle of Andalusia (1782) *Two to One (1784), libretto George Colman. Includes the song “Pensive I Mourn”. *Turk and No Turk (1785) * Inkle and Yarico (1787) * Juvenile Amusements (1797) He is also known for producing the first collected edition of the works of George Frideric Handel between 1787

Samuel Wesley (composer, born 1766)

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Samuel Wesley (24 February 1766 – 11 October 1837) was an English organist and composer in the late Georgian period. Wesley was a contemporary of Mozart (1756–1791) and was called by some “the English Mozart”, a title however sometimes also attributed to Thomas Linley the younger. Personal life Born on 24 February 1766, in Bristol, he was the son of noted Methodist and hymnodist Charles Wesley, the grandson of Samuel Wesley (a poet of the late Stuart period) and the nephew of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church. His early musical education mostly took place in the family home in Bristol, where Sarah Wesley, his mother, sang and played the harpsichord. Hymn tunes and the works of Handel were the family’s favourite pieces. Samuel also had lessons from David Williams, the organist of All Saints’ Church, Bristol. In 1771, his father acquired a second house, in Chesterfield Street, Marylebone, London. Samuel left Bristol for the house in London by 1778. Samuel informed his mother of his philosophical conviction that his marriage had been constituted by sexual intercourse, precluding any civil or religious ceremony, but after a scandalous delay he married Charlotte Louise Ma

Sébastien Demar

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Jakob-Ignaz-Sebastian Demar (29 June 1763 – 25 July 1832) (often wrongly called Jean-Sébastien Demar or much more recently Jacques-Sébastien ) was a German pianist, composer, conductor, music teacher and organist. Biography Born in the vicinity of Gauaschach, now part of Hammelburg, district of Bad Kissingen in Lower Franconia, Holy Roman Empire, on 29 June 1763, he died in Orléans, on 25 July 1832. He was the son of music teacher Sebastien Demar and his wife Dorothée Zugis. Born into a family of musicians, he was first trained at the Strasbourg Cathedral by the Kapellmeister and composer Franz Xaver Richter, representative (in the same way as Johann Stamitz) of the Mannheim School. Then he became organist in Wissembourg, (Alsace). He also traveled to Vienna (Austria) to further his studies in the field of composition, with Joseph Haydn. He arrived in Paris in 1788 and settled in Orléans in 1789, shortly before the Revolution. Demar did a lot for music in the city, where he first directed the music of the 88th Regiment (he was in place on 23 December 1791), then of the National Guard. In 1799, he was appointed by the municipality to play the organ as an amateur at Republican festiv

Simon Le Duc

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Simon Le Duc, more commonly Leduc (Paris, 15 January 1742 – 22 January 1777), was a French violinist, soloist at the Concert Spirituel, music publisher and composer. His younger brother, Pierre Le Duc (1755–1818), was also a violinist. Leduc was a pupil of the famous violinist and professor at the Paris Conservatoire, Pierre Gaviniès. He later became director of the Concerts Spirituel, with Gaviniès and François-Joseph Gossec During the child prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s first tour of Europe in 1763–64, Wolfgang and his father Leopold Mozart had a chance to hear Leduc play. Leopold, an authority on violin performance who had published a treatise on violin playing in 1756 which is still read today, praised Leduc in his travel diary: “He plays well.” Leduc also composed many pieces for violin, including at least two sets of violin sonatas (published as opuses 1 and 4), three violin concertos, and some chamber music. In his survey of music of the galant period, Robert Gjerdingen notes strong similarities between Leduc’s style and that of his Neapolitan contemporaries, especially Cimarosa. Gjerdingen writes, “Leduc wrote highly refined music for small aristocratic gatherings in ch

Simon Mayr

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Johann(es) Simon Mayr (also spelled Majer, Mayer, Maier), also known in Italian as Giovanni Simone Mayr or Simone Mayr (14 June 1763 – 2 December 1845), was a German composer. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era. In 1805 he founded the Bergamo Conservatory. He was an early inspiration to Rossini and Meyerbeer and taught and advocated for Donizetti. Life He was born in Mendorf near Altmannstein, Landkreis Eichstätt, Bavaria, and studied theology at the University of Ingolstadt, continuing his studies in Italy from 1787. He was closely associated with the Illuminati of Adam Weishaupt while a student in Ingolstadt, and the ideals of the French Enlightenment were a strong influence on his philosophy as a musician as corroborated by his famed Zibaldone or “Notebooks” compiled toward the end of his career. Shortly thereafter, he took music lessons with Carlo Lenzi, and later with Ferdinando Bertoni. He moved to Bergamo in 1802 and was appointed maestro di cappella at the Cathedral of Bergamo, succeeding his old teacher Lenzi. He held the post until his death, and became a central figure in the city’s musical life, organizing concerts and intro

Simon Molitor

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(Alois Franz) Simon (Joseph) Molitor (3 November 1766 – 21 February 1848) was a German-born Austrian composer, guitarist, violinist and music historian – an influential figure both in early 19th-century guitar music and in the development of music history as a subdiscipline of musicology. Life and music Simon Molitor was born in Neckarsulm, southern Germany. According to Zuth (1920), he was to follow his father’s wish and become a school teacher, but as an 18-year-old student he secretly left university and began the life of an itinerant violinist, until during 1796–7 he became the conductor of an orchestra in Venice, Republic of Venice. In 1798, he became a civil servant in the Austrian Commissariat of War in Vienna where, from 1802, he took a career in catering there until his retirement in 1831. From that time on, Molitor concentrated exclusively on music. Between 1832 and 1842 he organised regular ‘academies’ in his house – semi-public musical performances and lectures, mainly devoted to historic music of the 16th to 18th centuries (in particular focusing on Bach, Corelli, Kirnberger, Monteverdi and Palestrina). Molitor possessed one of the largest musical libraries of his time

Simon Simon

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Simon Simon (born in either in 1720 or 1735, near Rambouillet; died after 1788 in Dreux) was a French harpsichordist and composer. Biography Most of the accounts of his life derive from the recollections of Jean-Benjamin de La Borde, in his . Youth At the age of seven, he was entrusted to his uncle Butet, organist at an abbey near Caen. It is remarked that “the mediocrity of the master’s talents spread to the progress of the pupil”. At age thirteen, his harpsichord skills were noticed by the Marquise de la Mézangère, a pupil of François Couperin. In 1747 she decided to take him in at her Paris to teach him the harpsichord while the violinist Saint-Saire taught him music. He later went on to study composition with Antoine Dauvergne. Career Louis XV gave Simon Simon the role of harpsichord teacher to the heirs to the throne, and later also the Queen Marie Leszczyńska and the Countess of Artois. He married a Mademoiselle Tardif, pupil of Le Tourneur, who became his assistant. Throughout the reign of Louis XVI he remained at Versailles. He survived the French Revolution, and retired to Montfort-l’Amaury and then to Dreux. Works Simon Simon published three books of harpsichord pieces, b

Sophia Maria Westenholz

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Sophia Maria Westenholz (née Elenore Sophia Maria Fritscher; 10 July 1759 - 4 October 1838) was a German composer, musician, singer and music educator. Born in Neubrandenburg, she was raised in a privileged family and spent most of her life in the courts of Schwerin and Ludwigslust, capitals of the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. At the behest of Duke Ludwig, she studied piano and singing with Konzertmeister Johann Wilhelm Hertel in Schwerin beginning at age ten. By the time she was sixteen, she was employed as a singer in the Mecklenburg-Schwerin court chapel at Ludwigslust. She became the second wife of the Kapellmeister Carl August Friedrich Westenholz in the summer of 1777; they had eight children together. By the 1780s, Westenholz received great acclaim in Berlin, Leipzig, Ludwigslust and Rostock, amassing a following including composer Ernst Wilhelm Wolf and Carl Friedrich Cramer. Wolf is quoted as saying “Mrs. Westenholz’s manner is that of the great Bach in Hamburg.” In a review of his six sonatas, which Wolf had dedicated to Sophie Westenholz, Cramer also praised the balance in the musical expression of her playing. When Carl Westenholz died in 1789, Sophia received the tit

Stanislao Mattei

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Stanislao Mattei, O.F.M. Conv. (10 February 1750, in Bologna – 17 May 1825, in Bologna), was an Italian Conventual Franciscan friar who was a noted composer, musicologist, and music teacher of his era. Life Mattei was born in Bologna, then part of the Papal States, to a family of artisans. At the local Church of St. Francis, he became a pupil of the famed musician, Friar Giovanni Battista Martini, O.F.M. Conv., a member of the Franciscan community attached to the church. He also followed Martini’s example and entered the Conventual Franciscans. Following his period of novitiate, he was named his mentor’s assistant and substitute conductor of the famed girls choir at the church and succeeded him in that position upon his death in 1784. Mattei continued as choir director at the Church of St. Francis until 1809. He then moved briefly to Padua, where he served in that function for the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua, operated by his religious Order. This situation was temporary, however as he soon returned to Bologna, where he became the music director at the Church of St. Petronius. During the occupation of Italy by the French Revolutionary Army, the friary was suppressed and the c

Syama Sastri

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Syama Sastri (Telugu: శ్యామ శాస్త్రి; Tamil: ஷ்யாமா சாஸ்திரி; ; 26 April 1762 – 1827) or Shyama Shastri was a musician and composer of Carnatic music. He was the oldest among the Trinity of Carnatic music, Tyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshitar being the other two. Early life and career Syama Sastri, whose birth name was Venkata Subrahmanya Iyer, was born on 26 April 1762 in a Tamil speaking Smartha Vadama Brahmin family to Visvanatha Iyer and Vengalakshmi. He was also known as one of the trinity of carnatic music. To later generations, he is better known by his adopted name Syama Sastri or by his musical mudra (signature) Syama Krishna. He was born in Tiruvarur, in what is now the state of Tamil Nadu. He received his instruction in the vedas, astrology, and other traditional subjects early on and learned music from his maternal uncle. He was later trained in music by Adiappayya, a noted durbar musician of Thanjavur. Although Śyāma Śastri did not compose as many kritis as his two prolific contemporaries, his compositions are still well known due to the literary, melodic and rhythmic proficiency observed in them. It is said that he composed about three hundred pieces in all. He did not

Thomas Arne

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Thomas Augustine Arne (; 12 March 17105 March 1778) was an English composer of the late Baroque and early Classical periods. He is known for his patriotic song “Rule, Britannia!” and the song “A-Hunting We Will Go”, the latter composed for a 1777 production of The Beggar’s Opera, which has since become popular as a folk song and a nursery rhyme. Arne was a leading British theatre composer of the 18th century, working at the West End’s Drury Lane and Covent Garden. He wrote many operatic entertainments for the London theatres and pleasure gardens, as well as concertos, sinfonias and sonatas. Early life Thomas Augustine Arne was born on 12 March 1710 in Covent Garden and baptised as a Roman Catholic. He came from a long line of Catholic recusants. Arne’s father and grandfather were both upholsterers and both held office in the Worshipful Company of Upholders of the City of London. His grandfather fell on hard times and died in the debtors’ prison of Marshalsea. His father earned enough money to rent 31 King Street, a large house in Covent Garden, and to have Arne educated at Eton College, but in later life he too lost most of his money and had to supplement his income by acting as a

Thomas Attwood (composer)

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Thomas Attwood (23 November 176524 March 1838) was an English composer and organist. Attwood studied under Mozart and he was friendly with Felix Mendelssohn. Early life The son of a musician in the royal band, Attwood was born in London, probably in Pimlico. At the age of nine he became a chorister in the Chapel Royal, where he received training in music from James Nares and Edmund Ayrton. In 1783 he was sent to study abroad at the expense of the Prince of Wales (afterwards King George IV), who had been favourably impressed by his skill at the harpsichord. After two years in Naples, Attwood proceeded to Vienna, where he became a favourite pupil of Mozart. On his return to London in 1787 he held for a short time an appointment as one of the chamber musicians to the Prince of Wales. Career In 1796 he was chosen as the organist of St Paul’s Cathedral, and in the same year he was made composer of the Chapel Royal. His court connection was further confirmed by his appointment as musical instructor to the Duchess of York, and afterwards to the Princess of Wales. In January 1806, he played his own composition, Grand Dirge, on the organ for the funeral of Lord Nelson, the only piece specia

Thomas Busby (composer)

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Thomas Busby (26 December 1755 – 28 May 1838) was an English composer. Early life Busby was the son of a coach-painter. He was born at Westminster, London, in December 1755. His father was musical, and sang himself; when his son developed a fine treble voice, he decided to bring him up as a musician. Benjamin Cooke, the organist of Westminster Abbey, turned down young Busby (at age 12-13) as too old for a chorister; he was placed under Samuel Champness for singing, and Charles Knyvett for the harpsichord. Subsequently he studied under Jonathan Battishill. In the summer of 1769 Busby was engaged to sing at Vauxhall Gardens at a salary of ten guineas a week. On his voice breaking, he was articled to Battishill for three years, and worked on both his musical and his general education. On the expiration of his training he returned to his father’s house, and set himself to earn his living by music and literature. Early works His first venture was the composition of music to a play by William Kenrick, The Man the Master, but this was never finished. He then turned his attention to oratorio, and began a setting of Alexander Pope’s Messiah, at which he worked intermittently for several yea

Thomas Carter (composer)

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Thomas Carter (May 1769 – 8 November 1800) was an Irish composer resident in London during the most creative years of his short life. Life Carter probably belonged to an extended family of Dublin musicians including, among others, Timothy Carter (c. 1715–1772) and (Charles) Thomas Carter (c. 1735–1804), with whose works his were often confused as both published music in London in the 1790s and used to abbreviate their name as “T. Carter”. Other sources suggest that he was an illegitimate son of the Earl of Inchiquin. He was born in Dublin and seems to have shown an exceptional musical talent since his childhood. Sponsored by the Earl of Inchiquin, he went to study music in Naples, around 1788, where he became a protégé of Sir William Hamilton. He then went to Calcutta, India, to become the theatre’s music director, but had to relocate to England in July 1789 for health reasons. He married Mary Wells from Cookham, Berkshire, in 1793. When he died in London at age 31, the Gentleman’s Magazine described him as “a victim, in early life, to the fatal ravages of the liver complaint”. Music In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1980 edition), Roger Fiske made the first attem

Thomas Erskine, 6th Earl of Kellie

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Thomas Alexander Erskine, 6th Earl of Kellie (1 September 1732 – 9 October 1781), styled Viscount Fentoun and Lord Pittenweem until 1756, was a Scottish musician and composer whose considerable talent brought him international fame and his rakish habits notoriety, but nowadays is little known. Recent recordings of his surviving compositions have led to him being re-evaluated as one of the most important British composers of the 18th century, as well as a leading exponent of Scotland’s music. Life His father Alexander Erskine, 5th Earl of Kellie, was incarcerated at Edinburgh Castle for supporting the Jacobites in the Jacobite rising of 1745. His mother, Janet Pitcairn, was the daughter of a celebrated physician and poet. Born in Edinburgh, Thomas attended the Royal High School before leaving around 1752 for Mannheim in Germany to study under the elder Johann Stamitz. After his father’s death in 1756, Alexander returned to Scotland as a virtuoso violinist and composer, nicknamed “Fiddler Tam”. He began propagating the modern Mannheim style, of which he was to become widely acknowledged as the leading British exponent. Six of his three-movement “Overtures” (Symphonies) were published

Thomas Shaw (composer)

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Thomas Shaw, also known as Thomas Shaw Jun(ior), was an English violinist, violist, clarinettist and composer who was born c.1752, probably in Bath, and who probably died in Paris on 28 June 1827 Early life There is little information about Thomas Shaw’s early life and his career prior to going to London has remained obscure. Born in 1752, Shaw was the son of Bathonian musician, concert director, and member of the Royal Society of Musicians, Thomas Shaw, and the younger brother of violinist Anthony Shaw. The majority of his career was spent at the Drury Lane theatre in London as an instrumentalist, violin soloist, band leader, musical director and in-house composer. Career Early performances Shaw Jr. gave his earliest known performance in Bath in April 1769. Around this time, he led the orchestra in Thomas Linley’s subscription concerts of the autumn 1769 and spring 1770, and was a member of the theatre band in 1771. In addition, his music was being performed and published; an overture composed by him was played in a concert at the end of December 1771 and by 1772 he was playing his own compositions in Bath and Bristol. During the spring of 1772, Herschel and Shaw gave a certain nu

Timofiy Bilohradsky

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Timofiy Bilohradsky (), also given as Belogradsky, or Pelogradsky (c. 1710c. 1782) was a lutenist, composer and kobzar-bandurist of Ukrainian ethnicity. He was active in St. Petersburg and Königsberg. Life Little is known about Bilohradsky’s childhood. He is thought to have been born in or near the city of Cherkasy (now in Ukraine) and that he learned to play the kobza and the lute at the Hlukhiv Music Academy. He is said to have had an excellent singing voice and great musical aptitude. In 1725 he was invited to St Petersburg to sing in the Imperial Church Capella. In 1733 Tsarina Anna sent Bilohradsky to Dresden in the retinue of the ambassador, Hermann Karl von Keyserling. In Dresden, Bilohradsky was able to perfect his lute playing under the tutelage of Silvius Leopold Weiss - the most important lutenist-composer of the 18th century. He also studied voice with Faustina Bordoni-Hasse, and castrato Domenico Annibali. Bilohradsky became one of the highest trained musicians in the Russian Court Capella. In 1739, Bilohradsky returned to St Petersburg, where he continued to work as a court musician. In 1741 he returned to Germany where he became known as a virtuoso lutenist and singe

Tommaso Giordani

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Tommaso Giordani (c. 1730 to 1733 – before 24 February 1806) was an Italian composer active in England and particularly in Ireland. Life Giordani was born in Naples between 1730 and 1733 and came from a musical family. His father was Giuseppe Giordani senior, born around 1695 in Naples, and died after 1762, probably in London (no relation to the Neapolitan organist Carmine Giordani, b. 1685). A possible younger brother was Giuseppe Giordani (1751–1798), called “Giordanello”. Tommaso was trained in Naples and moved with his father and siblings (including singer Nicolina) via Graz (1747), Salzburg and Frankfurt (1750), Amsterdam (1752) and Paris (1753) to London, where they performed four burlettas at Covent Garden in the 1753–54 season. Although the family performed in London for the next two years, Tommaso is not mentioned in the newspaper reports of the time. However in British publications of his time, Giordani was often referred to as “Tomaso Giordani”, with a single “m” in his first name, or more commonly as “Sig. Giordani” or “Signor Giordani”. His whereabouts in the following eight years are unknown. In 1764, he accepted an invitation to act as musical director of the Smock A

Tommaso Traetta

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Tommaso Michele Francesco Saverio Traetta (30 March 1727 – 6 April 1779), was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he was responsible for certain operatic reforms including reducing the ornateness of style and the primacy of star singers. Biography Traetta was born in Bitonto, a town near Bari in the Apulia region of Italy. He was a student of a composer, singer, and teacher Nicola Porpora in Naples, and found early success with his opera Il Farnace in 1751. Around this time, he came into contact with Niccolò Jommelli. Traetta found regular commissions throughout Italy, before accepting a post as court composer at Parma in 1759. The ruler of Parma, Philip, Duke of Parma had married the eldest daughter of Louis XV. In Parma, there was a craving for all things French and the splendor of Versailles. It was in Parma that Traetta’s operas first moved in new directions. As a result, Antigona, his 1772 opera for Saint Petersburg, was amongst his most forward-looking, the closest he approached the famous reform ideals usually associated with Gluck. It was at the court of the Duke of Bourbon-Parma, that Traetta

Tyagaraja

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Sadguru Sri Tyāgarāja Swāmi (4 May 1767 – 6 January 1847), also known as Tyāgayya, and in full as Kākarla Tyāgabraḥmaṁ, was a composer of Carnatic Music, a form of Indian Classical Music. Tyāgarāja and his contemporaries, Śyāma Śāstri and Muthuswāmi Dikshitar, are regarded as the Trinity of Carnatic Music. Tyāgarāja composed hundreds of devotional kṛti ( compositions), mostly in Telugu and in praise of Rāma. Many of them remain popular to this day. Of special mention are five of his compositions called the Pañcaratna Kṛti ( five gems), which are often sung in programs held in his honor. Tyāgarāja composed many Utsava Sāmpradāya Kṛti ( festive ritual compositions), meant to be sung in temple rituals/festivities and Divya Nāma Saṅkīrtana ( divine compositions on the Lord’s various names), sung as a part of concerts and daily life. Tyāgarāja lived through the reigns of four kings of the Thanjavur Maratha rule – Thuljaji (1763–1787), Amarasimha (1787–1798), Serfoji II (1798–1832) and Shivaji II (1832–1855), although he served none of them. Biography Tyāgarāja was born Kākarla Tyāgabraḥmaṁ in 1767 to a Telugu Vaidiki Mulakanādu Brahmin family in Thiruvarur, present-day Thiruvarur Distri

Václav Pichl

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Václav Pichl (; 25 September 1741 – 23 January 1805) was a Czech classical composer. He was also a violinist, music director and writer. Life Pichl was born in Bechyně in Bohemia. His first musical training was at Bechyně with the cantor Jan Pokorný. He served as a singer between the years 1752 and 1758 at the Jesuit college at Březnice. In Prague, he was a violinist at the Jesuit seminary of Saint Wenceslaus and his studies while at the university were philosophy, theology and law. He was appointed to the post of first violinist of the Týn Church in 1762 and studied counterpoint with the organist J. N. Seger. In 1765 he was engaged by the composer Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf as a violinist for the private orchestra of Bishop Adam Patachich at Nagyvárad (now Oradea, Romania). The orchestra was dissolved in 1769 and Pichl became the music director for Count Ludwig Hartig in Prague. In about 1770 he became first violinist of the Vienna court theatre and on the recommendation of the Empress Maria Theresa, he became music director for the Austrian governor of Lombardy at Milan, Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Austria-Este. Pichl went to the Kingdom of Italy in 1777 and remained there unti

Vasily Pashkevich

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Vasily Alexeyevich Pashkevich, also Paskevich (; c. 1742, probably Ukraine – March 20, 1797 in St. Petersburg) was a Russian composer, singer, violinist and teacher of Ukrainian origin and according to some sources was born in Ukraine. Vasily Pashkevich entered court service in 1756 becoming a court composer to Tsar Peter III of Russia and later to his widow, Catherine the Great. He also played violin, and taught singing in the Academy of Arts 1773-1774 and later in the court capella. Between 1780 and 1783 he managed the Karl Kniper Theatre and in 1789 he became the first violin of the court orchestra, remaining in charge of imperial ballroom music until his death. Pashkevich wrote important comic operas, often re-working them at length, like Saint-Petersburg’s Trade Stalls, begun in 1782 and revised in 1792, and also As you live you will be judged. The comic opera The Miser a work of 17 scenes brought him most success. Its roles are: Scriagin, Liubima’s guardian; Liubima, his niece; Milovid, her beloved; Marfa, the servant girl that Scriagin is in love with; Prolaz, Milovid’s manservant who is in Scriagin’s service. Accordingly the speech and the names of the characters of Molière

Venanzio Rauzzini

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Venanzio Rauzzini (19 December 1746 – 8 April 1810) was an Italian castrato, composer, pianist, singing teacher and concert impresario. He is said to have first studied singing under a member of the Sistine Chapel Choir. He was a cantante soprano at the Socio Accademico of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He studied with Giuseppe Santarelli in Rome. Though unlikely, it has been suggested that Rauzzini may not in fact have been a castrato, but rather had an endocrine condition that prevented his voice from breaking, hence his many affairs as he was thought to be “safe”. That said, scholars such as Paul Rice and Brianna Robertson-Kirkland reject this idea. Life Rauzzini was born in Camerino. He made his opera debut in 1765 at the Teatro Valle in Rome portraying one of the female characters in Niccolò Piccinni’s opera Il finto astrologo. He sang at the Teatro San Samuele in Venice in 1766, after which he performed at the Munich Hofoper in 1766–1767. He next sang at the court at Vienna in 1767 where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart “reacted with delight when he heard Rauzzini singing and offered him the role of primo uomo in his Lucio Silla (1772), in Milan, before composing the motet Ex

Vicente Martín y Soler

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Anastasio Martín Ignacio Vicente Tadeo Francisco Pellegrin Martín y Soler (2 May 175430 January or 10 February 1806) was a Spanish composer of opera and ballet. Although relatively obscure now, in his own day he was compared favorably with his contemporary and admirer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as a composer of opera buffa. In his time he was called “Martini lo spagnuolo” (“Martini the Spaniard”); in modern times, he has been called “the Valencian Mozart”. He was known primarily for his melodious Italian comic operas and his work with Lorenzo Da Ponte in the late 18th century, as well as the melody from Una cosa rara quoted in the dining scene of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Soon, Martín y Soler was also composing highly successful operas for Joseph II’s imperial theater. After returning to St Petersburg, he wrote his last opera, La festa del villaggio (1798). He also wrote a number of tragic ballets during his residence as Court Composer there, including Didon abandonée (1792), Amour et Psyché (1793, based on Psyché by Molière, Corneille and Philippe Quinault), Tancrède (1799) and Le retour de Poliorcète (1799). Shortly before his 1806 death in Saint Petersburg, he served as inspector fo

Vincenc Mašek

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Vincenc Václav Mašek (sometimes called Vincent Maschek or Vincenzo Maschek; 5 April 1755 – 15 November 1831) was a Czech composer of classical music, pianist and virtuoso of the glass harmonica. Mašek composed two Czech operas, symphonies, piano concertos, chamber music, masses, propers, cantatas, piano sonatas, works for the glass harmonica, and songs. Life Mašek was born on 5 April 1755 in Zvíkovec, Kingdom of Bohemia. He was introduced to music by his father, , and later studied composition and fortepiano with František Xaver Dušek, and harmony and counterpoint with Josef Seger in Prague. Under the name Vincenc Mašek, he then toured Germany as a pianist, performing in Berlin, Dresden, Halle, Leipzig, and Hamburg, as well as in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 1794, Mašek became Kapellmeister at St. Nicholas Church in Prague-Malá Strana, a position he held until his death in 1831. His brother , his sons Albín and Gašpar Mašek, and his grandchildren Friederike Proch Benesch and Heinrich Proch were also composers. Works Vincenc Mašek composed two operas, lieder, masses, cantatas, piano concertos, piano sonatas, works for glass harmonica, chamber music and symphonies. References Further read

Vincent Houška

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Vincent Houška (; 21 January 1766 – 1840) was a Czech-Austrian composer and musician who played mandolin and cello. He was good enough a musician that he was able to tour Europe and give concerts. He was a friend and associate with Ludwig van Beethoven. Life and career Houška was born on 21 January 1766 in Mies, Bohemia (now Stříbro, Czech Republic). He was a son of the schoolmaster of Mies, and when eight years of age moved with his parents to Prague, where his father had been appointed to a school. Houška studied music in this city, and took up the mandolin as his first instrument. He also entered the cathedral as a chorister and later received systematic instruction from Josef Seeger and Ferdinand Laube, “the father of the violin virtuoso.” Houška devoted himself to the cello and mandolin and made remarkable progress on both, and a few years afterwards continued the cello studies under Christ, one of the most celebrated Bohemian virtuosi. At sixteen years of age he entered the orchestra of the Count of Thun and remained in his service till the death of the Count two years later, when the orchestra was disbanded. He then made a concert tour through Austria and Germany, visiting K

Vincenzo Legrenzo Ciampi

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Vincenzo Legrenzo Ciampi (2 April 1719 – 30 March 1762) was an Italian composer. He is best known today as the composer of a song that cannot be certainly ascribed to his pen, “Tre giorni son che Nina in letto senesta”, formerly long attributed to Pergolesi and better known simply as “Nina”. Education and early career in Italy Ciampi was born in Piacenza and studied at the Naples Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini with Francesco Durante and Leonardo Leo. His first known success was the comic opera Da un disordine nasce un ordine, performed at the Teatro dei Fiorentini in Naples in 1737, when he was only eighteen. Five more of his comic operas were produced in Naples up to 1745, and his opera seria Ataserse was performed there in 1747. That same year, he was engaged at the Ospedale degli Incurabili in Venice as an assistant to the maestro di coro G. B. Runcher, whom he had succeeded by 1748. London Ciampi was one of the first music directors of the Ospedale to be given extended leave, and by the autumn of 1748, he was in London. His replacement at the Ospedale was Gioacchino Cocchi. In London, Ciampi was the composer and director of music for a company of Italian singers under G

Vincenzo Manfredini

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Vincenzo Manfredini (22 October 1737 – 5 or 16 August 1799) was an Italian composer, harpsichordist and a music theorist. Biography Manfredini was born in Pistoia, in Tuscany. He studied music with his father, Francesco Onofrio Manfredini. Then he studied with Perti in Bologna and Fioroni in Milan. In 1758, his older brother Giuseppe, a castrato, went to Moscow with Locatelli’s opera troupe, and Vincenzo went with him, possibly as one of the troupe. Moving to St. Petersburg, he became maestro di cappella to Peter Fedorovich, who on becoming Emperor in 1762 made him maestro of the court’s Italian opera company. Confirmed in this post by Catherine II, he composed operas and occasional works, but on Galuppi’s arrival in 1765, he was relegated to composing the ballets performed with Galuppi’s operas and to serving as harpsichord teacher to Pavel Petrovich, heir to the throne. In 1769, he returned with a pension to Bologna. He would meet Mozart along with his father a year later in 1770. After two attempts at opera, Manfredini devoted himself mainly to writing and teaching, also publishing a set of symphonies (1776) and string quartets (?1781). When Pavel Petrovich became Emperor in 179

Vincenzo Righini

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Vincenzo Maria Righini (22 January 1756 – 19 August 1812) was an Italian composer, singer and kapellmeister. Life and career Righini was born in Bologna and studied singing and composition with Padre Martini in his hometown. Initially, he performed as a singer in Florence (1769) and Rome (1770), however, according to Fétis, he made his debut as a tenor in Parma in 1775. His opera buffa La vedova scaltra, considered his first contribution to musical theatre, was performed in 1774 at the Prague Divadlo v Kotcích. From 1774 to 1777, Righini worked in Prague, as a member of the theatre ensemble of Giuseppe Bustelli. He composed and staged operas to the libretti of Nunziato Porta. At the end of 1777, he moved to Vienna, where he was engaged as a music teacher and composer. His comic operas were often performed in the Burgtheater. In 1787, he replaced Antonio Salieri as the court kapellmeister for a brief period when Salieri was staying in Paris. In 1787, Righini also moved to Mainz, where he became a court kapellmeister of the Electoral orchestra for the elector Friedrich Karl Joseph von Erthal. In March 1793, he was appointed the Royal Prussian court kapellmeister and he led the operat

Walburga Willmann

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Walburga Willmann (full name Maximiliana Valentina Walburga Willmann; 18 May 1769 – 27 June 1835) Ignaz became in 1767 a member of the chamber orchestra of the Elector of Cologne in Bonn. The family moved to Vienna in the 1770s, and Ignaz joined the Tonkünstler-Sozietät. In 1784 he arranged a concert in which Walburga and her siblings Maximilian and Magdalena gave their Viennese concert debut. She is said to have studied the piano with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and that she was one of his best pupils. In the following years, the family went on concert tours of cities in Germany. In 1788 she was a teacher of the piano in Frankfurt am Main. Later she performed with the court orchestra in Bonn. In 1793 the family performed at the Elector’s court in Münster. She married in Vienna in 1797 the writer ; the best man was Franz Xaver Süssmayr. From 1800 to 1804 she undertook further tours, to Leipzig, Dresden and Bonn. During her tours, she included her own compositions, and she composed in 1801 a piano concerto, now lost. In 1804 Walburga went with her husband, who was a Napoleon sympathiser, into exile in Mainz. She died there in 1835. References

Wenzel Krumpholz

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Wenzel Krumpholz or Václav Krumpholz (1750 – May 2, 1817) was a Bohemia-born musician who played mandolin and violin. He studied the mandolin at an early age and became one of the most renowned performers on this instrument. At a later date he adopted the violin also, for in 1796 he was one of the first violins in the orchestra of the Court Opera, Vienna. Born in Zlonice, near Kladno, in Bohemia in the Holy Roman Empire, Krumpholz was the son of a bandmaster in a French regiment who lived in Paris during childhood, learning music from his father. His brother, Johann Baptist Krumpholz, was also a musician, a celebrated harpist and composer. Bone wrote that Krumpholz frequently played the mandolin to Beethoven and indicated that it influenced the composer to write music for the instrument. He mentioned research done by Dominco Artaria, who had bought a Skizzenbook, containing sketches of some of Beethoven’s music. Artaria stated in his Aittographische Skizze that Beethoven intended to write a sonata for mandolin and piano for Krumpholz. This composition is contained in Beethoven’s sketchbook (preserved as (No. 29,801) in the manuscript department of the British Museum) and it was fir

Wenzel Müller

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Wenzel Müller (26 September 1767 – 3 August 1835) was an Austrian composer and conductor. He is regarded as the most prolific opera composer of all time with his 166 operas. Life and career Müller was born in Markt Türnau, in Moravia. He studied with Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf and performed as a theatre musician in his youth. In 1786 he became Kapellmeister at the Theater in der Leopoldstadt in Leopoldstadt, Vienna. After several years at the German theatre in Prague from 1807 until 1813, he returned to Leopoldstadt, where he worked until 1830. Under his leadership, the theatre became one of the most important venues in Viennese musical life. He died in Baden bei Wien. He was a popular and prolific composer, producing more than 250 works. Although he wrote several popular stage works (mostly Singspiele), his art songs are his enduring legacy. Often possessing witty music and lyrics or expressing a great deal of tenderness, Müller’s songs were immensely popular, and some of the works he wrote with Ferdinand Raimund remain in the Viennese repertory. His opera provided the theme for Beethoven’s “Kakadu Variations” for piano trio, Opus 121a. He is said to have composed what has been

Wenzel Trnka

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Wenzel Trnka von Krzowitz (; (16 October 1739 – 12 May 1791)) was an Austrian-Czech medical doctor, professor, and amateur composer. He is thought to have composed the canons Bei der Hitz im Sommer eß ich (English: In the heat of summer I eat) and Leck mir den Arsch fein recht schön sauber (English: Lick my arse right well and clean), which were previously attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Life He was born 16 October 1739 in Tábor in Bohemia. In 1769, during his medical studies, the famous medical doctor Gerard van Swieten named him to serve as his assistant in the military hospital (Militärkrankenhaus). He received his doctorate 19 February 1770 with a treatise entitled “De morbo coxario”; (“On disease of the hip”). In June of the same year he was appointed to a professorial chair in anatomy at the University of Nagyszombat. Trnka thus became one of five who first formed the medical faculty there. He switched academic chairs twice, becoming the professor of general pathology in 1781 and of special pathology in 1786. He died in Pest on 12 May 1791. The Mozart misattribution Trnka emerged into public view in 1988 when it was revealed by Wolfgang Plath that he was the composer o

Wilhelm Adolph

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Wilhelm Balthasar Adolph (1729 –1781) was a German composer of liturgical music in galant style, cantor and rector (schoolmaster) of catholic parish schools in Świebodzin and Góra. Biography Born a son of Andreas Joseph Adolph (Adolff), municipal treasury bookkeeper and salt merchant, later lay judge and associate judge in Góra (Guhrau), and Anna Catharina, daughter of Sebastian Gräbner, city surgeon and town councillor in Góra as well as treasurer of the town’s parish church. In 1748 he became cantor (and probably at the same time rector) of the Roman Catholic Church of Saint Michael the Archangel in Świebodzin (Germ. Schwiebus). Soon afterwards he married Anna Rosina Lange (d. after 1781), daughter of Anton Frantz Lange, customs collector in Zielona Góra (Germ. Grünberg) and Cistercian nuns’ of Trzebnica (Germ. Trebnitz) estates’ administrator. They had five children. The earliest manuscript of his work (copy of Litaniae de BMV) dates back to this period of his life, from 1757. In 1766 the composer moved with his family to his own family town, Góra. Appointed conrector and cantor of the school by the Roman Catholic Church of St Catherine of Alexandria in Góra. Soon he became rect

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach

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Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (22 November 17101 July 1784) was a German composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was the second child and eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach. Despite his acknowledged genius as an improviser and composer, his income and employment were unstable, and he died in poverty. Life Wilhelm Friedemann (hereafter Friedemann) was born in Weimar, where his father was employed as organist and chamber musician to the Duke of Saxe-Weimar. In July 1720, when Friedemann was nine, his mother Maria Barbara Bach died suddenly; Johann Sebastian Bach remarried in December 1721. J. S. Bach supervised Friedemann’s musical education and career with great attention. The graded course of keyboard studies and composition that J. S. Bach provided is documented in the Clavier-Büchlein vor Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (modern spelling: Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach), with entries by both father and son. This education also included (parts of) the French Suites, (Two-Part) Inventions, (Three-Part) Sinfonias (popularly known as “Inventions”), the first volume of The Well-Tempered Clavier, and the six Trio Sonatas for organ. At the age of 16 he went to Me

Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach

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Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach, also known as William Bach (24 May 1759 – 25 December 1845) was the eldest son of Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach and the only grandson of Johann Sebastian Bach to gain fame as a composer. He was music director to King Frederick William II of Prussia. Ernst Bach received training in music from his uncle Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and from another uncle in England, Johann Christian Bach. He was in London when Johann Christian died there on 1 January 1782. Ernst Bach remained in England until 1784, when he returned to Germany via Holland. He was Kapellmeister of Minden in 1786, and Kapellmeister in Berlin from 1788 to 1811, with Friedrich Wilhelm’s blessing. He retired after Prince Heinrich, the brother of King Friedrich Wilhelm III, granted him a pension. At the unveiling of the Bach Monument in Leipzig on 23 April 1843, Ernst Bach met Robert Schumann. Schumann later described Ernst Bach as “a very agile old gentleman of 84 years with snow-white hair and expressive features”. One of Ernst Bach’s most remarkable compositions was Dreyblatt, a concerto for piano involving six hands. It is to be performed by a man with a petite woman on either side of him.

William Billings

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William Billings (October 7, 1746 – September 26, 1800) was an American composer and is regarded as the first American choral composer and leading member of the First New England School. Life William Billings was born in Boston, Province of Massachusetts Bay. At the age of 14, the death of his father stopped Billings’ formal schooling. In order to help support his family, young Billings trained as a tanner. He possibly received musical instruction from John Barry, one of the choir members at the New South Church, but for the most part he was self-taught. Billings had an unusual appearance and a strong addiction to snuff. His contemporary wrote that Billings “was a singular man, of moderate size, short of one leg, with one eye, without any address & with an uncommon negligence of person. Still, he spake & sung & thought as a man above the common abilities.” Billings’ wife died on March 26, 1795, leaving him with six children under the age of 18. He died in poverty in Boston on September 26, 1800. His funeral was announced in the Columbian Centinel: “Died- Mr. William Billings, the celebrated music composer. His funeral will be tomorrow at 4 o’clock, PM from the house of Mrs. Amos Pe

William Boyce (composer)

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William Boyce (baptised 11 September 1711 – 7 February 1779) was an English composer and organist. Like Beethoven later on, he became deaf but continued to compose. He knew Handel, Arne, Gluck, J. C. Bach, Abel, and a very young Mozart, all of whom respected his work. Life Boyce was born in London, at Joiners’ Hall, then in Lower Thames Street, to John Boyce, at the time a joiner and cabinet-maker, and beadle of the Worshipful Company of Joiners and Ceilers, and his wife Elizabeth Cordwell. He was baptised on 11 September 1711 and was admitted by his father as a choirboy at St Paul’s Cathedral in 1719. After his voice broke in 1727, he studied music with Maurice Greene. His first professional appointment came in 1734 when he was employed as an organist at the Oxford Chapel in central London. He went on to take a number of similar posts before being appointed Master of the King’s Musick in 1757 (he had applied for the post on the death of Maurice Greene in 1755) and becoming one of the organists at the Chapel Royal in 1758. He also gave lessons, his daughter telling the composer R. J. S. Stevens that both Thomas Linley the elder and Thomas Linley the younger had been his pupils in c

William Duncombe (composer)

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William Duncombe (ca. 1736-1738 – 30 November 1818, or 1819) was an English composer. He was an organist in Kensington. He is mainly known by a few small piano pieces (especially a Sonatina in C Major and the Fanfare or Fanfare Minuet) that are still reprinted in pedagogical collections. They are probably excerpts of the Progressive lessons for the harpsichord and piano forte, published in 1778 (or 1785). Duncombe is frequently confused with the writer William Duncombe (1690 – 1769). Works *First Book of Progressive Lessons for the Harpsichord and Piano Forte – London : J. Bland, n.d. 1778 *Second Book of Twelve Progressive Lessons for the Harpsichord or Piano Forte – London : J. Bland, n.d. 1778 *The Favorite Air, of God save the King, with variations for two performers on one piano forte, or harpsichord – London, 1792 *An hymn to be sung by the charity children of Kensington, at their parish church, on Sunday, 15 December 1793, after a sermon preached in the Morning by the Rev. Archer Thompson, A.B. Chaplain to the Bishop of Bristol, Joint Morning Preacher of Portman Chapel and St. James’s Chapel, Tottenham-Court-Road, and Vicar of Thatcham, Berks. The Music by Mr. Duncombe − Lon

William Erskine, Lord Kinneder

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William Erskine, Lord Kinneder (1768–1822), was a friend and confidant of Sir Walter Scott, and a scholar and songwriter. Early life and education Erskine was the son of the Rev. William Erskine, episcopalian minister of Muthill, Perthshire. He was baptized at Muthill on 29 August 1768. He was educated at the University of Glasgow; while there he boarded in the house of Andrew Macdonald, episcopalian clergyman and author of Vimonda, from whom, according to Lockhart, he derived a strong passion for old English literature. Career He passed advocate at the Scottish bar on 3 July 1790, and became the close friend and literary confidant of Scott. In 1792 Erskine, with Scott and other young advocates, formed a class for the study of German. According to Scott’s biographer John Gibson Lockhart, the companionship of Erskine, owing to his special accomplishments as a classical scholar and acquaintance with the “severe models of antiquity”, was highly serviceable to Scott as a student of German drama and romance. Lockhart represents him as being mercilessly severe on “the mingled absurdities and vulgarities of German detail”. It was Erskine who negotiated for Scott’s translation of Lenore in

William Felton (composer)

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William Felton (1715 – 6 December 1769) was an English composer. He gained an M.A. at St. John’s College, Cambridge in 1745 and was a chaplain to the Princess Dowager of Wales. He composed three sets of six concertos, modelled on Handel’s and composed the glee, “Fill, fill, fill the glass”. Biography William Felton was born in Market Drayton, Shropshire. He was educated in Manchester and at St. John’s, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1738 and M.A. in 1745. He was vicar-choral in the choir of Hereford Cathedral in 1741, custos of the vicars-choral in 1769, and chaplain to the Princess Dowager of Wales (Augusta of Saxe-Gotha). During a time when, according to Charles Burney, players of the harpsichord had little choice of good music; several of Felton’s three sets of six concertos for organ or harpsichord and of his eight suites of easy lessons became the “pride of every incipient player in town and country.” Felton’s gavotte, attained great popularity; it was introduced in Vincenzo Legrenzio Ciampi’s opera Bertoldo in 1672. However, it “was too common and vulgar for an opera audience”. Felton’s concertos were modelled on those of Handel, whom the amateur held in admiration. Bu

William Gardiner (English composer)

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William Gardiner (15 March 1770, in Leicester – 16 November 1853) was an English composer who is best known for his hymns. He published two collections of his works: Sacred Melodies (1808) and Music and Friends (1838). Gardiner’s promotion of Ludwig van Beethoven led to the first performances of Beethoven’s music in England in 1794. In his Music and Friends, Gardiner told the story of how the first work of Beethoven became known in Britain after arriving in a violin case of a priest fleeing the French Revolutionary army. Vegetarianism Gardiner was a teetotaller and vegetarian. He lived on a milk and vegetable diet for several years but gave it up after a life-changing experience. Gardiner stated that on one occasion he was dining with a “Mr. Brooke” an eccentric who placed a beef-steak on the table. He was offended that Gardiner refused to eat meat. Mr. Brooke put a horse pistol to Gardiner’s head and declared he would shoot him if he did not eat the beef-steak. After this experience Gardiner gave up his vegetarian diet and resumed his former mode of living. Selected publications *Music and Friends (3 volumes, 1838-1853) *The Music of Nature (1849) References *

William Herschel

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Frederick William Herschel ( ; ; 15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German–British astronomer and composer. He frequently collaborated with his younger sister and fellow astronomer Caroline Herschel. Born in the Electorate of Hanover, he followed his father into the military band of Hanover, before emigrating to Britain in 1757 at the age of 19. Taking an interest in astronomy in 1766, Herschel constructed his first large telescope in 1774, after which he spent nine years carrying out sky surveys to investigate double stars. Herschel published catalogues of nebulae in 1802 (2,500 objects) and in 1820 (5,000 objects). The resolving power of the Herschel telescopes revealed that many objects called nebulae in the Messier catalogue were actually clusters of stars. On 13 March 1781 while making observations he made note of a new object in the constellation of Gemini. This would, after several weeks of verification and consultation with other astronomers, be confirmed to be a new planet, eventually given the name of Uranus. This was the first planet to be discovered since antiquity, and Herschel became famous overnight. As a result of this discovery, George III appointed him Court

William Parsons (composer and musician)

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Sir William Parsons (1745/6–1817) was an English composer and musician who was Master of the King’s Musick under George III between 1786 and 1817. Originally a chorister at Westminster Abbey as a pupil of Benjamin Cooke, he developed a reputation as a fine tenor, but was passed over for another musician at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and thus went to Europe to seek employment. Returning to England, he was an assistant director at the George Frideric Handel commemorations in Westminster Abbey and the Pantheon in 1784, and composed a number of anthems for royal usage. He was knighted by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, John Jeffreys Pratt, second Earl Camden in 1795, thus becoming the first British musician honoured with a knighthood. An unremarkable composer and musician, he gained the title more through tutoring the king’s family and his contacts than any merit, being a friend of several members of the royal family and composers such as Joseph Haydn. Few of his compositions survive. References

William Savage

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William Savage (1720 – 27 July 1789) was an English composer, organist, and singer of the 18th century. He sang as a boy treble and alto, a countertenor, and as a bass. He is best remembered for his association with the composer George Frideric Handel, in whose oratorios Savage sang. Life and career Savage married Mary Bolt (1718–1788), and together they had three children. William died young in the West Indies, and Rev. George Savage died in 1816. Their daughter Jane Savage was also a composer. Mary published two volumes of Poems on Various Subjects and Occasions in 1777. Singer Savage first came to prominence as a boy treble in 1735, singing in a revival of Handel’s Athalia and in Alcina during the composer’s Covent Garden season. After his voice had broken, he initially continued his career singing as an alto (countertenor), and later turned into a bass. As a countertenor he performed possibly the small roles of La Fortuna and Childerico in Handel’s operas, Giustino (1737) and Faramondo (1738), and also appeared in the first performance of Israel in Egypt (1739), as well as in revivals of other Handel oratorios. As a bass, he created the title role in Imeneo (1740), the role of

William Shield

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William Shield (5 March 1748 – 25 January 1829) was an English composer, violinist and violist. His music earned the respect of Haydn and Beethoven. Life and musical career Shield was born in Swalwell near Gateshead, County Durham, the son of William Shield and his wife, Mary, née Cash. He was first taught music by his father but, after both he and his mother died while Shield was still a child, he was apprenticed to a shipbuilder in South Shields, continuing however to study music with Charles Avison in Newcastle upon Tyne. He became a noted violinist in Newcastle’s subscription concerts before moving to Scarborough to lead a theatre orchestra. In 1772, he was appointed by Felice Giardini to play violin in the opera at Covent Garden (now the Royal Opera House), and from 1773 he was principal violist there. In 1778 he provided the music for the comic opera The Flitch of Bacon to a libretto by Henry Bate. On 21 February 1776 he was in Durham, where he attended the meeting of the city’s masonic lodge at the Marquis of Granby tavern. The lodge Minutes indicate that he was by this date already a member of the St. John’s lodge in Newcastle. He later also became a member of the Sunderlan

William Smethergell

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William Smethergell (6 January 1751 - before March 1836) was an English composer and musician who lived and worked in London. Christened in the church of St Peter le Poer, after an apprenticeship of seven years (with the organist and composer Thomas Curtis), He was also the principal viola player at the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. His surviving works include two published sets of overture-symphonies (Op. 2 and Op. 5), six harpsichord sonatas, seven keyboard concertos and a number of works for smaller forces. Both sets have been recorded by Douglas Bostock with the Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim. References External links *

William Thomas Parke

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William Thomas Parke (15 February 1761 – 26 August 1847) The oboe especially attracted him; in 1777 he was second oboe at Drury Lane theatre and in 1779 appeared as an oboist at Vauxhall Gardens. He appeared at the Ladies’ Concerts and the Professional Concerts; his playing at the Noblemen’s Subscription Concerts won the admiration of the Duke of Cumberland, who became his patron, and commanded his presence at his musical parties in town and country. The Prince of Wales made Parke one of his band at Carlton House, where he met Joseph Haydn. Parke was one of the original members of a glee club founded in 1793, and he belonged to the Anacreontic Society. He made provincial tours, visiting Birmingham in 1794, Dublin in 1796, Cheltenham in 1800, Portsmouth, Worcester, and other towns. He was principal oboist and concerto player at Vauxhall Gardens from 1800 until 1821. The Dictionary of National Biography noted that “Parke’s tone on the oboe was sweet, his execution brilliant”. He extended the compass of the oboe upwards to G, a third higher than former performers had reached. Parke retired in 1825, and died in London on 24 August 1847. In 1830 he published Musical Memoirs, a valuable

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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The sources#

Modern scholars rely on various source materials in writing Mozart’s biography. First, there are about 1500 pages of family letters, often vivid and entertaining, mostly written when travel separated Mozart from his kin. There are also early biographies, written with input from Mozart’s sister Nannerl, his wife Constanze, and others who knew him well. Old documents, such as newspaper stories and government records, have been located in libraries and archives, annotated, and published. Lastly, the composer’s surviving manuscripts shed light on the history and dating of his compositions: there are sketches, drafts, dated autographs of completed works, and Mozart’s personal catalog. Mozart biographers all work from these same sources, but they often disagree on crucial points. The disagreements arise in part from the need to judge how much to believe a source who had strong motivation to diverge from the truth. A source once widely used but now judged untruthful is the publisher Friedrich Rochlitz, who sought to increase posthumous sales of Mozart’s works by publishing false, vivid stories about him. A trend across time, noted in , is for biographers to be less credulous (e.g., in believing Rochlitz), less sentimental, and more sensitive to information about Mozart’s own society and times.

Yevstigney Fomin

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Yevstigney Ipat’yevich Fomin () (born St. Petersburg 16 August 1761 – died St. Petersburg c 27 April 1800) was a Russian opera composer of the 18th century. Biography Fomin was born in St. Petersburg into the family of a cannoneer, an artillery soldier of the Tobolsk infantry regiment. His father died when he was 6, and he passed into the care of his stepfather, I. Fedotov, a soldier. Fedotov took him to the Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg on 21 April 1767, where Fomin studied architecture. As a full student there, he began learning the harpsichord in 1776 with Matteo Buini. From 1777 he studied theory and composition with Hermann Raupach, and from 1779 with Blasius Sartori. In 1782 he went to Bologna to study with Padre Martini and Stanislao Mattei; three years later he was accepted into the Accademia filarmonica. Returning to St. Petersburg in 1785, he taught at the theatrical school and composed operas. From 1797 he was répétiteur for the imperial theater under Paul I. He composed about 30 operas including Yamshchiki na podstave The Coachmen at the Relay Station (1787); Vecherinki Soirées (1788); Orfey i Evridika (1792), Amerikantsy The Americans (a comic opera) (1800), a