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The historical dictionaries present essential information on a broad range of subjects, including American and world history, art, business, cities, countries, cultures, customs, film, global conflicts, international relations, literature, music, philosophy, religion, sports, and theater. Written by experts, all contain highly informative introductory essays of the topic and detailed chronologies that, in some cases, cover vast historical time periods but still manage to heavily feature more recent events. Brief A–Z entries describe the main people, events, politics, social issues, institutions, and policies that make the topic unique, and entries are crossreferenced for ease of browsing. Extensive bibliographies are divided into several general subject areas, providing excellent access points for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more. Additionally, maps, photographs, and appendixes of supplemental information aid high school and college students doing term papers or introductory research projects. In short, the historical dictionaries are the perfect starting point for anyone looking to research in these fields.
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HISTORICAL DICTIONARIES OF LITERATURE AND THE ARTS Jon Woronoff, Series Editor Science Fiction Literature, by Brian Stableford, 2004. Hong Kong Cinema, by Lisa Odham Stokes, 2007. American Radio Soap Operas, by Jim Cox, 2005. Japanese Traditional Theatre, by Samuel L. Leiter, 2006. Fantasy Literature, by Brian Stableford, 2005. Australian and New Zealand Cinema, by Albert Moran and Errol Vieth, 2006. African-American Television, by Kathleen Fearn-Banks, 2006. Lesbian Literature, by Meredith Miller, 2006. Scandinavian Literature and Theater, by Jan Sjåvik, 2006. British Radio, by Seán Street, 2006. German Theater, by William Grange, 2006. African American Cinema, by S. Torriano Berry and Venise Berry, 2006. Sacred Music, by Joseph P. Swain, 2006. Russian Theater, by Laurence Senelick, 2007. French Cinema, by Dayna Oscherwitz and MaryEllen Higgins, 2007. Postmodernist Literature and Theater, by Fran Mason, 2007. Irish Cinema, by Roderick Flynn and Pat Brereton, 2007. Australian Radio and Television, by Albert Moran and Chris Keating, 2007. Polish Cinema, by Marek Haltof, 2007. Old Time Radio, by Robert C. Reinehr and Jon D. Swartz, 2008. Renaissance Art, by Lilian H. Zirpolo, 2008. Broadway Musical, by William A. Everett and Paul R. Laird, 2008. American Theater: Modernism, by James Fisher and Felicia Hardison Londré, 2008. German Cinema, by Robert C. Reimer and Carol J. Reimer, 2008. Horror Cinema, by Peter Hutchings, 2008. Westerns in Cinema, by Paul Varner, 2008. Chinese Theater, by Tan Ye, 2008. Italian Cinema, by Gino Moliterno, 2008. Architecture, by Allison Lee Palmer, 2008. Russian and Soviet Cinema, by Peter Rollberg, 2008. African American Theater, by Anthony D. Hill, 2009. Postwar German Literature, by William Grange, 2009. Modern Japanese Literature and Theater, by J. Scott Miller, 2009. Animation and Cartoons, by Nichola Dobson, 2009. Modern Chinese Literature, by Li-hua Ying, 2010. Middle Eastern Cinema, by Terri Ginsberg and Chris Lippard, 2010. Spanish Cinema, by Alberto Mira, 2010.
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Film Noir, by Andrew Spicer, 2010. French Theater, by Edward Forman, 2010. Choral Music, by Melvin P. Unger, 2010. Westerns in Literature, by Paul Varner, 2010. Baroque Art and Architecture, by Lilian H. Zirpolo, 2010. Surrealism, by Keith Aspley, 2010. Science Fiction Cinema, by M. Keith Booker, 2010. Latin American Literature and Theater, by Richard A. Young and Odile Cisneros, 2011. Children’s Literature, by Emer O’Sullivan, 2010. German Literature to 1945, by William Grange, 2011. Neoclassical Art and Architecture, by Allison Lee Palmer, 2011. American Cinema, by M. Keith Booker, 2011. American Theater: Contemporary, by James Fisher, 2011. English Music: ca. 1400–1958, by Charles Edward McGuire and Steven E. Plank, 2011. Rococo Art, by Jennifer D. Milam, 2011. Romantic Art and Architecture, by Allison Lee Palmer, 2011. Japanese Cinema, by Jasper Sharp, 2011. Modern and Contemporary Classical Music, by Nicole V. Gagné, 2012. Russian Music, by Daniel Jaffé, 2012. Music of the Classical Period, by Bertil van Boer, 2012. Holocaust Cinema, by Robert C. Reimer and Carol J. Reimer, 2012. Asian American Literature and Theater, by Wenjing Xu, 2012.
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Historical Dictionary of Music of the Classical Period Bertil van Boer
The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham • Toronto • Plymouth, UK 2012
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Published by Scarecrow Press, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.rowman.com 10 Thornbury, Plymouth PL6 7PP, United Kingdom Copyright © 2012 by Bertil van Boer All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Van Boer, Bertil H. Historical dictionary of music of the classical period / Bertil van Boer. p. cm. — (Historical dictionaries of literature and the arts) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-8108-7183-0 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8108-7386-5 (ebook) 1. Music—18th century—Dictionaries. I. Title. ML100.V37 2012 780.9'033—dc23 2011045775
™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Printed in the United States of America
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Contents
Editor’s Foreword
Jon Woronoff
ix
Preface
xi
Acronyms and Abbreviations
xv
Chronology
xix
Introduction
1
THE DICTIONARY
19
Bibliography
617
About the Author
639
vii
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Editor’s Foreword
“Classical music” has two definitions, one narrower and referring to a glorious period in musical history running from about 1730 to 1800, give or take a decade or so on each end, and the other encompassing the entire span of serious or “art” music (one can therefore speak of contemporary classical music). Obviously, this book deals with the former, which explains its somewhat cumbersome title. It focuses on some of the most glorious music composed by some of the greatest composers during this time period—still among the most frequently played music today. After the necessary preliminaries, readers are immersed not only in the handful of composers we know best, such as Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, but others we know less well like Gluck and C. P. E. Bach and dozens more whose music we have likely never heard. One dimension of this major musical transition is therefore its sheer size and dynamism. Others include the introduction of new forms and styles, new instruments and larger ensembles, and countless innovations in every area, as composers and musicians learned from one another and then made their own contributions. In fact, so much was going on that this book can only hint at it all, although it does an excellent job of covering the most significant aspects. A substantial chronology covers the major events, thereby providing a feel for the period. The introduction takes on some impossible tasks, such as when exactly the “Classical period” was and what made it distinctive, and resolves them amazingly well. The bulk of the material appears in the dictionary section, with entries predominantly on people: not only composers but also singers and instrumentalists, patrons, and music publishers. There are also entries on important technical terms, major centers of music-making, typical and sometimes now-obsolete instruments, and various emerging musical forms, including the novel symphony and triumphant opera with their many variations. These entries are on the whole short and to the point, since there is a lot of ground to cover and other sources abound. This explains the importance of the bibliography, since many readers will want to learn more; here they will find access to many forms of information on related subjects. This Historical Dictionary of Music of the Classical Period was written by Bertil van Boer, whose career embraces music in many forms. He has taught ix
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x •
EDITOR’S FOREWORD
music, and more particularly musicology theory, at Western Washington University and other schools. He has conducted music for Opera Kansas, and he has written extensively on music, most particularly 18th-century music, for the Recent Researches in Music of the Classical Period series, the New Grove Dictionary of Music, and the New Grove Dictionary of Opera, as well as articles in Eighteenth-Century Music and other journals. In addition, he has produced a volume of the Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Complete Works. But obviously he has never taken on anything quite as comprehensive as this book, which covers the length and breadth of the period, examining it from many different angles and providing a cross-section of all the most important information. To the author this sometimes looked like an impossible mission, but anyone reading this book will have to admit that he has achieved the wellnigh impossible. In short, anyone who loves classical music will appreciate this excellent guide. Jon Woronoff Series Editor
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Preface
Any attempt to write a Historical Dictionary of Music in the Classical Period should be regarded primarily as a madman’s folly, given that the period itself is ill-defined (or rather there exist a multitude of possible dates, not to mention the ongoing debate over what constitutes the “long” 18th century and the “short” 18th century) and that music was being performed and written literally all over the entire world. Quite simply, as Charles Burney noted in his various travel diaries—and they only covered the European core, not its periphery—virtually every city had a functioning if not always vibrant musical establishment that consisted of ensembles of significant size and activity, within which individual musicians functioned not only as performers, but often as composers as well. When one adds a burgeoning international market for published music, as well as increased interest in touring soloists, not to mention the music-making in far-flung places, then the scope of such a project in defining these places, people, styles, trends, and genres becomes enormous, if not a task of Sisyphus. Nonetheless, it is precisely due to this plethora of materials, not to mention that much is still unexplored in realms such as monastic music-making, minor cities and courts, or remote places on the periphery, that this is a task that is worthwhile, particularly considering that new discoveries and new recordings of the vast amount of music written during this period appear regularly. As I shall note in the introduction that follows, a time span has of necessity had to be determined, mainly based upon subjective criteria that I alone have chosen. The definition of the Classical period for the purposes of this dictionary runs from just before 1730 to 1800 or so, which is by no means either provable or entirely accurate. Rather, it is admittedly a choice based upon several specific and arbitrary reasons, which are explainable. I do realize, however, that it may be only one of a number of equally persuasive chronological spans and that the era is truly ill-defined and the terminal dates entirely arbitrary. For this, I ask the reader’s indulgence, for setting such merely serves to outline the date parameters, which made the task at hand somewhat doable. Of necessity, the bulk of the entries are biographical, consisting mainly of composers and performers, but including some influential patrons and xi
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xii •
PREFACE
others, such as prominent librettists. The criteria for inclusion into this work are twofold: first, they must have been active during the 1730–1800 period; and second, their music must conform to either a developmental or conventional stage of some style we can call “Classical.” For those who are not composers, there must be a significant musical connection. For example, both Catherine II of Russia and Gustav III of Sweden are included, but Hapsburgs Maria Theresia and Joseph II of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation are not. The reason is that both of the former also wrote librettos and personally oversaw their musical establishments, and while the latter certainly had one of the most brilliant groups of musicians available to them in Vienna, they functioned mainly as knowledgeable patrons, though both of course did have some musical training, as befitted most nobility of the period. This set of criteria omits major Baroque composers, and on the upper end, most people born in 1780 or later. There are, of course, exceptions. Cross-references are not meant to be completely exhaustive, and when they are used, they generally refer to the teachers or pupils of the composers in question; I have purposefully omitted cross-references in the matter of genre or style, again, save for a very few exceptions. In listing compositions, a few of the most important works are mentioned if one or more gained a wider reputation during their times (or ours), but in general the procedure has been to limit these to an overview according to genres (and not always in a particular order). In terms of each person’s musical style, there is generally only a cursory indication; most composers or places were influenced by others, but in many cases stylistic changes occurred as a result of the various conditions and preferences of those for whom the music was intended. Thus, a work written clearly in an Italian style for a cathedral in, say, New Spain, is in its essence a variation of a foreign style, created for local requirements, and based upon the familiarity of the composer and its reception by the audience, which makes it sometimes quite different from any normalized model or predecessor. For more popular figures, such as Joseph Haydn or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the entries may seem particularly sparse, but given that there is a monumental amount of iconic literature and scholarship available, this has been a deliberate decision in order to maintain the quick reference nature of this volume. Other entries include the most visible public concerts, orchestras (such as Mannheim), “schools” defined as groups of composers who flourished under specific patronage, societies, and individual terms relating to genre and style. Many of the last are cursory by design, given that nomenclature was often slippery and definitions sometimes contradictory. Certain occupations are also mentioned if they pertain particularly to this period, but in general generic terms, such as “conductor” or “choreographer,” have been avoided.
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PREFACE
• xiii
Finally, there are the occasional peculiarities, such as odd instruments or other such trivia that have found their way in, as well as composers and genres found in 18th-century non-European music. It is true that one tends to regard the Classical period as focused entirely on the music of Europe or European colonies, and that other areas of the world are quite different in terms of their musical development or style. Much of this has heretofore been relegated to ethnographical studies, and yet the notion of the non-Western other in music played a tremendous role in the perception of 18th-century artists as European powers began their worldwide colonialist activities. One needs only mention the fad for “Turkish” opera or the occasional inclusion of “Asian” melodies (for instance, Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler’s Chinese Rondo Cheu-Teu) as exotica in music. Here, I have occasionally included references to the actual musics and composers of other areas in the world, namely, Turkey, Greece, and India, as these were the areas where Western influence was beginning to be felt. More could probably be done, but this is at least a start in a more global outlook for the period. It must be reiterated that this work is primarily meant as a quick reference guide. The entries are not intended to replace larger explorations or similar entries in places like Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart or The New Grove Dictionary of Music (nor the numerous and sometimes tantalizingly lacunar entries in earlier lexica such as Fétis or Eitner). Such a task would be cyclopean in scope, and this tome is far too short to compete with such exhaustive works, many of which are now online as databases. There are, to be sure, gaps in both of the major dictionaries, some of which have been plugged here (the composer Benedict Kraus comes to mind), but this is not a correction or “updated” version. In order to ascertain the numbers and types of works of different composers, for example, sources such as RISM have proven invaluable. I have, however, purposely avoided modern references to Internet sources such as Wikipedia, though I do confess to have looked at this enough to know how it is organized and can contribute in certain rare instances. This is intentional, though I fully acknowledge that much useful (and sometimes more detailed) information can occasionally be found therein (as well as elsewhere online through judicious use of search engines). Whether we find all or even many of these online sources accurate or useful will be a matter of preference or increasing accuracy of those who compile and annotate them. As the old proverb of the Soviet Union went, “trust but verify.” Finally, on the matter of orthography, I acknowledge that there will be numerous inconsistencies, though I have attempted to retain English spellings for many places that are familiar to readers. For instance, it is always Vienna, and not the German “Wien,” or the Italian Padua, and not “Padova.” The same goes for Cologne instead of the German “Köln,” but in one case,
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xiv •
PREFACE
there is some information that a new spelling is preferred for Haydn’s remote Hungarian castle workplace. I have retained “Esterháza” for “Esterház,” the spelling by which it was known up through the 20th century. In an era of inconsistent orthography, it is often better known by its modern standardized equivalent. This work could not have been completed without the help of several friends and colleagues from the Society for Eighteenth-Century Music, who pointed me in a number of directions that were useful. These include Douglas Lee, John Rice, Sterling Murray, Drew Davies, Beverly Wilcox, Paul Corneilson, Estelle Joubert, Pater Lukas Helg of Kloster Einsiedeln, and numerous others. I would also like to recognize Jon Woronoff of Scarecrow Press, who was patient and understanding as the work grew in the telling. I appreciate his advice and comments on drafts and in the huge editing process. I can only hope that this work might inspire others to explore the wide world of Classical period music, the surface of which has only been scratched.
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Acronyms and Abbreviations
GENERAL CHG JGG Op WoO
Carl Heinrich Graun Johann Gottlieb Graun Opus (referring to published works) Without Opus numbers (referring to manuscript works)
CATALOGUING AND REFERENCING (BOLD IN BIBLIOGRAPHY) Abbreviation A A B B Badley Ben BeRI BR
Full name Altner Angermüller Benton Brainerd Badley Benton Bengtsson Wolfarth
Brown BruWV Bryan C Craw D DF E E EvaM F F FE S FWV G
Brown Krone Bryan Callen Craw Dounias Fog Emmerig Enßlin Evans/Dearling Falck Fanna Freeman Rheinländer Gérard
Composer name František Xaver Dusˇek Antonio Salieri Jean-Frédéric Edelmann Giuseppe Tartini Leopold Hofmann Ignaz Pleyel Johan Helmich Roman Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach Wilhelm Friedemann Bach Karl von Ordonez Gaetano Brunetti Jan Křtitel Vanhal Franz Ignaz Beck Jan Ladislav Dussek Giuseppe Tartini Christian Ernst Friedrich Weyse Joseph Riepel Ferdinando Paër Joseph Mysliveček Wilhelm Friedemann Bach Joseph Mysliveček Franz Schneider Josef Fiala Luigi Boccherini xv
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xvi •
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
Abbreviation GraunWV
Full name Hewel
GWV H Hill Hob HRV HV IB JC K K K K (KV) K K Kn L L L L LMV M M M Mattos MH Murray MWV Olzer Op/WoO Op/WoO Op/WoO P P PadK Poštolka QV R R R SmWV Som T
Grosspietsch Helm Hill Hoboken Holm Hermann Inzaghi/Bianchi Jenkins/Churgin Kaul Kirkpatrick Klafsky Köchel Komma Krebs Knapp Labrador Lee Lee Longo Eisen Mennicke Montanari Munter Mattos Sherman/Donely Murray Häfner Olzer Tyson Kinsky/Halm Zimmerschied Perger Peters Padrta Poštolka Augsbach Reutter Rice Hoffmann/Robinson Duda Somfai Terry
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Composer name Carl Heinrich Graun Johann Gottlieb Graun Johann Christoph Graupner Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Florian Gassmann Joseph Haydn Johan Helmich Roman Joseph Eybler Alessandro Rolla Giovanni Battista Sammartini Antonio Rosetti Domenico Scarlatti Michael Haydn Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Jan Zach Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf Carl Friedrich Abel Gaetano Brunetti Franz [František] Benda Christoph Nichelmann Domenico Scarlatti Leopold Mozart Johann Adolph Hasse Bartolomeo Campagnoli Franz Iganz von Beecke José Maurício Nunes Garcia Michael Haydn Antonio Rosetti Johann Melchior Molter Bartolomeo Franzosini Muzio Clementi Ludwig van Beethoven Johann Nepomuk Hummel Michael Haydn Georg Anton Kreusser Franz Krommer Leopold Koželuh Johann Joachim Quantz Franz Xaver Richter Adalbert Gyrowetz Giovanni Paisiello Franz Xaver Süßmayer Johann Georg Albrechtsberger Johann Christian Bach
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ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
Abbreviation TTK TWV VB VN W W (CW) White WK Wq
Full name Gubkina Menke/Ruhnke Van Boer Van Rompaey Weinmann Warburton White Knapp Wotquenne
WV Z Z
Schölz-Micaelitsch Aquilina Zakin
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• xvii
Composer name Anton Ferdinand Tietz Georg Philipp Telemann Joseph Martin Kraus Pierre van Maldere Johann Georg Albrechtsberger Johann Christian Bach Giovanni Battista Viotti Carl Friedrich Abel Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Christoph Willibald von Gluck Christoph Wagenseil Benigno Zerafa Václav Pichl
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Chronology
1728 The first ballad opera, The Beggar’s Opera, premiers in London. Benedetto Marcello publishes his cantata Cassandra in Venice as an exemplar of drama in music. 1730 The Riddarhuskonserter are founded in Stockholm by Johan Helmich Roman. 1733
War of the Polish succession begins.
1734
Fire destroys the musical archives at the Capilla Real in Madrid.
1735 Charles of Bourbon drives out the Austrians from Naples and establishes close musical ties to Spain, which sends students to the various conservatories. First ballad opera performed in Charleston, South Carolina. 1736
Giovanni Pergolesi dies suddenly near Naples.
1737
The Teatro San Carlo opens in Naples.
1738
The Hamburg opera closes after bankruptcy.
1739
Reinhard Keiser dies in Hamburg.
1740 Frederick II becomes king of Prussia and brings musical establishment to Berlin to form the Berlin School. Maria Theresia becomes head of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation in Vienna, but her accession is disputed. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Johann and Carl Graun, and Johann Philipp Kirnberger move to Berlin. 1741 Christoph Willibald von Gluck’s first opera Artaserse premiered in Milan; John Immyns founds the Madrigal Society in London; Antonio Vivaldi and Johann Joseph Fux die in Vienna. 1742 George Frederick Handel’s Messiah premieres in Dublin. A German version of the ballad opera The Devil to Pay is performed in Berlin and Hamburg by the Schönemann troupe. Ranleigh Gardens summer concerts are begun in London. Italian opera is inaugurated in Berlin with Carl Graun’s Caesare e Cleopatra. An opera house opens in Mannheim. xix
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xx •
1743
CHRONOLOGY
Handel’s oratorio Samson premiers in London.
1745 Elector Carl Theodor forms his court orchestra in Mannheim. JeanPhilippe Rameau’s Platée premieres at Versailles. 1746 Christoph Willibald von Gluck visits London and competes with Handel. 1747 Handel’s Judas Maccabeus premieres in London. Johann Sebastian Bach composes A Musical Offering for Frederick the Great in Berlin. 1748 War of the Austrian Succession ends with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa is published. The Holywell Rooms open in Oxford as a musical concert venue. 1749
Rameau’s Zoroastre premieres in Paris.
1750
Johann Sebastian Bach dies in Leipzig.
1751 The French Encyclopédie begun by Denis Diderot and Jean d’Alembert. Francesco Geminiani publishes his The Art of Playing the Violin. 1752 Johann Joachim Quantz publishes his Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversière zu spielen in Berlin. Christian Felix Weisse writes the first German Singspiel Der Teufel ist los, which is performed in Leipzig and inaugurates the Comic War. The Querelle des Bouffons begins with a production of Giovanni Pergolesi’s La serva padrona in Paris. Johann Pepusch dies in London. A troupe of comedians writing ballad opera appears in Williamsburg, Virginia. 1753 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach publishes the first volume of his Versuch über die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen in Berlin. Jean-Jacques Rousseau publishes his Lettre sur la musique française. 1754 Beginning of the French and Indian War in North America. Johann Stamitz creates a sensation at the Concerts spirituels in Paris, giving international fame to the Mannheim style. Niccolo Jommelli becomes Kapellmeister in Stuttgart. 1755 Massive earthquake in Lisbon, destroying much music. Der Tod Jesu by Carl Heinrich Graun is composed in Berlin. William Boyce is appointed as Master of the King’s Musick in London. Francesco Araja’s opera Cephal et Prokris is sung in Russian in St. Petersburg and Egidio Duni’s Ninette à la cour produced in Paris. Francesco Durante dies in Naples. 1756 The Seven Years’ War begins. Leopold Mozart publishes his Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule. Charles Simon Favart imports exotic costumes for his pasticcio Soliman II for Paris.
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CHRONOLOGY
• xxi
1757 Domenico Scarlatti dies in Madrid and Johann Stamitz dies in Mannheim. Earliest public concert given is in Philadelphia by John Palma. 1758
C. P. E. Bach publishes the Geistliche Oden und Lieder.
1759 Jesuits are expelled from Portugal and their composers begin to move to Brazil. Joseph Haydn enters the service of Count Morzin. George Frederick Handel dies in London. 1760 George III becomes king of England. The earliest collection of American-composed psalmody, Urania, is published in Philadelphia. Niccolò Piccinni’s La buona figlioula is premiered in Rome. Breitkopf in Leipzig publishes the first music catalogue. Georges Noverre becomes ballet master in Stuttgart. 1761 Joseph Haydn becomes vice Kapellmeister at Eisenstadt. Opera buffa begins to be performed in London with works by Baldassare Galuppi and Niccolò Piccinni. The Nobleman and Gentleman’s Catch Club begins in London. Gluck’s Don Juan premieres in Vienna. 1762 Catherine II becomes empress of Russia and begins to import Italian composers for her opera. Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice premieres in Vienna. Johann Christian Bach moves to London as Thomas Arne’s Love in a Village premieres there. 1763 The first Treaty of Paris ends the Seven Years’ War. Florian Gassmann succeeds Gluck in Vienna as court composer. Public concerts are founded in Leipzig. 1764
Rameau dies in Paris.
1765 The first Bach-Abel concerts are performed in London. André Philidor premieres his Tom Jones. 1766 Joseph Haydn becomes Kapellmeister, with the court moving summers to Esterház in Hungary. 1767 Georg Philipp Telemann dies in Hamburg. Christoph Willibald von Gluck’s Alceste premieres in Vienna. 1768 Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Dictionnaire de musique is published in Paris. The opera house at Esterház opens. 1769 The first zarzuelas featuring folk elements are composed by Antonio de Hita in Madrid. Luigi Boccherini becomes court cellist in Madrid. C. P. E. Bach becomes city composer in Hamburg.
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1770 The Liebhaberkonzerte are begun in Berlin and the Concert des Amateurs is established in Paris. Padre Sojo establishes the Chacao School in Caracas, Venezuela, New Spain. Giuseppe Tartini dies in Padua. 1771 Johann Kirnberger publishes his Die Kunst des reinen Satzes in Berlin. The Royal Academy of Music is founded in Stockholm. Charles Burney publishes his The Present State of Music in France and Italy. Johann Adolph Hasse’s last opera seria Ruggiero premieres in Milan. 1772 Gustav III becomes king of Sweden and begins planning the Royal Opera. The Tonkünstlersozietät is founded in Vienna. 1773 Christoph Wieland and Anton Schweitzer compose a German serious opera, Alceste, for Weimar. The Royal Opera in Stockholm is inaugurated with Francesco Uttini’s Thetis och Pelée. Charles Burney publishes his The Present State of Music in Germany, the Netherlands, and United Provinces. Joseph Haydn’s L’infedeltà delusa premieres at Esterház. 1774 Johann Friedrich Reichardt becomes Kapellmeister in Berlin. Goethe publishes Die Leiden des jungen Werthers. Antonio Salieri becomes court composer in Vienna. Gluck arrives in Paris to produce Iphigénie en Aulide. Niccolo Jommelli dies in Naples. 1775 American War for Independence begins. Georg Benda writes monodrama Ariadne auf Naxos for Gotha. Hanover Square Rooms concert series begins in London. 1776 Charles Burney publishes the first volume of his General History of Music. The Ancient Concerts sponsored by the Academy of Ancient Music begin in London. John Hawkins publishes his History of Music. 1777 The Accademia de’Cavalieri begins concerts in Naples. Günther von Schwarzburg by Ignaz Holzbauer premieres in Mannheim. 1778 Elector Carl Theodor moves his court to Munich as elector of Bavaria, taking with him most of his orchestra. The Teatro a la Scala opens in Milan. Joseph II founds the German National Singspiel in Vienna. Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler publishes his Betrachtungen einer Mannheimer Tonschule. 1779 Opera house at Esterház burns. The Gluck-Piccinni feud erupts with performances of the former’s Iphigénie en Tauride and the latter’s Roland. 1780
Mozart writes Idomeneo for Munich.
1781 Mozart arrives in Vienna; opera house at Esterház reopens. Joseph Haydn publishes his Opus 33 string quartets. The Loge Olympique concerts are inaugurated in Paris. Johann Adam Hiller becomes the first conductor of the new Gewandshaus orchestra in Leipzig.
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CHRONOLOGY
• xxiii
1782 Giovanni Paisiello’s Il barbiere di Siviglia premieres in St. Petersburg. Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail premieres in Vienna. The first volume of Heinrich Koch’s Versuch einer Anleitung zu Composition is published in Leipzig. Pietro Metastasio dies in Vienna and Johann Christian Bach dies in London. The castrato Farinelli dies in Bologna. 1783 The second Treaty of Paris secures the independence of the new United States, and Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson import French music to the United States. The National opera house in Prague opens. Johann Adolph Hasse dies in Dresden. Archbishop Colloredo of Salzburg promotes hymnody in the Austrian empire. 1784 Handel Centennial Commemoration begins in London. André-ErnestModest Grétry’s rescue opera Richard Coeur de Lion premieres in Paris. Padre Martini dies in Bologna. 1785
The Caecilian Society of London is founded.
1786 Johann Peter Salomon creates a concert series in London; Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Vincent Martin y Soler’s Una cosa rara premiere in Vienna. Joseph Haydn’s Paris symphonies are performed in Paris at the Loge Olympique. Frederick the Great dies in Berlin and is succeeded by Friedrich Wilhelm, who encourages cellists to come to the Prussian court. 1787 Mozart’s Don Giovanni premieres in Prague, and he becomes Gluck’s successor in Vienna at a reduced salary. Giuseppe Sarti’s Russian Te Deum performed in Moscow. Christoph Willibald von Gluck dies in Vienna. The prohibition against theatre performances and music is lifted in Philadelphia. 1788 The Glee Club is founded in London. C. P. E. Bach dies in Hamburg. The Felix Meritis concerts begin in Amsterdam. 1789 French Revolution begins with the storming of the Bastille. Daniel Gottlob Türk publishes his Clavierschule. The Berlin opera opens to the public. 1790 František Kocžwara composes The Battle for Prague. The Concerts spirituels close in Paris. Joseph Quesnel begins producing operas in Montreal, Québec, in Canada. Prince Nicholas Esterházy dies and Joseph Haydn is pensioned. 1791 Joseph Haydn goes to London to perform at the Salomon concerts. Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte premieres shortly before the composer’s death in Vienna. 1792 Gustav III of Sweden is assassinated at a masked ball, and Gustavian opera declines. Ludwig van Beethoven moves to Vienna as a student of Joseph Haydn. The premiere of Domenico Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto
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takes place in Vienna. The Singakademie in Berlin is founded by Carl F. Fasch. The Teatro La Fenice is reborn in Venice, while the Théâtre de la rue St. Pierre is founded in New Orleans, Louisiana. 1794 Joseph Haydn visits London for the second time. The Chestnut Street Theatre opens in Philadelphia with Samuel Arnold’s The Castle of Andalusia. 1795 The Conservatoire is founded in Paris. The opera society Nytt och Nöje is founded in Stockholm. 1796 Joseph Haydn recalled as Kapellmeister to Eisenstadt and writes the Missa in angustiis. William Shield’s opera The Poor Soldier is performed in Botany Bay, Australia. 1797 All conservatories in Naples but two close due to revolution. Medée by Luigi Cherubini premieres in Paris. 1798 French army invests Naples, and Cimarosa is imprisoned for revolutionary activities. Haydn’s Die Schöpfung premieres in Vienna. 1799 Napoleon becomes dictator in France. Joseph Martin Kraus’s monumental Æneas i Cartago is premiered in Stockholm, the last of the Gustavian operas. 1800
Boieldieu’s opera Le Calife de Baghdad premieres in Paris.
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Introduction
If there is one period in music history that lies in the background of our modern concept of classical music and yet is difficult to grasp in its entirety, it is the Classical period. The research is mammoth, and there is an awareness that it may probably be the first “modern” period of today’s music, and still there are aspects that seem to defy precise definition. The concepts that drove the 19th century all appear during the very short time span of its existence, the foundations for the technological marvels of later eras were laid, new forms of government appeared as a fundamental sea change occurred from the earlier hierarchy based upon feudal fealty to some sort of more egalitarian system, and in the arts there was an emerging awareness of people, their emotions and foibles, that drove substantial changes in how culture was practiced and viewed. It was called variously the Age of Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, the Age of Revolution, the Age of Empire, and a number of other epithets that encompass some of these changes but fail to grasp the enormity of what occurred during the period. Indeed, various trends, labeled Galant, Empfindsamkeit, Sturm und Drang, Rococo, Gothic, Classicism, and so forth, are all active terms that imply a rapid systemic change that perhaps would be difficult to encompass in any sort of single term. Add to this a global perspective particularly during the last half of the century and one is confronted by a historical colossus, something which in its Hydra-like aspects requires a complex musical world to match. There are two main questions that confront one when coming to terms with music in the Classical period. The first is to determine what occurred during this dramatic era in terms of musical style and trends; the second is to see how the ebb and flow, perhaps even the diffusion, of music happened on a global scale. There can be no doubt that this was perhaps one of the most fruitful compositional periods in history, and in comparison with other times, it would seem that there was a market for music of all sorts in virtually every place, even some where living conditions were extremely nascent or primitive. In order to begin to answer these questions, it is necessary to make some definitions regarding the period itself.
1
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INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS THE CLASSICAL PERIOD? The Classical period is historically difficult to define. As Neal Zaslaw noted in his essay on music and society in Man and Music: The Classical Era, while certain events can be construed as forming “a natural watershed, in political, social and cultural history alike,” the definition of the period is quite subjective and fluid.1 There is, therefore, considerable debate about what constitutes the chronology of the period, most of the definitions alternating between the “long” 18th century that includes the entire hundred-year period and sometimes beyond, and the “short” 18th century, wherein more specific dates are determined to be significant markers. The first and perhaps most obvious reason for this confusion is that one musical historical trend merges imperceptibly into another, from the Baroque to the Classical and from the Classical to the Romantic, and developments in the world of music seem more consistently evolutionary than revolutionary. The use of the birth or death dates of important composers is also occasionally used; for example, the death of Johann Sebastian Bach in 1750 as the end of the Baroque, or the death of Joseph Haydn in 1809 as the end of the Classical period. These too are not as definitive as one might like. It would seem that the new “Classical” style, however that is interpreted (and it too is a slippery definition at best), may have emerged and slowly become dominant during the 1730s or 1740s, but Baroque composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Jan Dismas Zelenka, George Frederick Handel, or Antonio Vivaldi were all active well into these decades and later. It is instructive to be reminded that when Handel died, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was already 3 years old and would, within a year or so, begin composing music, and when Georg Philipp Telemann passed away in 1767, Mozart was already 11 and shortly to write his first opera. The elder generation of composers may or may not have chosen to delve completely into the new stylistic developments, but they were certainly cognizant of them; one is reminded of Handel’s rather offhanded remark that Christoph Willibald von Gluck knew no more about counterpoint than his cook, or Georg Philipp Telemann’s successful attempt to reinvent himself as a “modern” composer even at an advanced age. On the upper end, the Classical period did not end either in 1791 or 1809 with the passing of what have been seen as the musical icons, Mozart or Joseph Haydn, since composers continued to write in the same style for decades afterward. There is a certain Caesarian or Trinitarian symmetry in dividing Ludwig van Beethoven’s compositional years into three periods, but this too remains problematic in defining some sort of upper boundary. By the time of his death in 1827, Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique lay but three years
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• 3
in the future, and how one describes the works of Franz Schubert, who died only a year after Beethoven, or Carl Maria von Weber depends upon whether their music is Classical or simply rooted in Classical tradition. One may subscribe to one or the other view, but here too there is a certain sense of overlap in composers such as Weber or perhaps even Giaocchino Rossini, where, like the composers at the beginning of the period, they knew of a newly emerging style but preferred to write in the old. This leaves the other parameters, both social and cultural, as possible determinants. While 1740, the year when Frederick the Great of Prussia and Maria Theresia of the Holy Roman Empire became heads of their respective states, does have some significance due to their involvement in musical development, if the new style emerged from Italy, then the beginning must go at least a decade earlier when composers such as Giovanni Pergolesi, Giovanni Sammartini, and Antonio Brioschi were already defining both Classical form and genres. At the upper end, perhaps the treaties of Vienna and Ghent in 1814 were pivotal historical points, for not only does Europe undergo the first of the many political reconfigurations of the century, it is also a time when the Americas were finally freed, or in the throes of being free, from European political suzerainty. For music, the older court or church dominance was replaced by the municipal concert hall/opera house or the private salon as venues for which works could be written. For composers, this marked a change to an arrangement that was less secure than the old court system but offered more lucrative ways of making a living. Add to this the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution, particularly in the field of transportation, and accessibility to composers and music becomes a significant factor in marking a sea change around this time. Given these rather nebulous boundaries, a definitive chronology based upon historical data must remain an elusive target, with arbitrary limits established as required. It used to be that the music of the Classical period, however chronologically problematic, was inevitably defined by only a handful of major figures, the so-called great masters whose importance seems to have been determined already as the 19th century dawned. E. T. A. Hoffmann may not have been the first but was certainly one of the most persuasive proponents of a triumvirate consisting of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven, which in turn led to the equating of the music of the entire period with a Viennese Classical style.2 Important other figures such as Christoph Willibald von Gluck or Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach were often ranked as secondary in importance, acknowledging their contributions as “forerunners” of the triumvirate, and the remaining relegated to the status of Kleinmeister, a word that seems by its very nature to be rather derogatory.3
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INTRODUCTION
In a number of modern general histories of the period, this view has remained. For example, Philip Downs’s Classical Music for the Norton series is subtitled The Era of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven with five of nine chapters devoted to these composers. In Reinhard Pauly’s Music in the Classical Period, each chapter written on genres seems inevitably to devolve into a discussion of their works, and they are the only ones singled out for individual chapters all on their own. Charles Rosen’s The Classical Style and Leonard Ratner’s analysis of form in his Classic Music focus heavily upon these composers, while Giorgio Pestelli’s text is titled The Age of Mozart and Beethoven, with poor Haydn even left out of top billing. Finally, the titles of two out of the three monumental volumes on the period by Daniel Heartz (Haydn, Mozart, and the Viennese School from 1995 and Mozart, Haydn, and Early Beethoven from 2009) continue the trend, even though in both of these studies a more objective and universal content can be discerned. Needless to say, this overwhelming focus, whether titular or contentual, has evoked a response, ranging from the antithetical Vergessen Sie Mozart! Erfolgskomponisten der Mozart-Zeit (Forget Mozart! Successful Composers of the Mozart Era; never mind the irony of the title here) by Wolfgang Antesberger to attempts to relocate the 18th century into either a generic or social context, as can be seen in the aforementioned Man and Music edited by Zaslaw or the various often exhaustive studies on the oratorio by Howard Smither, the sonata by William S. Newman, or the soon-to-be published and long-anticipated study of the 18th-century symphony in the series begun by A. Peter Brown (and now concluded by editors Mary Sue Morrow and Bathia Churgin with over 20 individual authors involved in the compendium). Each of these studies, and others as well, have begun the task of leveling the playing field of 18th-century music, showing that the plethora of styles and trends, within which each of the triumvirate was of course an integral participant, were all contributors to a greater whole, a kaleidoscopic world of Classical period music that was global in form and substance. This in turn requires a broader view of the music of the period than that focused entirely upon three out of hundreds of composers active at the same time. In other words, one simply cannot define the music of the Classical period as being equated, dominated, or even focused upon any individual, let alone a single city, no matter how prosperous a musical establishment it had. If the great masters approach no longer is appropriate, the development of musical style may be a more productive avenue to follow in defining the period. In terms of questions of style and genre, both the old and the new styles, forms, and structures are often comingled and mutually influential. When one views the overall stylistic developments of any given period, the issue of pro-
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INTRODUCTION
• 5
gressive development becomes a crucial one; the one question that frequently occurs is whether “forward-looking” music is a harbinger of things to come or an anomaly, born out of a particular set of circumstances. The same goes for whether a particular composition or style is to be deemed progressive (or perhaps even revolutionary) or anachronistic. Add to this mix the issues of performance practice—and by this is limited here to the development of performance circumstances, venues, and participation—and the waters become indeed murky. Is a composer writing in 1790 for an orchestra consisting of strings only less advanced than one who begins to add trombones to a brass section of a quartet of horns and pair of trumpets, for example? Is the rediscovery of Bach promoted in Vienna in the 1780s by Baron Gottfried van Swieten (and espoused with some nonchalance by Mozart, at least before he perused Bach’s manuscripts while on a trip to Leipzig in 1789) a deliberate anachronism in terms of performance practice, or is it a back-to-the-future approach that might be deemed a true revival? There can be no doubt that an almost infinite variety of possibilities for the creation and performance of music existed during the Classical period. Virtually all of the modern traditional genres were either developed or perfected during the era, and there was an ample creative spark that led to new sorts of genres, styles, or variations thereof. It is often taken for granted that clarity and symmetry were the hallmarks of the period; for instance, the careful melodic and harmonic contrasts, as well as the expanded binary structure, of what used to be termed sonata form (and now generally can be described merely as the sonata principle). Formal clarity was certainly an important aspect of the music of the period, but it was subject to considerable variety and creativity. Reading through Heinrich Koch’s description of sonata form, for example, reveals more of a how-to method than an artistic way of solving issues of contrast, and his examples are both dry and pedantic. To be sure, he does provide a description that seems to work in general terms, but this does not explain the unwritten adherence to this principle by many composers of the period, nor does it allow for the variance that composers employ when using it. Genres themselves are somewhat indefinite, although to be sure nomenclature was not standardized. A sonata could be virtually anything, from what we might consider a “standard” three-movement work for a single instrument with keyboard accompaniment to a larger piece such as a piano trio or a single solo instrument. A symphony may have been standardized for the most part into either three or four movements, but there are symphonies that range from a single movement with slow introduction (the so-called Sinfonia da chiesa with examples from Joseph Martin Kraus to Niccolò Zingarelli) to perhaps as many as nine movements, such as the characteristic symphonies by Jean
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Gehot. A concerto may exist as a standard three-movement format arranged fast-slow-fast, but if embedded within or extracted from a larger work such as a serenade, it is generally in two movements—examples by Mozart and Michael Haydn come to mind—and there are others that may include more. In short, the question of form and genre varies so considerably that all one can deduce is that this period was a time of rapid stylistic and structural change, during which standards emerged but which also accommodated a wide range of experimentation. In terms of it defining the period, however, it can be said that a stylistic trend toward longer, more lyrical themes and thematic contrast found in expanded binary forms began around 1730 or a bit before. The result was an almost frenetic development throughout Europe that coalesced into a number of genres based around predictable if not always rigid formal structures by about 1790–1800. Only after that time, most visibly in the works of Beethoven, do further changes occur that become further standardized during the 19th century, and thus from this standpoint a case can be made for the span 1730–1800, with a few years on either side as that encompassing the Classical period.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSIC IN THE CLASSICAL PERIOD It seems clear that one must approach the music and those who wrote it from several perspectives during the era. First, there are the economic factors that become all the more important in how music develops, is composed, and is disseminated. Second, there is a sea change in the lives and occupations of the composers themselves, which involves the dissolution of the social structures that provided for employment in earlier times. Third, there is the matter of taste, for conservative traditions or for novelty that drives the musical development and expansion. Finally, there is the growth of the medium itself, here defined as the creation of new institutions wherein music is performed, restriction of rules that confine or limit its growth, development of the ensemble, and the principles that define how music is to be used and for what purposes. These are intertwining aspects, but all are an integral part in how one is to view the period. The economic factors during the Classical period were crucial to the development of music. Composers had a variety of outlets for their works, ranging from the more traditional commissions and requirements of their employment to the ability to publish and even distribute their own music. As with earlier eras, if a composer was employed by a court, there were inevitable duties and responsibilities that came with the position. In terms of musical
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INTRODUCTION
• 7
composition, it entailed writing works for special occasions (either for his own patron or those associated or related), everyday events, or as required for the maintenance of their musical establishments. A person like Joseph Haydn, for example, as an employee of the Esterházy family, was obliged to compose works to display the talents of his musicians (concertos, concert arias), works to entertain his employer (symphonies, operas, divertimentos, sonatas, etc.), works for the local churches (Masses, motets), special commissions for his prince (baryton works), and anything else that was needed. He also was able to independently accept special commissions as his fame grew (the so-called Paris symphonies, the concertos/divertimentos for lire organizzate, the Seven Last Words) but also arrange for publication of sets of works (string quartets) by publishers or by subscription. Publishers even opted on occasion to become exclusive printers of special sets, such as the sonatas and Morgengesang by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, who handled the subscriptions and sales himself. As a result, publishers such as Artaria in Vienna, Breitkopf in Leipzig, Hummel in Berlin and Amsterdam, Boyer in Paris, and many others, with or without royal privilege, flourished as outlets for composers. Even the lack of copyright, which saw numerous misattributions for the sake of a better market, did not stop composers from pursuing this avenue with increasing fervor. When added to the growth of the private salon society, with its niche market for small chamber works performable by amateurs, opportunities for economic advantages became legion. Nor were the more common manuscripts neglected. Copy shops such as Johann Traeg in Vienna and Breitkopf both maintained substantial catalogues of works that could be copied off upon demand at reasonable prices, and both professional and amateur composers were not opposed to using this as a means of making some extra money. When one adds distribution to this system, then a growing reputation meant a growing market for one’s music, and no matter where one was bound, often this was part of the necessary luggage, whether it was Santiago de Chile or Bounty Bay, whether a distant cathedral or a penal colony. With respect to the economic factors, it is interesting to note that composers and musicians were also less restricted in their choice of occupations and employers than in prior periods. A musician could change employers, and many did so frequently sometimes without undue difficulties. For example, Franz Xaver Richter was allowed to apply for and obtain the post of Kapellmeister in Strasbourg by his erstwhile employer, Elector Carl Theodor in Mannheim. Johann Adolph Hasse occupied two posts simultaneously from about 1734: Kapellmeister at the Saxon court in Dresden and maestro di cappella at the Ospedale degli Incurabili in Venice. And in the case of Abbé Vogler, his various positions in Paris, Stockholm, Munich, and Darmstadt
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INTRODUCTION
were all part of his own desire to spread his fame, and for each of these, as well as his self-made post in Mannheim at the Electoral court, he was able to negotiate favorable terms without application or scrutiny, such as occurred frequently in Spain and Portugal, where church maestros di capillas had to undergo rigorous (and sometimes rigged) examinations for their posts. Part of this freedom was a part of a new view by the rulers, particularly of the subsections of the Holy Roman Empire, who were not only often closely related but vied with each other for the reputations of their musical establishments. The Bourbon kings of Spain were thus able to offer lucrative employment to Luigi Boccherini or Gaetano Brunetti, not to mention their monopoly over performers such as Farinelli for over a decade. Gustav III of Sweden was able to persuade not only Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler but also several other Germans such as Johann Friedrich Grenser, Joseph Martin Kraus, and Christian Haeffner to relocate to Stockholm, while his cousin, Catherine the Great of Russia, convinced a veritable stream of famous Italian opera composers, such as Giovanni Paisiello, Giuseppe Sarti, Vincent Martin y Soler, and Domenico Cimarosa, to grace her court at St. Petersburg. The major appointments also brought a large number of others, who, even if they did not achieve the top positions, nonetheless were able to find respectable employment with some of the lesser nobility. Ernest Wanžura, for example, found a position at court, while Count Schaffgotsch used Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf both as a musician and as a state bureaucrat. Often these included posts as ordinary musicians, such as Joseph Fiala at Salzburg and the court of Oettingen-Wallerstein. In the best cases, the rulers gathered around them a group of musicians who were meant to achieve significant musical developments; here one can note not only Gustav and Catherine, both of whom had more nationalist agendas, but also Frederick the Great, who patronized the so-called Berlin School made up of Carl Heinrich and Johann Gottlieb Graun, C. P. E. Bach, Johann Kirnberger, and others, as well as making his own musical contributions. In addition, during the period, church music—particularly in the Catholic countries—required increasingly complex musical establishments, and composers could find occupations in the many churches and cathedrals throughout Europe with or without being members of the clergy. Carlo Monzi or Johann Simon Mayr would raise the standards in Bergamo, while Mozart and Michael Haydn devoted much of their energy toward the expansion of sacred music in Salzburg, to give two examples of nonclerical composers employed at such institutions; at the same time, Jan Ryba wrote for his small parish in Bohemia a myriad of works particularly suited to his situation. Municipalities also provided employment opportunities. Sir Frederick Herschel, who was a polymath, wrote works for the Bath concert series, as did his contemporaries Carl Friedrich Abel and Johann Christian Bach in London.
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• 9
Finally, there were those who, despite the occasional formal appointment, remained freelancers their entire lives. First and foremost were the Italian composers of opera, who were able to obtain commissions, sometimes quite lucrative, from theatres throughout Italy and elsewhere in Europe. Several of the wandering companies, such as the Mingotti troupe, even hired their own in-house composers; these included Christoph Willibald von Gluck and Francesco Antonio Uttini. Next were the soloists, who went to places such as Paris or London both to achieve fame and to expand their careers. These included traveling artists such as violist Carl Stamitz, harpist Jan Krumpholz, or pianist Jan Dussek, but one could also find niche composers, such as Giuseppe Cambini, who found that the sinfonia concertante was particularly suited to his talents. In short, the 18th century offered composers far more opportunities for employment in a variety of occupations than heretofore, and in so doing created a fertile environment for musical composition. The third factor is that of taste. Musical aesthetics was a significant element in the growth of music during the Classical period. There can be no doubt that certain occasions demanded a certain style of music. Louis Grénon knew that he had to follow the traditions of his church in Sainte by composing works that were a cappella and accompanied only by a continuo consisting of the organ and a serpent. The Mercure de France is filled with debates on musical taste, as are treatises such as Etwas von und über Musik, general travelogues such as Charles Burney’s travels through Europe, or journals such as the Magazin de Musik, all of which take a critical look at how music is received (or ought to be received) by both professional and amateur alike. The best anecdotal example of this often controversial subject may be that surrounding Mozart’s Dissonant Quartet (KV 465). In Vienna, Joseph Haydn heard this and exclaimed to Leopold Mozart that his son was the greatest composer he knew, while when it was performed at the Este court in Modena, the Duke d’Este was so outraged by the dissonant harmonies that he marched down and tore the manuscript to shreds (or at least the first page of it). In the 18th century, however, novelty seemed to be an asset for a composer, who was continually on the lookout for a new mode of expression or new method of making a personal statement. Novelty breeds at times a certain fame or notoriety, and, for example, in the case of Giovanni Pergolesi, an early death at age 26 and a reputation as a progressive composer engendered an imitative Blitz so powerful that within a decade after his demise he was attributed with hundreds more works than he actually wrote. Joseph Haydn was considered so much a harbinger of taste and novelty that his works (principally the string quartets and symphonies) sparked numerous imitators, several of which, such as Pater Roman Hoffstetter, even had their works accepted as legitimate ones by the elder composer. Taste often drove composers; in
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INTRODUCTION
England the popular taste was for the medley overture, and both there and in the new United States, composers such as Samuel Arnold, James Hewitt, and Alexander Reinagle wrote these quodlibets thereby creating a new genre. The final factor in the development of the Classical period concerns the medium itself. Throughout the period there was a conscious expansion of both genres and the method of performance, which in turn created need and opportunity for musical education or invention. Although the conservatory system in Naples was crucial for the bulk of the century in turning out composers and musicians, and indeed often served as a Mecca for students from abroad, the method of teaching was still less than formal, often consisting of texts such as Johann Joseph Fux’s Gradus ad Parnassum or individual thorough-bass or instrumental tutorials. There was clearly a need for a more structured education, which developed throughout the century. In Stockholm, the Royal Academy of Music offered a thorough curriculum, as did the Theatre Schools in Moscow and St. Petersburg, while in Paris in 1795 the first modern musical university, the Conservatoire, was established. The necessity for this sort of institutionalized music education was prompted by the development of the musical ensemble itself. In the 1730s, the general orchestra consisted of a central core of strings (mostly four-part), at the foundation of which was a continuo group, usually defined locally to include a variety of bass instruments. Johann Mattheson’s Neu-eröffnete Orchester of 1713 delineates the other instruments that were often added to provide color and texture, but which functioned as special groupings or consorts. In Johann Sebastian Bach’s larger works, there is usually a woodwind grouping of flutes, oboes, oboes da caccia, and sometimes bassoons, as well as a brass grouping of horns or trumpets and timpani. George Frederick Handel uses a smaller orchestration, but varies his textures by dropping or adding these groups, using textural contrast to achieve his orchestral effects. By 1740, this has changed considerably. The winds are now used more as harmonic filler rather than completely colla parte, and the orchestra itself seems to be expanding to exploit the ranges and depth of individual instruments or instrument pairs. Johann Gottlob Harrer, for example, often requires extreme trumpet ranges, adding a specialized color to his orchestration, while the symphonies of Johan Helmich Roman or Johann Agrell employ woodwinds with their own parts, now sustaining, now solo. In 1745, Elector Carl Theodor made a further adjustment by forming the Mannheim orchestra, which took the shape of a modern ensemble through pairs of woodwinds (each contrasting but also providing sustained harmonic color when needed), pairs of horns (to do likewise), the usual trumpet and drum corps, and an expanded body of strings, now with the occasional disassociation of the violoncello from the contrabass.
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INTRODUCTION
• 11
Numbers of musicians also increased, so that the continuo began to become superfluous. By 1770, average sizes of the orchestra ranged from smaller court ensembles, such as the 28 “band of professors” at Esterháza under Haydn, to large municipal groups such as the Concerts spirituels or Loge Olympique in Paris. A decade later, even the Hovkapell in Stockholm could boast a standard professional ensemble of about 45 to 60 players, with more available if larger sound was needed. Add to this special instruments, such as the exotic percussion in the Turkish music of André Grétry or the reinforcement of the bass line in Paris by a trombone in the case of several sinfonia concertantes by Giuseppe Cambini, and all of the elements of the modern symphony orchestra have been put in place. For composers, this provided an opportunity to experiment with various effects and colors, but it also required a cautious analysis of how and when instruments can and ought to be used. And when writing for a more generic ensemble, choices of instrumentation were of necessity more careful, which in turn drove a market for music geared toward specialized local circumstances. For local composers, this offered an opportunity to imitate betterknown figures but write music that was specifically tailored to their venues; alternatively it allowed for arrangements to be made, often with the inclusion of particular musical ideas. For instance, the opening ritornello of a Mozart piano concerto, rewriting the original oboe parts for clarinets, was performed at a public concert in New York in 1797, but now as part of a larger medley by Hewitt. The last of these factors is the development of the genre. As more and more opportunities for musical composition arose, and as the various possibilities for performance increased, the need for expanded and newly developed genres became apparent. As a result, music expanded during the Classical period as it never had before. For instance, the symphony began in Italy around 1730 or so as an independent genre, using elements of the ritornello concerto, the opera Sinfonia, and the suite to create a multipurpose instrumental work with contrasting moods and movements suitable for a variety of occasions. The origins are not entirely clear cut, but it appears that this was developed both in Naples and in Lombardy by composers such as Nicola Porpora, Giovanni Battista Sammartini, Antonio Brioschi, and others, spreading rapidly throughout Europe as a new and very useful work. Johan Helmich Roman came into contact with it during a visit to Italy in 1735 and introduced it with various experimentations in terms of structure and form to Scandinavia, and with his contacts with German Kapellmeisters such as Johan Agrell in Nuremburg and Fortunato Chelleri in Kassel, he exchanged works that further sparked development. By 1738 the new genre was introduced in a spectacular fashion in Amsterdam through a centennial concert for the theatre
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there, and only about a year later both Johann Mattheson and Johann Adoph Scheibe were able to describe it in their treatises as a popular all-purpose instrumental genre.4 Almost immediately it too spawned numerous variations, from flexible number of movements to descriptive characteristic symphonies (such as Dittersdorf’s 12 works based upon Ovid’s Metamorphosis), from medley overtures to an amalgamation of the concerto and symphony known as the sinfonia concertante. In terms of opera, a new style of comic opera spread northward out of Naples beginning around the same time, eventually becoming the international standard for opera throughout Europe. Italian opera, both serious and comic, was spread to all portions of the globe and was well regarded for the beauty of the language, the familiarity of the types of music—long lyrical lines, good harmonic support, in serious works a certain predictability that allowed for virtuoso display, colorful orchestration, for example—and the familiarity of the plots. It flourished throughout the period in centers such as Rome, Turin, Florence, Milan, Naples, and Venice, with a veritable horde of local composers and occasionally librettists, such as Carlo Goldoni, able to make a sometimes substantial living off of commissions, but its real influence was felt elsewhere as composers traveled beyond Italy. As noted above, a host of composers was invited to St. Petersburg to write Italian opera for Catherine the Great, but Frederick the Great of Prussia supported composers such as Carl Heinrich Graun, Frederick August of Saxony Hasse, and Johann Gottlieb Naumann in their successful attempts to set Italian librettos for their courts. Opera houses in London, Vienna, Warsaw, Munich, and elsewhere also found Italian opera, more buffa as the century progressed, appealing to their audiences, which in turn sparked various attempts at reform, such as when Count Giacomo Durazzo encouraged Gluck and his librettist Raniero Calzabigi to revisit the seria to make it more dramatic. Italian opera may have dominated the European scene, but this did not stop local national opera from developing. When the Parisian audiences were introduced to Pergolesi’s La serva padrona, an immediate controversy arose regarding the moribund French tragédie lyrique and comic works. Efforts by Charles Simon Favart to create an opéra comique successfully demonstrated the efficacy of French comic opera, leading onward in the quest for exoticism and novelty in works by François Gossec and André-Ernest-Modest Grétry. In England, the popular ballad opera, originally more of a parody with the 1728 Beggar’s Opera, was developed to include both serious national elements (such as Thomas Arne’s Alfred) or complete farces (composed by Stephen Storace and others). Indeed, one of these, the pasticcio The Devil to Pay produced by Charles Coffey, also became an international success, sparking the development of the German Singspiel through translated performances by the troupe of Heinrich Koch in Leipzig in 1756.
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• 13
A decade later, Johann Adam Hiller was not only promoting a particular German style of opera replete with folk elements and music, he also established a school to train composers and singers how to do it. A similar style also developed in Vienna, culminating in fairy-tale works by Dittersdorf, Paul Wrantizky, and Mozart produced in venues such as Emanuel Schickaneder’s Theater auf der Wieden. By 1777, more serious German opera had begun with Iganz Holzbauer’s Günther von Schwarzburg, and around the same time Georg Benda had adapted to limited performance circumstances at the court theatre in Gotha by developing the duodrama, where music simply accompanied a spoken play. Christian Cannabich and others added the occasional ballet and chorus to this new genre, but this was a particularly German invention. Another outgrowth of this was the didactic Singspiels (sometimes called school dramas) that were performed in many of the smaller towns—especially in Bavaria—and composed mainly by Benedictine monks at the nearby monasteries. Finally, national operas in local languages began to flourish, not as examples of provincialism, but as full-fledged genres in their own rights. In Russia, Catherine encouraged her local composers such as Yevstigney Fomin or Vasily Paskevich to write folk operas using specialized instruments and folk tunes, even writing the librettos herself. In Sweden, Gustav III inaugurated a Swedish opera—though at the first performance of one he thoughtfully asked members of his court if their ears hurt hearing the language sung—and by 1774 had begun mining Swedish history in a blatant attempt at Nordic propaganda to support his regime; he too wrote or drafted many of the texts used in works such as Naumann’s Gustav Wasa or Olof Åhlström’s Frigga. In Denmark, the government of Ove Guldberg sought to deflect attention away from a flagging monarchy by promoting opera in Danish, beginning in 1779 with Johann Ernst Joseph Hartmann’s Balders død. Its success created a plethora of Danish works by Friedrich Ludwig Aemelius Kunzen, Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, and others, one of which, Holger Danske by Kunzen, was to later appear in the 19th century as Carl Maria von Weber’s Oberon. In Spain, native operatic forms such as the zarzuela and tonadilla were composed by local composers such as José de Nebra Blasco or Antonio de Hita. In short, opera literally exploded onto the international musical scene, both as popular works by Italian composers and local exemplars, making the Classical period certainly the most fruitful creative period in music history for the genre. The same could be said for virtually every other genre, such as the string quartet, which developed out of the divertimento and became the primary chamber genre for publishers and amateur performers throughout the world. In short, the creation of music during this period was far more extensive and widespread than perhaps at any time in history, so that the Classical period
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INTRODUCTION
must be considered the font of modern music, a rich and vibrant era without equal.
CLASSICAL PERIOD MUSIC AS A GLOBAL PHENOMENON The international situation within which music flourished during this period had a considerable influence not only on the dissemination of the works of a composer but also on the influences and circumstances surrounding the need for music. From a political standpoint, this was not a particularly calm period. Various smaller European wars occupied central Europe from the very beginning. In 1740 both France and Prussia declared that Maria Theresia was ineligible according to Salic Law to succeed her late father, Charles VI, thereby inaugurating a war that lasted until 1748. Austria was supported by Great Britain and the Dutch Republic, and during the course of this various conflagrations flared up all over Europe, including the 1745 Jacobite uprising in Scotland. Tensions returned in 1756, when Britain went to war with Bourbon France and Spain, while the Prussian Hohenzollerns and Austrian Hapsburgs again fought battles over Silesia and (with Sweden) over Pomerania. This time, the conflict spilled over into the colonies in North America. In 1776, the American colonies declared their independence, resulting in another de facto global conflict, with the French backing the colonists and the various German states backing Britain. By 1783 a treaty was signed and the new United States of America became the first new nation in the American hemisphere. In 1787 Joseph II of Austria attacked the Ottoman Empire in conjunction with Catherine the Great, a conflict that lasted over a decade, and the next year Gustav III of Sweden fought with her over Baltic hegemony, eventually forcing a stalemate. Finally, in 1789 the French Revolution began with the storming of the Bastille and ended with the coming to power of Napoleon during the years of the Directorate from 1795 onward. These political events did not hinder the development of music, but rather allowed for new avenues to emerge in the form of political works. During the most difficult years of the French Revolution, for example, composers such as François Gossec, Luigi Cherubini, and others were commissioned to write music celebrating the regime and its new social order. Britain’s final suppression of the Scottish rebellion not only elicited a number of patriotic songs and anthems in England, it served to expand the sense of Scottishness among native composers, such as Alexander Mac’Glashan, much of which was exported as the clearances forced the immigration of thousands to the New World. In 1798, the Portuguese court fled to Brazil along with their
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INTRODUCTION
• 15
composers, who began writing the national hymns that were to become political symbols into the next century. Along with this were the newly emerging global empires that provided the grist for the new societies in Europe. To be sure, the Age of Exploration that began in the 15th century had long since been replaced by towns and provinces based upon European models, and these had become centers that were in many cases large, prosperous, and culturally independent, even though they had close ties with their European capitals. In musical terms, this offered markets for works that were heretofore unavailable. In Venezuela in New Spain, for example, Padre Sojo gathered around him a group of local musicians and immigrants to form the Chacao School; not only did the school include instrument makers, but it also offered composers employment as teachers and professionals. In Brazil, the Irmandades were confraternities that were associated with but not part of religious orders in areas such as Minas Gerais, and composers such as Jerônimo de Souza Lôbo were actively writing music the equivalent in form and structure to anything in Europe. Esteban de Salas in Santiago de Cuba had to make do with an ensemble of only a few singers and strings, but he too was able to adapt and compose numerous villancicos, or motets, for his church. In Halifax, Nova Scotia, the British garrison included a musical group that was able to mount orchestral concerts beginning around 1770, while both theatre and public concerts, often with formal dances at the end of each performance, were given in the American colonies both before and after the Revolution. Indeed, immigrants such as Alexander Reinagle, James Hewitt, Benjamin Carr, Peter van Hagen, and others all found professional employment in theatres, although they also became music sellers as well. Even in the remote areas, such as the California missions and towns established beginning in 1762 by Padre Junipero Serra, one could find substantial musical forces; a 1792 document at the Mission San Fernando describes an orchestra of some 28 performers, with a staffing and instrumentation the equivalent of anything in smaller towns in Europe. Mexican composers such as Ignacio de Jerusalem were able to provide music for these far-flung settlements in New Spain, allowing yet more dissemination during the Classical period. Wherever Europeans went or settled, they brought musicians and instruments with them, and as cities and outposts grew, and new immigrants arrived, the need for music, whether imported or indigenous, grew as well. Moreover, as contact with non-European areas such as the Ottoman Empire, India, or the Far East developed, non-Western cultures became a topic for discussion and imitation by European artists and musicians. This in turn manifested itself within particular pieces, either as exotica or as tentative attempts to introduce
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INTRODUCTION
these types of music into the repertory. In 1756, for example, Charles Simon Favart produced a Turkish opera titled Soliman II in Paris, but in order to create a sensation, he imported costumes, instruments, and even props from Constantinople. Even earlier, as the Ottoman troops were at the gates of Vienna, they were aware of the powerful Janissary divisions of the Turkish army, Christians who marched into battle accompanied by raucous trumpets, fifes, and percussion. In a sense, modern percussion was largely introduced into the orchestra as ancillary instruments attempting to provide exotic color, and in turn this provided the foundation for stories set in harems or palaces in the Near East in such works as Grétry’s La caravane du Caire, Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail or Zaide, Kunzen’s Holger Danske, and many others. In New Spain, native musical genres were absorbed into the composition of traditional works, so that, for example, recognizable Mayan melodies appear in the works of Rafael Castellanos in Guatemala. Then there were the various chamber works alleging to be drawn from non-European sources by such composers as Abbé Vogler, such as a Chinese rondo and a Greenlandic song, not to mention an entire program improvised on an instrument of his own invention that depicted the invasion of the Tatars. The Classical period can therefore be defined as the first real global period of music, where works by composers could be disseminated on a large scale.
CONCLUSION It is clear that such a vibrant and expansive period in music history is difficult to define with only general terms, let alone through the efforts of only a few great figures. The various descriptors of how to designate the period are all valid, for it was a time when the position of music and those who composed it was evolving rapidly. However one defines this indistinct period, or however one chooses to delineate the trends, genres, development, or social and political changes that occurred, the Classical period is one of deep intellectual ferment, of rapid growth and change, and of explosive creativity in the world of music. It may have had its roots in the music of an earlier era and been the harbinger of progressive music of that which followed, but it must be seen as the necessary evolutionary era, without which modern music and all of its variety could not exist. Given this importance, it is clear that music of this period is seminal to the development of “classical” music in the broader sense. It is at the core of the modern repertory, being fundamental to understanding the development of music over the past two centuries. Moreover, in opera houses, festivals, and concert halls all over the world, music from this period may indeed be performed more than any other form, making it one of
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INTRODUCTION
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the most accessible and popular periods. To be sure, it has been superseded by more “modern” and “progressive” forms of music, but it has not simply been relegated to “old” music of the past like that composed during the Renaissance or perhaps even the Baroque period. It has remained a living and vibrant part of the repertory, indeed offering a kaleidoscope of genres and works that never cease to enchant and amaze.
NOTES 1. Neal Zaslaw, ed. Man and Music: The Classical Era: From the 1740s to the End of the 18th Century (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1989), 1. The quotation occurs within a larger context, where he defines the musical period as being between about 1740 and the death of Haydn in 1809, give or take a year. Zaslaw, however, argues convincingly for the fluidity and subjectivity of such boundaries. 2. The most interesting use of these three as the First Viennese School was by Arnold Schoenberg in the designation of his trio of acolytes as the Second Viennese School. 3. See Zaslaw, Man and Music, 3. He notes specifically that accordingly “vast geographical and social musical landscapes may be, and usually are, passed over virtually in silence.” 4. See Johann Mattheson, Der vollkommene Capellmeister (Hamburg, 1739; English edition trans. Ernest Harriss, Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press, 1981), 234; and Johann Adoph Scheibe, Der critische Musicus (Hamburg, 1738–40; revised Leipzig, 1745), 595–602. It was completely defined by Johann A. P. Schulz in his article “Symphonie” in Johann Georg Sulzer, Allgemeine Theorie der schönen Künste (Leipzig, 1771–74), 2:1121–23. All three distinguish between overtures to operas and the symphony as a useful instrumental genre, with Scheibe boasting that he himself had written over 300 of them; this assertion cannot of course be verified.
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A ABADIA, JOSÉ ANTONIO (ca. 1730, ZARAGOZA, SPAIN, TO 1791, BURGOS, SPAIN). Spanish composer. Little is known of his training or early career, save that around 1770 he was maestro di capilla at the Collegio Mendinaceli in Burgos, where he spent the remainder of his life. His music is all but unknown, but he composed a large number of sacred works, including seven Lamentations. ABEL, CARL FRIEDRICH (22 DECEMBER 1723, CÖTHEN, SAXONY, TO 20 JUNE 1787, LONDON). German composer, impresario, and virtuoso viola da gamba player. The son of the gambist at the court of AnhaltCöthen and brother of Leopold August Abel, he received his early training from his father. Upon the recommendation of Johann Sebastian Bach, he obtained his first post in the Saxon Kapelle in 1748, but a decade later he immigrated to England to become the chamber composer for Queen Charlotte. On 29 February 1764 he performed his first joint concert with Johann Christian Bach at the Carlisle House on Soho Square. Its success began a collaborative series of 10 to 15 annual subscriptions concerts there and later at Hannover Square known as the Bach-Abel Concerts. Although competition began to weaken their appeal beginning with a series of concerts at the Pantheon in 1774, it was the death of his partner, Bach, in 1782 that caused these popular events to cease. At this time, Abel toured Paris and Germany, briefly staying in Potsdam at the court of Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia, ultimately returning to London in 1785. He remained active as a performer on an instrument long out of fashion up until his death. Abel had a reputation as a generous and likeable person, who offered aid in establishing younger musicians. He also had a penchant for living well. As a soloist, he was particularly praised for his sensitive and lyrical playing, particularly in the slow movements. Charles Burney noted that “the most pleasing, yet learned modulations, the richest harmony and the model elegant and polished melody were all expressed with feeling, taste, and science.” He is also known to have played the keyboard and French horn. His 233 works were almost entirely concentrated on instrumental genres; only a couple of arias and a song exist of his vocal compositions. These include 44 sonatas 19
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for viola da gamba and keyboard, 42 symphonies, 39 trio sonatas (two violins, two flutes, and violin/cello with keyboard), 28 miscellaneous pieces for viola da gamba, 24 violin sonatas, 12 piano trios, 12 string quartets, 10 flute quartets, seven flute sonatas, six keyboard concertos, three sinfonia concertantes (including one for two clarinets), two flute concertos, two cello concertos, and a number of miscellaneous keyboard works. His music has been cataloged according to WK (or Kn) numbers. See also LINLEY, WILLIAM. ABEL, LEOPOLD AUGUST (24 MARCH 1718, CÖTHEN, SAXONY, TO 25 AUGUST 1794, LUDWIGSLUST, MECKLENBERG-LOWER POMERANIA, GERMANY). German violinist and composer. Unlike his younger brother, Carl Friedrich Abel, he was sent to study violin with Franz Benda. In 1744 he obtained a post as violinist in Braunschweig, and in 1758 he was appointed as court Kapellmeister at the court of SchwarzburgSondershausen. A brief service with the Margrave of Schwendt in 1766 was followed by a lengthy service at the court of the Duke of Schwerin in Ludwigslust. Although reputed to be a fine violinist, he never achieved prominence on his instrument. The number of works he wrote is unknown, though several sonatas and studies for the violin, as well as at least one symphony, survive. His two sons Wilhelm Anton Christian Carl Abel and August Christian Andreas Abel became violinists, serving in the court orchestras of Munich. ABELLA GRIJALVA, JOSÉ BERNARDO (ca. 1740, OAXACA, MEXICO, TO ca. 1803, OAXACA). Mexican composer and organist. Born into an indigenous family, Abella Grijalva was trained locally at the Oaxaca cathedral, and in 1776 he was appointed as organist there. In 1781 he moved to Durango, where he spent five years as organist before returning to Oaxaca in 1786. One of the more interesting composers in New Spain, his music, mainly villancicos and motets, reflects a mixture of native styles, the galant, and strict counterpoint. ABENDMUSIK. In English, “Evening Music,” generally referring to a concert given at the Marienkirche in the German city of Lübeck consisting of a variety of works. In the 18th century, however, it had coalesced into an oratorio-like genre and spread throughout northern Germany. Significant works were composed by Johann Paul Kunzen. ABER, JOHANN [GIOVANNI] (ca. 1740, PROBABLY GERMANY, TO ca. 1790, MILAN). German flautist and composer. Nothing is known of his early life or training. He first appears in 1765 as a member of the orchestra of Giovanni Battista Sammartini in Milan. In 1790 he was named principal
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flute of the orchestra at La Scala and was known as a teacher at the Colegio Longone. In 1783 he was named as a professor of music at the Pio Instituto in Milan, after which he disappears from history. His music, little known even among flautists, includes four concertos (three for flute and one for flute and violin), three trios for three flutes, three other trios, a symphony, four quartets (including one with psaltery), three quintets, and a number of duos and sonatas. ABOS, GIROLAMO (16 NOVEMBER 1715, VALLETTA, MALTA, TO OCTOBER 1760, NAPLES, ITALY). Maltese-Neapolitan composer. Born into a musical family, he was sent to Naples at the age of 14 to study at the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù under Gaetano Greco and Francesco Durante. In 1742 he became deputy to maestro di cappella Ignazio Prota at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana, finally achieving the post of second maestro di cappella at the Conservatoria della Pietà dei Turchini. He composed at least 16 operas (mostly seria), many of which were performed internationally. In addition he composed at least one symphony (1735) and numerous sacred works, among which the Stabat mater (1758) is the best known. See also BORGHI, LUIGI; BORRONI, ANTONIO; INSANGUINE, GIACOMO ANTONIO FRANCESCO PAOLO MICHELE; LANG, JOHANN GEORG; ZERAFA, BENIGNO. ABRAMS, HARRIET (ca. 1758, LONDON, TO 8 MARCH 1821, TORQUAY, DEVONSHIRE, ENGLAND). English soprano and composer. Born into a Jewish family, possibly in or near London, she studied music under Thomas Arne before debuting as a soprano in 1775 at the Drury Lane Theatre. By 1780 she was acclaimed as one of the most brilliant singers in London, performing frequently in public concerts, as well as having a leading role in the Handel Centenary celebrations of 1784. Although she performed less frequently after 1795, she did occasionally give benefit concerts with her sisters, Theodesia (d. 1849) and Eliza (d. 1831). Her own compositions, consisting of a set of Italian and English canzonetts, as well as a set of ballads and Scottish songs, achieved considerable popularity during her lifetime. ACCADEMIA FILARMONICA. An honorary society of composers and musicians established in Bologna, Italy, in 1666. The patron saint of the organization was St. Anthony of Padua, and the motto was “Unitate melos.” The academy was mainly concerned with the development of sacred music, and it was responsible for the control of all of the music in the Bolognese churches. Membership in the organization provided authority for a position as maestro di cappella throughout Italy and was obtained only upon recommendation and
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the successful delivery of a test piece. During the 18th century, the main leader was Padre Giovanni Battista Martini, but membership included Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Carlo Broschi/Farinelli, Christoph Willibald von Gluck, Niccolò Jommelli, Maxim Berezovsky, Josef Mysliveček, and many others. It was dissolved in 1798 with the advent of the Cisalpine Republic and its purposes redirected toward the establishment of pedagogical institutions. ACCORIMBONI, AGOSTINO (28 AUGUST 1739, ROME, TO 13 AUGUST 1839, ROME). Italian composer. Little is known of his youth, save that he was trained by Rinaldo da Capua. He made his debut as an opera composer in 1768. By 1785 he was accorded considerable success with performances of his works throughout Italy. He chose, however, to remain in Rome his entire life. His style reflects the opera buffa of his time. His music, little studied, includes 13 operas, an oratorio, a large number of small sacred works, two concert arias, and a symphony. ACERBI, GIUSEPPE (3 MAY 1773, CASTELLO GOFFREDO, ITALY, TO 25 AUGUST 1846, CASTELLO GOFFREDO). Italian musician and scholar. He studied music in Pavia under Saverio Betinelli, before embarking on a tour of Scandinavia, where he came into contact with musicians and artists, including Erik Tulindberg. His most important work is his two-volume book Travels through Sweden, Finland and Lapland to the North Cape in the Years 1798 and 1799, published in London in 1802. In it he describes musical experiences in provincial northern towns, as well as defining Finnish native folk music, such as rune melodies and joiks. He also left behind a quartet for clarinet and strings where Finnish folk melodies are used, as well as a clarinet concerto, two other clarinet quartets, three vocal terzetts, a clarinet quintet, and two duets for flutes. ACTE DE BALLET. A French genre consisting of a series of dances and tableaux performed as a single act or entrée. An example of this is JeanPhilippe Rameau’s Anacreon. ACUÑA ESCARCHE, JUAN (1749, JÁTIVA, NEAR VALENCIA, SPAIN, TO 1837, CATALAM, TAFALLA, SPAIN). Spanish composer. He studied music at Játiva and Valencia before being named organist at the Altura Church in Castellón in 1768. Shortly thereafter he assumed the position of maestro di capilla at the Colegio Real in Roncesvalles in Navarra. By 1777 he obtained the same post at the cathedral in Pamplona, retiring in 1823 as a hermit in Catalonia. His music is characterized by the frequent use of Gregorian chant and the stile antico. He wrote a large number of sacred works, but they have never been examined extensively.
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ADAM, JOHANN (ca. 1705, PROBABLY NEAR DRESDEN, TO 13 NOVEMBER 1779, DRESDEN). German composer and violist. Nothing is known of his early life or training, save that in 1733 he was listed as a jagdpfeiffer, probably a hunting horn player at the Saxon court in Dresden. In 1736 he transferred to the court Kapelle, where he served as violist for the remainder of his life. In 1763 he acted as director of the French Theatre, writing insertion ballets for various productions. His music remains mostly unknown, save for numerous smaller comic operas and a few ballets. Several symphonies and a flute concerto, however, do survive, and many of the works in the Breitkopf catalog under his last name may be attributed to him. ADDISON, JOHN (ca. 1765, LONDON, TO 30 JANUARY 1844, LONDON). English composer and contrabass player. His early career was spent in London, where he became known as a performer, often accompanying his wife in venues such as Vauxhall Gardens. They toured Great Britain, first to Liverpool then Dublin, and while in London he was a member of the private orchestra of the Earl of Westmeath. In 1797 he attempted to become a cotton merchant but later returned to music as a conductor at Drury Lane and the Lyceum theatres. His music has been little studied but consists of 10 stage works, an oratorio, and numerous songs, catches, and glees. ADLGASSER, ANTON CAJETAN (1 OCTOBER 1729, NIEDERACHEN, NEAR INZALL, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 23 DECEMBER 1777, SALZBURG, AUSTRIA). German composer and organist. A student of Johann Ernst Eberlin, he attended Salzburg University beginning in 1744. In 1750 he was appointed by Prince-Archbishop Sigismund III von Schrattenbach as cathedral organist. In 1764 he was allowed to tour Italy for a year, where he met Padre Giovanni Battista Martini. A close friend of the Mozart family, he died suddenly from a stroke while performing his duties. He was a highly respected composer of sacred and university dramas/ oratorios, with some 27 of them being composed during his lifetime. He also wrote seven Masses, three Requiems, an opera, eight litanies, 26 motets/ offertories, a cantata, 20 Marian antiphons, nine hymns in Latin, 44 German hymns, several sacred songs, 10 symphonies, four concertos, several keyboard sonatas, and 103 versetti for organ. ADLUNG, JAKOB (14 JANUARY 1699, BINDERSLEBEN, NEAR ERFURT, GERMANY, TO 5 JULY 1762, ERFURT, GERMANY). German organist and pedagogue. Adlung attended the Erfurt Gymnasium in 1713, and later in 1723 the University of Jena. In 1727 he was recalled to Erfurt as organist of the Predigerkirche, which position he retained his entire life. He also functioned as professor of language at the Gymnasium. His students
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include Georg Peter Weimar and Johann Christian Kittel. As a polymath, he compiled a treatise titled Musica mechanica organoedi, which was published in a second edition in 1768. This treatise contains not only a plethora of information on organ and organ-building practices of the mid-18th century but also includes various instruction methods on how to perform Lutheran chorales. His own music includes two trio sonatas and a chorale prelude, but these reflect more Baroque practice than Classical. ADOLPHATI, ANDREA (ca. 1721, VENICE, TO 28 OCTOBER 1760, PADUA). Italian composer. Following studies with Baldassare Galuppi in Venice, he made his debut as a composer of opera seria in 1741 in Verona with Artaserse. At the time he was maestro di cappella at Santa Maria del Salute, but in 1746 he held a similar position at the court in Modena and two years later at Basilica della Santissima Annunziata del Vastato in Genoa. In May of 1760 he was appointed at the Padua cathedral, but died only a short time later. His musical style, which has been little studied, resembles the style of his teacher, Galuppi. His compositions include 13 operas (all seria), five Psalm settings, six sacred cantatas, six secular cantatas, two symphonies, and six trio sonatas. AGNESI, MARIA TERESA (17 OCTOBER 1720, MILAN, TO 19 JANUARY 1795, MILAN). Italian composer and keyboardist. Little is known about her early training, although her cantata Il restauro d’Arcadia was produced at the Teatro Ducale in Milan in 1747, followed in 1751 by her opera Sofonisba. Further stage works were produced, expanding her reputation as a composer throughout Lombardy. In June 1752 she married Pietro Pinottini, and her fortunes declined thereafter. At her death, she was in pecuniary difficulties. Her instrumental music demonstrates an affinity with the prevailing early Classical Empfindsamkeit, while her stage works are all in the manner of opera seria. Her works include at least six operas or serenatas, four concertos for keyboard, two fantasias, and two piano sonatas, in addition to a few miscellaneous works. AGRELL, JOHAN JOACHIM (1 FEBRUARY 1701, LÖTH, ÖSTERGÖTLAND, SWEDEN, TO 19 JANUARY 1765, NUREMBERG, GERMANY). Swedish German composer. Born in a small village in central Sweden as the son of a local pastor, he attended secondary school in Linköping before matriculating at Uppsala University in law while performing in the local collegium musicum. In 1723 he was invited to move to Kassel to the court of Prince Maximillian. While little is known of his career there, he may have studied under Fortunato Chelleri, in addition to touring
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AGRICOLA, JOHANN FRIEDRICH
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France and England as a virtuoso violinist and keyboardist. In 1746 he was appointed Kapellmeister for the city of Nuremberg, where he remained the rest of his life. Despite his transfer to Germany, he maintained close ties to his homeland, often sending scores of works to his friend Johan Helmich Roman. He began publishing sets of six symphonies in 1746 with his Op. 1, and thereafter was widely known for his instrumental music, particularly his violin sonatas. In addition, he wrote a large amount of sacred music for the Frauenkirche, of which only a set of eight motets survive. His 22 symphonies all demonstrate a solid knowledge of Italian three-movement format and often include both contrasting themes and a style that marks the emergence of the early symphony. In addition, he composed concertos for harpsichord, which are closer to the symphonies in form and structure than the prevailing style of Antonio Vivaldi. Agrell is one of the pivotal figures in both the development of the galant style and early Classical genres such as the concerto and symphony. See also HUPFELD, BERNHARD. AGRICOLA, JOHANN FRIEDRICH (4 JANUARY 1720, DOBRITZ [DOBRITSCHEN] BEI ALTENBURG, SAXONY, TO 2 DECEMBER 1774, BERLIN). German theorist, organist, and composer. His earliest education was in Dobritz under Johann Paul Martini, a local organist. In 1738 he matriculated at Leipzig University studying German literature (under Johann Christoph Gottsched) and law, but only a year later he began studies under Johann Sebastian Bach, whose favorite pupil he became. In 1741 he moved to Berlin (a sojourn in Dresden cannot be substantiated), where he took composition lessons from Johann Joachim Quantz. In 1750 a performance of a comic opera, Il filosofo convinto per amore, in Potsdam brought him a post as court composer for Frederick II of Prussia. After the death of Carl Heinrich Graun in 1759, he was appointed as musical director of the Berlin opera. There he remained the rest of his life. Agricola was a part of the Berlin School of composers and a good friend of colleagues Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (with whom he wrote the obituary of Bach’s father and Agricola’s teacher), Graun, and Quantz. His relationship with his patron was not entirely smooth, given that he married an Italian singer against Frederick’s wishes. But Charles Burney was charmed by a visit and called him “the best organist in Germany.” His music shows the split between his training and his vocation, ranging in secular cantatas and organ works in the style of Johann Sebastian Bach to oratorios and operas in the Italianate style of Graun. A polymath, he wrote at least four treatises, including the 1757 Anleitung zur Singekunst, in which he paraphrased and elaborated upon a 1723 work by Pier Francesco Tosi titled Opinioni de Cantori antiche e moderni. He often published articles under the pseudonym of
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Flavius Anicio Olibrio. His music includes 12 operas, three oratorios, eight Psalms and motets, almost 100 Lieder, and a host of smaller keyboard and chamber works. His most innovative composition is the incidental music to Voltaire’s tragedy Semiramis, which he set in 1767. See also RELLSTAB, JOHANN CARL FRIEDRICH. AGTHE, CARL CHRISTIAN (11 JUNE 1762, HETTSTEDT, SAXONY, GERMANY, TO 27 NOVEMBER 1797, BALLENSTADT, SAXONY). German composer. Son of a cantor, Johann Michael Agthe, he was educated by his father and other relatives, eventually being admitted as a stadtpfeifer. By 1776 he had become associated with the Hündelberg troupe, which performed in Reval (now Tallinen, Estonia), where he achieved a reputation for composing Singspiels. In 1782, however, he joined the court of Prince Friedrich Albrecht of Anhalt-Bernburg in Ballenstadt, where he served as Kapellmeister the remainder of his life. His works are similar in form and structure to the music of Johann Adam Hiller, who Agthe admired. These include seven Singspiels, two volumes of Lieder, a musical drama and a large cantata, 11 symphonies, two concertos (flute and violin/keyboard), 14 dances, and three keyboard sonatas. See also AGTHE, CARL FRIEDRICH. AGTHE, CARL FRIEDRICH (26 JANUARY 1724, HETTSEDT, SAXONY, GERMANY, TO 1 SEPTEMBER 1787, PÖIDE, SAARIMAA, ESTONIA). German-Estonian composer and organist. Little is known of his early education, although it must have been similar to his nephew Carl Christian Agthe. By 1760 he had obtained the post of organist at the Oleviste Church in Reval (now Tallinen, Estonia), a post he held for a quarter of a century. For a year he also functioned as organist at the Pühavaimu Church. His music has remained all but forgotten; only seven large-scale orchestral odes in the style of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, as well as several smaller works for organ, seem to have survived. AHLEFELDT, MARIA THERESIA, COUNTESS OF AHLEFELDTLANGELAND AND PRINCESS OF THURN UND TAXIS (15 JANUARY 1755, REGENSBURG, TO 20 DECEMBER 1810, PRAGUE). German-Danish noblewoman and composer. After a thorough education in the arts at the Thurn und Taxis court in Regensburg, she became embroiled in an affair with Prince Philip of Hohenlohe at the time she was engaged to Prince Joseph of Fürstenberg, after which she abruptly married Ferdinand, Count of Ahlefeldt-Langeland and fled to Denmark in 1780 to avoid her family’s displeasure. There she began to compose music for the Royal Theatre, including the ballets Veddemålet and Telemak på Calypsos ø while her
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ALBERTI, DOMENICO
• 27
husband was its director. In 1798 she moved to Dresden and subsequently in 1800 to Prague. Her surviving music includes two symphonies, an Italian aria, an opera buffa (La folie), and numerous songs. ÅHLSTRÖM, OLOF (14 AUGUST 1756, ÅLETORP, VÄRDINGE, SWEDEN, TO 11 AUGUST 1835, STOCKHOLM). Swedish composer, pianist, and publisher. Following early training by a local church organist, he moved to Stockholm in 1772, where he studied under Ferdinand Zellbell Jr. Although he was employed through governmental sinecures, he also functioned as an organist at the St. Clara Church in 1777 and in 1786 at the St. Jacob Church as well. In 1787, the year of the successful performance of his opera Frigga, he was granted a royal privilege to publish music. Apart from individual compositions by various composers, he also published two journals, the Musikaliskt tidsfördrif and Skaldestycken satte i musik. During the early part of the 19th century, he also collected folk dances, which he published in 1814. His music is characterized by a good sense of melody and simplicity, with orchestrations that range from perfunctory to colorful with generous use of woodwinds. Åhlström can be reckoned as the foremost composer of songs during the period. His works include four operas, two cantatas, over 200 Lieder (most in Swedish), a concerto for the fortepiano, seven violin sonatas, six piano sonatas/sonatinas, and a book of hymns published in 1832. See also BELLMAN, CARL MICHAEL. ALBERO [ALVERO] Y AÑANOS, SEBASTIÁN RAMÓN DE (10 JUNE 1722, RONCAL, NAVARRA, SPAIN, TO 30 MARCH 1756, MADRID). Spanish organist and composer. Born in a small provincial town in Navarra, Albero was educated in Pamplona, probably under Miguel Valls. He served as organist of the cathedral there under Miguel Valls and his successor Andrés de Escáregui from 1734 to 1739, when he moved to Madrid. By 1748 he had obtained the post as first organist at the Capilla Real. His surviving music is exclusively meant for the keyboard and includes 30 sonatas that are modeled upon those of Domenico Scarlatti, as well as a number of ricercars, fugues, and sonatas in an older style for organ. His music contains elements of Spanish folk traditions, including fandangos, but unlike Scarlatti is less virtuoso and has a certain sentimental content. ALBERTI, DOMENICO (ca. 1710, VENICE, TO 14 OCTOBER 1740, ROME). Italian diplomat, keyboardist, and composer. Nothing is known about Alberti’s birth or family, save that he studied music under Antonio Lotti while a youth in Venice. It was there that his reputation as a progressive harpsichord player was formed, although he also had several operas staged
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ALBERTI BASS
at Venetian theatres. By 1736 he was appointed briefly as ambassador to the court of Spain, where he sang before the castrato Farinelli, who regarded his talent highly though Alberti was an amateur singer. The following year he published his VIII Sonate per Cembalo as his Op. 1 in Paris, about the same time as he accepted a post with Count Molinari in Rome. Although he wrote vocal music (operas and songs), he is best remembered for his 36 keyboard sonatas, of which only 14 survive. These are largely in binary form in a similar early galant style to that of Domenico Scarlatti, but his extensive use of an arpeggiated bass made them one of the landmarks of musical composition of the period. See also ALBERTI BASS. ALBERTI BASS. An arpeggiated accompaniment, generally found in the bass line of works with keyboard. It is named after composer Domenico Alberti, who used and popularized it in his keyboard works. It became almost ubiquitous throughout the 18th century and indeed can be seen as a stereotypical musical device. ALBERTIN, PATER ALFONS (1736, PROBABLY KONSTANZ, GERMANY, TO 1790, PETERSHAUSEN MONASTERY, GERMANY). German monastic composer. Nothing is known of his youth or training, save that indications he may have been born in Italy cannot be substantiated. He first appears as a Benedictine monk at Petershausen around 1765, where he composed music. Among his works are a large Mass and a sonata for four organs and brass. ALBERTINI, GIAOCCHINO [JOACHIM] (30 NOVEMBER 1748, PESARO, ITALY, TO 27 MARCH 1812, WARSAW). Polish-Italian composer. Nothing is known of his early life or training, but in 1777 he moved to Poland, where in 1782 he became Kapellmeister at the court of King Stanisław Poniatowski in Warsaw. Although he had some success composing operas for the court in Polish, in 1784 he embarked upon a career as a touring composer, eventually arriving in Rome, where he stayed until 1803. He thereupon returned to Warsaw, where he retired with a pension. His music reflects the homophonic German idioms of the Singspiel, although he was versatile. His works include seven operas, a Mass, an offertory, a cantata, a septet, a symphony, and numerous arias and duets inserted into various operas. ALBRECHTSBERGER, JOHANN GEORG (3 FEBRUARY 1736, KLOSTERNEUBURG, NEAR VIENNA, TO 7 MARCH 1809, VIENNA). Austrian composer, organist, and music educator. The son of an innkeeper, he sang in local church choirs until 1749, when he became a cho-
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ALDANA, JOSÉ MANUEL
• 29
rister at Melk Abbey. In 1753 he transferred to the Benedictine Seminary in Vienna, where he studied under Georg Matthias Monn and became friends with Michael Haydn and Joseph Haydn. Two years later he was appointed organist in Raab (now Györ, Hungary), and subsequently at a shrine at Maria Taferl. This led to a position in Melk as cellar master, but a difficulty with the monastery forced him to return to Raab and then to Vienna in 1766. There he worked as an organist and organ builder until 1770, when he was appointed as second organist at St. Stephen’s Cathedral and two years later as second court organist. In 1791 he was placed in line to succeed Leopold Hofmann as Kapellmeister at St. Stephen’s Cathedral following the death of his first choice of successor, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He fulfilled this role from 1793 until his death. During his lifetime, Albrechtsberger was considered a master of counterpoint and the ideological successor of Johann Joseph Fux. He was much sought after as a teacher, and in 1790 he published a treatise, Gründliche Anweisungen zur Composition, which was well regarded. His most famous pupils included Ludwig van Beethoven, Joseph von Eybler, Carl Czerny, and Johann Nepomuk Hummel. He was a prolific composer whose works ranged in style from the galant to the old-fashioned, particularly when it came to sacred and keyboard music. His most important vocal work is an oratorio, Die Pilger auf Golgotha, which explored a German literary text by Friedrich Wilhelm Zachariä. His works include eight oratorios, five cantatas, 35 Masses, three Requiems, 48 graduals, 16 Magnificats, two Te Deums, 25 antiphons, 10 vespers, 38 hymns, five litanies, 15 motets, 24 other sacred works, four symphonies, a dozen concertos (including works for organ, trombone, Jew’s harp, and mandora), six concertinos, 16 divertimentos, around 35 quartets, and about 278 fugues, sonatas, and other miscellaneous works for keyboard (and organ). His works are known by Weinmann (W) numbers. See also FUSZ, JÁNOS; LICKL, JOHANN GEORG; SEYFRIED, IGNAZ XAVIER RITTER VON; SPERGER, JOHANN MATTHIAS; STADLER, ABBÉ MAXIMILIAN; VRANICKÝ, ANTONÍN. ALDANA, JOSÉ MANUEL (1758, MEXICO CITY, TO 7 FEBRUARY 1810, MEXICO CITY). Mexican composer. During his early years he studied violin at the Colegio de Infantes attached to the main cathedral in Mexico City in New Spain. In 1775 he was appointed as a violinist in the orchestra there, but in 1788 a second appointment in the orchestra of the Teatro Coliseo led the authorities to force him to choose between the sacred and secular careers. He chose the latter, becoming the leader of the orchestra at the Coliseo in 1791. His music is characterized by a good sense of orchestration and fluid melodies. He was particularly adept at the verso, often turning them into
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ALDAY, FRANÇOIS
substantial symphonic works. His surviving compositions include a Mass, three motets, three cycles of versos, and numerous hymns. ALDAY, FRANÇOIS (ca. 1761, MAHÓN, MENORCA, FRANCE [NOW SPAIN], TO ca. 1835, LYONS, FRANCE). French violinist, organist, and composer. Born into a musical family, he made his debut as a mandolin soloist at the Concerts spirituels in Paris in 1771. His ability on his primary instrument, however, was only sufficient to have him appointed as last chair of the second violins in the orchestra there, a post he occupied until 1786. His whereabouts during the French Revolution are unknown, but in 1797 he was principal violin and a well-regarded teacher in Lyons. There he founded the Cercle Harmonique, a public concert series, in 1810. His music has been all but unknown, although he has achieved a reputation for his Grande méthode pour l’alto published in 1827. His works include an opera, three concertos, 15 string quartets, 15 string duos, and a number of smaller instrumental chamber works. ALESSANDRI, FELICE (24 NOVEMBER 1747, NEAR ROME, TO 15 AUGUST 1798, CASINALBO DI FORMIGINE). Italian composer and keyboardist. Following studies in Naples, he made his debut as a composer in Rome in 1765 with an oratorio, Il tobio. He received commissions throughout Italy thereafter, and by 1768 he was able to tour France, Austria, and London, where he settled in 1770 as a keyboard virtuoso. By 1773 he returned to his travels, arriving in Turin and Milan by way of Dresden, continuing his activity as a composer of opera. In 1777 he had returned to Paris, where his music was performed at the Concerts spirituels, but he returned to Italy to become director of the Teatro Nuovo in Padua. In 1786 he was offered a position at St. Petersburg, but three years later resigned and traveled to Berlin to become musical director of the Italian opera. He had little success there and came back to Italy to continue his career as an opera composer. Alessandri spent virtually his entire life on the road, writing in an accessible and popular style. ALGAROTTI, COUNT FRANCESCO (11 DECEMBER 1712, VENICE, TO 3 MAY 1764, PISA, ITALY). Italian nobleman, intellectual, and writer. Educated in Rome and Bologna, as well as Paris and London, he received his patent of nobility in 1740 in Berlin from Frederick II, where he was a state counselor to both the Prussian and Saxon courts. In 1753 he returned to Italy, writing librettos and an influential treatise, Saggio sopra l’opera in musica, published in 1755. This was one of the seminal works on the reform of stage music during the 18th century.
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ALMEIDA MOTA, JOÃO PEDRO DE
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ALIPRANDI, BERNARDO (ca. 1710, MILAN, TO 1792, FRANKFURT AM MAIN). Italian composer and violinist. Nothing is known about his youth or education, save that in 1731 he was listed as a chamber musician at the court in Munich. There he became court chamber composer and Konzertmeister in 1737, eventually retiring to Frankfurt in Germany in 1771. As a composer, his style is considered conservative, still using Baroque figuration and techniques. His surviving music includes 18 symphonies, five operas (all seria), and a large Stabat mater. He is the father of Bernardo Maria Aliprandi. ALIPRANDI, BERNARDO MARIA (5 FEBRUARY 1747, MUNICH, TO 19 FEBRUARY 1801, MUNICH). German-Italian cellist and composer. Son of Bernardo Aliprandi, he probably studied music with his father and other musicians at the Bavarian court. He was employed beginning in 1767, eventually reaching the position of principal cellist by 1778. He was known for his adept performance, especially on the viola da gamba. His musical compositions, however, are little known and comprise several pieces for the viola da gamba. ALMEIDA, FRANCISCO ANTÓNIO DE (1702, LISBON, TO 1 NOVEMBER 1755, LISBON). Portuguese organist and composer. He was sent to Rome on a stipend by Dom João V in 1722, where he studied musical composition, returning to Lisbon in 1726 to become organist at the Capella Reale and later music teacher to the royal family. His first success was a comic opera, La pazienzia di Socrate, in 1733, but followed thereafter by others, such as La Spinalba of 1739 that foreshadows the later Italian buffa. He perished in the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. His surviving works include eight operas, about 20 sacred works, two oratorios, a Mass, a cantata, and several arias. The bulk of his music has been lost, however, including the presépios written for the Nativity. Although there are Baroque elements in his music, his use of ensemble clearly shows the emerging Italian operatic style. ALMEIDA MOTA, JOÃO PEDRO DE (24 JUNE 1744, LISBON, TO ca. 1817, MADRID). Portuguese-Spanish composer. Although information on his early training is lacking, he was probably a chorister at either the Sé or Church of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon. In 1771 he decided to move to Galicia in Spain as a church composer and organist, where he held positions at Santiago de Compostela, Astorga, and Lugo. Around 1785 he became maestro de música at the Capella Real in Madrid. A number of sacred works survive, but he also wrote an opera and two concert arias.
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ALTENBURG, JOHANN ERNST
ALTENBURG, JOHANN ERNST (15 JUNE 1734, WEISSENFELS, SAXONY, GERMANY, TO 14 MAY 1801, BITTERFELD, GERMANY). German trumpeter and composer. The son of trumpeter Johann Caspar Altenburg (1689–1761), he studied with his father and Johann Theodor Römhild in Merseburg, as well as briefly with Johann Altnikol in 1757. Thereafter he joined the French army as a field musician, and in 1767 he became organist in the city of Landsberg, moving the following year to a similar post in Bitterfeld. His main work is a tutorial-treatise, Versuch einer Anleitung zur heroisch-musikalischen Trompeter- und Pauker-Kunst, which gives a good overall view of trumpet performance practice of the period. His own music has been little explored. What survives consists of six keyboard sonatas and a number of pieces for two to seven trumpets published in his treatise, many of which are probably arrangements by other composers. ALTNIKOL [ALTNICKOL], JOHANN CHRISTOPH (bap. 1 JANUARY 1720, BERNA BEI SEIDENBERG, OBERLAUSITZ, SILESIA [NOW POLAND], TO 25 JULY 1759, NAUMBURG, GERMANY). German singer, organist, and composer. Born in the outreaches of the German lands, he attended Lauban Lyceum, where he received his elementary music education. A four-year position as singer and assistant organist at Breslau followed in 1740 before he matriculated at the University of Leipzig in theology in 1744. At this time he began to study under Johann Sebastian Bach, eventually becoming his chief copyist. Upon Bach’s recommendation he obtained the post of organist in Niederweisen near Greiffenburg in Silesia but later that year left for a post as organist at St. Wenzel’s Church in Naumburg. He also married Bach’s daughter Elisabeth Juliane at the same time. During his tenure at Naumburg, his students included Johann Gottfried Müthel and Johann Ernst Altenburg. Following Bach’s death, he became a trustee of the family estate, maintaining excellent relations with the family. As a composer, much of his music has not survived, and what has shows that he was extremely conservative, following the models of his teacher. These include a Mass, two Mass movements (Sanctus), two cantatas, 13 motets, and a few other smaller chamber works (a ricercar, some dances, and a keyboard sonata). ÅMAN, JONAS (ca. 1735, PROBABLY LUND, TO ca. 1770, STOCKHOLM). Swedish composer. Nothing is known about his youth, training, or career. The only documentary evidence of his life comes in a protocol dated 1769 from the Utile dulci music society accepting him for membership, as well as a memorandum thanking him for donating a cello to the Royal Academy of Music later that same year. It has been suggested that he was an active member in a circle of amateur musicians founded at Lund University around
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ANDRÉ, JOHANN
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1745. Although he is designated an amateur on the manuscripts of his works, Åman’s compositional style is similar to his colleague Johan Helmich Roman’s late works. His surviving music includes six symphonies and several smaller works for violin and keyboard. AMENDOLA, GIUSEPPE (1750, PALERMO, SICILY, TO 1808, PALERMO). Italian composer and teacher. Little is known about his life and works, save that an opera, Il Begliar-Bey di Caramania, written in 1776, achieved international success in Spain and Germany (in translation). He remained in his native city his entire life, teaching at the local conservatory. His students, however, include Nicolò Isouard. AMETLLER I PAGUINA, PADRE MAUR [FRANCESC] (6 AUGUST 1749, PALAFRUGELL, CATALONIA, TO 14 FEBRUARY 1833, SANT BENET DE BORGES, CATALONIA). Catalan composer. After early schooling in Bisbal, he entered the Escolania de Montserrat in 1758 to study under Josep Martí and Benet Julià i Ros. In 1786 he was ordained a Benedictine monk in Girona, where he was a vocalist at the cathedral there. He was well known for his resonant baritone voice. He returned to Montserrat around 1799, where he was presented to Carlos IV during the monarch’s visit in 1802. He invented a special keyboard instrument known as a velacord, but in later years he devoted most of his energies to studies as a naturalist. His catalogs of flora and fauna of the region were renowned. By 1817 he had been admitted to the Academy of Sciences and the Philharmonic Society in Barcelona as an honorary member. His musical production consists of several sonatas for keyboard and several motets for chorus and orchestra. His musical style is similar to his colleague Anselm Viola. ANDRÉ, JOHANN (28 MARCH 1741, OFFENBACH AM MAIN, GERMANY, TO 18 JUNE 1799, OFFENBACH). German composer and publisher. In 1756 he obtained lessons in music in the nearby city of Frankfurt am Main and later Mannheim, but in 1774 he began a publishing house specializing in music. Although he also served as musical director of the German Theatre in Berlin for several years beginning in 1777, he returned home to expand his business. He is best known for negotiating for the autographs of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart following that composer’s death in 1791 and publishing much of his music in a works edition. Although well known himself as a composer of the Singspiel, he apparently ceased active composition around 1784. His works include 28 Singspiels, 13 incidental works, several volumes of Lieder, and three trio sonatas. His son Johann Anton André also became a composer and publisher.
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ANDRÉ, JOHANN ANTON
ANDRÉ, JOHANN ANTON (6 OCTOBER 1775, OFFENBACH AM MAIN, GERMANY, TO 6 APRIL 1846, OFFENBACH). German violinist, composer, and music publisher. Following initial studies with his father Johann André, he went to Mannheim to study under Ignaz Fränzl, eventually attending the University of Jena. In 1799, however, he returned to take over his father’s publishing house, expanding its reputation throughout Europe. In 1805 he published his own Anweisung zum Violinspielen, but became more focused upon civic duties, being appointed as state counselor at Isenburg-Birnsteinschen in 1813. His own musical works include two operas, a Mass, a Te Deum, three other sacred works, 48 Lieder, 11 sets of part songs, nine symphonies, seven concertos, three overtures, five quartets, three trios, six violin sonatas, 27 duos, and a host of smaller keyboard works. His music has been little studied. ANDREOZZI, GAETANO (22 MAY 1755, AVERSO, ITALY, TO 21 DECEMBER 1826, PARIS). Italian composer. His musical education was obtained in Naples at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini. In 1780 he had a successful premiere of his opera La morte de Cesare at the Teatro Argentina in Rome, and thereafter he received commissions throughout Italy for work, mostly seria. In 1784 he was invited to St. Petersburg to compose for the court of Catherine II as a temporary replacement for Domenico Cimarosa. Upon his return to Italy in 1786, he continued his career. Always a difficult personality, by 1791 he was beset by problems dealing with the theatres and singers, and he was forced into exile in his hometown after a series of affairs. Personal problems continued to dog him until 1825, when he was invited by the Countess du Berry to teach singing in Paris. His musical style was similar to colleagues such as Cimarosa, though his music has been little studied. His compositions include 45 operas, several oratorios, and six string quartets. ANFOSSI, [BONIFACIO DOMENICO] PASQUALE (5 APRIL 1727, TAGGIA, LIGURIA, ITALY, TO FEBRUARY 1797, ROME). Italian composer. His early musical education was at the Conservatorio Santa Maria di Loreto in Naples under Francesco Durante, Antonio Sacchini, and Niccolò Piccinni. In 1763 he made his debut as a composer of opera buffa at the Carnival in Rome with La serva spirituosa, which launched an international career. He served as musical director of the Ospedale dei Derelitti in Venice beginning in 1771, moving to Paris in 1780. In 1782 the premiere of his opera Il trionfo della costanza in London led to an appointment at the Italian Opera there, but two years later he returned to Italy, first to Florence and eventually becoming maestro di cappella at the church of St. John Lateran in Rome.
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Although a prolific composer, his music was criticized as being stilted and derivative, with little of the colorful characterizations of his contemporaries. His music includes 76 operas, 24 oratorios (in Latin and Italian), two secular cantatas, 12 Masses or Mass movements, 13 motets, numerous small sacred works (Psalms, hymns), 67 symphonies (many drawn from his operas), and five quintets. See also ZINGARELLI, NICCOLÒ ANTONIO. ANGIOLINI, [DOMENICO MARIA] GASPARO (9 FEBRUARY 1737, FLORENCE, TO 6 FEBRUARY 1803, MILAN). Italian choreographer, dancer, and composer. He began his career as a dancer in Lucca in 1747 but by 1750 had established himself in Vienna, where he was associated with the Imperial Theater. There he worked with Franz Hilverding and Christoph Willibald von Gluck to produce ballets in the new dramatic style known as the ballet d’action. The most important of these was the 1761 collaboration with Gluck, Don Juan. In 1766 he moved to St. Petersburg to succeed Hilverding, remaining there until 1779 with a four-year sojourn in Vienna. He then returned to Italy to take up a post at La Scala in Milan, with a third lengthy visit to St. Petersburg in 1786. Toward the end of his life he was imprisoned in Milan for Republican sympathies. As a choreographer and theoretician, Angiolini was considered one of the most progressive of his time. His treatises Dissertation sur les ballets-pantomimes des Anciens (1765) and Lettere de Gasparo Angiolini a Monsieur Noverre sopra i balli pantomimi (1773) were considered the most important works on the ballet d’action. Over the course of his career he choreographed 24 major works, and as a composer mostly contributed smaller ballet pieces for insertion into them. ANNA AMALIA, DUCHESS OF SAXE-WEIMAR, PRINCESS OF BRAUNSCHWEIG UND WOLFENBÜTTEL (24 OCTOBER 1739, WOLFENBÜTTEL, GERMANY, TO 10 APRIL 1807, WEIMAR). German noblewoman, literary figure, and composer. Following a typical upbringing of a member of the upper nobility, she was married in 1756 to Duke Ernst August II of Saxe-Weimar. She established a brilliant court there, adding to her titles the Regent after the death of her husband in 1758, a position she retained until 1775 when her son came of age. A talented artist and politician with a keen mind, she surrounded herself with numerous intellectuals of the period, whom she supported. These include literary figures Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich von Schiller as well as Johann Gottfried Herder. In 1788 she undertook a lengthy tour to Italy, where she collected art and literature, returning to Weimar as dowager for the remainder of her life. Her passions included theatre and music, particularly the Singspiel, which she encouraged both from her court Kapellmeister, Ernst Wilhelm Wolf, and her
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ANNA AMALIA, PRINCESS OF PRUSSIA
other protégés. She herself attempted the composition of at least two, beginning in 1776 with Erwin und Elmire to a text by Goethe. These and a chamber divertimento with keyboard are all that survive of her music. The Singspiels show the influence of Johann Adam Hiller. See also SCHROETER, CORONA ELISABETH WILHELMINE; SCHWEITZER, ANTON. ANNA AMALIA, PRINCESS OF PRUSSIA (9 NOVEMBER 1723, BERLIN, TO 30 MARCH 1787, BERLIN). Abbess of Quedlinburg, sister of Frederick II of Prussia, and German composer. Her earliest training in music came only after the death of her father and was under the tutelage of her brother. In 1743 she secretly married Baron Friedrich von der Trenck, but when this became known and her pregnancy discovered, she was packed off to the cloister at Quedlinburg. She preferred this location, though she spent most summers thereafter in Berlin at a palace given her by her brother. In 1755 she became the abbess of the cloister. Adept as a performer on flute, violin, and keyboard, she formed her own musical circle alongside the Berlin School, taking composition from both Carl Heinrich Graun and Johann Kirnberger, beginning in 1758. Her number of compositions is relatively slight, given that she probably destroyed many in later years. Among them are several cantatas, marches, and smaller chamber works much in the style of the Berlin composers. She did, however, amass a significant library of music, which is now at the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek in Berlin. She is not to be confused with Anna Amalia, Duchess of Saxe-Weimar, also a composer. See also BACH, WILHELM FRIEDEMANN. ANSPACH, ELIZABETH (17 DECEMBER 1750, LONDON, TO 11 JANUARY 1828, NAPLES). English noblewoman and composer. The daughter of the Earl of Berkeley, she married William, the Earl of Craven in 1767. In 1780 she left him and, after initial success as a composer for the stage, including the opera The Silver Tankard in 1781, she went on an extended tour of Europe. In 1791, after Craven’s death, she abruptly married Christian Friedrich, the Margrave of Anspach, thereby alienating her entire family. Nonetheless she was able to get her opera The Princess of Georgia mounted at Covent Garden in 1799. After the Margrave’s death left her with a fortune, she settled in Naples. Her music, of which only an arrangement survives, included songs and contributions to several operas. ANTES, JOHN (24 MARCH 1740, FREDRICK, PENNSYLVANIA COLONY [NOW UNITED STATES OF AMERICA], TO 17 DECEMBER 1811, BRISTOL, ENGLAND). American-Moravian composer and missionary. Born into a German Reformed Church family, Antes was raised in the Moravian community of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. In 1765 he moved
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ARAGÜÉS, JUAN ANTONIO DE
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to Neuwied am Rhein, Germany, where he apprenticed as a watchmaker. In 1769 he was ordained and sent to Egypt as a missionary, where difficulties with his health forced him to return to Europe in 1781. He spent the remaining years of his life as the business manager of the Moravian Church congregation in Fulneck, England. His compositions include 25 anthems and 12 chorales, as well as a set of six trios written in Cairo and published in England in 1795. His music shows the influence of Joseph Haydn, with whom he was acquainted. See also LATROBE, CHRISTIAN IGNATIUS. APELL, DAVID AUGUST VON (23 FEBRUARY 1754, KASSEL, GERMANY, TO 30 JANUARY 1832, KASSEL). German composer and author. The son of a tax official, he was trained at the local court before becoming an official in the Treasury. As of 1780 he began to conduct music, much of which he composed, with the local philharmonic society that he founded. Although technically a musical amateur, his lyrical and dramatic style was much admired, enough to gain him an international reputation. In 1815 he founded the Kassel Academy of the Fine Arts, and even served for a time as director of the municipal theatre. His works, now almost entirely forgotten, include a Mass, three operas, four cantatas, six canzonetts, three symphonies, and three string quartets. APRILE, GIUSEPPE (28 OCTOBER 1731, MARTINA FRANCA, ITALY, TO 11 JANUARY 1803, MARTINA FRANCA). Italian castrato, singing teacher, and composer. Known as Scirolo, Scirolino, or Sciroletto, he studied in Naples under Gregorio Sciroli. He made his debut in Rome in 1752, subsequently serving in the royal cappella in Naples, as well as in Turin and Rome. He began touring in 1759, eventually winding up in Stuttgart where he became the favorite of Niccolò Jommelli. In 1769 he returned to Naples to become the main singer in the opera there. He also taught singers, producing a treatise, The Italian Method of Singing, with 36 Solfeggi, in 1791. He composed duets for two sopranos as well. ARAGÜÉS, CAYETANO DE (ca. 1730, PROBABLY SALAMANCA, SPAIN, TO 1809, CALATAYUD, SPAIN). Spanish composer and organist. He was probably related to Juan de Aragüés, but the connection is unclear. He spent his entire career as maestro di música at the Colegio de Soria in Calatayud, where he composed largely sacred music, including two Lamentations. ARAGÜÉS, JUAN ANTONIO DE (ca. 1710, SALAMANCA, SPAIN, TO 28 MAY 1793, SALAMANCA). Spanish composer and organist. He was trained at local schools and by 1738 had become maestro di capilla de San Jerónimo at Salamanca. He received a master’s degree in 1741 and
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by 1754 was appointed as professor of music at Salamanca University. His music has been little studied but consists of two Masses, a Requiem, 81 villancicos, two Salve Reginas, two Magnificats, five Psalms, three hymns, four Passions, and a cantata. ARAJA, FRANCESCO (25 JUNE 1709, NAPLES, TO ca. 1770, BOLOGNA). Italian-Russian composer. His musical education was at the Conservatorio where he studied under Leonardo Leo and Leonardo Vinci. At the age of 20 he began his career as a composer of opera with Lo matriomonio permenetto, establishing a career primarily in Rome. In 1735 he was hired by Empress Elisabeth of Russia as her court composer. His first opera for St. Petersburg, La forza dell’amore e dell’odio, of 1736, was a success in both its Italian original and in a Russian translation. Over the next two decades he worked at the Russian court, reaching the apex of his success with Tsefal i Prokris in 1755, the first Russian opera to a text by Aleksandr Sumarokov. In 1759 Araja returned to Italy, only to be called back to Russia for the coronation of Czar Peter III two years later. When the emperor was murdered the following year, Araja left for Italy, taking up residence in Bologna, where he lived the remainder of his life in obscurity. His 21 operas all reflect the Neapolitan early Classical idiom with clear-cut lyrical lines, diatonic harmonies, and close attention to text. In addition he composed two oratorios for Bologna, as well as six large celebratory cantatas, one of which was used for the coronation of the czar. ARANAZ Y VIDES, PEDRO (2 MAY 1740, TUDELA, NAVARRE, SPAIN, TO 24 SEPTEMBER 1820, CUENCA, SPAIN). Spanish composer. He studied music with Luís Serra at the church of Nuestra Señora in Zaragoza before moving to Madrid in 1765, where he achieved a reputation as a composer of tonadillas. In 1769 he obtained a position as maestro di capilla at the Cuenca cathedral, being ordained in 1773. He retired from active service in 1797. His works, little studied, include 22 tonadillas, 14 Masses, 150 motets, 20 Salve Reginas, and over 100 other sacred works. ARENA, GIUSEPPE (1713, RABAT, GOZO, MALTA, TO 6 NOVEMBER 1784, NAPLES). Maltese-Italian composer and organist. At an early age he was sent to Naples to be trained in music at the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo under Francesco Durante. Following in the footsteps of fellow student Giovanni Pergolesi, he began a career as an opera composer in 1738 with Achille in Sciro in Rome. In 1746, however, he abandoned a growing reputation throughout Italy for his operas and returned to Naples to become organist at the church of San Felipe Neri, a post he retained through-
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• 39
out his career. His musical style is similar to other Neapolitans with good sense of lyrical line and triadic harmony. His surviving works include eight operas, as well as several smaller sacred works, and a symphony. ARENZANA, MANUEL (ca. 1770, MEXICO, TO 1821, PUEBLA, MEXICO). Mexican composer. Nothing is known of his youth or training. He first appears in a recommendation for the post of maestro di capilla at the Puebla cathedral in 1791, a post he retained until his death around 1821. Although much of his time was spent composing sacred music, he became well known for his comedies and zarzuelas beginning about 1800. None of these appear to have survived. His surviving church music, consisting of seven Masses, 20 motets, two Te Deums, a Requiem, and a set of Lamentations, is characterized by colorful orchestration and good contrasting tempos and dynamics. ARIA CANTABILE. Defined in the 18th century as a lyrical melody with simple accompaniment allowing for considerable ornamentation by the singer. ARIA DI BRAVURA. Generally in the 18th century a fast movement often in syllabic style that allows for the display of passion or drama, as well as rapid figuration. Also called agitate or infuriate. ARIA DI MEZZO CARATTERE. An aria form in the 18th century that is slower, generally andante, with a rich orchestral texture that allows for the singer to display drama. ARIA DI PORTAMENTO. An 18th-century style that allows for a slower tempo and more subtle rhythms, often with sustained notes and a flowing, subdued accompaniment. ARIA D’IMITAZIONE. An 18th-century aria that allows for the singer to imitate other instruments or sounds. ARIA PARLANTE. During the 18th century a type of cantilena style that lies somewhere between recitative and arioso, creating a sort of spoken melody, sometimes with effects such as the mezza di voce. ARNE, MICHAEL (1740, LONDON, TO 14 JANUARY 1786, LONDON). English composer. He may have been the adopted son of Thomas Arne, but was largely raised by his aunt, Susanna Cibber, owing to his
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ARNE, THOMAS AUGUSTINE
mother’s frequent illnesses. In 1750 he began singing at various concert venues around London, including Vauxhall Gardens, and the next year performed a concerto on the organ in public, eventually earning a good living through his talent. By 1766 he began to dabble in alchemy at a laboratory in Chelsea that he had purchased. Three years later he was in debtor’s prison for bankruptcy and to earn money went abroad to Germany in 1771. By 1775 he was active in Dublin, where a second attempt at alchemy resulted in his being remanded to the local prison for his debts. To pay off his creditors, he returned to London as a musician at Covent Garden in 1777. Arne was an eccentric, though his music largely reflects the style of his father. His works include nine operas (and insertions into 15 others) as well as over 250 songs. He also published a treatise, Lessons for the Harpsichord, in 1761. ARNE, THOMAS AUGUSTINE (12 MARCH 1710, LONDON, TO 5 MARCH 1778, LONDON). English composer. As a youth, Arne persisted in learning music despite parental disapproval, eventually coming under the influence of Michael Festing, who taught him violin and oversaw his musical education. He also attended Eton College, and upon graduating practiced law for three years, before he, his brother Robert, and his sister Susannah made their debut in his masque Rosamund in 1733. By 1737 he was employed as composer in residence at Drury Lane Theatre, and later, in 1750, moved to Covent Garden after a dispute with the former’s manager, David Garrick. In 1741 he sued a publishing company over copyright, and although the issue was settled privately, it marked one of the first instances where a composer brought action in defense of his artistic rights. Arne’s personal life was difficult; in 1755 he and his wife separated (to be reconciled only a few months before his death), and he was overbearing to theatre staff and relations. His adopted son, Michael Arne, was also active as a composer. His composition was focused almost exclusively on the stage, for which he composed around 90 works, including incidental music, masques, operas, pasticcios, and so forth. Several of these achieved considerable fame, including the 1740 masque Alfred (later in 1755 turned into a three-act opera), written for George II that included a vaudeville finale, which included a patriotic tune “Rule Britannia”; one of the first through-sung comic operas, Thomas and Sally, from 1760; a popular English seria, Artaxerxes, from 1762; and a parody of Alexander’s Feast, titled Whitington’s Feast, from 1776. His other surviving music includes 16 sonatas or lessons for the keyboard (1756–1757), 27 odes and cantatas, well over 60 songs (many published in collections), at least 20 catches and glees (including 11 written for the Noblemen and Gentlemen’s Catch Club), two Masses, two oratorios (Judith and The Death of Abel), and several miscellaneous sacred works. The 12 “symphonies or
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ARQUIMBAU, DOMÈNIC [DOMINGO]
• 41
overtures” are derived from his music for the theatre, as are the six keyboard concertos, which were arranged and published in 1793. Arne’s style is noted for the simple harmonies and textures but also for the colorful and innovative orchestration. Arne’s music was vastly popular throughout the British Empire of the period, with performances throughout the world and especially in the various colonies. See also BURNEY, CHARLES; CHARKE, RICHARD. ARNOLD, JOHANN GOTTFRIED (1 FEBRUARY 1773, NIEDERHALL, WÜRTTEMBERG, GERMANY, TO 26 JULY 1806, FRANKFURT AM MAIN). German cellist and composer. His earliest education was from a local schoolmaster, and in 1785 he became a town musician in Künzelsau. By 1796 he had obtained a position as principal cellist at the theatre in Hamburg, where he remained the rest of his life. His music remains largely unexplored. It consists of five cello concertos, a viola concerto, a sinfonia concertante, five sets of variations for solo cello, and a series of waltzes for guitar and flute. ARNOLD, SAMUEL (10 AUGUST 1742, LONDON, TO 22 OCTOBER 1802, LONDON). English composer and organist. Allegedly the son of Princess Amelia and a commoner, he was trained at the Royal Chapel under Bernard Gates. He was then employed as a harpsichordist at Covent Garden, where his opera The Maid of the Mill was premiered successfully in 1764. In 1769 he moved to Marleybone Gardens, and by 1783 he was listed among the composers of the Royal Chapel. In 1789 he became a director of the Academy of Ancient Music, and in 1793 he was appointed as organist at Westminster Abbey. Arnold was one of the most prolific composers of operas in England during the period, his success characterized by his use of pre-extant tunes and melodies coupled with good orchestration. His works include 93 operas (many pasticcios), nine oratorios, 17 anthems, two volumes of Psalms settings, and two volumes of hymn tunes, as well as six services, 10 large odes, over 60 songs, six symphonies, three keyboard concertos, 33 keyboard sonatas, and a large number of catches and glees. He also published the works of George Frederick Handel in 1786 in 36 volumes. His theatre music has been cataloged by Robert Hoskins. See also CARR, BENJAMIN; TAYLOR, RAYNOR. ARQUIMBAU, DOMÈNIC [DOMINGO] (1760, CATALONIA, TO 26 JANUARY 1829, SEVILLE). Catalan-Spanish composer. His early training was likely in Barcelona, and he served as maestro di capilla at Tortosa, as well as assistant director at the Barcelona cathedral, until 1785, when he became Francesc Juncá i Carol’s successor at Girona. In 1790 he won the
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post of assistant at the Seville cathedral, eventually becoming maestro di capilla on the death of Antonio Ripa y Blanques in 1795. In 1815 he was elected a member of the Accademia filarmonica for a Lamentations setting. His music includes three Magnificats, three hymns and an antiphon, and a Mass; the last was disseminated as far away as Santiago de Chile. Much of his music has been lost, however. ASIAÍN BARDAXI, JOAQUÍN (20 FEBRUARY 1758, COTELLA, NAVARRA, SPAIN, TO 1828, MADRID). Spanish-Basque monastic composer and keyboardist. Following early training locally he entered the Heironymite order, becoming maestro di capilla at the monastery San Jerónimo in Madrid until its dissolution in 1809. His music has been little known, but includes 60 versos for organ, three Psalms, three Lamentations, a Magnificat, and 10 sonatas for keyboard. ASIOLI, BONIFAZIO (30 AUGUST 1769, CORREGIO, REGIO EMILIA, ITALY, TO 18 MAY 1832, CORREGIO). Italian composer, teacher, and keyboardist. Born into a highly respected family, he demonstrated musical talent while still a child, writing his first compositions around the age of 12. By 1782 he had advanced enough in musical study in Venice and Bologna that he was able to return home as maestro di cappella at the local church of San Quirino. The next year he obtained a similar post in Turin and in 1799 was appointed as maestro di cappella in Milan, where he was one of the founding members of the conservatory in 1807. Before his return to Corregio in 1814, he taught Carl Mozart, among others. His musical style is marked by a texture that presages the Romantic period. His most important works were two theoretical treatises on harmony and elements of music published in Milan in 1811–1815. See also MORIGI, ANGELO. ASPLMAYR, FRANZ (1 APRIL 1728, LINZ, AUSTRIA, TO 29 JULY 1786, VIENNA). Austrian composer and violinist. Little is known of his youth, save that his musical training was probably obtained from his father, a dancing master. He appears as a secretary to Count Morzin in Lukaveč in 1759, where he probably studied under Joseph Haydn. Upon the dissolution of that court, he became a ballet composer at the Kärntnertor Theatre in Vienna, where for the next decade or so he collaborated with choreographers of the ballet d’action such as Franz Hilverding and Gasparo Angiolini to produce works such as Iphigénie en Tauride in 1768. He later made his living as a violinist in the city, becoming one of the founders of the Tonkünstlersozietät, though he appears to have died in poverty. Asplmayr can be considered one of the foremost composers of ballets, renowned for their dramatic
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• 43
intensity and dramatic content. He also contributed significantly to instrumental genres such as the string quartet and symphony. His works include 47 ballets, seven stage works (Singspiels and duodramas), 41 symphonies, 43 string quartets, 61 string trios, 70 wind partitas, 18 string duos, six violin sonatas, a violin concerto, and numerous incidental dance pieces. ASTARITA [ASTARITTA], GENNARO (1749, NAPLES, TO 18 DECEMBER 1805, ROVERETO, ITALY). Italian composer. He was likely born in or around Naples, beginning his career as an opera composer in a collaborative work with Niccolò Piccinni in 1765. By 1770 he had been appointed as maestro di cappella in Naples, from which he launched an international career in Venice, Bratislava, and finally in 1771 in Moscow at the Petrovsky Theatre. On his second visit to Russia, in 1796, he was asked by Nicolai Yusupov to direct an opera troupe in St. Petersburg. In 1799 he returned to northern Italy, where he spent the remainder of his career. As a composer of mainly opera buffa, he was considered in the same class as Tommaso Traetta or Pasquale Anfossi. He composed 36 operas (almost all buffa), three ballets, a Mass, a litany, six sacred works, three cantatas, and an oratorio. ATTWOOD, THOMAS (bap. 23 NOVEMBER 1765, LONDON, TO 24 MARCH 1834, LONDON). English composer and organist. Son of a musician and page to George III of England, he began his musical education as a chorister at the Chapel Royal. In 1781 he was sent to Naples to study under Gaetano Latilla and in 1785 to Vienna, where he took lessons from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In 1787 he returned to London as a courtier, later becoming the tutor to the Duchess of York and Princess of Wales. By 1796 he was appointed organist at St. Paul’s Cathedral. During the 19th century he was active in the musical life of the capital as both a teacher and professor of the Royal Academy of Music and as a composer of opera, beginning with The Prisoner of 1792. His music reflects the styles of his teachers. Works include 34 operas, five services, five Mass movements, 18 anthems, 50 songs, seven trios, three pieces for winds, and a number of organ works. AUDINOT, NICOLAS-MÉDARD (7 JUNE 1732, BOURMONT-ENBASSIGNY, HAUTE-MARNE, FRANCE, TO 21 MAY 1801, PARIS). French singer, dramatist, composer, and impresario. Born in humble circumstances, he arrived in Paris around 1755, becoming a singer at the Opéra Comique specializing in secondary roles around 1758. After a few years, he was able to mount his own work, the opéra comique Le tonnelier, which became an international success following a revision some four years later.
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At that time, he was employed by the Théâtre Italien (the successor to the Opéra Comique), but in 1767 he left it to pursue his own career as an impresario. After several years mounting puppet shows at the Foire St. Laurent, he succeeded in forming his own theatrical company in 1769, the Théâtre de l’Ambigu-Comique, which served as a popular stage up through the Revolution. As a composer Audinot had few gifts; his few opéras comiques are simple and direct, with conventional harmony and no real drama. These, however, were easily exportable and performed in places such as Sweden, Denmark, Russia, and elsewhere. AUENBRUGGER, MARIANNA VON (19 JULY 1759, VIENNA, TO 25 AUGUST 1782, VIENNA). Austrian keyboardist and composer. The daughter of a physician, she became a pupil of Antonio Salieri and Joseph Haydn, who dedicated a set of six keyboard sonatas to her. She died of anorexia. Her sole surviving works are a piano sonata and a song. AUERNHAMMER, JOSEPHA BARBARA VON (bap. 25 SEPTEMBER 1758, VIENNA, TO 30 JUNE 1820, VIENNA). Austrian keyboardist and composer. Daughter of a patrician family, she studied music under Georg Friedrich Richter and Leopold Koželuh before becoming a pupil of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart about 1781. Thereafter she performed frequently in concerts he arranged, and after his death, continued to perform frequently in Vienna. Her own works include six Lieder, 70 sets of variations (her favorite compositional genre), and three keyboard sonatas. AUFFMANN, JOSEPH ANTON XAVER (ca. 1720, PROBABLY NEAR KEMPTEN, GERMANY, TO 1778, PRUNTRUT, SWITZERLAND). German composer and organist. His training and early career are unknown. He first appears in history as the successor to Franz Xaver Richter as Kapellmeister to the Prince-Archbishop of Kempten-Allgäu in 1749, a post he held for seven years. In 1756 he moved to Straubing and subsequently probably to Donaueschingen before obtaining the position of organist for the Archbishop of Pruntrut in 1773. His music is all but unknown, although he wrote at least two Singspiels, six concertos, two symphonies, a sacred aria in German, and several organ preludes. AULETTA, DOMENICO (1723, NAPLES, TO 1753, NAPLES). Italian composer and organist. The son of Pietro Auletta, he received his earliest training from his father before settling into a life of complete obscurity in Naples. It is not known where he was employed, but given that his compositional output is entirely sacred, it is likely that he was an organist at one
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AURISICCHIO, ANTONIO
• 45
of the smaller churches. His musical style reflects the galant in its use of contrasting phrases and dynamics, though the lyrical lines reflect Neapolitan training. His surviving works include five Psalms, three Regina coelis, two De profundis clamavis, a Dixit Dominus, and three keyboard concertos, as well as a concert aria. AULETTA, PIETRO (ca. 1698, SANT’ANGELO A SCALA, NEAR AVELLINO, ITALY, TO SEPTEMBER 1771, NAPLES). Italian composer. He was trained at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio in Naples under Nicola Porpora. In 1724 he became maestro di cappella at the church of Santa Maria del Nova, composing his first opera Il trionfo dell’amore a year later. Further success followed culminating in performances of his works in Paris in 1737 and Munich in 1758. Although his early operas reflect Baroque styles, his later works are much in the vein of Giovanni Pergolesi. These include 17 operas, two oratorios, seven sacred works (Psalms and hymns), a secular cantata, and a thoroughly modern symphony written around 1750. His music has been largely forgotten and remains unexplored. His son Domenico Auletta also became a composer. AUMANN, FRANZ ANTON (24 FEBRUARY 1728, TRAISMAUER, LOWER AUSTRIA, TO 30 MARCH 1797, ST. FLORIAN, UPPER AUSTRIA). German monastic composer. Following training as a chorister in the Jesuit school in Vienna, he became an initiate in the Augustinian Order in 1753 and was ordained as a priest in 1757. At that time he was appointed as regens chori of the monastery of St. Florian, where he lived the rest of his life. His music circulated widely during his lifetime, where it achieved a reputation for good command of counterpoint, as well as the prevalent Neapolitan sacred musical style. His Missa profana is a satire of poor church musical composition, and his two Missae brevissimae are little disguised comments on the Josephian reform movement. His Missa Germanica was one of the earliest Mass settings in the vernacular. His works include 38 Masses, 12 Requiems, 29 Psalms, 25 Magnificats, 22 offertories, 10 litanies, eight responsories, seven vespers, many other sacred motets and arias, four oratorios, two Singspiels in Austrian dialect, numerous songs and canons, three symphonies, and 25 serenades, divertimentos, and parthies. His music was a distinct influence on Anton Bruckner. AURISICCHIO, ANTONIO (1710, NAPLES, TO 4 SEPTEMBER 1781, ROME). Italian composer. Nothing is known of his youth or education prior to his debut as an opera composer at the Teatro dei Fiorentini in Naples in 1734 with the comic opera Chi dell’altrui si veste presto si spoglia. Despite
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successes on the stage, he chose to pursue a path as a church organist, becoming a member of the Congregazione dei musici di Santa Cecilia in 1747 and maestro di cappella at the church of San Giacomo degli Spagnoli in Rome in 1766. His surviving works include seven operas. See also MOREAU, HENRI. AUTOS SACRAMENTALES. A uniquely Spanish form of interactive drama first developed in the 13th century. The piece consists of a processional, during which a morality play is presented at several places on the way to the main church. By the 18th century these included complete miniature operatic scenes with arias, instrumental pieces, and other theatrical musical genres. One of the most prolific composers of these was José de Nebra Blasco, who wrote 21. They were prohibited in 1765 but continued to be performed over the next several decades in smaller towns in Spain. AVISON, CHARLES (bap. 16 FEBRUARY 1709, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND, TO 10 MAY 1770, NEWCASTLE). English organist and composer. Following early education at home, he was taken into the service of the member of parliament for Northumberland, who allowed him to study with Francesco Geminiani in London. In 1734 he returned home to become the organist at two churches, St. John’s and St. Nicholas. Active in the culture of Newcastle, he and John Garth founded the Marcello Society in 1750. Charles Burney described him as an “ingenious and polished man,” and Avison was best known for his opposition to the style of George Frederick Handel, which he outlined in his treatise An Essay on Musical Expression, published in three editions up through 1775. His own works were focused on the concerto grosso and include 54 concertos, 24 trio sonatas, an oratorio, two anthems, and a number of songs and marches, as well as adaptations of the works of Giovanni Clari, Benedetto Marcello, and Domenico Scarlatti. AVONDANO, PEDRO ANTÓNIO (16 APRIL 1714, LISBON, TO 1782, LISBON). Portuguese composer and violinist. The son of a Genoese-born violinist, Avondano probably received his earliest musical education from his father and later probably also studied under Domenico Scarlatti. Much of the information concerning his education and training is unknown due to the destruction of documents in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, but it is known that he was commissioned by the theatre in Macerata, Italy, to compose an opera, Berenice, in 1742. By 1764 he was appointed as principal violinist of the Royal Chamber, a post he held until his death. During this time, he wrote a substantial number of dances for the court, as well as a popular opera, Il mondo della luna, and a pair of oratorios in 1770, Il voto di Jefte and
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Adamo ed Eva. He also composed a large number of sacred works, including Masses, a Te Deum, Psalms, and other smaller works, in addition to keyboard sonatas, two symphonies, and several works for solo cello, written no doubt for his brother, João Baptista Andre Avondano, who was principal cellist. In 1765 he was part of the revival of a musical guild known as the Brotherhood of St. Cecilia and shortly thereafter organized a musical society called the Assembleia des Naçôes Estrangieras. He also purchased a knighthood in the Orden de Cristo. José Mazza noted that his music contained “great harmony and softness,” but the surviving compositions demonstrate a close affinity to the Neapolitan style of the middle of the century. AVOSSA, GIUSEPPE (1708, PAOLA, ITALY, TO 9 JANUARY 1796, NAPLES). Italian composer. At an early age he was sent to the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo in Naples, where he studied under Francesco Durante and Gaetano Greco. After an early career serving in various churches and monasteries, he obtained the post of maestro di cappella in Pesaro at the city theatre in 1749. In 1758 he returned to Naples in the same post at the Teatro di Fiorentini. There he produced his most successful comic opera, La Pupilla, in 1763. His music has been little studied, although it conforms to the Neapolitan opera style of the time. Surviving works include nine operas (all buffa), three Masses, two Magnificats, and two motets. AZIONE SCENICA. See AZIONE TEATRALE. AZIONE TEATRALE. Also known as Azione Scenica, this was an opera consisting of a single act that was usually performed for festive or intimate court settings, sometimes in concert, without staging. Larger versions of this were called festa teatrale. An example of this can be found in Joseph Haydn’s L’isola disabitata. See also COMPONIMENTO DA CAMERA. AZZOPARDI, FRANCESCO (5 MAY 1748, RABAT, MALTA, TO 6 FEBRUARY 1809, RABAT). Maltese composer and theorist. His earliest training was under composer Michel’Angelo Vella, prior to his being sent to Naples in 1763, where he enrolled in the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana. His teachers there were Joseph Doll and Niccolò Piccinni. In 1774 he returned to Malta to become maestro di cappella at the Mdina Cathedral of Saint Paul. In 1783 he was appointed as successor of Benigno Zerafa at the St. John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta, a position he finally attained in 1789. During his lifetime, he was a well-known and much-soughtafter composer, particularly of church music. His style reflects the late Neapolitan opera, but his use of instrumental color and harmony are particularly
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effective. His most famous theoretical work is the treatise Il musico prattico from around 1781. His works include an opera; a festive cantata, Malta felice; an oratorio; 31 Masses; 76 Psalms; six Magnificats; two Passions; six Lamentations; 70 motets; 16 antiphons; and three symphonies of the singlemovement da chiesa form. See also ISOUARD, NICOLÒ.
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B BABCOCK, LEMUEL (26 MARCH 1748, MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES, TO 27 AUGUST 1835, MILTON). American psalmodist. Like his cousin Samuel Babcock, he was in the militia during the Revolutionary War and upon his release was a leather worker and music teacher in Wrentham, Massachusetts, moving back to Milton, where he was an assessor and important member of the community. He was an active and well-regarded teacher, but only two of his works can be identified (and another seven with less secure attributions). BABCOCK, SAMUEL (ca. 1760, MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES, TO 23 NOVEMBER 1813, FRENCH MILLS, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES). American psalmodist, cousin of Lemuel Babcock. He made his living primarily as a hatter in Watertown, Massachusetts, after a period of service in the militia during the Revolutionary War. He also taught singing, publishing much of his psalmody in the Middlesex Harmony of 1795. He wrote in all around 80 works. BABU, NIDHU [GUPTA, RAMNIDHI] (1741, KURMUTALI, INDIA, TO 1839, CALCUTTA). Hindi-Bengali singer and composer. Following early musical education from local masters, he found a position in 1776 as a clerk with the Chhapra Collective, but in 1794 he abandoned his bureaucratic career to become a traveling musician. In 1805 he organized a troupe that performed Classical Indian music, but in a few years he took up the life of an aesthetic. He is known for his creation of an 18th-century Classical Indian form, the tappā, which is based on love poetry of longing and denial. His most famous work is a set known as Gitaratna. BACH, CARL PHILIPP EMANUEL (8 MARCH 1714, WEIMAR, TO 14 DECEMBER 1788, HAMBURG). German composer, theorist, and keyboardist. The second son of Johann Sebastian Bach, he received his earliest musical education from his father, enrolling at the age of 10 in the Thomasschule. By 1731 he was a student in law at Leipzig University, later transferring to the university at Frankfurt an der Oder, where he obtained a degree in 49
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1738. Deciding to become a musician, he was recommended to Crown Prince Frederick in Rheinsburg, and upon the crown prince’s crowning as Frederick II of Prussia, he moved to Berlin as a chamber musician, a formal title granted in 1746. As an active member of the Berlin School, he participated in the intimate inner circle of musicians and writers of the period, producing a seminal treatise on keyboard playing, Versuch über die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen, in 1752. The death of his godfather Georg Philipp Telemann in 1767 offered him the opportunity to seek the appointment as city Kapellmeister in Hamburg (a post that was temporarily occupied by Georg Michael Telemann). From 1768 to his death, he was the leading musician in the city, whose friendship with major literary figures such as Friedrich Gottlob Klopstock and Johann Heinrich Voss, his pedagogical efforts at the Johanneum, and the maintaining of his close ties to colleagues in Berlin made him one of the most prominent figures in music of the period. Over the course of his long career, he composed almost 900 works in all genres save opera (and there is an indication that he may have made an abortive attempt at one). One of the main figures in the emerging empfindsamer Stil (Empfindsamkeit) with its emphasis upon emotion and drama in music, he created compositions that were far ahead of his time in terms of harmony and form. For example, the introduction to the oratorio Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu is both monophonic and atonal, while his free fantasies move rapidly from tonal center to tonal center using sometimes harsh dissonance, extreme changes in tempo and dynamics, and effective musical moods, all without metrical regularity. Ludwig van Beethoven lauded him as his spiritual father, and almost all other composers of the period imitated his style. He published works, such as the Klopstock’s Morgengesang, by subscription, having control over much of his own creative output. His compositions include 370 miscellaneous works for keyboard (sonatas, fantasias, etc.), 69 keyboard concertos (plus 20 “sonatinas” for keyboard and orchestra), 11 flute concertos, 19 symphonies, two keyboard quartets, six pieces for Harmoniemusik, 37 sonatas for various instruments (violin, viola da gamba, harp, flute, etc.), 48 trio sonatas, 30 pieces for musical clockwork, 277 songs and secular cantatas, a Magnificat, two Psalms, 22 Passions/Passion cantatas, an oratorio, 13 large-scale choruses, an ode, 14 chorales, four Easter cantatas, 26 pieces for Hamburg celebrations, and nine cantatas. He can be considered one of the principal influences of the entire period. His music is known by either Wq (Wotquenne) or H (Helm) numbers. See also DUSSEK, JAN LADISLAV; HOLLAND, JOHANN DAVID; RELLSTAB, JOHANN CARL FRIEDRICH; WESTENHOLZ, CARL AUGUST FRIEDRICH; ZINCK, HARDENACK OTTO CONRAD.
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BACH, JOHANN CHRISTIAN (5 SEPTEMBER 1735, LEIPZIG, TO 1 JANUARY 1782, LONDON). German-English composer of international stature. The youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach, he received his earliest musical training from his father and a cousin, Johann Elias Bach. After serving as a secretary to his father the final year of his father’s life, he moved to Berlin in 1750, receiving further instruction from his brother Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. In 1755 he left for Milan, where he eventually obtained the patronage of Count Agostino Litta. Following study with Padre Giovanni Battista Martini and conversion to Roman Catholicism, he was appointed second organist at the Milan cathedral in 1760. A commission for an opera from the Teatro Regio in Turin the same year, however, altered his fortunes; the work, Cantone in Utica, was a success that led both to commissions throughout Italy and an international reputation as a composer of Italian opera. In 1762 he was invited to London, where he set the opera Orione. Its success and the appointment as Music Master to the Queen allowed him to reside permanently there. A further trip to Paris solidified his ability to publish his music, and, finally, his lodging with compatriot Carl Friedrich Abel resulted in a collaborative concert series beginning in 1764. For the next decade he traveled regularly to Paris where his works were highly esteemed, and in 1772 he was invited to Mannheim to set the opera Temistocle. In 1779 he wrote his first tragédie lyrique for Paris, Amadis de Gaule. Despite the successes, competition with rival concert series, a difficult economic situation, and ill health led to his early death. Bach can be considered one of the pivotal composers of the age. Unlike his brothers Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, he fully immersed himself in the Italian style, creating works that feature clear period lyrical themes, solid harmonic foundations, and distinct formal structures. His orchestration, often using obbligato instruments, is colorful, and Bach used various Mannheim orchestral devices to great effect. He was one of the most popular composers of the period, whose music had circulation throughout Europe, influencing a later generation of composers, such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He was a prolific composer in virtually all genres. His works include 39 operas, three serenatas, an oratorio, seven Mass/Requiem movements, 28 other sacred works, 15 concert arias and cantatas, 45 songs/canzonetts, 34 symphonies, 19 sinfonia concertantes, 28 keyboard concertos, 11 other concertos (violin, flute, oboe, and bassoon), six wind symphonies, 11 marches, a sextet, 13 quintets (string and piano), 20 quartets (string, flute, and piano), 14 trio sonatas, 12 trios (almost all piano trios), 26 violin sonatas, two viola da gamba sonatas, 23 keyboard sonatas (four for keyboard four hands), and numerous miscellaneous pieces for the
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keyboard and harp. His music has been cataloged according to Terry (T) or Warburton (W or CW) numbers. BACH, JOHANN CHRISTOPH FRIEDRICH (21 JUNE 1732, LEIPZIG, TO 26 JANUARY 1795, BÜCKEBURG, GERMANY). German composer and keyboardist. One of four sons of Johann Sebastian Bach who became professional musicians, he was trained by his father and his cousin Johann Elias Bach at the Thomasschule. In 1750, upon the death of his father, he was offered a position as harpsichordist with Count Wilhelm von SchaumbergLippe in Bückeburg. In 1759 he was elevated to concertmaster, a position he retained for the remainder of his life. He did not travel, save for a visit to his youngest brother, Johann Christian Bach, in London in 1778, preferring the calm surroundings of his small town. He was able to create music that was different from his brothers, thanks both to the intellectual stimulus of people such as Johann Gottfried Herder and his patron’s penchant for Italian music. His son, Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach, was trained in this environment, becoming the third direct generation of the family of Johann Sebastian to pursue a career in music. Bach is known for his ability to imbue drama into his works, particularly the oratorios, as well as his adherence to sonata principles and a progressive sense of harmony and orchestral color. Although much of his music did not survive the Second World War, what is left demonstrates that he was as innovative in his own way as his siblings. His music, cataloged by Hansdieter Wolfarth (and using BR numbers), includes eight oratorios, a Miserere, nine sacred cantatas, 55 secular cantatas, odes, or other similar works, 79 Lieder, 28 symphonies, 16 piano concertos, three sinfonia concertantes (titled “concerto grosso” by Bach himself), a septet, six flute quartets and six string quartets, 13 trio sonatas, six piano trios, 22 sonatas (for flute, violin, or cello), 43 keyboard sonatas, and around 92 miscellaneous pieces for the keyboard. BACH, JOHANN ERNST (28 JANUARY 1722, EISENACH, GERMANY, TO 1 SEPTEMBER 1777, EISENACH). German composer and organist. The son of organist Johann Bernhard Bach and a cousin of the Bach family of Leipzig, he became a pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach there. Following further education at Leipzig University, he returned to Eisenach as his father’s successor in 1741. In 1756 he also became Kapellmeister at the court in Weimar, although he actually performed duties there for only two years. He was a prolific composer in the Empfindsamkeit style. His music consists of three Passions/oratorios, 22 sacred cantatas (with a complete cycle lost and two secular cantatas), a Mass, 15 motets, numerous Lieder, at least six
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symphonies (only one of which has survived), a trio sonata, six violin sonatas, and a large number of organ and keyboard works. BACH, JOHANN MICHAEL (9 NOVEMBER 1745, STRUTH, NEAR SCHMALKALDEN, GERMANY, TO 1820, EBERFELD, GERMANY). German composer. Related to the more famous Bach family in Leipzig, Johann Michael Bach exhibited a wanderlust early in his life. In 1767 he traveled to Holland, and from there to England and the United States before returning to Germany in 1779 to study law at Göttingen and Leipzig. Although he practiced as a lawyer for several years, in 1793 he was appointed as cantor at Tann, and afterward became a music teacher at the Gymnasium in Eberfeld. His main claim to fame is a treatise on thorough-bass published in 1780, but he also wrote six keyboard concertos, two cantatas, a motet, and several other smaller works. BACH, WILHELM FRIEDEMANN (22 NOVEMBER 1710, WEIMAR, TO 1 JULY 1784, BERLIN). German composer and organist. The eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach, he received his earliest musical training from his father, later enrolling in the Thomasschule in Leipzig. In 1726 he was sent to Merseburg to study violin under Johann Gottlieb Graun, returning in 1729 to enroll in Leipzig University. There he studied mathematics, but in 1733 he was appointed organist at the Sophiakirche in Dresden. In 1746 he was appointed as organist at the Liebfraukirche in the Pietist city of Halle. Unfortunately, his relations with the town fathers and his cantor Georg Mittag were problematic, and he began to apply for other posts throughout Germany without success, although he was allowed in 1762 to style himself as Kapellmeister to the court of Hessen-Darmstadt even though he did not obtain the position. In 1764 he simply quit his position and began to support himself through private teaching, eventually leaving for Braunschweig in 1770 and subsequently for Berlin four years later. There, he continued to teach even though he was initially welcomed at the court of Anna Amalia, the sister of Frederick II of Prussia. His last years were spent in extreme poverty exacerbated by alcoholism. Although active as a composer, his reputation during his lifetime was primarily for his keyboard improvisation, no doubt due in part to the rigorous training provided by his father. His music, however, is often characterized by a mixture of older styles (also inherited from his father) and a sense of harmonic and formal experimentation that often created extreme contrast and jarring dissonances. Not surprisingly, some of his earlier compositions were so close in style to those of his father that they were misattributed. He was a good teacher; his students include his brother Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach,
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Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, and Johann Nikolaus Forkel, with whom he also collaborated on that author’s biography of Johann Sebastian Bach. His music, cataloged according to F (Falck) or BR numbers, consists of 32 cantatas (two secular); an opera, Lausus und Lydie; two Masses and several Mass movements; a German Te Deum; several other smaller sacred settings; 15 keyboard sonatas; 18 works for musical clockwork; around 40 polonaises; 10 keyboard fantasies; some 40 or so miscellaneous works for the keyboard; 11 fugues/canons; three sonatas for two keyboards (one titled “concerto”); eight symphonies; seven concertos (five for keyboard, and one each for flute and two harpsichords); a sextet; nine flute duets; three viola duets; and five trio sonatas. The famous portrait by Wilhelm Weitsch is now known to portray his cousin. BACH, WILHELM FRIEDRICH ERNST (24 MAY 1759, BÜCKEBURG, GERMANY, TO 25 DECEMBER 1845, BERLIN). German composer. The son of Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach and grandson of Johann Sebastian Bach, he grew up at the court of Schaumberg-Lippe, where he was instructed by his father and Christian Friedrich Geyer, the local cantor. In 1782 he and his father paid a visit to his uncle, Johann Christian Bach, in London, where he stayed until 1784. Following travels through the Netherlands and France, he arrived in Minden, where he functioned as music director of the city (although there was no formal title or post). Following successful performances of cantatas for the Prussian royal family, he was appointed as Kapellmeister to the dowager queen Elisabeth Christine in 1789, further being keyboard tutor to the Prussian royal family of Friedrich Wilhelm III until 1811, when he was pensioned. He was still alive in 1843 and attended the unveiling of the Bach memorial in Leipzig. Like his father, he was fully versed in the styles of music of the later 18th century, though it is difficult to trace a stylistic development due to much of his music being lost. His sextet contains parts of considerable virtuosity for horns, and his symphonies show a good sense of thematic contrast. He is perhaps best noted, however, for his sense of humor. The piano piece for six hands, Das Dreyblatt, for example, requires a large male teacher seated between two smaller female pupils with his part being simultaneously the highest and lowest in the work; another example is the “concerto buffo” for bass voice, fortepiano, and toy instruments. His works include a Stabat mater, five secular cantatas, a ballet-pantomime (of 43 movements), three odes, 23 Lieder, seven symphonies, three piano concertos (and one for two pianos and orchestra), nine violin sonatas, six piano trios, seven larger chamber works for various instrumental combinations, 13 keyboard sonatas, and a host of small keyboard works.
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BACHMANN, PATER SIXT (18 JULY 1754, KETTERSHAUSEN, BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG, GERMANY, TO 18 OCTOBER 1825, REUTLINGENDORF, GERMANY). German monastic composer and pedagogue. He entered the Benedictine monastery of Obermarschal in 1766 as a student, later taking his vows in 1770. During this period he displayed his talent at the keyboard; while still a child he competed with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as a prodigy. His work at the monastery was as a teacher of music, regens chori, and an assessor in the monastic treasury. He retired when the monastery was dissolved in 1805. His music includes four large Masses, as well as numerous pieces for organ and small church works. See also BUCHER, FRANZ XAVER. BACHSCHMIDT, ANTON (11 FEBRUARY 1728, MELK, AUSTRIA, TO 29 DECEMBER 1797, EICHSTÄTT, GERMANY). Austrian-German composer. Born into a family of musicians, he received his early training from its members, becoming appointed at an early age as instrumental music master in Melk. In 1753 he embarked upon a career as a virtuoso violinist, settling in Eichstätt several years later where he was later appointed as Kapellmeister in 1773. He served Prince-Bishop Johann Anton II as court violinist and composer, as well as teaching students such as Pater Aemilian Kaiser. His music has been little studied but consists of eight operas, five Jesuit school dramas, 21 Masses, a Requiem, eight vespers, 10 hymns, 29 litanies, 34 offertories, six Te Deums, nine Psalms, two motets, five concertos, 24 symphonies and 12 symphonic movements, and six string quartets. BACK [BAGG], KONRAD (23 JUNE 1749, HAIGERLOCH, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 10 APRIL 1810, OTTOBEUREN, BAVARIA, GERMANY). German monastic composer and organist. Although he was schooled by local musicians at Zweifalten and Ehringen, it was not until 1771 that he began to receive formal musical training at the Benedictine monastery in Ottobeuren from Franciscus Schnitzer and Christoph Neubauer. By 1785 he was Franciscus Schnitzer’s successor as regens chori, a position he held until the dissolution of the monastery in 1802. He was highly regarded as a proficient composer of sacred music. His works include two Masses, an oratorio, two sacred dramas, numerous offertories, Psalms, and other smaller sacred works, as well as a symphony that was published by Johann Julius Hummel in Berlin. BAGUER, CARLES (13 MARCH 1768, BARCELONA, TO 28 FEBRUARY 1808, BARCELONA). Also known as “Carlets” or “Carlos.” Catalan composer and organist. Following studies under Francesc Mariner, he was
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appointed as organist at the Barcelona cathedral in 1786, a position he retained his entire life. Baguer was a much-respected teacher and composer at the center of Catalonian musical life during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His musical style is similar to Joseph Haydn, and he was noted for his development of formal structures. His music includes an opera, 14 oratorios, eight Masses, a Requiem, 11 concert arias (sacred and secular), 19 symphonies, eight duos, seven keyboard sonatas, and a large number of smaller chamber works. See also BERTRAN, BERNAT. BAILLOU, LUIGI DE (27 JULY 1736, MILAN, TO 14 MARCH 1804, MILAN). Italian violinist and composer. Although born into a musical family, there is no information on his early education. In 1762 he was appointed to the court orchestra in Stuttgart, a position he held until his dismissal in 1774. In 1775 he arrived in Milan, where he eventually became the concertmaster of the orchestra at La Scala, achieving a reputation for his ballets. He was appointed as a professor at the Pio Instituto in 1783 and retained his positions even during the Napoleonic occupation. His music, little studied, includes 21 ballets, seven symphonies, six trios, a divertimento, and several smaller chamber works. His most important pupil was Alessandro Rolla. BAINI, LORENZO (1740, ROME, TO 11 AUGUST 1814, RIETI, ITALY). Italian composer. Little is known of his early education in Rome. His earliest career was as maestro di cappella at the church of St. Apostoli in that city, following which he was employed at the cathedral in Termi and, from 1804 onward, in Rieti. His music has been little researched, but includes three operas, four ballets, three oratorios, and a host of smaller sacred works. BALBASTRE, CLAUDE-BÉNINGE (8 DECEMBER 1724, DIJON, TO 9 MAY 1799, PARIS). French composer and keyboardist. One of France’s best-known keyboardists, Balbastre received his earliest musical education under Claude Rameau, the brother of Jean-Philippe Rameau, in Dijon. Moving to Paris in 1750 he continued his studies with Pierre Février, and with the help of Rameau was introduced to the most important musical circles. He obtained a position as organist at Saint Reh, later adding additional posts at Nôtre Dame and the Chapelle Royale, where he became the tutor of Marie Antoinette in 1776. In 1759 he published his Premier livre pièces de clavecin and began performing frequently as a soloist at the Concerts spirituels. At this time Charles Burney noted that his performances at regular services were almost legendary, with Balbastre introducing hunting tunes and dances without official repercussion. He also was pleased with a close friendship with Armand-Louis Couperin instead of the usual rivalry. Following the
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revolution, Balbastre wrote patriotic tunes and variations, such as an extensive set on “La Marseillaise.” His compositions include 14 organ concertos (of which only one survives), four noëls variés, six sonates en quatuors, and numerous variations and smaller pieces for keyboard. He also wrote church music, of which nothing survives. His style is more homophonic than some of his contemporaries. BALBI, IGNAZIO (ca. 1700, PROBABLY MILAN, TO 1773, MILAN). Italian composer. Nothing is known of his training or origins, save that in 1720 he appears as a composer with an oratorio in which he designates himself as an amateur. In several subsequent works, he is described as a private secretary to the Duke of Milan and a dilettante. By 1753 he had begun to compose operas. Although his early works reflect the Baroque style, later operas and his symphonies seem to include galant traits. His works include five oratorios, three operas, two symphonies, a duet and an aria with orchestra, and 20 trio sonatas. BALDI, JOÃO [JOSÉ] (1770, LISBON, TO 18 MAY 1816, LISBON). Portuguese composer. The son of a court musician, he was trained at the Seminário Patriarchal in 1781 under João de Sousa Carvalho. In 1789 he was named mestre de capella at the cathedral in Guarda, and in 1794 he moved to the city of Faro. In 1800 he returned to Lisbon as assistant director at the cathedral, and he later served in the local militia as a soldier. His music reflects the Italian styles of his teachers and includes 14 Masses, 60 responsories, seven vespers, seven Psalms, two Te Deums, a symphony, and numerous other smaller sacred works. BALIUS Y VILA, JAIME (1750, PROBABLY GERONA, CATALONIA [NOW SPAIN], TO 11 MARCH 1822, CÓRDOBA, SPAIN). SpanishCatalan composer and organist. Following training at the Montserrat monastery in Catalonia he became maestro de capila at the cathedral in Seo de Urgel in 1780. The following year he moved to Gerona and then in 1785 was appointed to the senior post at the cathedral in Córdoba, which he retained the remainder of his life, save for a two-year sojourn in Madrid at the Convento de la Encarnación. His music has been all but ignored by modern scholarship, although it consists of over 400 compositions, mostly sacred and including Masses, villancicos, hymns, and Lamentations. See also PONS, JOSÉ. BALLAD OPERA. A genre that developed in England in 1728 as a reaction against Italian opera. Initially, it was in English, contained music derived in pasticcio fashion from opera arias or popular tunes of the day, and had spoken
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dialogue. It developed into a larger genre with original music in the later 18th century, being popular in the British Empire as well as the United States. It also served as a model for the Singspiel and its cognates in Northern Europe, as well as influencing the development of the opéra comique in France. The earliest work was the popular Beggar’s Opera to a text by John Gay and with music arranged by Johann Pepusch, but the most imitated work was Charles Coffey’s farce The Devil to Pay. See also BARTHÉLEMON, FRANÇOISHYPPOLYTE. BALLET EN ACTION [BALLET D’ACTION]. A type of reform ballet developed in France and the Holy Roman Empire by French choreographers such as Jean-Georges Noverre, Gasparo Angiolini, Antoine Bournonville, and Étienne Lauchery. It consists of original music and plots, often dramatic in nature, with more versatile and flexible choreography and natural movements, along with fluid gestures and graceful acting. Music for these was written by composers such as Christoph von Gluck, Niccolò Jommelli, Christian Cannabich, and Joseph Martin Kraus. BALLET HÉROÏQUE. A self-contained ballet consisting of a heroic or exotic plot. An example can be found in Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Les fêtes de Paphos. BAMBINI, FELICE (ca. 1742, BOLOGNA, ITALY, TO ca. 1795, PARIS). French keyboardist and composer. Son of an impresario, he arrived in Paris in 1752 with his father’s troupe. There he studied with André-Jean Rigade and began a career as an opera composer at the Théâtre Italien until the failure of one of his operas led him to compose and perform for the Théâtre des Beaujolais. He disappears from history around the end of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution. His music, little studied, consists of four operas, an oratorio, seven symphonies, 24 violin sonatas, nine keyboard sonatas, and several trios for two violins and viola. BAPTISTA, FRANCISCO XAVIER (d. 1797, LISBON). Portuguese composer and organist. Nothing is known about his life, save that he functioned as organist at the Santa María Church up until his death. He was, however, an important composer of keyboard music, including 13 sonatas, a violin sonata, a modhina, and a motet. His style is somewhat old-fashioned and similar to Domenico Scarlatti. BARBARA [DE BRAGANÇA] OF PORTUGAL, MARÍA TERESA (4 DECEMBER 1711, LISBON, TO 27 AUGUST 1758, MADRID). Portuguese-Spanish queen and composer. She was the daughter of João V of
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Portugal and Maria Anna of Austria. In 1719 she became a student of Domenico Scarlatti in Lisbon. Her progress as a keyboardist was remarkable, such that Padre Martini stated in his Storia della musica that she had learned everything he had to teach in extreme detail. In 1729 she married the crown prince of Spain, later Ferdinand IV. In Madrid she was regarded as a sensitive and emotional performer on the keyboard. Only one orchestral composition by her survives, a Salve Regina for voices and orchestra, but she wrote a variety of keyboard works in the style of her mentor Scarlatti. BARBELLA, EMANUALE (17 APRIL 1718, NAPLES, TO 1 JANUARY 1777, NAPLES). Italian composer and violinist. He received his musical training at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto under Pasquale Bini and Giuseppe Tartini, with composition under Leonardo Leo. In 1744 he was taken to England by Leo, where he had his debut as a violinist. He later was appointed to positions at the Teatro Nuovo in 1753 and the Teatro San Carlo in 1761. Barbella was known as a fine violinist with great technical ability. His music, mostly in the style of Tartini, includes two concertos, 33 trio sonatas, 29 violin sonatas, 33 duets for two violins, two operas, and several smaller works. He wrote a number of pieces for the mandolin, including sonatas and duets. BARBOSA, DOMINGOS (1739, RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL, TO 9 NOVEMBER 1800, LISBON). Brazilian-Portuguese composer and viola d’amore virtuoso. Little is known about his life, save that he was a mulatto, the son of a Portuguese father and English mother. He arrived in Portugal in 1763 to study in Coimbra, thereafter achieving a reputation as a virtuoso on his instrument. Few compositions survive, save for several modhinas and a treatise titled Viola de Loreno. BARMANN, PATER JOHANN BAPTIST (1709, IMMENSTADT, ALLGÄU, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 1788, HOFEN MONASTERY, GERMANY). German monastic composer. Nothing is known of his training or education, save that he entered the Benedictine monastery in Weingarten around 1735, eventually becoming a superior and librarian there. Around 1770 he became prior at the monastery in Hofen, Bavaria. His music has been little performed or studied, even though he wrote a complete hymnal in 1765. Surviving works include four Marian antiphons and a Mass. BARRIÈRE, ETIENNE-BERNARD-JOSEPH (7 OCTOBER 1748, VALENCIENNES, FRANCE, TO ca. 1816, PARIS). French violinist and composer. He arrived in Paris in 1760 to study under François-André
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Danican Philidor, making his debut at the Concerts spirituels in 1767. Although he returned to Valenciennes thereafter, he was again in Paris in 1775, where his violin playing was noted for its delicacy. For the next 30 years he traveled back and forth between the two cities, and in 1803 he became concertmaster to Napoleon. As a violinist he was celebrated for his ability, but he is less well known as a composer. His works include an opera, three symphonies (and two sinfonia concertantes), 18 string quartets, six trios, and 18 duos, as well as several smaller chamber works. BARRIÈRE, JEAN-BAPTISTE (2 MAY 1707, BORDEAUX, TO 6 JUNE 1747, PARIS). French cellist and composer. Little is known of Barrière’s early life or musical training, save that he arrived in Paris around 1730 as a competent performer on the viol and violoncello. The following year, he was employed by the Opéra and Academie Royale de Musique, as well as obtaining from Louis XV a royal privilege to compose and publish instrumental works. In order to perfect his skills, in 1736 he traveled to Vienna to study under Italian cellist Francesco Alborea, and in 1738 upon his return to Paris he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels as a soloist. Renowned for his “grand precision,” he soon attained a reputation as the finest performer on his instrument. In 1739 his privilege was renewed. His works include four Livres of sonatas for cello and continuo, published in 1733, 1735, 1739, and 1740. These works were lauded for their sensitivity of affect and sense of tonality that was idiomatic to the instrument. He also published a set of works titled Pardessus de Viole for viol and basso (Livre V) as well as a set of individual pieces and sonatas for keyboard (Pièces de Clavecin, Livre VI). BARSANTI, FRANCESCO (1690, LUCCA, TO 1772, LONDON). Italian violinist and composer. Trained in Lucca, he attended the University of Padua before deciding to devote his career to music. By 1720 he was active in London, and in 1735 he moved to Scotland, where he married into the Scottish aristocracy in Edinburgh. By 1750 he had returned to London, where he was employed in the Vauxhall Gardens orchestra both as a violinist and as a flautist. Although his early compositions reflect Baroque styles of his model Francesco Geminiani, his arrangements of 30 Scottish popular songs (1742), as well as the Op. 4 Nine Overtures, reflect his knowledge and interest in the emerging Classical style. He also composed numerous violin sonatas as well as 12 violin concertos (lost). His 12 concerti grossi, however, are arrangements of works of Giovanni Battista Sammartini. BARTH, CHRISTIAN SAMUEL (11 JANUARY 1735, GLAUCHAU, SAXONY, GERMANY, TO 8 JULY 1809, COPENHAGEN). GermanDanish oboist and composer. Following early studies at the Thomasschule in
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Leipzig, he was appointed as an oboist in several courts beginning in 1753 in Rudolstadt, Hannover, and Weimar before obtaining a permanent post in Kassel in 1772. In 1786 he accompanied Johann Gottlieb Naumann to Denmark, where he remained as principal oboist of the Kongelige Kapel, from which he retired in 1797. Although deemed one of the best oboists of his time, his compositions were limited to several oboe concertos and six Écossaises for the keyboard, as well as a Psalm and a cantata dating from his early years. His son Frederik Philip Carl Barth was also a well-regarded woodwind player and composer. BARTH, FREDERIK PHILIP CARL (1775, KASSEL, GERMANY, TO 22 DECEMBER 1804, COPENHAGEN). German-Danish woodwind player and composer. Son of Christian Samuel Barth, he studied under his father, following him to Denmark in 1786. He debuted at a concert at the Royal Theatre in 1789, and by 1793 he was appointed as conductor of the Holstein Society concert series, as well as the court Harmoniemusik. His works include two volumes of Lieder in Danish, a wind partita, and concertos for oboe, flute, and two horns. BARTHÉLEMON, FRANÇOIS-HYPPOLYTE (27 JULY 1741, BORDEAUX, FRANCE, TO 20 JULY 1808, CHRIST CHURCH, SURREY, ENGLAND). French-English composer and violinist. Trained in Paris, his first position was as a violinist at the Comédie-Italienne. In 1764, however, he was engaged at the King’s Theatre in London, later performing frequently at Marylebone Gardens and at Drury Lane. He was especially noted for his various stage works, all of which are in English and represent the best examples of the late ballad opera. Works include 23 stage pieces (operas, etc.), 16 ballets, two dramatic cantatas, 12 symphonies, seven violin concertos, 12 quartets, 18 violin sonatas, six trios, 12 duos, and six organ sonatas, as well as a large amount of arrangements and occasional vocal music. BARTHÉLEMON, MARIA. See YOUNG, MARY POLLY. BARYTON. Also called bariton, barydon, paradon, paridon, pariton, viola paradon, viola di bordoni, viola di bardone, and viola di bordone. Used in the 18th century, the baryton was a bowed instrument around the size of a violoncello and related to the viol family. It contains six or seven strings made of gut and 12 sympathetic strings made of wire. It was not a common instrument, being extremely cumbersome to play. Its most famous performer was Prince Nicholas Esterházy, for whom Joseph Haydn wrote about 175 chamber works for the instrument.
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BASILI, ANDREA (16 DECEMBER 1705, PIEVE, PERUGIA, ITALY, TO 28 AUGUST 1777, LORETO, ITALY). Italian composer, theorist, and organist. He studied in Rome under Tommaso Gaffi, and in 1729 he became maestro di cappella at the cathedral in Tivoli. In 1738 he became organist at the Congregazione di Santa Cecilia and two years later at the cathedral of Santa Causa di Loreto. His style of composition follows older models of the stile antico, but he was aware of more modern trends, as exemplified in his correspondence with Padre Giovanni Battista Martini. His surviving works include two oratorios, six Psalms, three Misereres, and over 150 smaller church works, as well as numerous canons, fugues, and a keyboard sonata. His son Francesco Basili also became a composer. BASILI, FRANCESCO (31 JUNE 1767, LORETO, ITALY, TO 25 MARCH 1850, ROME). Italian composer. Son of Andrea Basili, he studied with his father and Giovanni Borghi in Loreto. In 1777 he moved to Rome to continue his studies under Giuseppe Jannacconi, eventually being admitted to the Academia di Santa Cecilia. In 1786 he became maestro di cappella at Foligno and in 1789 in Macerata before returning to Loreto in 1809. He was later head of the conservatory in Milan. While the bulk of his music was written after 1800 and conforms to the style of his colleague Luigi Cherubini, his earlier works, consisting mainly of three opera serias and a handful of sacred works, reflects the more homophonic style of his father. BATES, WILLIAM (ca. 1730, LONDON, TO ca. 1785, LONDON). English composer, also nicknamed Jack Catch. Little is known of his life or training, save that he began to appear in concerts in London around 1750. In 1763 he was accused by the courts of trying to sell a pupil, Ann Caffrey, to Sir Francis Blake Delaval as a sex slave. His last appearance as a composer occurs around 1780, and his final whereabouts are unknown. His music consists of seven operas, two arias, six concertos, 54 duos, and six trio sonatas. BAUMGARTEN, CARL FRIEDRICH (ca. 1740, LÜBECK, GERMANY, TO 1824, LONDON). German-English composer and violinist. Trained under Johann Paul Kunzen, he immigrated to London in 1758, where he became an organist at the Lutheran Chapel in Savoy and an orchestral leader. Although he was not perceived as brilliant, his technique was apparently fairly serviceable, for he performed in both London and Dublin frequently. His music has been little explored but consists of two stage works, two overtures, a concerto, a sinfonia concertante, 14 quartets, six violin sonatas, four fugues, and a number of songs.
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BAYON, MARIE-EMMANUELLE [MADAME LOUIS] (1746, MARCEI, FRANCE, TO 19 MARCH 1825, AUBEVOYE, NEAR ROUEN, FRANCE). French keyboardist and composer. She received her earliest musical education supported by the family of the Marquise de Langeron, eventually becoming part of the circle of intellectuals surrounding Denis Diderot. Her first work, a collection of six sonatas for keyboard, some with violin, was her Op. 1 in 1769. A year later she married architect Victor Louis, and subsequently moved to Bordeaux, where she wrote several operas, including Fleur d’épine, her most famous work, which was a success at the Comédie-Italienne in 1776. Other works (now lost) include chamber works and a divertissement titled La fête de Saint Pierre. Returning to Paris in 1780 she maintained her activity as a composer and musician during the French Revolution. She disappears from public life after the death of her husband in 1780. Her musical style, compared by Diderot to some of the best male composers of the time, including Johann Christian Bach, is closer to André Ernest Modeste Grétry and François-Joseph Gossec than the Italian style. BEAUMESNIL, HENRIETTE ADÉLAÏDE VILLARD (30 AUGUST 1748, PARIS, TO 5 OCTOBER 1815, PARIS). French singer and composer. She made her debut in 1766 as a principal singer at the Opéra, where she attained a reputation as a fine singer in soubrette roles. In 1781 she retired to marry, becoming known as Madame Caury. Several of her operas were well received, reflecting a thorough knowledge of composition. She is best known, however, for her duel with dancer Marie-Madeleine de Crépé (1760–1796; known as Mademoiselle Théodore), but no one was hurt since both pistols misfired. Her works include four operas, an oratorio, and several songs. BECK, FRANZ IGNAZ (20 FEBRUARY 1734, MANNHEIM, TO 31 DECEMBER 1809, BORDEAUX). German composer, keyboardist, and violinist. After his earliest training from his father Johann Aloys Beck (d. 1742), he was taught composition by Johann Stamitz, probably attending the Jesuit Gymnasium and Music Seminar in Mannheim. Around 1752 he fled to Italy as the result of a duel (in which the victim feigned death), where he spent several years performing and studying. In 1760 he moved to Marseilles as first violinist in the theatre orchestra, and in 1764 he became leader of the Grand Théâtre in Bordeaux. In 1774 he was appointed as organist at the St. Seuron Church as well. Beck’s work was published and performed in Paris on a regular basis. His symphonies especially were characterized by a dramatic flair, often written in a Sturm und Drang style. His music consists of 18 operas, a Stabat mater, two Revolutionary hymns, a Te Deum, 29 symphonies, 24 keyboard sonatas, and other smaller works.
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BECKER, JOHANNES (1 SEPTEMBER 1726, HELSA-WICKENRODE BEI KASSEL, HESSEN-KASSEL, GERMANY, TO 1 JULY 1804, KASSEL). German composer and organist. Although nothing is known about his early years, he did attend the Friedrich Gymnasium in Kassel for a time before transferring to the St. Thomas School in Leipzig, where during the years 1745–1748 he studied under Johann Sebastian Bach. His first post was at Harmuthsachsen in 1751, but he managed to stay there only nine months, after which he returned to Kassel-Bettenhausen. In 1759 he was appointed as a teacher at the Lyceum in Kassel and the same year also became organist at the St. Martin’s and Altstädter churches. This activity led to him being appointed city organist in 1761, and in 1764 he moved to the resident court as a secretary, later in 1764 being promoted to treasurer of the Collegio Carolino. By 1770 he was appointed court organist, a post he held until his death. The number of compositions written by Becker remains unknown, but his most important published works, the 1771 Choralbuch and the 1773 Instruction für die Organisten, were used widely throughout Germany. He is said to have written much music for the organ, in addition to civil music such as marches and overtures, the latter probably three-movement symphonies. BEČVAŘOVSKÝ [BECZWARZOWSKY], ANTONÍN FRANTIŠEK (9 APRIL 1754, MLADÁ BOLESLAV, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 15 MAY 1823, BERLIN). Bohemian composer and pianist. His earliest education was at the Priorist College in his hometown beginning in 1767. In 1774 he went to Prague to study with Jan Kuchař, as well as functioning as organist at the Minorite Church. In 1780 he arrived in Braunschweig as Kapellmeister at the court and Hauptkirche. After a brief sojourn in Bamberg he arrived and settled in Berlin in 1799, where he was involved with the public concerts and National Theatre. Although a prominent musician of this period with a style that was a direct influence on 19th-century composers such as Carl Maria von Weber, his music has been little studied. His works include numerous Lieder, four piano concertos, six instrumental sonatas, some 16 keyboard sonatas, and numerous smaller works for keyboard. His music is known by Kladic (KA) numbers. BEECKE, [NOTKER] IGNAZ [FRANZ] VON (28 OCTOBER 1733, WIMPFEN-IM-TAL, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 2 JANUARY 1803, WALLERSTEIN, GERMANY). German military man and composer. As a member of the minor nobility, he began his career in military service as an officer of the Zollern Dragoons during the Seven Years’ War. In 1759 he joined the court and regiment of Prince Philipp Carl of Oettingen-Wallerstein, and in 1763 he was advanced to the rank of captain. In 1770 he was court music di-
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rector and personal adjutant to Prince Crafft Ernst. In 1792 he was promoted to major and pensioned, but despite his rank, he apparently led a dissipate life and died in poverty. His music displays a sound compositional method and is similar to his colleague at Wallerstein, Antonio Rosetti. His works include 11 stage works, a Mass, a Requiem, a litany, an oratorio, three Tantum ergos, two other smaller sacred works, 10 larger cantatas, 34 symphonies, 24 concertos, two serenades, several wind partitas, 14 string quartets, six flute quartets, two quintets, seven trios, 12 violin sonatas, and 42 keyboard sonatas and smaller works. BEER [BOER], JOSEPH (18 MAY 1744, GRÜNEWALD, BOHEMIA [NOW PASTVINY, CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 28 OCTOBER 1812, POTSDAM, GERMANY). German trumpeter, clarinetist, and composer. His earliest career was as a trumpeter in the military, following which he made his way to Paris, where he debuted as a clarinetist at the Concerts spirituels in 1771. He was subsequently employed by the duc d’Orléans in his private orchestra. In 1882 he began to tour Europe extensively, and by 1783 he had obtained a post at the Imperial orchestra in Moscow. In 1792 he returned to Germany, where he was employed at the court in Berlin. His music has been little studied, but he wrote mostly for his own instrument, including three clarinet concertos, a sonata for clarinet and bassoon, and six duos for two clarinets. BEETHOVEN, LODEWIJK VAN (5 JANUARY 1712, MECHELEN, BELGIUM, TO 24 DECEMBER 1773, BONN). Flemish-German singer and Kapellmeister. At the age of 12 he attended singing school under Louis Colfs, following which he functioned at the local cathedral as a tenor and organist. In 1727 he moved to Liège, where he was employed as choirmaster of the St. Lambert cathedral. He was successful enough in this position to come to the attention of the Elector of Bonn, and in 1733 he was appointed as choirmaster of the St. Remigius Church and subsequently Kapellmeister at the Electoral court. Although known as a master singing teacher, it is unknown if he composed music, which was a requirement of the court. His reputation as a musician was substantial, and he was idolized by his grandson, Ludwig van Beethoven. BEETHOVEN, LUDWIG VAN (bap. 17 DECEMBER 1770, BONN, TO 26 MARCH 1827, VIENNA). German-Austrian composer. The grandson of Lodewijk van Beethoven and son of court tenor Johann van Beethoven (ca. 1740–1792), he received his first musical training from his father, who intended that he be seen as a child prodigy like Wolfgang Amadeus
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Mozart. Further studies in music with Gilles van den Eeden, Tobias Pfeiffer on keyboard, and Franz Rovantini on violin followed his debut at a concert in 1778. The following year, the arrival of Christian Gottlob Neefe allowed Beethoven to find a mentor that would both educate him thoroughly and present opportunities for his own advancement. Under Neefe’s tutelage he composed his first works: three piano sonatas, a piano concerto, and, in 1785, three piano quartets. He also functioned as Neefe’s assistant and from 1783 was a keyboardist with the court ensemble. In 1787 he traveled to Vienna, where he performed before (and probably had a lesson or two from) Mozart, but the death of his mother prevented further study there. His father, meanwhile, sank into alcoholism, and in 1789 Beethoven petitioned the court at Bonn to become titular head of the family, adding half his father’s salary to his own. He also composed two cantatas, one for the death of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II and another for the coronation of his successor as Leopold II in 1790. In 1792 he was accepted as a student of Joseph Haydn and in November of that year arrived in Vienna, where he settled permanently. Though their student-teacher relationship lasted only a short time, terminating when Haydn left for his second visit to London in 1794, Beethoven later dedicated his piano sonatas Op. 2, though he refused to style himself Haydn’s pupil. He also studied with Johann Baptist Schenk and Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (his additional studies with Antonio Salieri did not occur apparently until after 1800), and in 1795 he began a career as a performer with a concert on 25 March. Cut off from his stipend from Bonn, he nonetheless began to make a living as an independent musician, winning the patronage of people such as Prince Carl Lichnowsky. In 1796 he undertook a concert tour to Bohemia and Germany, returning to Prague in 1798, around the same time as he began to collect compositional drafts in the well-known sketchbooks. In 1799 he published both a set of string quartets Op. 18 and the C-minor “Pathetique” sonata Op. 13, setting the stage for his later progressive style. In 1800 he held his first benefit concert on 2 April where his Septet Op. 20 and first symphony were premiered. Although his most progressive and innovative works were composed after 1800 and thus will be considered in this volume’s chronological sequel, the developmental trends can be discerned in works prior to that time, including those already noted. Beethoven’s use of motivic expansion through repetition and sequence, his adaptation of the sonata principle, his often colorful and expansive orchestration, and his highly advanced sense of harmony all represent a constant evolutionary process, particularly during the last decade of the 18th century, thus negating the formerly predominant Caesarian division of his compositions into three periods. There can be no doubt that Beethoven
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must be considered an iconic, seminal figure in the development of the music of 19th-century musical Romanticism, one who straddles the chronological boundaries between the two centuries and turning his Classical musical style into something far more advanced. See also DRESSLER, ERNST CHRISTOPH; LUCHESI, ANDREA LUCA; SALOMON, JOHANN PETER. BEISSEL, [JOHANN] CONRAD (1 MARCH 1691, EBERBACH, WÜRTTEMBERG, GERMANY, TO 6 JULY 1768, EPHRATA, PENNSYLVANIA COLONY). German-American cleric and composer. Beissel immigrated to North America in 1720 with the intent of joining a sect of mystics founded by Johannes Kelpius, but in 1732 he himself founded a monastic group titled The Camp of the Solitary at Ephrata, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He became their spiritual and musical advisor, creating a sort of idiosyncratic-mannered notation based upon Pietist hymns and chorale tunes. This was based upon sequences or series of master notes, from which secondary notes provided the harmony. In 1747 he published a large collection of original compositions in The Song of the Lonely and Forsaken Turtle Dove, containing mostly homophonic music with some antiphonal effects. BELCHER, SUPPLY (29 MARCH 1751, STOUGHTON, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES, TO 9 JUNE 1836, FARMINGTON, MAINE, UNITED STATES). American psalmodist. During the Revolutionary War he served in the Continental Army, rising to the rank of captain. Afterward he became a merchant in Boston before moving first to Hallowell, Maine, in 1785 and then to Farmington a few years later. There he also functioned as a teacher in the local singing school. His 80 works include publications in The Worcester Collection and The Harmony of Maine. BELKNAP, DAVID (9 FEBRUARY 1771, FRAMINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES, TO 3 OCTOBER 1815, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, UNITED STATES). American psalmodist. He was a farmer and mechanic for virtually all of his life, being largely selftaught. His works appeared in The Harmonist’s Companion of 1797 and The Evangelical Harmony of 1800. He wrote about 90 works in total. BELLABENE, GREGORIO (1720, ROME, TO ca. 1803, ROME). Italian composer. Trained in Rome, he was assistant director of the church of Madonne dei monte and a member of the Congregazione di Santa Cecilia in 1746. In 1754 he was elected to the Accademia filarmonica in Bologna, and by 1760 he became maestro di cappella in Gubbio. One of the conservative contrapuntists of the period, he excelled in polychoral compositions, including
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a Mass for 12 four-part choruses a cappella. His works have been little studied, but they include two Masses, an oratorio, a Dixit Dominus, four operas (lost), 10 other sacred works, a symphony, and several string quartets. BELLINZANI, PAULO BENEDETTO (ca. 1690, MANTUA, TO 25 FEBRUARY 1757, RECANATI, ITALY). Italian composer and organist. He was ordained in 1717 following an appointment to his first position in the city of Undine. In 1722 he also became maestro di cappella in Ferrara, two years later in 1724 in Pesaro, and finally concluded his career with a post at the main cathedral of Recanati in 1737. He was elected to the Accademia filarmonica in 1727. Although the bulk of his music, almost all of it for the church, conforms to the Italian Baroque, there are hints of a more homophonic style in his later works. These include two oratorios, four Masses, 12 Psalms, 40 offertories, 12 duetti da camera, and 12 flute sonatas. He also wrote 20 madrigals, of which 12 published in 1733 demonstrate perhaps the last examples of this genre, being more like Classical part songs. BELLMAN, CARL MICHAEL (4 FEBRUARY 1740, STOCKHOLM, TO 10 FEBRUARY 1795, STOCKHOLM). Swedish composer, poet, and troubadour. Born into an educated family of a professor of law at Uppsala University, Bellman received his earliest training in literature from a family friend. By 1764 he had obtained a post at the customs office and was later appointed to a position in the lottery. In 1783 he published his first set of songs titled Bacchi Tempel, which were an instant success. He became attached to the court of Gustav III as an Anacreonic poet, writing panegyrics and satire, as well as performing while accompanying himself on the cittern. As a member of the Palmstedt literary circle, he helped to formulate Gustavian cultural policy, as well as writing song texts for the leading composers of the day, including Joseph Martin Kraus and Olof Åhlström. His other publications include the sets of songs Fridmans Epistlar (1790) and Fridmans Sånger (1791), with melodies taken from popular tunes or operas. His improvisatory style, mirrored in his published songs, includes vocalizations of musical instruments and tales of common people and their foibles. BELLO, BARTOLOME (24 AUGUST 1758, CARACAS, VENEZUELA, TO JULY 1804, CUMANÁ, VENEZUELA). Venezuelan composer and singer. A student of Ambrosio de Carreño, he was appointed singer at the Caracas cathedral in 1774, prior to which he attended university in Caracas and Santo Domingo. In 1787 he was listed as a musician of the Tribune or provincial government, but in 1790 he moved to Cumaná as maestro di capilla. His few surviving works consist of small sacred pieces.
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BENCKHARD, PATER HIERONYMUS (ca. 1730, WÜSTENSACHSEN, GERMANY, TO ca. 1775, ARNSBURG, GERMANY). German monastic composer. Little is known of his early education, save that he was admitted to the Cistercian order in 1754, becoming ordained five years later. Although an active musician at the Arnsburg monastery, he also functioned as confessor at the Marienschloss cloister between 1770 and 1772. His music has been mostly lost, although a set of vespers survives that shows him to have been a competent composer. BENDA, CARL HERMANN HEINRICH (2 MAY 1748, POTSDAM, TO 15 MARCH 1836, BERLIN). German violinist, keyboard player, and composer. Son of Franz Benda, he received his earliest training from his father, entering the Kapelle about 1766 as a violinist. He served as a regular musician there and at the opera until 1802, when he was appointed Konzertmeister. He retired in 1809. His music is little known, and much of it has been lost. Only a violin sonata, an early work, apparently has survived. BENDA, FRANZ [FRANTIŠEK] (bap. 22 NOVEMBER 1709, STARÉ BENÁTKY, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 7 MARCH 1786, NEUENDORF BEI POTSDAM, PRUSSIA). Czech composer and violinist, brother of Johann Georg [Jan Jiří] Benda and Jiří Antonín [Georg Anton] Benda. After elementary music education in his hometown, Benda became a chorister in Prague in 1720, before moving to Dresden, where he studied violin under Carl Heinrich Graun. In 1727 he returned to Prague and then to Vienna to continue his education before landing a position as a violinist in the Kapelle of August II in Warsaw in 1729. Since August was also the king of Saxony, this allowed Benda the opportunity to spend time in Dresden again, where he came to the attention of Crown Prince Frederick, who hired him for his own Kapelle at Rheinsburg in 1733. When Frederick became king of Prussia, Benda moved to Berlin, where he was appointed Konzertmeister in 1771. During his lifetime, Benda attained a reputation for his versatile and technically proficient violin playing, especially the singing tone in the higher registers of the instrument. He was the model for many soloists who came after, including Johann Peter Salomon, being the foremost representative of the German School of violin performance. Indeed, he was invited frequently during the 1740s and 1750s to courts such as Bayreuth on tour. In 1763 he wrote his autobiography detailing his life and career, and Charles Burney considered him possibly the best violinist in Europe. As a composer, he was a member of the Berlin School along with colleagues such as Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, brothers Carl Heinrich and Johann Gottlieb Graun, and Johann Joachim Quantz, concentrating mainly upon instrumental genres.
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He was one of the major developers of the North German symphony, composing 17 works. He also wrote 110 solo violin caprices, 73 sonatas for violin/keyboard, 26 violin concertos, 31 violin duets, 10 trio sonatas, four flute sonatas, and two flute concertos (including one in E minor that is considered one of the harbingers of the Sturm und Drang style with its emotionally charged music), as well as several other chamber works, including a harp sonata. He also wrote three odes. His music is known by L (Lee) numbers. His brothers and children also became important composers/performers, making the Benda family one of the most influential of the period. See BENDA, CARL HERMANN; BENDA, FRIEDRICH LUDWIG; BENDA, FRIEDRICH [WILHELM HEINRICH]; BENDA, JOSEPH; BENDA, JULIANNE; BENDA, MARIA CAROLINA; FODOR, JOSEPHUS ANDREAS; HERTEL, JOHANN WILHELM; ZARTH, GEORG. BENDA, FRIEDRICH LUDWIG (bap. 4 SEPTEMBER 1752, GOTHA, GERMANY, TO 20 MARCH 1792, KÖNIGSBERG, PRUSSIA [NOW KALININGRAD, RUSSIA]). German violinist and composer. Son of Jiří Antonín [Georg Anton] Benda, he was trained by his father but decided to join the resident Seyler troupe in Gotha as a musical director in 1775. He traveled with them throughout northern and central Germany until 1779, when he obtained more permanent posts in Berlin and subsequently Hamburg. In 1782 he became chamber composer at the court of the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in Ludwigslust. He was dismissed from his post in 1788, moving to Königsberg. As a composer, his music has been overshadowed by his father and his uncle, Franz Benda. Works include six operas or ballets, eight large cantatas or oratorios, several Lieder, two symphonies, three concertos, and a violin sonata. BENDA, FRIEDRICH [WILHELM HEINRICH] (15 JULY 1745, POTSDAM, TO 19 JUNE 1814, BERLIN). German violinist and composer. Son of Franz Benda, he was trained by his father and Johann Philipp Kirnberger, following which he obtained a position as violinist in the Kapelle. As a composer, he was best known for his dramatic works, including two serious operas, Orpheus and Alceste. In addition, he wrote a Singspiel, two oratorios, two large cantatas, seven symphonies, eight concertos, two string quartets, six trios, six sonatas, and several smaller keyboard works. His music has been little studied. BENDA, JIŘÍ ANTONÍN [GEORG ANTON] (bap. 30 JUNE 1722, STARÉ BENÁTKY, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 6 NOVEMBER 1795, KÖSTRITZ, GERMANY). Bohemian-German composer and violinist, brother of Franz Benda and Johann Georg Benda.
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Trained initially by his father, he was sent to a local school in Kosmonosy in 1735, and in 1739 he attended the Jesuit Gymnasium in Jičín in music. In 1742 he joined family members in Berlin, where he functioned for a few years as a violinist. In 1750 he was offered the position of Kapellmeister at the court of Saxe-Gotha by Duke Friedrich III, where he composed mainly church music. A journey to Italy in 1765 brought him into contact with leading opera composers of the day, who influenced his compositional style. In 1770 he was named kapelldirector, a largely symbolic post, but his regular duties for Friedrich’s successor, Duke Ernst II, included writing a new style of work that fused spoken drama with music, called the duodrama. The first work, Ariadne auf Naxos, was performed in 1774 and soon began to be imitated throughout Germany. At the same time, Benda gained a reputation as a composer of Singspiel, becoming the most popular composer of the genre of the time. A dispute with rival Anton Schweitzer led him to resign his post and leave Gotha for a year of travel to Hamburg and Vienna. Increasing fame brought about by his duodramas subsequently allowed him to tour various musical centers, such as Paris in 1781 and Mannheim in 1787, although he was formally retired. His last work, ironically, is a cantata titled Bendas Klagen from 1792. As a composer, Benda was one of the most celebrated people of the latter 18th century, known mainly for his sacred music and innovations in theatre music. In his duodramas in particular, one can note a carefully delineated harmonic and melodic sensitivity that underscores the text. His Singspiels are noted for their more complex musical settings and serious tone that is often far more progressive than in similar works by Johann Adam Hiller. His instrumental music, however, still maintains elements of the galant style, with sequenced themes and short rhythmic motives. His works include 13 operas (including incidental music and duodramas), 166 cantatas (mainly Lutheran), two Masses, an oratorio, six secular cantatas, about 25 Lieder, 30 symphonies, 23 concertos (mostly violin and harpsichord), 54 keyboard sonatas, and several other sonatas for violin and flute, as well as a large number of keyboard works. See also BENDA, JOSEPH. BENDA, JOHANN GEORG [JAN JIŘÍ] (bap. 30 AUGUST 1713, STARÉ BENÁTKY, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 1752, BERLIN). German violinist and composer, brother of Franz Benda and Jiří Antonín [Georg Anton] Benda. Son of a local musician, he was trained by his father and in 1733 moved first to Dresden and then to Ruppin with his brother Franz Benda. When the crown prince became Frederick II, he found employment in the court orchestra as a violinist. Destined not to become as famous as any of his other siblings, he nonetheless composed music mainly
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for his instrument, including four violin concertos, 11 flute sonatas (for his patron), four violin sonatas, a trio sonata, 10 caprices for solo violin, and eight duets for two violins. See also BENDA, JOSEPH. BENDA, JOSEPH (bap. 7 MAY 1724, STARÉ BENÁTKY, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 22 FEBRUARY 1804, BERLIN). German violinist and composer. Son of Johann Georg Benda, he was taught by his father and grandfather. In 1742 he was placed under the tutelage of his uncle, Franz Benda, in Potsdam, succeeding him in 1787 as Konzertmeister. He retired in 1797. He is known to have composed for his own instrument, but all that has survived is a violin sonata and 12 caprices for solo violin published in 1804. BENDA [REICHARDT], [BERNHARDINE], JULIANNE (14 MAY 1752, POTSDAM, TO 9 MAY 1783, BERLIN). German singer and composer. Daughter of Franz Benda, she was trained under her father, becoming noted as one of the most expressive performers of the Berlin School. In 1777 she married Johann Friedrich Reichardt, forming a solid artistic partnership. Her own compositions were also noted for their expressivity. These include 30 Lieder and two keyboard sonatas, 17 of which were published in Hamburg in 1782. BENDA [WOLF], MARIA CAROLINA (27 DECEMBER 1742, BERLIN, TO 8 FEBRUARY 1820, WEIMAR). German singer and composer. The daughter of Franz Benda, she received her earliest musical training in voice and keyboard from her father. In 1761 she was appointed as hofsängerin at the court of Weimar, where she performed for almost two decades as a lead singer in the Liebhabertheater directed by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. She later married Kapellmeister Ernst Wilhelm Wolf. Her musical compositions consist almost entirely of Lieder, some of which she published beginning in 1779. BENGRAF, JOSEF (20 JUNE 1745, NEUSTADT AN DER SAALE, NEAR WÜRZBURG, GERMANY, TO 8 JUNE 1791, BUDAPEST). Also known as Jószef Bengráf. German-Hungarian composer. Following training from his father, a local organist, he moved to Budapest in 1776. By 1784 he had become regens chori at the Budapest cathedral. The same year he published a ballet titled Ballet Hungarois, which contains one of the first published verbunkos. His music consists of 30 Masses, 15 offertories, 18 Marian antiphons, 15 Tantum ergos, 40 motets, eight Requiems, four hymns, three Te Deums, 12 Lieder, a sextet, six string quartets, and a large number of dances, in addition to the ballet.
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BENHAM, ASHAEL (15 DECEMBER 1754, NEW HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES, TO 3 OCTOBER 1803, WALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT). American psalmodist. In 1785 he went into business with a fellow composer, Oliver Brownson, in New Hartford, but by 1790 he was active in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, as a promoter of his publications. In 1793 he settled in Wallingford, where he taught singing. Around 25 works survive, some published in two collections, the Federal Harmony of 1790 and the Social Harmony of 1798. See also WOODRUFF, MERIT. BENNETT, JOHN (ca. 1735, LONDON, TO SEPTEMBER 1784, LONDON). English composer and organist. Nothing is known about his youth or education, save that he was a student of Johann Pepusch. He first appears in 1752 as organist at the church of St. Dionis. Later he also functioned as a musician at Drury Lane Theatre, performing on the harpsichord. His music consists of 10 published organ voluntaries, as well as several hymn tunes. BERETTI [BARETTI], PIETRO (1705, ITALY, TO 1759, LONDON). Italian composer and violinist. Nothing is known of his life or training, save that he may have been the brother of Giuseppe Marc’Antonio Beretti (1719–1789), who wrote chronicles of travels to Italy, Spain, and England. He published a set of six trio sonatas in London in 1755, probably during a residence there. These demonstrate a stylistic adherence to Empfindsamkeit. He also produced several sonatas for psaltery and keyboard. BEREZOVSKY, MAXIM [MAKSIM] SOZONTOVICH (25 OCTOBER 1745, GLUHOV [HLUKHIV], UKRAINE [THEN RUSSIA], TO 2 APRIL 1777, ST. PETERSBURG). Ukrainian-Russian singer, violinist, and composer. His first musical study occurred at the Kiev Conservatory before he was hired in 1758 as a tenor in the court musical establishment of Prince Peter Fedorovich in Lomonosov outside of St. Petersburg. There he participated in the performance of seria and studied composition under Baldassare Galuppi and Vincenzo Manfredini. In 1769 he was sent to Italy to complete his musical education under Padre Giovanni Battista Martini. He was elected a member of the Accademia filarmonica in 1771 and had his opera Demofonte performed in Livorno two years later. Recalled to St. Petersburg, he was appointed as a musical director in the Imperial Theatre and court Kapelle. His career ended prematurely due to respiratory illness. Berezovsky’s musical style reflects his Italian training, but his vocal music is characterized by careful declamation of his Russian or Old Church Slavonic texts, which lend them a unique rhythmic underlay. Few of his compositions survive, but he is known to have written 39 Russian Orthodox choral concer-
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tos, a symphony, four piano sonatas, a keyboard concerto, several arias, and the aforementioned opera. BERGER, LUDWIG (18 APRIL 1777, BERLIN, TO 16 FEBRUARY 1839, BERLIN). German composer. Son of an architect, Berger studied music in Frankfurt am Main under Joseph Augustin Gürrlich and Muzio Clementi. Although he toured briefly, he settled in Berlin, where he became a member of the Berlin School. Though the bulk of his music reflects Romantic styles, he wrote over 100 songs similar to Johann Friedrich Reichardt, many before 1800. BERLIN, JOHAN DANIEL (12 MAY 1714, MEMEL, PRUSSIA, TO 4 NOVEMBER 1878, TRONDHEIM, NORWAY). Norwegian composer and polymath. Born in a port city on the eastern Baltic (today in Lithuania), Berlin was trained in music by his father, Heinrich Berlin, before finishing his studies in Copenhagen with Andreas Berg. In 1737 he was appointed as city musician in Trondheim, and three years later became organist at the cathedral as well. Besides his work in music as a theorist, composer, and instrument builder, he was also in charge of the city waterworks and fire brigades, as well as writing treatises on astronomy and meteorology. His theoretical works include Musikalske Elementer (1744), the first music text in Norwegian, and Anleitung zur Tonometrie (1767), an early work exploring the physics of the art form. His works include three symphonies and nine concertos (six for harpsichord, and others for violin and bass viol), as well as two cantatas and a host of smaller dance and occasional works for the keyboard. His musical style tends toward the North German Empfindsamkeit. See also BERLIN, JOHAN HEINRICH. BERLIN, JOHAN HENRICH (bap. 1 SEPTEMBER 1741, TRONDHEIM, NORWAY; buried 10 SEPTEMBER 1807, TRONDHEIM). Norwegian composer and organist. The son of Johan Daniel Berlin, he received his musical education from his polymath father. In 1772 he became organist at the Hospitalskirkja in the city and in 1787 succeeded his father as town musician and organist at the Nidarosdom. As an active member of Det Tronhjemske Musikaliske Selskab, he was responsible for composing music for civil functions, such as the festival cantata of 1787, to procuring works for the public concerts. He is said to have composed about 59 works, including a large oratorio, of which two symphonies, two piano sonatas, a piano trio, and a host of smaller dances and individual works for keyboard (as well as the aforementioned cantata) survive. His musical style in the sonatas and symphonies shows him to have been a competent and thoroughly well-trained
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composer in their often interesting modulatory patterns, close adherence to standard sonata principle forms, and good lyrical melodic lines. BERLIN SCHOOL. Sometimes referred to as the Berlin School of Song (Berliner Liederschule). Although not a formal organization, it rather represented a group of composers resident in Berlin, mostly surrounding the court of Frederick II. It flourished during the years 1732–1777 and included composers Carl Heinrich Graun, Johann Gottlieb Graun, Christian Gottfried Krause, Johann Joachim Quantz, Johann Kirnberger, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and Johann Agricola. Poets included Carl Ramler and Christian Felix Weisse. Later members, often designated the Second Berlin School, included Johann Friedrich Reichardt and Carl Friedrich Zelter. The main focus was the introduction of the Italian singing style into North German music, but topics of discussions in this salon or music circle included efficacy of poetry in German as a vocal text. BERNARD, PATER GEORG (11 SEPTEMBER 1745, LANGENARGEN, GERMANY, TO 15 JANUARY 1811, KLOSTER WEINGARTEN, GERMANY). German monastic composer. Although little is known about his education or musical activities, he entered the Benedictine monastery in Weingarten around 1765, where he remained his entire life. His music is carefully composed in the prevailing style of the period but has been little studied. Surviving works include two Magnificats, three vesper hymns, and a Te Deum. BERNARDINI, MARCELLO (ca. 1730, CAPUA, ITALY, TO ca. 1799, KRAKÓW, POLAND). Italian composer and librettist. The son of composer Rinaldo da Capua, little is known of his early training or life. In 1764 he had a successful premiere of his comic opera La schiava astute in Rome, and by 1769 he was a teacher at the Collegio Nazareno in the same city. By 1785 he had embarked upon a wandering life in central Europe, visiting Vienna and Munich before becoming Kapellmeister at the estate of Maria Elisabetha Czatoryska Lubomirska in Kraków. He disappears from history in 1799, when he presumably died. His compositions, which conform to the prevalent lyrical Italian style, include 40 operas, five oratorios, and three cantatas. His music, however, has been little studied. BERNASCONI, ANDREA (1706, MARSEILLES, FRANCE, TO 27 JANUARY 1784, MUNICH). Italian composer. Son of a military officer, he grew up in Parma. In around 1725 he apparently received further musical education in Milan, where he made his debut as a composer in 1737. In 1744 he was appointed as music director of the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice. By
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1753 he had moved to Munich, where he became Kapellmeister in 1755. Although known as a composer of comic opera, he began to devote the majority of his time to sacred works after 1772, retiring from active service in 1778 with the arrival of Carl Theodor as elector of Bavaria. His works include 20 operas, 34 Masses, 11 offertories, eight oratorios, six litanies, around 125 smaller sacred works, 20 symphonies, and a flute concerto. His music has been little explored. See also DELLA PIETÀ, AGATA; DELLA PIETÀ, MICHIELINA; DELLA PIETÀ, SAMARITANA. BERTEAU, MARTIN (ca. 1708, FRANCE, TO 23 JANUARY 1771, ANGIERS, FRANCE). French cellist and composer. Trained in Germany on his instrument, he returned to Paris in 1739 where he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels in one of his own concertos. Thereafter, he remained in Paris as a teacher, becoming one of the founders of the French school of violoncello playing. After 1756, he apparently moved to Angiers, where he continued to teach privately. His own music includes 20 cello sonatas (all published), as well as four concertos, a trio, and various pièces for his instrument. His students include Jean-Pierre Duport and Jean-Baptiste Bréval. BERTINI, GIUSEPPE (20 JUNE 1759, PALERMO, SICILY, ITALY, TO 15 MARCH 1852, PALERMO). Italian composer. Son of Salvatore Bertini, he received his first education from his father and at the Pie degli Scolapi in Palermo. In 1789 he and his brother Natale Bertini composed music for King Carlo III, which led to him being appointed as his father’s assistant at the Cappella Palatina. His most famous work is the Dizionario storico-critico published in 1814; many of his compositions were written after 1800 and show affinities with Giaocchino Rossini. BERTINI, NATALE (ca. 1750, PALERMO, SICILY, ITALY, TO 1828, PALERMO). Italian composer. Trained alongside his brother Giuseppe Bertini by his father, Salvatore Bertini, he made his debut as a composer in special celebratory music for King Carlo III in 1789. He appears to have taken a more administrative role thereafter in 1794 with the Commissione di censura adjudicating sacred music; only after 1800 did he return to writing operas in the style similar to Giaocchino Rossini. BERTINI, SALVATORE (1721, PALERMO, SICILY, ITALY, TO 16 DECEMBER 1794, PALERMO). Italian composer. Following studies with Pietro Pozzuolo he was sent to the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in Naples to complete his musical education. In 1748 he obtained the post of maestro di cappella with the Cappella Palatini in Palermo, where he became
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a leading musical figure in the city. His compositional efforts are little studied but include two oratorios, two Misereres, and two Lamentations. BERTON, HENRI-MONTAN (17 SEPTEMBER 1767, PARIS, TO 22 APRIL 1844, PARIS). French composer and violinist. The son of Pierre Berton, he was largely self-taught due to his father’s belief that music was a “natural” autodidactic process. Nonetheless, he became proficient enough to be employed in 1780 at the Opéra as a violinist. Success with operatic works beginning in 1784 led him to be known as one of the most innovative composers in Paris. In 1795 he was appointed professor of harmony at the Conservatoire, a post he retained until his death. His most innovative work was the opera Ponce de Léon of 1797, for which he wrote both text and music. Although much of his music dates from Napoleonic times after 1800, prior to this date he had written 20 operas, three cantatas, five Revolutionary hymns/songs, a Requiem, and a Te Deum, much of which was produced with considerable success. BERTON, PIERRE MONTAN (7 JANUARY 1727, MOULERT-FONTAINE, ARDENNES, FRANCE, TO 14 MAY 1780, PARIS). French composer. A chorister at the Senlis cathedral, he received his earliest musical education in the church school there. In 1743 he moved to Paris, where he studied under Jean-Marie Leclair and sang in the Nôtre Dame Cathedral choir. By 1746 he had obtained a position briefly as a tenor with the Opéra, but he left to perform first in Marseilles and subsequently in Bourdeaux. In 1753 he returned as orchestral director of the Opéra in Paris, and later in 1762 became its manager. In 1771 he served as manager of the Concerts spirituels for two years. His works include six operas, a motet, a cantata, four songs, and a set of dances, but much of his work has been lost. His son Henri-Montan Berton was also a composer. BERTONI, FERDINANDO GIUSEPPE (15 AUGUST 1725, SALIÒ, NEAR BRESCIA, ITALY, TO 1 DECEMBER 1813, DESENZANO DEL GARDA, ITALY). Italian composer and organist. His earliest studies were in Bologna with Padre Giovanni Battista Martini, upon whose recommendation he was appointed in 1745 as an organist at the San Mosé Church in Venice, the same year as the successful premiere of his first opera, La vedova accorta. In 1752 he was appointed organist at St. Mark’s, and three years later he became a teacher at the Ospedale dei Mendicanti. His fame as an opera composer led to commissions throughout Italy, and by 1778 he had moved to London and Paris to accept commissions. By 1784, however, he returned to
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Venice to become maestro di cappella at St. Mark’s. Like his contemporaries such as Giuseppe Sarti, he was known for a facile and lively style of lyrical composition. This is evident in his 52 operas (many buffa). Other works include seven oratorios, two cantatas, 19 miscellaneous dramatic works, nine secular arias, two Masses, 25 Mass movements, 40 Psalms, 87 motets, nine antiphons, 17 hymns, 22 other sacred works, and 10 symphonies. See also CAPUZZI, GIUSEPPE AMBROSIO; GRAZIOLI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA. BERTRAN, BERNAT (1774, BARCELONA, TO 25 OCTOBER 1815, MATARÓ, NEAR GIRONA, CATALONIA). Catalan composer and singer. His earliest training was at the Cathedral school under Francesc Queralt and Carles Baguer. In 1796 he was appointed cantor at the Girona cathedral, a position he occupied until 1815. In October 1815 he was offered a position at the priory of Sant Pere de les Puel-les outside of Barcelona but died unexpectedly on his way there. Little of his music survives; only nine works, including two symphonies and seven sacred compositions, all of which were apparently written for Girona. His symphonies show the influence of Joseph Haydn in terms of their form and structure. BERWALD, JOHANN FREDRIK (4 DECEMBER 1787, STOCKHOLM, TO 26 AUGUST 1861, STOCKHOLM). Swedish composer and child prodigy. Although his compositional career more appropriately belongs to the Romantic period, his earliest musical efforts date from the 18th century, even though he was but a child. His debut at the Stockholm public concerts was at the age of 6 as a violinist. At the age of 9 he performed as a regular member of the orchestra in Copenhagen, giving his first solo recital in 1797, during which he performed a symphony of his own composition, which was later published. In 1800 he was taken by his father on concert tour, eventually winding up in St. Petersburg where he was employed at the Imperial Theatre and finally received formal training on the violin from Pierre Rode. He was instructed beginning at the age of 5 or 6, first by Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler and subsequently by Johan Wikmanson, whose minuet he expropriated for his first symphony. BESOZZI, ALESSANDRO (22 JULY 1702, PIACENZA, ITALY, TO 26 JULY 1793, TURIN). Italian oboist and composer. The son of bassoonist Cristoforo Besozzi, he was trained in the Guarda Irlandese beginning in 1714 as an oboist. In 1728 he served at the court of Duke Farnese in Milan, later moving in 1731 to Turin to serve Carlo Emanuale III. In 1735 he traveled to Paris to perform at the Concerts spirituels but returned to Turin shortly thereafter to spend the remainder of his life there. He was noted by Charles Burney as an excellent instrumentalist. His compositions include six oboe
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concertos (and two for flute), over 100 trio sonatas, 12 violin sonatas, and 65 trios. BESOZZI, ANTONIO (1714, PROBABLY PIACENZA, ITALY, TO 1781, TURIN). Italian oboist and composer. Son of oboist Giuseppe Besozzi and cousin of Alessandro Besozzi, he was sent to Naples in 1734 to be trained. By 1738 he had obtained an appointment at the court of Saxony in Dresden. During the Seven Years’ War he traveled to Paris, performing in 1757 at the Concerts spirituels. Following a brief sojourn in Stuttgart, he returned to Dresden, finally moving back to Italy to Turin in 1775. Although he was known as a composer, none of his works have survived, although much remains to be done in terms of research. His son Carlo Besozzi became his successor in Dresden. BESOZZI, CARLO (1738, NAPLES, TO 22 MARCH 1791, DRESDEN). Italian oboist and composer. The son of Antonio Besozzi, he followed his father in being appointed to a post in Dresden in 1754, later escaping to Paris and London in 1757. By 1764 he had returned to Dresden, accepting only temporary positions elsewhere, such as in Salzburg in 1778. He was regarded as one of the finest oboists of the age, with a strong, clear tone and great facility on his instrument. His concertos demonstrate a good sense of drama, lending them a Sturm und Drang feeling. His compositions include 23 oboe concertos (as well as four for two oboes); two sonatas; 24 quintets for two oboes, two horns, and bass; and a divertimento. His students include Georg Druschetzky. BESOZZI, GAETANO (25 MARCH 1725, PIACENZA, TO 1798, LONDON). Italian oboist and composer. The son of Giuseppe Besozzi, he was trained in Naples in 1736, obtaining his first position there. By 1765 he had moved to Paris, where he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels, moving on to London in 1793. He was known for his excellent performance and for his sensitive compositions, although none of these have apparently survived. BESOZZI, GIROLAMO (ca. 1745, NAPLES, TO 1788, PARIS). Italian oboist and composer. The son of Giuseppe Besozzi, he was trained like his brother Antonio Besozzi in Naples, being appointed to the court orchestra there in 1765. By 1770 he had moved to Paris, where he performed at the Concerts spirituels, generally with his own compositions (of which none apparently survive). BETSCHER, PATER NIKOLAUS (31 OCTOBER 1745, BERKHEIM, BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG, GERMANY, TO 12 NOVEMBER 1811, ROT AN DER ROT, GERMANY). German monastic composer and abbot.
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Following education at the monastic school at the Rot an der Rot Benedictine monastery, he was ordained there in 1765. In 1789 he had become the abbot of the monastery, and by 1795 he had become one of the leading prelates of the Schwabian region. At the secularization of the monastery in 1803, he was allowed to remain in residence there until his death. A prolific composer, he wrote over 175 works, almost all sacred music. BIANCHI, ANTONIO (ca. 1750, VENICE, TO ca. 1816, PROBABLY VENICE). Italian composer. Not related to the Antonio Bianchi (1758–ca. 1817) whose entry follows this one, his origins and training are unknown. He was probably a student of Padre Giovanni Battista Martini, for in 1772 he was admitted as a full member of the Accademia filarmonica in Bologna. He appears to have had a position at the church of San Filippo Neri in Venice, the main source for his compositions. These include four Masses, a Requiem, seven hymns, three litanies, 10 Psalms, and a number of smaller works. The music has been little studied. BIANCHI, ANTONIO (1758, MILAN, TO ca. 1817, PROBABLY AACHEN, GERMANY). Italian baritone and composer. Not related to the Antonio Bianchi (ca. 1750–ca. 1816) of the preceding entry, he was trained at the Milan conservatory, following which he embarked upon a career as a soloist in opera buffa. By 1790 he was employed by the Prince of NassauWeilburg, and in 1792 he was a member of the Prussian opera in Berlin. On the death of Friedrich Wilhelm in 1797, he became principal in a touring company in Thuringia. As a composer, he appears to have written at least two operas, two ballets, and a great many Lieder, which were favorably reviewed in the first issues of the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung. BIANCHI, [GIUSEPPE] FRANCESCO (1752, CREMONA, ITALY, TO 27 NOVEMBER 1810, HAMMERSMITH, NEAR LONDON, ENGLAND). Italian composer. He studied in Naples under Niccolò Jommelli, returning to Cremona in 1752 for the successful premiere of his first opera, Giulio Sabino. Thereafter followed a string of successes throughout Italy, and by 1775 he was employed at the Théâtre Italien as a cembalo player. In 1779 he was offered the post of maestro di cappella at the Milan cathedral, and in 1785 he was appointed organist at St. Mark’s in Venice. By 1790 he moved to London, and in 1798 he was director of the theatre in Dublin. Bianchi was one of the most successful and popular composers of opera during the last two decades of the 18th century. His works were known for their progressive harmonies, flowing melodies, and accessibility to audiences. His compositions include 80 operas, five oratorios, a Mass, four concert arias,
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eight motets, five symphonies, a concerto, six trios, three violin sonatas, and several smaller keyboard works. His music awaits further study and research. BIANCHI, GIACOMO (1768, AREZZO, ITALY, TO ca. 1820, PROBABLY AREZZO). Italian singer and composer. Often confused with Antonio Bianchi (1758–ca. 1817), to whom he was not related, he was known as a singer and teacher in his hometown. He published several sets of songs that were popular about 1800 in France and Germany, but was otherwise largely unknown. His only other work is a simple symphony written probably during his youth. BIANCHI, GIOVANNI (1758, GORGONZOLA, ITALY, TO 1829, GORGONZOLA). Italian composer. Trained locally, Bianchi remained closely connected to his hometown his entire life. His only excursion was to Paris around 1785, where he became proficient on the serpent. Little is known of his musical works, save that he wrote numerous chamber works featuring this instrument. His contributions still require research. BIANCHI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (ca. 1740, PROBABLY MILAN, TO AFTER 1782, PROBABLY LONDON). Italian composer and conductor. Nothing is known of his life or training, save that he first appears as conductor of the King’s Theatre in London in 1780, a post he held for two years, quite probably until his death. His only music seems to have been several insertion arias into works performed there. BIECHTELER, PATER BENEDIKT (26 MARCH 1689, OBERGÜNZENBURG, GERMANY, TO 21 AUGUST 1759, KLOSTER WIBLINGEN, GERMANY). German monastic composer. He was probably trained at the Benedictine monastery near Ulm, Germany, which he entered in 1706, eventually becoming professor at the abbey school there. Several years later he moved to Kempten as prior to the local monastery, returning to Wiblingen near the end of his life. Like many early monastic composers, he published music for general use by local establishments in southern Germany. His works include eight Masses, 24 Marian antiphons, and six Psalms. The style is conservative, but he does show some Empfindsamkeit tendencies in works published after 1730. See also BIECHTELER, PATER IGNATIUS. BIECHTELER, PATER IGNATIUS (1701, OBERGÜNZENBURG, GERMANY, TO 26 NOVEMBER 1767, KLOSTER WIBLINGEN, GERMANY). German monastic composer and brother of Pater Benedikt Biechteler. Like his brother, he was trained at the monastic school at the
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Benedictine monastery in Wiblingen, near Ulm, which he entered in 1719. Although he attended university at Augsburg, he remained at the monastery as a parish priest there and in nearby Gögglingen until his death. Like his brother, he was interested in developing music for small churches. His works probably included the same genres, but he also composed a sacred Singspiel titled Theodorus I. BIELING, FRANZ IGNAZ (ca. 1701, KEMPTEN, GERMANY, TO 14 AUGUST 1757, KEMPTEN). German composer and organist. Probably trained at the local Benedictine school in his hometown, he entered the service of the Prince-Abbot of Kempten about 1730, serving as an organist at the main church in the city. Like many local composers, he concentrated upon church music, publishing works for production in smaller towns. While his earliest compositions, sets of sacred arias and motets, are in the Baroque style, his 11 Te Deums show stylistic similarities to the emerging galant style. His son, Joseph Bieling, also became a composer. BIELING, JOSEPH IGNAZ (7 MARCH 1735, KEMPTEN, GERMANY, TO 7 JANUARY 1814, KEMPTEN). German composer and keyboardist. The son of musician Franz Bieling, he studied under his father and Franz Xaver Richter before going to Salzburg to attend university in law. There he became a student of Leopold Mozart. In 1757 he returned to Kempten as his father’s successor as court organist. His music has been little studied but consists of a Te Deum, four sacred works, a harpsichord concerto, three keyboard sonatas, and several miscellaneous pieces for keyboard. BIHARI, JÁNOS (21 OCTOBER 1764, NAGYABONY, HUNGARY [NOW VEL’KÉ BHALHONE, SLOVAKIA], TO 26 APRIL 1827, BUDAPEST). Hungarian-Romany violinist and composer. Trained by his father in Poszony (Bratislava), he began his career in that city and in Budapest, where he formed his own folk orchestra in 1801. In 1824 his career came to an abrupt end when he could no longer perform following a hand injury. Although he could not read or write music, his 84 verbunkos and czardas tunes became often imitated by composers such as Ludwig van Beethoven. He is one of the few known Gypsy violinists of the period. BIHLER [BÜHLER], PATER GREGOR [FRANZ] (12 APRIL 1760, UNTERSCHNEIDHEIM, NEAR NÖRDLINGEN, GERMANY, TO 4 FEBRUARY 1823, AUGSBURG). German monastic composer. While still a child he attended school at the Minorite monastery in Maihingen, where he learned the rudiments of music. In 1770 he was a boy soprano at
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the Benedictine Abbey at Neresheim before transferring to the University of Augsburg where he studied philosophy. In 1778 his first work, an oratorio, was performed at the Capuchin monastery, shortly before he became an initiate in the Benedictine order at the Heiligen Kreuz Abbey near Donauwörth, being ordained as a priest in 1784. A brief sojourn in Bozen in the Tirol as Kapellmeister at the Palazzo Menz followed, during which he was given a dispensation to live outside the monastic community. Thereafter Abbé Bihler returned to Augsburg in 1801 to become the cathedral organist. The Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung praised his service to music in glowing terms in 1814. His musical style is ornate and homophonic, often using large orchestral forces. His music includes 48 Masses, eight Requiems, five oratorios, and 123 other sacred works such as motets, offertories, hymns, and Psalms. BILLINGS, NATHANIEL (ca. 1760, WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES, TO AFTER 1802, PROBABLY SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS). American psalmodist. Little is known about his life, save that in 1794 he appears to have been a teacher at a singing school in Cooperstown, New York. The following year he was a publisher of a newspaper in Troy, New York, and later appears to have moved to Springfield. Some 21 works have survived, many published in a collection titled Republican Harmony of 1795. He is not related to William Billings. BILLINGS, WILLIAM (7 OCTOBER 1746, BOSTON, TO 26 SEPTEMBER 1800, BOSTON). American composer. Although he concluded his education in 1760 at the death of his father, he was largely self-taught in terms of music. He spent his entire life in Boston, where he was a tanner by trade, but he began to publish series of hymns or a cappella choral compositions beginning in 1770 with The New England Psalm-Singer, for which he also wrote many of the lyrics himself. Eventually six volumes of these works, ending with The Continental Harmony of 1794, were published, making him one of the first original composers of the British colonies and subsequently the United States of America. His style is simple; the counterpoint and harmony flow well in a diatonic fashion. From a personal standpoint, he had a large family, lived in reduced circumstances for the bulk of his life (even functioning as a street sweeper in Boston in the 1790s), and according to documents he was half blind, had a deformed arm, and was addicted to snuff. See also FRENCH, JACOB. BILLINGTON, ELIZABETH [WEICHSEL] (27 DECEMBER 1765, LONDON, TO 25 AUGUST 1818, VENICE). English singer and composer. She made her debut as a child in 1775 and studied under Johann
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Christian Bach and Johann Friedrich Schroeter. In 1786 she began to perform as a soprano in London theatres, gaining a reputation for her easy access to society. The publication of the Memoirs of Mrs. Billington in 1792 caused such a scandal that she and her family were forced to move to Dublin. In 1794 she began to tour the continent, eventually settling in Venice. She came back briefly to London in 1801, but returned to an abusive relationship in Venice, where her husband is said to have caused her death. As a composer, she wrote a few songs and two sets of keyboard pieces. BILLONI [BIGLIONI], SANTIAGO (ca. 1700, ROME, TO ca. 1763, DURANGO, NEW SPAIN [NOW MEXICO]). Italian-Spanish composer. Almost nothing is known about his education or early years. He appears in Guadalajara in New Spain, now Mexico, in about 1738, after having come to Mexico City as a violinist. In 1749 he was appointed as maestro di capilla at the Durango cathedral, a position he held until his resignation in 1758. He was also active in Morelia. Some 30 works, all sacred, survive, showing that he had a gift for a lyrical line and composed in an Italian style. BINDER [BENDER] (ca. 1730, TO ca. 1770). Possibly a German monastic composer, probably resident in East Prussia in the Barczewo region [now Poland]. Nothing is known about his life, save that he was a relatively prolific composer of sacred music. His style, with good harmony and an innate sense of lyrical melody, indicates that he was most likely a monk. His works include about 12 Masses, four antiphons, a litany, two partitas, and two offertories. BINDER, AUGUST SIEGMUND (1761, DRESDEN, TO 1815, DRESDEN). German composer and son of Christlieb Binder. Trained by his father and probably Johann Gottlieb Naumann, he succeeded his father as court organist in 1789, having functioned in the post for two years prior. He retained this position his entire career. Although a prolific composer of church music, only a set of organ preludes appear to have survived. Since he was Protestant, he does not appear to have been identical with the anonymous Binder [Bender] whose Catholic church music survives in Poland. BINDER, CHRISTLIEB SIGMUND (bap. 29 JULY 1723, DRESDEN, GERMANY, TO 1 JANUARY 1789, DRESDEN). German composer and organist. Born into a family of musicians, he received his musical education from Pantaleon Hebenstreit in Dresden. In 1751 he became a court musician in Dresden, performing on the pantaleon and harpsichord. In 1764 he became court organist, retiring in 1787. As a composer, he wrote in a style that was similar to Johann Adolph Hasse and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. His
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works include 32 concertos (mostly for harpsichord), four divertimentos, 15 trios, two quartets, and around 43 keyboard sonatas, as well as one symphony. His son August Siegmund Binder became his successor. BINI, PASQUALE (21 JUNE 1716, PESARO, ITALY, TO APRIL 1770, PESARO). Italian violinist and composer. Also known as Pasqualino, he was one of the most successful violinists of his time. Under the patronage of Cardinal Olivieri, he was sent in 1731 to study under Giuseppe Tartini in Padua. He later went to Rome to study under Antonio Montanari and Pietro Nardini. In 1738 he obtained a position with Cardinal Acquaviva Troieno in Rome, but by 1747 he had returned to Pesaro to perform in the Teatro del Sole. A brief sojourn in Stuttgart with the Duke of Württemberg followed in 1754, but five years later he returned to his hometown, where he passed away from a “mental disturbance.” He was noted for his technical virtuosity and smooth, lyrical tone in performance. His surviving compositions include four violin concertos, five violin duets, and two violin sonatas. See also BARBELLA, EMANUALE. BIRK, WENZEL RAIMUND. See PIRK, WENZEL RAIMUND JOHANN. BLAND, MARIA THERESA. See ROMANZINI, MARIA THERESA. BLAVET, MICHEL (13 MARCH 1700, BESANÇON, FRANCE, TO 28 OCTOBER 1768, PARIS). French flautist and composer. The son of a wood turner, he was largely self-taught. During his youth he specialized in woodwind instruments, primarily the flute, as well as the bassoon. In 1723 he was employed by Duc Charles-Eugène Lévis, and in 1726 he debuted at the newly created Concerts spirituels in Paris. The same year he was befriended by Johann Joachim Quantz, who attempted to lure him to the court of Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia as his patron’s flute teacher. In the late 1730s he was employed as part of the Musique du Roi, Louis XV’s private orchestra, and he continued his career at public concerts as a soloist noted for his brilliant and accurate playing. He later also joined the orchestra of the Opéra, eventually composing four works for the stage. One of these, the pasticcio Le jaloux corrigé (1752), was one of the first operas to employ recitative in the Italian manner. His playing was admired by a wide range of professionals, including Georg Philipp Telemann, Johann Joachim Quantz, Jean-Marie Leclair, and Voltaire. His surviving works include a flute concerto that seems modeled upon Antonio Vivaldi, three books of flute sonatas meant for amateurs, and several songs. He had a reputation as one of the premier instrumentalists of the time.
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BLAVIER, ANDRÉ-JOSEPH (29 DECEMBER 1713, LIÈGE, BELGIUM, TO 30 NOVEMBER 1782, ANTWERP, BELGIUM). FrancoFlemish composer and organist. Following early musical education in his hometown, he was appointed as maître de chapelle at the monastery of SaintPierre, before moving to Antwerp in 1737 as the successor of Joseph-Hector Fiocco at the cathedral of Onze-Lieve-Vrouw. There he directed the chorus and taught students such as François-Joseph Gossec until 1768, when he was appointed director of music at the Sint-Andries monastery. Little of his music has survived, apart from a Mass written early in his career, although much probably remains to be discovered. BOCCHERINI, LUIGI (19 FEBRUARY 1743, LUCCA, ITALY, TO 28 MAY 1805, MADRID). Italian-Spanish composer and cellist. The son of a cellist, he was sent to Rome at an early age to study under Giovanni Battista Costanzi, and in 1757 he and his father were employed at the Burgtheater in Vienna. By 1761 he had returned to Lucca as a member of the Cappella Palatina but shortly thereafter set off on a tour of Europe as a virtuoso. By 1768 he intended to make his reputation in London but was diverted to Madrid on the invitation of the Spanish ambassador, where he was employed as musical director for the Infante Don Luís Antonio de Borbón. In 1770 he was named as compositor y virtuoso da camera, and for the next 15 years he followed his patron to various country estates and homes in Boudilla del monte, OliasVelada-Cadalso, and Arenas de San Pedro, where he composed the greater portion of his chamber music. Returning to Madrid in 1785 he conducted the private orchestra of the Duke of Ossuna, as well as the Real Capilla until 1799, when Spain was occupied during the Napoleonic wars. In 1786 he was appointed as chamber composer to Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, who bestowed upon him an annual pension, even though there is no evidence that Boccherini ever traveled to Potsdam in person. By 1802 he obtained the patronage of Lucien Bonaparte, which allowed him to continue his duties, although economic circumstances appear to have been difficult. Boccherini, whose music was published in Paris and elsewhere and widely distributed throughout the world, can be seen as one of the most popular composers of the last half of the 18th century. His style was known for its fluid melodic lines, advanced sense of harmony, innovative forms and structure, and rhythmic drive. He often used Spanish rhythms and dances in his music, and he was often compared with Joseph Haydn as one of the most progressive composers of the period. He left over 500 compositions, including two operas, a zarzuela, two Stabat maters, three oratorios, three Psalm settings, two sacred cantatas, a Mass (and several Mass movements), 18 “academic” arias/duets, around 30 symphonies, 19 concertos (13 for violoncello alone), two sinfonia concertantes, 23 divertimentos or notturnos, a serenade,
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seven string sextets, 157 string quintets (the majority of which have two cellos instead of two violas), nine guitar quintets, 24 flute quintets, 95 string quartets (including arrangements of quintets), nine flute quartets, six piano quartets, nine woodwind quartets, 68 string trios, six flute trios, 16 piano trios, 46 violin sonatas, 42 cello sonatas, 14 keyboard sonatas, 22 violin duets, and numerous smaller occasional works. His music is known by G (Gérard) numbers. BÖCKLIN VON BÖCKLINSAU, FRANZ FRIEDRICH SIEGMUND AUGUST VON, REICHSFREIHERR ZU RUST (28 SEPTEMBER 1745, STRASBOURG, ALSACE, TO 2 JUNE 1813, ETTENHEIM, ALSACE). German-Alsatian nobleman, theorist, and composer. He studied composition under Niccolò Jommelli and Franz Xaver Richter in Strasbourg, but he was considered a musical amateur, who wrote only occasionally for public concerts in Alsace, both in its capital and for his estate in Ettenheim. His main reputation was in musical aesthetics, such as his 1790 treatise Beyträge zur Geschichte der Musik, which advocates the unification of music, dance, and poetry into a type of Gesamtkunstwerk. Much of his own music has been lost, including seven Singspiels, sacred works, and symphonies, as well as several odes. What has survived, including around 30 Lieder, gives little or no impression of his skill as a composer, which was reported to have been considerable. BODE, JOHANN JOACHIM CHRISTOPH (12 JANUARY 1730, BARUM, NEAR BRAUNSCHWEIG, GERMANY, TO 13 DECEMBER 1793, WEIMAR, GERMANY). German bassoonist, cellist, publisher, and composer. Following early musical education in Helmstedt, he moved to Celle in 1752 as an oboist and composer, although he mainly performed on the bassoon. In 1757 he was in Hamburg, earning his living as a publisher and teacher, becoming close friends with author Ephraim Gotthold Lessing. In 1778 he was posted as a diplomat to the court in Weimar, where he remained the rest of his life. His main focus was as publisher, producing translations of Charles Burney and Pietro Metastasio, as well as the Hamburgischer unpartheyischer Correspondent. His own music has been little studied but consists of eight symphonies, a cello concerto, two volumes of Lieder, a string partita and quartet, and six trios, all heavily influenced by the style of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. BOIELDIEU, FRANÇOIS-ADRIEN (16 DECEMBER 1775, ROUEN, FRANCE, TO 8 OCTOBER 1834, JARCY, SEINE ET OISE, FRANCE). French composer. Following musical studies with Charles François Broche and Urbain Cordonnier, he made his debut as an opera composer in 1792 at
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the Théâtre des Arts with La fille coupable. Its success allowed him to obtain further commissions and in 1796 to move to Paris, where two years later he was appointed as professor of piano at the Conservatoire. In 1800 he had his greatest success with Le calife de Bagdad, but marital difficulties forced him to leave Paris for St. Petersburg in 1804. After eight years he returned to Paris where he became court composer and in 1817 was elected to the Académie des beaux arts. Although the bulk of his operatic composition occurred after 1800 and more properly belongs to the Romantic period, his early successes show a gifted composer with similar orchestrational technique to André Ernest Modeste Grétry. He also had a good sense of lyrical melody and interesting harmony. His works to 1800 include 11 operas, two concertos (harp and fortepiano), and 81 romances. BON, ANNA (1738, BOLOGNA, ITALY, TO AFTER 1770, PROBABLY VENICE). Italian composer, sometimes known as Anna Boni or Anna Bonni di Venezia. Little is known about her, save that she was the daughter of a touring singer, Rosa Ruvinetti, and a scenographer/architect, Girolamo Bon (d. 1761). In 1743 she was enrolled at the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, where she received her musical education. Around 1750 or so she rejoined her parents, probably in Berlin, publishing her first works, a set of six flute sonatas dedicated to Frederick II. Thereafter she appears to have followed her parents to the court of Frederick’s sister Princess Wilhelmine in Bayreuth, where her father was professor of architecture at the university there. In 1759 she was singing in Pressburg, and in 1762 she was hired as a singer at the Esterházy court in Eisenstadt, where she remained for three years. Thereafter she disappears from history, save for an announcement in 1772 seeking a divorce in Venice from a man from Brescia, who she apparently married around 1770. As a composer she published only 18 works, the aforementioned six flute sonatas, six keyboard sonatas, and six divertimentos for two flutes and continuo (trio sonatas), but recent discoveries include two sacred arias and an offertory. BONAZZI, ANTONIO (24 JULY 1754, MANTUA, ITALY, TO 17 JANUARY, 1802, MANTUA). Italian violinist, music collector, and composer. Trained at the Accademia Teresiana in his hometown, he was appointed at an early age as violinist in the ducal cappella. In 1772 he was asked by Giacomo Puccini to direct an opera in the city of Lucca, and in 1782 he became principal violin at the Teatro Nuovo in Mantua, a position he held his entire life. A literate and erudite man, he was a member of the literary Accademia Arcadia Virgiliana, and during his lifetime amassed a huge collection of works, mainly by his Italian contemporaries. These were cataloged after his
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death, forming one of the most significant collections in the country. His own music includes a ballet, several operas, several symphonies, a quartet, several violin concertos, 13 trios, and several sonatas. BONAZZI, FELICE ANTONIO (ca. 1735, MILAN, TO 1802, MILAN). Italian composer. No information survives regarding his life or training. He first appears around 1785 as a maestro di cappella in Milan, where he was possibly a student of Giovanni Battista Sammartini. His music has been mostly lost, and what remains is often confused with Ferdinando Bonazzi, who was most likely his son. These works show the influence of the Lombardic composers such as Sammartini. They consist of five Glorias for chorus and orchestra, as well as three symphonies. BONAZZI, FERDINANDO (1764, MILAN, TO 18 NOVEMBER 1845, MILAN). Italian organist and composer. Most likely the son of Felice Bonazzi, he was probably trained by his father, being appointed in 1802 as principal organist at the Duomo in Milan. The bulk of his music more properly belongs to the 19th century, but he composed at least four sacred works (a Kyria, Gloria, Magnificat, and Tamtum ergo) prior to 1800 in the late Italian Classical style. BOND, CAPEL (bap. 14 DECEMBER 1730, GLOUCESTER, ENGLAND, TO 14 FEBRUARY 1790, COVENTRY, ENGLAND). English composer and organist. He studied at the Crypt School in Gloucester before being apprenticed to the local organist. In 1749 he moved to Coventry, where he was appointed as organist at St. Michael and All Angels Church, later in 1752 adding a similar position at Holy Trinity Church. In 1768 he was one of the founders of the Birmingham Festival, which produced oratorios for over 30 years. His own music is somewhat conservative in style, similar to that of Thomas Arne and William Boyce. His surviving music includes six published concertos (and concerti grossi) and six anthems. BONDINERI, MICHEL. See NERI[-BONDI], MICHELE. BONESI, BARNABA (1745, BERGAMO, ITALY, TO 25 OCTOBER 1824, PARIS). Italian composer and theorist. He received his musical education under Giovanni Andrea Fioroni in Milan before moving to Paris in 1778 to make his living as a composer there. He debuted as a composer at the Concerts spirituels in 1781 with an oratorio, Judith, and by 1788 he was active as an opera composer at the Théâtre des Beaujolais. He then retired to teaching, publishing in 1806 the well-regarded treatise Traité de la mesure,
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ou de la division du temps dans la musique et dans la poésie. His own music has been little studied but consists of an oratorio, several operas, two symphonies, two concertos, six string quartets, several Mass movements, a concert aria, a Te Deum, a litany, and seven motets. BONFICHI, PADRE PAOLO (6 OCTOBER 1769, LIVRAGA, NEAR LODI, ITALY, TO 29 DECEMBER 1840, LODI). Italian monastic composer. Largely self-taught in terms of music, he attended the University of Parma, where he finally received some formal musical training. In 1787 he entered the order of the Servi di Maria, giving up music as part of his vows. In 1790, however, he became a student of Pietro Guglielmi in Rome while studying theology. In 1796 he returned to Parma but settled in Milan in 1806 after the dissolution of the monastery. Thereafter he made his living largely as a music teacher, although in 1829 he was appointed as maestro di cappella of Santa Causa in Loreto. He retired in 1839. Although much of his operaticstyle church music was written in the 19th century and reflects the emerging Romanticism, his early works, including an oratorio and three cantatas, all date from the end of the 18th century. BONFIG, PATER CAJETAN [JOHANN PETER] (28 SEPTEMBER 1730, UNSLEBEN, GERMANY, TO 26 JANUARY 1797, MAINZ, GERMANY). German monastic composer, organist, and theologian. He received his early musical education in Münnerstadt at the Augustinian Gymnasium before he entered the order as a novice in 1749. Thereafter he was transferred to the monastery in Oberndorf, where he served as organist until 1752, when he left for Mainz. There he studied theology at Mainz University, and in 1753 he was ordained. His music, consisting of a number of Masses and other smaller sacred works, has largely been lost. BONNO, GIUSEPPE BATTISTA (29 JANUARY 1711, VIENNA, TO 15 APRIL 1788, VIENNA). Austrian-Italian composer and teacher. The son of a courtier to the Holy Roman Court, Bonno was trained in music at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna before being sent off to Naples to study under Francesco Durante and Leonardo Leo. His first compositions date from this period and are mostly sacred work, but in 1736 he returned to Vienna, where he began to produce celebratory operas for the court, such as L’amore insuperabile. In 1739 he was named court composer, writing for the Italian theatre until 1749, when he became Kapellmeister at the Viennese court of Joseph Friedrich of Saxony-Hildburghausen. This post offered him contact with composers such as Florian Gassmann and Christoph Willibald von Gluck, succeeding the former as hofKapellmeister in 1774. His intensive ac-
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tivity in Vienna in musical circles, as well as his reputation as a solid teacher, occupied him until his retirement, shortly before his death. His most famous pupils were Carl von Dittersdorf and Marianne von Martinez. His musical style is thoroughly steeped in the Neapolitan opera style of his training, being focused upon vocal works. These include 23 operas; four oratorios; 33 Masses; two Requiems; two Te Deums; three litanies; around 88 other pieces of sacred music, including offertories, motets, hymns, and canticles; 12 concert arias; four symphonies; and a flute concerto. Although not an innovative composer, he maintained the Viennese preferences in court circles for the mellifluous Italian style. BOOG [POCK], JOHANN NEPOMUK (ca. 1724, PROBABLY VIENNA, TO 24 APRIL 1764, VIENNA). Austrian composer and organist. He was probably a pupil of Johann Joseph Fux and was appointed as regens chori at the St. Peter’s Church in Vienna around 1745. He was succeeded in this position by Leopold Hofmann. His music has been little studied, but it consists of at least eight Masses and a Psalm setting. BORDONI, FAUSTINA (30 MARCH 1697, VENICE, TO 4 NOVEMBER 1781, VENICE). Italian singer. Trained initially by Michele Gasparini and Benedetto Marcello, she made her debut in Venice in 1716. In 1726 she was taken to London, where she performed regularly in the King’s Theatre, excelling in roles by George Frederick Handel. In 1727 a rivalry with soprano Francesca Cuzzoni broke into fisticuffs and, although she was reengaged for the following season, Bordoni left to resume her career in Italy. In 1730 she married Johann Adolph Hasse, becoming one of the leading singers in his operas for the next several decades in Dresden. She retired from the stage in 1751, spending the remainder of her life alongside her husband. She and Hasse were considered during this period as one of the chief power couples. As a mezzo-soprano, she had parts written for her that were able to show off her penetrating power and dexterity. Johann Joachim Quantz considered her to be one of the most important singers of the period. BORGHI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (25 AUGUST 1738, CAMERINO, TO 25 FEBRUARY 1796, LORETO). Italian composer and organist, not related to Luigi Borghi. He received his earliest training under Girolamo Abos at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in Naples beginning in 1757. By 1759 he was appointed as maestro di cappella at the cathedral in Orvieto, during which time he also traveled throughout Italy and may have gone as far afield as Vienna. In 1778 he obtained his last position at the Santa Causa Church in Loreto. Borghi was best known for his operas written in
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a mid-century Neapolitan style. His works include 24 operas (split evenly between buffa and seria), 20 oratorios, 11 Masses, 35 introits, 27 graduals, 67 offertories, 14 Psalms, 25 Marian antiphons, six litanies, a violin concerto, and six violin duets. See also BASILI, FRANCESCO. BORGHI, LUIGI (ca. 1745, BOLOGNA, TO ca. 1806, LONDON). Italian composer and violinist, not related to Giovanni Battista Borghi. A student of Gaetano Pugnani, he moved to London in 1769 at the behest of William Hamilton. By 1785 he was active as a violinist in the Professional Concerts. His music is representative of the Empfindsamkeit style, with good contrast and lyrical motivic lines. The bulk of his music was published during his lifetime and includes six violin concertos, six symphonies/overtures, two ballets, 12 violin sonatas (titled “solos”), nine duos for two violins, 12 duets, 64 cadenzas, and a sonata for viola d’amore. BORRONI, ANTONIO (1738, ROME, TO 25 DECEMBER 1792, ROME). Italian composer. Following initial studies under Padre Giovanni Battista Martini in Bologna, he attended the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in 1757, where his teachers included Girolamo Abos. The following year he established himself in Rome as a teacher, whose students included Muzio Clementi and where in 1761 his opera Demofoonte was produced successfully. This led to commissions throughout the Holy Roman Empire, including Venice, Prague, and Dresden. In 1770 he was appointed Kapellmeister in Stuttgart, but in 1777 he returned to Rome, where he was appointed as maestro di cappella at St. Peters. He subsequently held similar posts at several other churches in the city. Although the bulk of his compositions consist of sacred works (as many as 82 Masses, motets, etc.), he also wrote 20 operas, two symphonies, and two concertos (flute and bassoon), as well as a large-scale setting of the Odes of Horace. His musical style conforms with that of late 18th-century Naples, save for the sacred works, many of which are in the stile antico. BORTNYANS’KY, DMYTRO [DMITRI BORTNIANSKY] (28 OCTOBER 1751, GLUKHOV, RUSSIA [NOW HLUKHIV, UKRAINE], TO 10 OCTOBER 1825, ST. PETERSBURG). Russian composer. At the age of 9 Bortnyans’ky displayed such vocal talent that he was sent to the Imperial Choir in St. Petersburg, where he studied under Baldassare Galuppi. Galuppi then took him to Italy in 1769, where Bortnyans’ky began to make a name for himself as a composer of Italian opera and sacred music. In 1779 he returned to St. Petersburg, where he wrote music for the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as operas for the court of Catherine II. By 1796, her suc-
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cessor, Paul III, made him director of the Imperial Choir and recognized him as a national musical figure. Bortnyans’ky’s style follows the harmony and lyricism of his Italian teacher, but the Russian works include paraphrases of Old Slavonic chant, as well as occasional folk elements, particularly in the instrumental compositions. Over 100 sacred works survive, including 45 sacred concertos, seven Orthodox liturgical settings, an Ave Maria and a Salve Regina, and numerous other pieces in Russian. In addition, he wrote seven operas, a large ode, several part songs, a quintet and a symphony (titled Symphonie concertante), two harp sonatas, and a march for wind band. BOURNONVILLE, ANTOINE [ANTON] (19 MAY 1760, LYONS, FRANCE, TO 11 JANUARY 1843, COPENHAGEN). French dancer and choreographer active in Sweden and Denmark. Born into a family of actors, he became a student of Jean-Georges Noverre in 1769, earning this master’s approbation as his most capable student. As a member of his troupe he arrived in Vienna, where he performed with Gasparo Angiolini. In 1782 he was appointed as premier dancer at the Royal Ballet in Stockholm, where he became known as an “Apollo” for his grace and fluid movement. Two of the major ballets of the period, Landsby Mölleren (1788) by Johann Friedrich Grenser and Fiskarena (1789) by Joseph Martin Kraus, were considered seminal works in the development of the Romantic ballet. In 1792 he moved to Copenhagen, where he was one of the major developers of ballet at the Royal Theatre there. He continued to dance up to a few days before his death. His son, August Bournonville, built his reforms and developments on the style and innovations introduced by his father. See also BALLET EN ACTION. BOWIE, JOHN (1759, HUNTING TOWER, NEAR PERTH, SCOTLAND, TO 1815, TIBBER MORE, NEAR PERTH). Scottish composer and musician. Although nothing is known of his early life or training, he first appears in 1787 as a musician for hire and keyboard tuner. In 1797 he issued his first collection of dances (reels and Strathspeys) and four years later published the “Perthshire Yeomanry and Lady Herriot’s Reel.” By 1803 he was a music seller, organizing annual balls and concerts in the Scottish town of Perth, as well as teaching keyboard instruments. He also tuned instruments “on reasonable terms.” His compositions are the popular Scots idioms of the period. BOYCE, WILLIAM (11 SEPTEMBER 1711, LONDON, TO 7 FEBRUARY 1779, KENSINGTON, NEAR LONDON). English composer and organist. His earliest musical education was as a chorister at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, after which he was a student of Johann Pepusch and Maurice
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Greene. In 1734 he obtained his first position as an organist at the Oxford Chapel, and in 1736 he became a composer for the Chapel Royal. By 1755 he was well known for his stage works, including the 1740 masque Peleus and Thetis and The Chaplet, a favorite pastoral opera from 1749. In 1755 he was appointed as master of the King’s Musick, and three years later organist of the Chapel Royal. Shortly thereafter he was forced to retreat from official duties owing to increasing deafness, and instead concentrated upon finishing the compendium Cathedral Music begun by his teacher Greene. This volume of Anglican Church services from all ages is still partially in use. His other music includes eight symphonies derived from stage works, 50 or more cantatas and odes, 60 anthems, 12 trio sonatas, 12 overtures or small symphonies, five complete Anglican services, two oratorios (including David’s Lamentation over Saul and Jonathan from 1736), and a host of incidental music and keyboard voluntaries. See also OVEREND, MARMADUKE; SMITH, JOHN STAFFORD; WESLEY, CHARLES, JR.; WESLEY, SAMUEL. BOYVIN D’HARDANCOURT, ANNE-LOUISE [MADAME BRILLON DE JOUY] (13 DECEMBER 1744, PARIS, TO 5 DECEMBER 1824, VILLERS, FRANCE). French patroness of the arts and composer. Born in the parish of St. Eustache to a Royal Secretary for the French court, she received a thorough education before marrying Jacques Brillon de Jouy, a financier, in 1763. In her role as the wife of a wealthy upper-class citizen, she soon created one of Paris’s finest cultural salons, eventually including people such as Benjamin Franklin as lodgers. In 1789 she moved with her daughters to Villers during the French Revolution, eventually retiring there after Napoleon came to power. As a musician, she had a reputation for being an outstanding keyboardist. For her patronage, several composers, among them Luigi Boccherini and Johann Schobert, dedicated works to her. Her correspondence with Franklin provides one of the best indicators of the society of the time. She also wrote music, of which 88 compositions still survive, almost all of which include the keyboard. The bulk of these are chamber works and sonatas, but she also wrote an orchestral march, an aria and a small cantata with orchestra, and 35 songs. BRACCINI, PATER LUIGI [ROBERTO] (ca. 1755, FLORENCE, TO 1791, FLORENCE). Italian monastic composer. In 1766 he entered the monastery of Santa Annunziata in Florence as a student, becoming a novice there in 1772 and taking Holy Orders in 1777. The following year he was assigned to the basilica of San Giuseppe in Bologna, where he studied with Padre Giovanni Battista Martini. Shortly thereafter he returned to Florence as maestro di cappella at Santa Annunziata until his ill health forced him
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to return to secular life in 1790. As a composer, he was quite conservative, writing mostly sacred works in the stile antico. While little of his music has been studied, surviving works include 16 sacred works (mainly motets), 12 madrigals, and six instrumental trios. BRANDENBERG, PATER GEROLD [BEAT ERASMUS] (2 JUNE 1729, ZUG, SWITZERLAND, TO 11 JANUARY 1795, EINSIEDELN, SWITZERLAND). Swiss monastic composer. The son of a town bureaucrat, he entered the Benedictine monastery in Einsiedeln in 1748, becoming ordained five years later. In 1755 he was made vice Kapellmeister and in 1770 Kapellmeister. In 1781 he also took over the monastic printing shop. His music consists of several works for the Engelweihe ceremony at the monastery, including two Mass movements, two Psalms, and a Magnificat. He is not to be confused with another Pater Gerold Brandenberg (1733–1818), who was a prior at St. Gall monastery, an important teacher, and his brother. BRANDL, JOHANN EVANGELIST (14 October 1760, ROHR PRIORY, MARKTFLECHEN, NEAR REGENSBURG, BAVARIA, TO 26 MAY 1837, KARLSRUHE). German composer. Following early musical training, probably at Regensburg, he was appointed as Kapellmeister at Bartelstein in 1784, five years later moving to Bruchsal. Intermittent temporary appointments in Karlsruhe and Stuttgart occurred until 1805, when he moved to Karlsruhe as Kapellmeister and director of the town theatre along with Franz Danzi. Brandl was a composer who was concerned with the infusion of drama into musical settings. His monodrama Hero und Leander attempts to provide a lush orchestral setting for the Greek tale. His other works include five operas, over 50 Lieder, 60 Masses, numerous smaller church works (hymns and litanies), nine symphonies, 20 string quintets (and several others with winds), five concertos, three sextets, and two serenades, as well as six string quartets and numerous concert arias. His music remains largely unstudied. BRANT, PER (DECEMBER 1714, STOCKHOLM, TO 9 AUGUST 1767, STOCKHOLM). Swedish conductor and violinist. Little is known about Brant’s life, save that he served as concertmaster of the Swedish Hovkapell for a period of almost 20 years under his mentor and probable teacher, Johan Helmich Roman. In 1758 he took over as hovkapellmästare following Roman’s death, but he had been functioning as an interim for almost a decade previous. Under his leadership, the Hovkapell went into steep decline, furthered by the existence in Stockholm of King Adolph Fredrick’s own private orchestra under Hinrich Philip Johnsen and troupes such as
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the Mingotti troupe headed by Francesco Antonio Uttini. A revival of the orchestra occurred only after Brant’s death and Uttini’s appointment in his place. Brant was well known as a music copyist, but his work as a composer is minimal. Only 14 pieces are attributed to him, of which only one, a song, is indisputably authentic (a currently popular Symphony in D minor is probably by his teacher Roman). BRAU, CHRISTIAN LUDWIG (10 OCTOBER 1746, DRAMMEN, NORWAY, TO 4 FEBRUARY 1777, BARBY, SAXONY, GERMANY). Norwegian-German composer. Born into a Moravian Church family, he was educated in music in the Netherlands and Germany with the intent that he enter the mission field in the West Indies. This did not occur due to perennial ill health, and he spent his career as an educator at Moravian schools in Saxony. In 1776 he was forced to retire to Barby, where he died a year later. His music consists mostly of hymns, many of which demonstrate a solid basis in harmony and a good grasp of text underlay; he also wrote hymn texts. BREITKOPF, BERNHARD THEODOR (20 MARCH 1745, LEIPZIG, TO 1820, ST. PETERSBURG). German publisher, music teacher, composer, and librarian. The son of Johann Gottlob Immanuel Breitkopf, he apprenticed at the family firm. He also became a close friend of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, whose poems he set and published in 1770 as the Neue Lieder in Melodien gesetzt. In 1777 he relocated to St. Petersburg, where he functioned as an administrator in the state theatre, its librarian, and ran a publishing firm. He also taught music privately. His compositional output consists almost entirely of Lieder. These are particularly important in that they are the fruits of collaboration with Germany’s foremost poet. BREITKOPF, JOHANN GOTTLOB IMMANUEL (23 NOVEMBER 1719, LEIPZIG, TO 28 JANUARY 1794, LEIPZIG). German music seller and publisher. He learned the business of printing from his father, Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf (1695–1777), who he succeeded in taking over a thriving firm founded in 1719. Over the course of the century, he published music by composers such as Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Johann Adam Hiller, using a novel method of typesetting developed around 1754. He also ran a copy house, which supplied manuscript copies to clients using a series of catalogs that appeared for several decades following the War of the Austrian Succession; their appearance was caused by a surplus of music on hand in poor economic times. Although there are questions surrounding their authenticity, these catalogs provide a good source of the quantity and type of music available to the general public. At the height of his activity in the 1780s, he employed
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around 100 staff. Following his death the firm merged with Härtel to become Breitkopf und Härtel. See also BREITKOPF, BERNHARD THEODOR. BRESCIANELLO, GIUSEPPE ANTONIO (ca. 1690, BOLOGNA, TO 4 OCTOBER 1758, STUTTGART). Italian composer and violinist. Little is known of his early musical education; he first appears as a violinist in the Bavarian court in Munich in 1715, but the following year he was appointed court Kapellmeister in Stuttgart for Archduke Carl Eugen. Though he had periods of unemployment, he continued in this position until being pensioned in 1751. Although the bulk of his music reflects Baroque style and practice, in 1738, during one of his periods without a position, he published a set of 12 symphonies and concertos in Amsterdam that conform with the emerging galant style. He also published in 1744 a set of 18 pieces for Gallichone, a sort of mandora or lute, likewise in the new style. BRÉVAL, JEAN-BAPTISTE SÉBASTIAN (6 NOVEMBER 1753, PARIS, TO 19 MARCH 1823, COLLIGIS, AISNE, FRANCE). French composer and cellist. Son of a wig maker, Bréval began his studies with François Cupis and Martin Berteau at an early age. In 1775 he published his first set of quartets, the Six quatours concertantes in Paris, and by the following year he was a member of an elite organization of instrumentalists, the Société académique des enfants d’Apollon. In 1778 he debuted at the Concerts spirituels, becoming a regular soloist thereafter. He wrote and published a wide variety of instrumental works, including sinfonia concertantes and chamber music. Following the French Revolution, Bréval remained in Paris, performing his concertos at the Cirque du Palais Royal and Théâtre Feydeau. In 1791 he toured London as part of the Salomon concerts, where he received considerable acclaim for his performances. When the Opéra orchestra was formed in 1800, Bréval joined as principal cellist. Between 1803 and 1804, he published his Traité du violoncel, which was subsequently used at the Conservatoire as a method book. After his retirement in 1814, he removed to a suburb of Paris, where he spent the remainder of his life. As an instrumentalist, he remained one of the leaders of musical culture in Paris, and his music, known for its tunefulness, remained popular his entire life. He wrote about 170 works, including 10 sinfonia concertantes, seven concertos for his instrument, and a large number of chamber works, almost all of which were published. See also SALOMON, JOHANN PETER. BRIEFER, PATER JAKOB [GREGOR] (21 MAY 1763, AESCH, SWITZERLAND, TO 11 MAY 1845, EINSIEDELN, SWITZERLAND). Swiss monastic composer. He entered the Benedictine monastery in 1782,
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becoming ordained four years later. Initially he functioned at the local school as professor of rhetoric but soon abandoned this to become a confessor. In 1794 he was librarian but soon thereafter went to Ottobeuren, Regensburg, and Kremsmünster, where he was able to save the monastery there from pillaging by French troops. In 1806 he returned to Einsiedeln, functioning in several administrative capacities in nearby towns until 1836. He was known as a fine organist, but only one work survives, a Domine ad adjuvandum, which shows him to have been a talented composer as well. BRIOSCHI, ANTONIO (ca. 1715, PROBABLY CASALE MONFERRATO, ITALY, TO AFTER 1750, MILAN OR ALESSANDRIA[?]). Italian composer and violinist. Although a popular composer whose works were performed throughout Europe, virtually nothing is known about his life, save that he worked alongside Giovanni Battista Sammartini in Milan around 1734. A year earlier, he was asked to compose a symphony for a new synagogue in Casale Monferrato, the circumstances of which seem to indicate that this was more likely his hometown than the Milanese suburb of Brioscho. Despite this dearth of concrete biographical data, he was one of the most prolific and popular composers of the early symphony in three- and four-part format, with independent inner voices, good lyrical and harmonic contrasts, and the use of an early sonata principle. His works include 51 authentic symphonies, 14 trio sonatas, and almost 180 other works, which may be either sonatas or symphonies. He also composed a concerto for two oboes, which has been lost. Sources of his music can be found throughout Europe, from Vienna and Prague to Paris and London, and from Naples and Rome to Stockholm. BRIVIO, GIUSEPPE FERDINANDO (ca. 1700, MILAN, TO ca. 1758, MILAN). Italian composer, violinist, and singer. Brivio probably came from a prominent family of musicians in Milan, but his training is obscure. Although he was listed as early as 1728 as a violinist in the court orchestra, he also functioned as a director of the court theatre beginning that same year. He may have gone to London about 1740, but this is uncertain, as is the date of his death. His musical style shows Neapolitan influences in the nine operas, four trio sonatas, two symphonies, and one concerto that survive. BRIXI, FRANTIŠEK XAVER (2 JANUARY 1732, PRAGUE, TO 14 OCTOBER 1771, PRAGUE). Bohemian composer and organist. Brixi came from a musical family that had a close relationship to the Benda family. He was the son of composer Simon Brixi (1693–1735) and probably received his earliest education from him. He later attended the Priarist Gymnasium in
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Kosmonosy, where his teachers include Václav Kalous. After several positions in churches around Prague, he was appointed in 1759 as organist at the St. Vitus Cathedral, a position he held until his early death. Brixi composed mainly sacred music, and his reputation for solid compositions featuring rhythmically active bass lines, a good sense of harmony and form, and instrumentation that was precise and often did much with sparse forces made his works popular, particularly in monastic circles in Bohemia and Bavaria. He is known to have composed around 400 works, including 105 Masses, six litanies, four oratorios, school dramas, at least five concertos for organ, and three symphonies. His sacred music parody, the Luridi scholars, is one of the best parodies of monastic music teaching, while his organ concertos have been widely performed as exemplars for the instrument. He also set sacred texts in Czech, using folk material adroitly. See also LAUBE, ANTON. BROCHE, CHARLES FRANÇOIS (20 FEBRUARY 1752, ROUEN, FRANCE, TO 30 SEPTEMBER 1803, ROUEN). French composer and organist. Displaying a talent for music at an early age, Broche was educated in Rouen at the cathedral school, and in 1771 he became organist at the Académie des beaux arts in Lyons. A few years later he went to Bologna to study under Padre Giovanni Battista Martini, returning to Rouen in 1777, where he taught students such as Adrien Boieldieu and lived on a stipend from the duc de Bouillon. His music, consisting of concertos, sacred works, Revolutionary hymns, songs, concertos, string quartets, and other chamber music, has largely been lost. His only surviving works are three sets of sonatas. These have a penchant for minor keys, but it is difficult to say whether they actually are indicative of a more dramatic style. BROOKS, JAMES (ca. 1757, BATH, ENGLAND, TO DECEMBER 1809, LONDON). English composer and violinist. At the age of 19 he became the leader of the orchestra in Bath, and over the next decade he toured the country as a violinist and conductor. In 1794 he became president of the Catch Club in London. His economic circumstances were always precarious, and he was well known for an abrasive personality. His music consists of a violin concerto, 36 military marches, 24 glees, a stage work, 20 songs, and two violin sonatas. BROSCHI, CARLO (24 JANUARY 1705, ANDRIA, APULIA, NEAR NAPLES, TO 17 SEPTEMBER 1782, BOLOGNA). Italian composer and castrato, known popularly as Farinelli. By 1711 his family had relocated to Naples, and it was here that he probably received initial musical education from his brother, Riccardo Broschi. In 1717 he studied under Nicola
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Porpora, making his debut in 1720 in one of Porpora’s operas. By 1730 he was in great demand throughout Italy and was elected to the Accademia filarmonica. Although he had an international reputation, it was not until 1734 that he was hired in London. Breaking his contract, he moved to Madrid in 1737, where 10 years later he became director of the Buon Retiro Theatre. In 1759 he returned to Italy, retiring to an estate near Bologna. Broschi must be considered one of the most famous singers of his age, known for his power, range, and acute musicianship. He mentored numerous other singers throughout his career and was in every sense a major star of the period who was sought out by composers to sing their works. A composer himself, he wrote at least 20 insertion arias (mostly for himself), as well as sonatas for viola d’amore. See also MELE, GIOVANNI BATTISTA. BROSCHI, RICCARDO (ca. 1698, NAPLES, TO 1756, MADRID). Italian composer and brother of Carlo Broschi. His earliest musical training was probably at one of the conservatories in Naples, and in 1725 he achieved some success with a comic opera, La vecchia sorda. In 1727 he was in Rome and thereafter throughout Italy writing operas on commission. Eclipsed in fame by his brother, for whom he wrote numerous insertion arias, he settled in Milan, where by 1735 he was living in poverty. The following year, however, he was appointed as court composer by Archduke Carl Alexander in Stuttgart, only to lose the position two years later. He returned to Naples, where his operas were performed at the Teatro San Carlo, but with little success. Sometime during the 1740s he moved to Madrid. His works have been little performed apart from those written for his brother. His operas demonstrate a knowledge of the galant style, though they are not especially inventive. Known works include nine operas, a cantata, and an oratorio. BROWNSON, OLIVER (13 MAY 1746, BOLTON, CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES, TO 20 OCTOBER 1815, SMITHFIELD, NEW YORK). American psalmodist. Between 1775 and 1797 he was active as a music teacher in Litchfield, Simsbury, and West Hartford in Connecticut, where he also briefly collaborated with Ashael Benham in a business venture. By 1802 he had moved to Peterborough, New York, where he continued his teaching. His 19 works are published in two collections, the Select Harmony of 1783 and the Sacred Harmony of 1797. BRUNETTI, ANTONIO (ca. 1735, NAPLES, TO 25 DECEMBER 1786, SALZBURG, AUSTRIA). Italian violinist. Following studies at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in 1755, he was appointed as court music director and first concertmaster in Salzburg. A close associate of Michael
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Haydn (whose sister-in-law he married) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, he was a competent performer, though neither composer regarded him highly for his odd personal habits. His compositional efforts apparently were restricted to a few works for his own instruments, although both composers wrote works for him. His relationship to Antonio Brunetti, Gaetano Brunetti, and Giuseppe Brunetti has not been established. BRUNETTI, ANTONIO (1767, SIENA OR PISA, ITALY, TO AFTER 1845, URBINO, ITALY). Italian composer. The son of Giuseppe Brunetti, he was probably trained by his father. In 1786 he wrote an oratorio for Bologna that allowed him to be promoted to membership in the Accademia filarmonica, and by 1790 he had become maestro di cappella at Chieti Cathedral. In 1791 he wrote his first opera for Venice, and thereafter seems to have composed commissions for several Italian cities. In 1810 he was appointed at the cathedral in Urbino, and even though he had similar posts in Imola and Macerata, he returned to that city during the later part of his life. His compositional career is divided in half, with the bulk of his 10 operas (almost all buffa) written prior to 1800, as were the four oratorios and three concertos. Many of his 82 sacred works seem to have post-dated the turn of the 19th century. His style is similar to the later style of Domenico Cimarosa. BRUNETTI, GAETANO (1744, FANO, ITALY, TO 16 DECEMBER 1798, COLMENAR DE OREJO, NEAR MADRID). Italian-Spanish composer and violinist. Born on the Adriatic coast, he received his first instruction in violin from Carlo Tessarini in Urbino before becoming a disciple of Pietro Nardini in Livorno. At the age of 16 or 17 he immigrated to Madrid as a violinist in the Real Capilla and was later appointed in 1767 as instructor of the Prince of Asturia by Carlos III. By 1779 he had become musical director in Aranjuez, but he was recalled to Madrid in 1788 by Carlos IV to lead a family ensemble, the musicos de la real camera, that played exclusively for the court. During his lifetime, Brunetti had a reputation for writing dramatic instrumental works that often deviated from conventional formal structures. He also incorporated Spanish melodies and rhythms frequently. His music includes incidental music to the comedy Garcia del Castañal, two zarzuelas, an Italian opera buffa, two Masses, a Miserere, three Lamentations, nine concert arias, 32 songs (canciones), 37 symphonies, four concertos, five sinfonia concertantes, 109 pieces of dance music, 18 sextets, 68 string quintets, 62 string quartets, 59 string trios, 23 divertimentos, 78 violin sonatas (and one for viola), and 328 duos. He can be considered one of the most popular and important composers resident in Spain during the 18th century. His music is known through L (Labrador) numbers.
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BRUNETTI, GIUSEPPE (1740, NAPLES, TO AFTER 1780, FLORENCE). Italian composer. Born into a musical family, he received his early training at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini. In 1754 he was active as a musician in Pisa, where the first documentation of his career occurs. Thereafter he wrote works for churches in Pisa and Siena, but in 1762 he spent a year in Braunschweig writing an opera on commission. When no further employment was offered, he returned to Siena, but in 1780 he was living in Florence, eking out a living. His music has been almost completely ignored, but surviving works include two operas, two Psalms, two Lezioni, and a Tantum ergo. See also BRUNETTI, ANTONIO (1767–1845). BRUNI, ANTONIO BARTOLOMEO (28 JANUARY 1757, CUNEO, PIEDMONT, ITALY, TO 6 AUGUST 1821, CUNEO). Italian-French composer and violinist. Following studies with Gaetano Pugnani in Turin, Bruni traveled to Paris, where he made his debut as a violinist at the Concerts spirituels in 1780 and as an opera composer with Coradin in 1785. By 1789 he had been hired by Giovanni Battista Viotti as principal violin at the Théâtre de Monsieur and during the Revolution was a commissioner of music instruments. In 1799 he became director of the Opéra Comique and in 1801 the Théâtre Italien. A favorite of Empress Josephine, he retired in 1806, returning from his native Cuneo only once more. A popular composer and brilliant violinist, he made significant contributions to methodology of stringed instruments, particularly his method book for viola published in 1821, as well as over 100 exercises for violin and viola. He was also a publisher of the Journal du Violon. His works include 22 operas, a Revolutionary hymn, 60 string quartets, 36 trios, 123 violin duos (and a further 21 for violin/viola and six for two violas), 21 violin sonatas, and other smaller chamber works. BRUSA, [GIOVANNI] FRANCESCO (1700, VENICE, TO 20 MAY 1768, VENICE). Italian composer and organist. Little is known of his early training, but he made his debut as an opera composer in Venice in 1724 with Il trionfo della virtù. Two years later he was appointed as an organist at St. Mark’s, and by 1736 he had received commissions for sacred music from Genoa. In 1766 he replaced Baldassare Galuppi as director of music at the Ospedale degli Incurabili. His music demonstrates a faithful adherence to the lyrical musical styles of the middle of the 18th century in good lyrical lines and fluid counterpoint. His works include 12 operas, six oratorios (including three in Latin), a Requiem, four antiphons, 11 Psalms, four hymns, three motets, and two symphonies.
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BUCHER, FRANZ XAVER (1760, VIOLAU, NEAR ZUSMARSHAUSEN, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 1828, WANGEN, BAVARIA). German organist and composer. Cousin of composer Pater Sixt Bachmann, he received his musical education from Franz Anton Schmöger, the local regens chori. In 1784 he moved to Wangen to become schoolmaster in Latin, later also taking on duties as the musical director and organist of the St. Martinskirche. Although primarily a local composer, his music has been largely lost. Surviving works include a set of waltzes, a set of variations, and two songs. Nineteenth-century catalogs list 16 sacred works, among them a Te Deum, a pastoral Mass, and a concerto for Alphorn. BUCHWIESER, BALTHASAR (1765, SENDLING, NEAR MUNICH, GERMANY, TO 1815, VIENNA). German composer. Like his brother Matthias Buchwieser, he was trained at the monastic school at Bernreid and arrived in Munich to study at the Gymnasium. He obtained a post as singer at the court of the Prince-Archbishop of Trier and in 1808 was appointed Kapellmeister at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna. His music includes several operas, five Masses, six arias, two canzonetts, two offertories, and a number of Lieder, which he published. BUCHWIESER, MATTHIAS (14 SEPTEMBER 1772, SENDLING, NEAR MUNICH, GERMANY, TO 1813, MUNICH). German composer and organist. Trained at the monastic school at Bernreid, he entered the Jesuit Gymnasium in Munich in 1783. In 1792 he was appointed as Bavarian court organist, as well as accompanist at the state theatre. His music is reminiscent of Michael Haydn, although little survives save for a Mass and two Mass movements. He composed a number of Singspiels and German Masses. His brother, Balthasar Buchwieser, was also a composer. BÜELER, FRANZ JOSEPH (1751, RAPPERSWIL, SWITZERLAND, TO 1816, ST. GALL, SWITZERLAND). Swiss administrator and amateur composer. His early career was as a salt merchant in Rorschach, and in 1798 he became a city administrator in Rapperswil. By 1802 he was a district administrator for the canton of Linth and in 1803 became state counselor in St. Gall. Although he was mainly an administrator, he was also an active composer. A sacred song in Einsiedeln demonstrates a good knowledge of the naïve style. BUFFA. See OPERA BUFFA.
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BULANT, ANTONÍN ŠTĚPÁN (9 FEBRUARY 1751, MELNÍK, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 25 JUNE 1821, ST. PETERSBURG). Also known as Antoine Bullant or Jean Bullant. Bohemian-Russian composer and bassoonist. Trained by local musicians, he probably obtained his first position at the nearby estate of Prince Lobkowitz, who sent him to Paris in 1771. There he attracted the attention of Count Stroganov, who offered him a position at the Imperial Theatre in St. Petersburg. Remaining in Russia the rest of his life, he often spent time in Moscow, as well as becoming one of the founding members of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society in 1802. His major focus was on Russian language opera, and he wrote in a folklike style without actually using folk material. His works include 13 operas (of which the 1784 Sbitenscik and the 1799 Vinetta were extremely popular), five symphonies, a bassoon concerto, six quartets, six trios, seven duos for two clarinets, and a number of partitas for wind instruments. BULL, AMOS (9 FEBRUARY 1744, ENFIELD, CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES, TO 23 AUGUST 1825, HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT). American psalmodist. In 1766 he published his first collection of psalmody, The New Universalist Psalmodist. During the Revolutionary War he served as a clerk in New York City, returning to Hartford in 1788. He composed 57 works. BURACH, PATER JUSTUS [FRANZ AEGIDIUS] (28 JANUARY 1706, SACHSELN, SWITZERLAND, TO 20 JUNE 1768, FREUDENFELS, SWITZERLAND). Swiss monastic composer. He entered the Benedictine order in Einsiedeln in 1725, becoming ordained in 1730. In 1738 he acted as abbey organist and proofer in the monastic print shop, where he became director in 1750. In 1754 he moved as parish priest to Freudenfels. He created one of the first catalogs of the Einsiedeln library. As a composer, his style demonstrates considerable homophony, although the settings are often sparse. The works consist of 11 Magnificats, a motet, and a book of organ accompaniments for Laudes and vespers. BURGESS, HENRY, JR. (ca. 1720, LONDON, TO ca. 1770, LONDON). English composer and organist. The son of composer and organist Henry Burgess (d. 1765), he probably trained under his father. He first appears as a writer of songs in 1738 at the Drury Lane concerts and a few years later appeared with great success as a soloist in one of his own concertos. He performed regularly at the London public concerts thereafter, and in 1763 he listed himself as a teacher. He inherited the bulk of his father’s musicalia
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in 1765 but appears to have retired shortly thereafter. His works include six concertos for organ, 12 English songs, as well as several catches and glees. BURLETTA. Also known as burla. An Italian term meaning “little joke” but often used elsewhere in Europe, especially England, for short, satirical works in a single act or afterpieces. BURNEY, CHARLES (7 APRIL 1728, SHREWSBURY, ENGLAND, TO 17 APRIL 1814, LONDON). English organist, composer, and man of letters. Son of a violinist, he attended the Free Schools at Shrewsbury and Chester, eventually becoming an assistant organist in the first city in 1742. In 1744 he became a protégé of Thomas Arne, who provided further education leading to membership in the Freemen of the Musicians Company in 1749. He directed and provided music for several staged works, most significantly The Cunning Man, a translation of Le devin du village by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In 1770 he began a series of musical tours, first to Italy and France and in 1772 to Germany and Holland, which resulted in published diaries that are significant descriptions of the music and musicians of the period. In 1776 he published his first volume of the General History of Music (two other volumes followed in 1782 and 1789), which gained him prominence in English society, as did his work as official chronicler of the Handel Centenary Festival in 1785. By 1801 he had taken on additional work writing music articles for Reese’s Encyclopedia. Burney was known during his lifetime and afterward as one of the first major historians of music, though he also wrote on scientific matters such as astronomy. Although trained as a composer, his works are modest in number; qualitatively they follow the style of his contemporaries and teachers such as Arne. His works include three operas, two odes, 12 canzonetts, 16 trio sonatas, 21 keyboard sonatas and other works, six violin duets, and a number of songs, catches, and glees. See also ABEL, CARL FRIEDRICH; CAPUA, RINALDO DA; MILLER, EDWARD. BUTTSTETT, FRANZ VOLLRATH (2 APRIL 1735, ERFURT, GERMANY, TO 7 MAY 1814, ROTHENBURG OB DER TAUBER, GERMANY). German organist and composer. After early musical education in Erfurt, he was sent to Leipzig to study under Johann Friedrich Doles. He obtained a position as organist in Weikersheim in 1755, and in 1758 he was appointed interim organist at Rothenburg, a position he held the remainder of his life, although it took almost 20 years to become permanent. He was well regarded as a composer of church music, writing oratorios, symphonies, and much chamber music. In addition he revised the Rothenburger Gesangbuch
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in 1774. Much of his music was destroyed during the Napoleonic invasion. What survives includes 36 cantatas, 30 sacred songs, 14 motets, 12 Psalms, seven chorales, and three keyboard sonatas. BYSTRÖM, THOMAS (28 AUGUST 1772, HELSINKI, TO 10 OCTOBER 1839, STOCKHOLM). Finnish-Swedish composer. The son of a successful statesman in the province of Finland (then part of Sweden), Thomas Byström was encouraged to study violin and piano at an early age by his father. In 1787 he enrolled at a military academy in St. Petersburg, later joining the Swedish army in 1792 as an adjutant and subsequently aide-de-camp to Gustav IV Adolph. Byström was mostly stationed in Stockholm beginning with his Swedish army career and was thus able to participate in musical social circles. He was elected in 1794 to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, and in 1801 he published a set of violin sonatas, as well as a series of strophic Lieder. As a government military official, however, his compositional career was limited. He taught music for a period (1813–1825) at the Royal Academy. His works include the three violin sonatas, nine songs, and a set of variations on a Russian theme, as well as several smaller keyboard works. His style has been likened to early Ludwig van Beethoven in its use of motives and sequencing, as well as bold harmonic modulations. BYZANTIOS, PETROS (ca. 1750, NEOCHORIOS, GREECE, TO 1808, IAŞI, ROMANIA [NOW MOLDOVIA]). Greek singer and composer. A student of Petros Peloponnesios, in 1771 he became a cantor at the Ecumenical Patriachate in Constantinople, where he also taught a number of singers as one of the founders of the Third Patriarchal School. Dismissed from his post due to internal politics, he fled to Kherson in the Crimea in 1805, later attempting to reach Western Europe. Using an original notation, he composed chants and an entire heirmologion of the divine office.
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C CABALONE, MICHELE (1692, NAPLES, TO 19 JANUARY 1740, NAPLES). Italian composer and violinist. His earliest education was at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto, and in 1717 he made his debut at the Teatro Fiorentini with insertion arias. Although he wrote for the various theatres in the city, his subsequent career was mostly as a teacher of violin and singing. His most important student was Faustina Bordoni. As a composer, the bulk of his music conforms to the Baroque style, but his 1731 opera buffa Li dispiette amoruse displays a similar style to Giovanni Pergolesi, indicating that he was aware of the trends in Neapolitan opera. His later sacred works also demonstrate a galant style. His music consists of nine operas and nine sacred works (mainly Psalms), but has been little studied. CADENZA. In the 18th century generally an improvised virtuoso passage in a concerto or concert aria that takes place immediately before the final ritornello on a six-four chord with a fermata. It was considered embellishment and performed in one or more movements of a work with solo voice or instrument. Initially intended to be improvised based upon music from the movement, it could also be written out by the composer who did not think it wise to leave it to the soloist. Called an Übergang (Johann Adam Hiller) or Eingang (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), instructions for the performance and writing are contained in the Clavierschule by Daniel Gottlob Türk of 1789 and in the Traité des agréments by Giuseppe Tartini from 1771, among others. CAFARO [CAFFARO], PASQUALE (8 FEBRUARY 1718, SAN PIETRO IN GALATINA, ITALY, TO 25 OCTOBER 1787, NAPLES). Italian composer and teacher. He entered the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in 1735, where his teachers included Lorenzo Fago and Leonardo Leo. By 1745 he had his first operatic successes, resulting in commissions from several other Italian cities. He chose to stay in Naples, however, succeeding Girolamo Abos as second maestro in 1759. His music, the majority of which is sacred, conforms to the lyrical Neapolitan style of the mid-18th century. It includes eight operas, 15 secular cantatas, six oratorios, three
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Masses, six Kyries, a Requiem, four motets, 12 Psalms, a litany, a Stabat mater, and three antiphons. His students include Giacomo Tritto. CAJANI, GIUSEPPE (1774, MILAN, TO 1821, PARIS). Italian composer. Little is known of his life or training, save that he moved to Paris around 1799, where he was active as a teacher and musician. His music, written in a conventional and pleasant late 18th-century Italian style, includes six operas, 11 ballets, a Requiem, and two symphonies. He also wrote a treatise, Elementi di musica, which was published in Paris in Italian in 1805. CALEGARI, ANTONIO (17 FEBRUARY 1757, PADUA, ITALY, TO 22 JULY 1828, PADUA). Italian composer. Following initial studies under Jacopo Scalabrin and Ferdinando Turrini, he was appointed as organist at the Santa Giustina Church. Further studies in Venice under Ferdinando Bertoni, whose opera Orfeo he conducted at the Teatro Obizzi in Padua in 1776, led to a successful premiere of his own opera in Venice in 1779. Although he received several commissions from other northern Italian cities, he returned to Padua in 1790 and by 1800 was organist at the Basilica di Sant’Antonio. His style conforms closely to that of other colleagues, such as Giovanni Paisiello. His works consist of six operas, 12 secular cantatas, four concert arias, three oratorios, three Masses (and 27 Mass movements), 18 antiphons, 17 responsories, 10 Psalms, and six keyboard sonatas (as well as a fugue for string orchestra). His brother Giuseppe Calegari was a cellist and composer in Padua as well. CALEGARI, GIUSEPPE (ca. 1750, PADUA, ITALY, TO 1812, PADUA). Italian violoncellist and composer. Brother of Antonio Calegari, he remained in Padua his entire life following early training with Antonio Vandini. In 1778 he was appointed as principal cellist in the orchestra of the Basilica di Sant’Antonio, although he also concertized in Venice and Modena, cities for which he also composed opera. His works have been little studied, but what survives consists of six operas and six cantatas. CALL, LEONHARD VON (19 MARCH 1767, EPPAN, TYROL [NOW APPIANO, ITALY], TO 19 FEBRUARY 1815, VIENNA). Austrian composer. He probably received his musical training locally in the Tyrol, but in 1787 he moved to Vienna, where he was employed as an assistant liquidator to the Imperial court. He also began to gain a reputation for his performance on guitar, publishing music beginning in 1802. His works consist of several sets of part songs for male chorus; two sextets; four quintets; 14 quartets; 34 trios; 52 duos; and 12 works for guitar, flute, and pianoforte.
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CALZABIGI, RANIERO (23 DECEMBER 1714, LIVORNO, ITALY, TO 12 JULY 1795, NAPLES). Italian librettist. After training at the local Jesuit college, Calzabigi moved to Naples in 1741 to write opera librettos for resident composers. In 1761 Count Giacomo Durazzo put him into contact with Christoph von Gluck after Calzabigi’s move to Vienna. Their collaboration resulted both in dramatic ballets such as Don Juan as well as the reform operas Orfeo ed Euridice and Alceste. He returned to Pisa in 1775, where he continued to write texts for other composers. CAMACHO (ca. 1710, BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA, TO AFTER 1749, BOGOTÁ). Colombian composer. Nothing is known of him, not even his first name, save that he was a local musician in the provincial capital of New Spain. Two of his works survive, a cantada from 1736 and a set of Lamentations for polyphonic chorus from 1749. CAMBINI, GIUSEPPE MARIA GIAOCCHINO (13 FEBRUARY 1746, LIVORNO, ITALY, TO ca. 1818, POSSIBLY THE NETHERLANDS). Italian-French composer. Born in Livorno, almost nothing is known about his musical training, other than he probably studied violin under Filipo Manfredi. He first appears in Paris in 1773, when one of his sinfonia concertantes was performed at the Concerts spirituels. Thereafter, he embarked upon a career that was closely associated with this series, as well as becoming a popular and prolific composer whose music was published extensively. Although he was able to make a living through these means, in 1788 he became musical director of the Théâtre des Beaujolais, for which he began composing numerous operas. When this theatre folded during the French Revolution, he was given a similar post at the Théâtre Louvois. By 1795 his music had declined precipitously in popularity, and he turned his attention toward pedagogical works, mainly method books for the violin and flute, published in 1795 and 1799, respectively. By 1810 he had largely vanished from history, although recent research has disproven that he died in Paris in 1825, as early lexicographers had noted. Cambini is a problematic figure in music history. He was a prolific composer, but his early life, drawn from anecdotes he himself related, is difficult, or impossible, to verify. For example, he allegedly left Naples in 1766 after the failure of one of his operas, only to be captured by pirates along with his fiancée and then ransomed by a Venetian merchant. His position as one of the in-house composers at the Concerts was maintained through a certain sense of political machination, and there is no evidence from Italy that his biography is true, good story though it may be. As a composer, he was often criticized for his predictability, and though he does offer some interesting musical color
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in his orchestrations, the harmonies are not advanced, the formal structures often static, and the melodies not well developed, lyrical as they may be. He was by any account the master composer of the sinfonia concertante. His surviving music includes 14 operas (all in French), five Masses, four oratorios, a grand Miserere, 25 Revolutionary hymns, 82 sinfonia concertantes, 14 concertos, six symphonies, 114 string quintets, 149 string quartets, 104 trios, 212 duos, and 30 sonatas (mainly violin), in addition to other smaller works. CAMERLOHER, JOSEPH ANTON VON (4 JULY 1710, MURNAU, NEAR FREISING, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 17 JUNE 1743, MUNICH). German composer and organist. Like his younger brother Placidus von Camerloher, he was educated at the Ritterakademie in Ettal, later transferring to the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich. In 1739 he became a chamber composer at the Bavarian court, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was a prolific composer of the early symphony whose music corresponds to the galant style. His works include two operas, nine meditations, four other sacred works, 43 symphonies (mainly for strings), a flute sonata, and 31 trio sonatas. CAMERLOHER, PLACIDUS CAJETANUS LAURENTIUS VON (9 AUGUST 1718, MURNAU, NEAR FREISING, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 21 JULY 1782, FREISING). German monastic composer and organist. Trained like his brother Joseph von Camerloher at the Ritterakademie in Ettal, he also attended the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich beginning in 1739. In 1749 he was appointed as Kapellmeister to PrinceArchbishop Johann Theodor in Freising, whose domains also included Liège in Belgium, where he spent several years beginning in 1753. Camerloher was ordained a priest in 1744 and served throughout his career as canon at several Benedictine monasteries in the Freising region. His music demonstrates the emerging galant style in Germany, especially with respect to his instrumental music. His works include 25 Masses, a Requiem, two offertories, three litanies, seven antiphons, 19 school comedies, four Passions, 17 meditations, 37 symphonies, two partitas, and 18 lute trios. See also MICHL, JOSEPH WILLIBALD; ULLINGER, PATER AUGUSTIN. CAMPAGNOLI, BARTOLOMEO (10 SEPTEMBER 1751, CENTO, ITALY, TO 1827, NEUSTRELITZ, GERMANY). Italian composer and violinist. His initial musical education was under Certo Dalloca, a pupil of Antonio Lolli, as well as Paolo Guastrobba, a pupil of Giuseppe Tartini. By 1770 he had established himself as a concert soloist in Italy, prior to leaving for a position at the court of the Bishop of Freysingen. He continued to tour
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northern Europe for the next several years, finally becoming musical director at the court of the Duke of Kurland in Dresden in 1779. He subsequently went on to direct the Gewandshaus orchestra in Leipzig, writing pedagogical works such as the 41 Caprices pour viola and the Nouvelle Méthode. Following his retirement in 1818, he moved first to Hannover and subsequently to Neustrelitz. He composed and published 22 sets of pieces, mainly orchestra and chamber over the course of his lifetime, almost all of the latter of which were written for either the violin or viola. Others include three flute concertos and a sinfonia concertante for flute, violin, and orchestra. His music was cataloged by Hugo Montanari in 1969. CAMPBELL, JOSHUA (ca. 1730, GLASGOW, TO DECEMBER 1800, GLASGOW). Scottish musician and composer. He most likely studied under Daniel Dow in Glasgow during the 1760s or perhaps earlier, but in 1762 he advertised himself as a teacher of guitar in the city. By 1779 he had become an impresario and composer, offering collections of Scots tunes for sale in versions arranged for flutes or violins and continuo. His second collection of The Newest Scots Reels Etc. appeared for sale in 1788, around the same time as city directories listed him as a “teacher of instrumental music” and “bell ringer,” probably for the main city church. He also composed a series of reels for the newly established Scots regiments around 1782. CAMPDERRÓS, JOSÉ DE (1742, BARCELONA, TO 1812, SANTIAGO, CHILE). Catalonian-Chilean composer. Trained in music and ordained as a Franciscan priest in Spain, he embarked in 1774 from Cadíz for New Spain, becoming the chorusmaster at the main cathedral in Lima, Peru. In 1793 he was appointed as maestro di capilla at the cathedral in Santiago de Chile, where he remained the rest of his life. His music consists of 84 works, including eight Lamentations. It has been little explored or studied. CAMPION, CHARTER ANTOINE (16 NOVEMBER 1720, LUNÉVILLE, FRANCE, TO 12 APRIL 1788, FLORENCE). Also known as Carlo Antonio Campioni. French-Italian composer and organist. A student of Henri Desmarets, he was trained in Paris before obtaining a position as violinist at the court of Archduke Francesco Steffano of Tuscany in Florence in 1737. He also studied under Giuseppe Tartini. In 1752 he was maestro di cappella at the cathedral in Livorno, and in 1761 he spent a year in Paris overseeing the publication of trio sonatas. By 1763 he was appointed a maestro di cappella at the Florence duomo. Although mostly forgotten today, he was considered as the model of correct composition by Thomas Jefferson, who wrote out a thematic catalog of his music (still unpublished). His surviving
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works include two Masses, a Requiem, 12 duets for violins or violin/cello, 46 trio sonatas, and six violin sonatas, in addition to other sacred works. CAMPIONI, CARLO ANTONIO. See CAMPION, CHARTER ANTOINE. CANDEILLE, AMÉLIE-JULIE (30 JULY 1767, PARIS, TO 4 FEBRUARY 1834, PARIS). French polymath. Born in the parish of Saint-Sulpice, she was the daughter of Pierre-Joseph Candeille. Her first public performance as a keyboardist was at the age of 5, and she received accolades thereafter from Louis XVI and the composer Christoph Willibald von Gluck. In 1779 she debuted at the Opéra as a soprano, joining the troupe permanently three years later. Her pre-Revolutionary career proceeded along a dual path as a keyboard soloist and singer, and in 1790 she became an actress in Jacques Marie Boutet de Monvel’s celebrated theatrical company. During the French Revolution she was a favorite actress at the Théâtre de la République, retiring in 1796 to write literature. She continued to write and perform throughout the Napoleonic era and after, eventually moving to Nîmes in 1819. She returned to Paris in 1833, where she died a year later. Famed as a performer and composer, Candeille wrote no fewer than nine sonatas for piano; a well-received piano concerto and another sinfonia concertante for piano, flute, and horn; a number of smaller chamber works and piano fantasies; an opera, Catherine, ou la Belle Fermière (1792, text and music); and an opéra comique, Ida (1803). CANDEILLE, PIERRE-JOSEPH (8 DECEMBER 1744, ESTAIRES, FRANCE, TO 24 APRIL 1827, CHANTILLY, FRANCE). French composer and singer. He received his earliest musical education at the church of St. Pierre in Lille, and by 1767 he was employed at the Opéra in Paris as a baritone. Following his debut at the Concerts spirituels two years later, he became an important musician in the French capital, even, according to his daughter Amélie-Julie Candeille, spending time in Germany on tour. Following the successful performance of his first symphony in 1784, Candeille devoted himself to musical composition, although his operas, with the exception of Castor et Pollux of 1791, were regarded as failures. In 1800 he returned to the Opéra as chorusmaster, retiring in 1805 to Chantilly. Although he had mixed success as a composer, he was regarded highly in Paris throughout the last decades of the 18th century and first years of the 19th. His musical style was considered similar to François-Joseph Gossec and other contemporaries. His works, little studied, consist of 20 operas; a number of ballets, motets, and other smaller sacred works (all lost); a Mass; a Magnificat; a Revolutionary hymn; and four symphonies.
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CANNABICH, CARL AUGUST (bap. 11 OCTOBER 1771, MANNHEIM, GERMANY, TO 1 MAY 1806, MUNICH). The son of Christian Cannabich, he was trained by his father and Franz Joseph Eck. In 1788 he was a substitute in the court orchestra in Munich, assuming a professional position in 1794. In 1796 he moved to Frankfurt am Main as a conductor but returned as his father’s successor to Munich two years later. He remained there until 1805, when he undertook a trip to Paris that undermined his health. As a composer, he was a popular figure during his lifetime, although his musical reputation was largely ignored thereafter. His works are often colorful, with good orchestration and inventive harmonies. His music, little studied, consists of four operas; two large cantatas, including a monumental piece in honor of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; numerous canzonetts and other works for vocal quartet, trio, and duet; five violin concertos; two symphonies; and several chamber works. CANNABICH, [JOHANN] CHRISTIAN INNOCENZ BONAVENTURA (bap. 28 DECEMBER 1731, MANNHEIM, TO 20 JANUARY 1798, FRANKFURT AM MAIN). German composer, violinist, and Kapellmeister. The son of the private music tutor for the Elector of the Palatinate, he began his formal study of violin under Johann Stamitz and at the Jesuit Gymnasium and Music Seminar in Mannheim. At the age of 12 he was appointed as a scholar with the Mannheim orchestra, receiving full employment in the violin section in 1746. In 1750 Elector Carl Theodor sent Cannabich to Rome to study under Niccolò Jommelli, after which he followed his teacher to Stuttgart as a violinist. In 1756 he returned to Italy, this time to Milan, where he took lessons from Giovanni Battista Sammartini. Upon the death of Stamitz, Cannabich returned to Mannheim where he was appointed first violin, later becoming Konzertmeister. He became a friend of the Duke of Zweibrücken, who introduced him to Parisian musical circles in 1764; Cannabich returned to Paris several times over the next years, both to perform at the Concerts spirituels and to publish his music. In 1778 he followed the Electoral court to Munich, where he spent the remainder of his life and career. Cannabich was one of the most important composers of the second generation in Mannheim. He composed prolifically, in particular for ballets that were created by choreographer Étienne Lauchery during the 1760s. He was admired internationally, particularly by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with whom he was a close friend. His musical style has clear-cut themes, harmonic progressions, and formal structures that are all hallmarks of the Classical style of the period. His ballets are particularly adept for dancing, while his duodramas such as Elektra of 1777 show a dramatic flair in his music. He wrote well over 200 works, including at least 75 symphonies (and perhaps
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as many as 90), 40 ballets, two operas, two duodramas, 18 duets (flute/violin or violin/viola), 30 violin sonatas, 16 concertos or sinfonia concertantes, 12 string quartets, six piano trios, six flute quartets, and a number of works for the keyboard. See also STAMITZ, ANTON; STAMITZ, CARL PHILIPP. CANNOBIO, CARLO (1741, VENICE, TO 7 MARCH 1822, ST. PETERSBURG). Italian violinist and composer. Little is known of his early training, save that his first employment was in opera orchestras in Venice and in Spain. In 1770 he entered into a music publishing partnership with Luigi Marescalchi. By 1773 he was active at the Teatro San Samuele in Venice composing ballets choreographed by Onorato Viganò, whose son Salvatore Viganò was to become his student. In 1779 he was offered a position as violinist at the Imperial Theatre in St. Petersburg. There in 1790 he collaborated with Vasily Paskevich and Giuseppe Sarti on an opera, Nachal’noye pravleniye Olega, to a text by Catherine II. Considered one of the most important violinists in Russia, his music reflects late 18th-century Italian styles. Surviving works include two operas, 13 ballets, six sonatas for guitar and violin, six duets for flute and violin, and around 11 symphonies, of which only two or three survive. CANTADA. Used in New Spain to indicate the expansion of the estribillo of a villancico through the insertion of recitatives and often elaborate arias and choruses, all accompanied by orchestra. Sometimes excerpted as independent works on their own. Cantadas were composed by Santiago Billoni, Esteban Salas y Castro, and others. CANTATA. It is defined generally as a single work in several movements, most often alternating aria and recitative, with additional movements added according to the circumstances or occasion. The genre originated in the 17th century as a secular work created as an offshoot of opera seria. By 1700 the Kantate had come to define a sacred composition derived from the 17thcentury Gospel motet (Evangelienmotette), which included a combination of choruses, arias, and recitatives that included and often concluded with a chorale, as an exegesis of the sermon of the day or liturgical season. These were found in areas of Lutheran worship, particularly northern Europe. Although popular in the Baroque period with composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Philipp Telemann, and others, its use and function as a Protestant sacred composition declined during the Classical period, with few composers, such as Gottfried August Homilius and Johann Christoph Altnikol, continuing the tradition to any extent. These became more elaborate and longer, often including multiple choruses and large orchestras, until they
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became almost oratorio size. In Italy, the cantata was occasionally used in similar fashion as sacred music, but the bulk of the works were based upon miniature scenes and secular poetry, used as larger works for solo display. Texts by poets such as Pietro Metastasio include pastoral and idyllic imagery, amorous subject matter, and often highly descriptive music, set by composers throughout Europe, from Joseph Martin Kraus in Sweden to Francesco Azzopardi in Malta; these usually consist of two arias and two recitatives, although other movements such as an instrumental introduction could be added. Cantatas could also be in local languages, even as they conformed to this structural model. The occasional cantata, however, was most often a large-scale celebratory work commissioned on special occasions, such as weddings, military victories, or funerals of prominent personages, such as rulers or royal visitors. These are often divided into two parts with laudatory or didactic texts and set with music that reflects the particular occasion and always in the vernacular. Good examples of this are the Funeral Cantata for Frederick the Great by Johann Friedrich Reichardt or the Funeral Cantata for Joseph II and Coronation Cantata for Leopold II by Ludwig van Beethoven. These works mimic the oratorio in length and substance. During the final two decades of the century, a subgenre called the Piano Cantata was created for use in private homes or intimate social settings. Often through-composed with a succession of short airs and recitatives (and the occasional chorus), these had only the accompaniment of a keyboard. Such works were popular in England, particularly in sympathy with the royalists during the French Revolution but also elsewhere where social and intellectual circles exist, such as Stockholm. See also CANTATILLES. CANTATA CONCERTO. A French genre created for the Concerts spirituels that consists of an instrumental concerto that incorporates a chorus or choral movements. This hybrid genre may have been developed by JeanJacques de Mondonville and was written up through the works of JérômeJoseph de Momigny in the early 19th century. CANTATILLES. A series of arias or a miniature cantata usually inserted between the acts of French or Italian operas written in Paris during the period, similar to an intermezzo but without plot. These were also written by Parisian society composers as salon music during the period 1730–1789. CANZONETT. Also known as canzonette or canzonetta. Generally in the 18th century a short vocal work, sometimes scored for several voices and
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generally with keyboard accompaniment, of lyrical character and often containing a dance rhythm. It could also be a lyrical song. The term was popular in France and England, with composers such as Charles Burney or Thomas Arne writing numerous works for publication and performance, primarily in salons. Derived from and often identical with the canzone. CAPRANICA, MATTEO (26 AUGUST 1708, AMATRICE, ITALY, TO AFTER 1776, NAPLES). Italian composer and organist. His early studies were under Francesco Feo and Nicola Porpora at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio in Naples. After several years performing in various churches in the city, he achieved his first success with the opera buffa Il Carlo at the Teatro Nuovo in 1736. Thereafter he was appointed as organist at the duomo in Naples. His work clearly reflects the Neapolitan style of the time with good lyrical lines and simpler harmonies. These include nine operas, two oratorios, a cantata, a Dixis Dominus, a Salve Regina, two sonatas with violin, and six toccatas for harpsichord. CAPUA, MARCELLO DI. See BERNADINI, MARCELLO. CAPUA, RINALDO DA (ca. 1705, PROBABLY CAPUA, ITALY, TO ca. 1780, ROME). Also known as Rinaldo di Capua. Italian composer. Probably the son of a minor nobleman, according to Charles Burney; little is known of his youth or musical education, save that it was probably at one of the conservatories in Naples. He first appears in 1737 in Rome with the successful premiere of a comic opera, Ciro reconosciuto, which achieved international fame. In 1740 he traveled to Lisbon, where he remained for three years before returning to Rome to become part of Eustachio Bambini’s traveling troupe. Although his works were considered important exemplars of the Italian style and played a role in the Querelle des bouffons, his fame did not last and by 1770 he was living in reduced circumstances in Rome. He presumably passed away there. During his career, he also achieved some fame as a teacher, and his son, Marcello Bernadini, also became a composer. His contribution toward the development of the Classical style came mainly in the Sinfonia to his operas, where the structure tends toward contrasting themes in the expositions, as opposed to a simple binary structure. His music includes 40 operas, several oratorios, nine cantatas, and five symphonies, though much of his music has been lost or misattributed to other composers. See also RUST, GIACOMO; SORKOČEVIĆ, LUKA. CAPUZZI [CAPUCCI], GIUSEPPE AMBROSIO (1 AUGUST 1755, BREMO, ITALY, TO 28 MARCH 1818, BERGAMO, ITALY). Italian violinist and composer. At an early age he moved to Venice where he
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studied violin under Antonio Nazari and composition under Ferdinando Bertoni. By 1780 he was employed in various theatres around the city and in 1785 became a violinist at St. Mark’s. In 1792 he was appointed concertmaster at La Fenice theatre, and four years later undertook a tour of Vienna and London to display his talents. When the Venetian Republic was dissolved, he found another position at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo. Capuzzi can be reckoned as one of the most proficient violinists of the period. His concertos demonstrate a good sense of drama and technical display similar to Giovanni Battista Viotti. He was also one of the most proficient ballet composers of the last two decades of the century. His music includes five operas, 20 ballets, five violin and one contrabass concerto, two sinfonia concertantes for violins, 18 string quartets, six string quintets, six divertimentos, a sonata, and a number of sacred works. CARCANI, GIUSEPPE (1703, CREMA, ITALY, TO 31 JANUARY 1771, PIACENZA, ITALY). Italian composer and organist. He received his musical education in Venice, where in 1739 he became the successor to Johann Adolph Hasse at the Ospedale degli Incurabili. In 1744 he was appointed maestro di cappella at the cathedral in Piacenza, and in this position he was a favorite composer at the Bourbon courts there and in Parma. In 1760 he found a position at the Congregazione di Sant’Alessandro but in 1768 returned briefly to Venice at the request of Hasse. His music, mainly sacred works, was noted for its inventive harmony. These include eight operas, three secular cantatas, three oratorios, 35 motets, several other smaller sacred works, two symphonies, two sonatas (violin and flute), a concertino, and a quintet. His music has been little explored. CARCERES, ABRAHAM (ca. 1695, AMSTERDAM, TO ca. 1765, AMSTERDAM). Dutch composer. A member of the Portuguese-Jewish congregation, he probably received his early training in Amsterdam from local musicians. His first pieces, written for the synagogue there, appear in 1718, and by 1740 he was well known for his settings of the Talmud. His last work is a large cantata composed in 1765. His most famous composition is the cantata Le’el Elim, from 1738. CARI, GIOVANNI CARLO MARIA (27 SEPTEMBER 1677, PISA, ITALY, TO 16 MAY 1754, PISTOIA, ITALY). Italian maestro di capella and composer. Although Cari more properly belongs to the Baroque period in terms of his musical style and production, following his appointment in Pisa in 1736 he published sets of vocal duets and trios with continuo from 1740 to 1747 that conform to the new galant style. These combine lyrical melodies
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with careful counterpoint and were acknowledged by several generations of composers up through Luigi Cherubini. CARL THEODOR, ELECTOR OF THE PALATINATE AND BAVARIA (11 DECEMBER 1724, BRUSSELS, TO 16 FEBRUARY 1799, MUNICH). German ruler and patron of the arts. A member of the Wittelsbach branch of the Suzbach family, heir to several duchies and principalities in both the Netherlands and Germany, he was educated in Mannheim, where in 1742 he inherited the title of Elector. There he set about establishing the city as a center for the arts, hiring Johann Stamitz, Ignaz Holzbauer, and others to provide an orchestra without peer, as noted by Charles Burney. He also promoted opera, especially German works such as Holzbauer’s Günther von Schwarzburg, and arts education, primarily through the Jesuit Gymnasium and Music Seminar. In 1778 he moved with his court to Munich when he inherited the title of Elector of Bavaria. There in 1783 he was responsible for the founding of the German National Theatre. Styling himself as the “Prince of Peace,” Carl Theodor was an immensely cultured man who considered his legacy to be the promotion of drama, music, and art by hiring and producing works by the leading artists of the period. Under his leadership, the Mannheim orchestra was considered the best in Europe, continuing this reputation after the move to Munich. Works such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Idomeneo and innovative pedagogical institutions such as Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler’s Mannheimer Tonschule were created within the environment he fostered. See also ZONCA, GIOVANNI BATTISTA. CARO DE BOESI, JOSÉ ANTONIO (ca. 1740, CHACAO, VENEZUELA, TO 16 OCTOBER 1814, CUMANÁ, VENEZUELA). Venezuelan composer, singer, and guitarist. Little or nothing is known about his youth or education, although he was considered part of the Chacao School run by Padre Pedro Palacios y Sojo. In 1779 he composed a Requiem that figures as one of the earliest large-scale pieces of church music in Caracas, where he was employed in the cathedral. He was arrested and executed in the massacre at Cumaná. His works include four Masses, a Tantum ergo (from 1781), and a gradual, apart from the Requiem. Little of his music, indicating a style similar to Joseph Haydn, has survived. CARPANI, GAETANO (1692, ROME, TO 8 MARCH 1785, ROME). Italian composer and teacher. A student of Orazio Benevoli and Alessandro Scarlatti, he obtained a permanent post at the Chiesa del Gesù around 1715, where he remained his entire life, receiving some acclaim as Cardinal Albani’s favorite composer. His music, with the exception of two opera buffas,
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remains the best examples of church music in the stile antico. His music has been little studied, but surviving works include a Te Deum, three sacred arias, two offertories, seven motets, and an a cappella Mass. He is best known as the counterpoint teacher of Muzio Clementi and Giuseppe Jannacconi. CARR, BENJAMIN (12 SEPTEMBER 1768, LONDON, ENGLAND, TO 24 MAY 1831, PHILADELPHIA, UNITED STATES). American composer, publisher, and performer. He studied music with Charles Wesley Jr. and Samuel Arnold. Carr immigrated to the United States in 1793, where he worked as a singer (tenor) and musician at the Chestnut Street Theatre, making his debut the following year. He also established a business selling musical instruments and, eventually, as a publisher. He was choir director at the St. Augustine Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, as well as a founding member of the Musical Fund Society. His works include six stage pieces (operas, ballets), around 50 songs, a Federal Overture, 12 keyboard sonatas (as well as other keyboard works). He also regularly published music in journals and magazines for the public, including Carr’s Musical Miscellany. CARREÑO, AMBROSIO DE (11 DECEMBER 1721, CARACAS, VENEZUELA, TO ca. 1801, CARACAS). Venezuelan organist and composer, father of Cayetano Carreño. Trained by Jacobo de Miranda, he became a singer and organist at the Caracas cathedral, and in 1750 he was appointed maestro di capilla. He resigned this post in 1774 to take on responsibility for the Oratorio di San Felipe Neri, the main center of the Chacao School. His music includes several smaller sacred works. See also OLIVARES, JUAN MANUEL. CARREÑO, [JOSÉ] CAYETANO (7 AUGUST 1774, CARACAS, VENEZUELA, TO 4 MARCH 1838, CARACAS). Venezuelan composer and organist, son of Ambrosio de Carreño. He was educated by Juan Manuel Olivares and Padre Pedro Palacios y Sojo at the Academia de Música of the Chacao School. By the age of 15 he was employed as an organist at the Caracas cathedral, a position he maintained his entire life. His music includes homophonic style with expressive orchestration. Surviving works include two Masses and 10 motets, some substantial. His secular patriotic music has not survived. CARTELLIERI, ANTONIO CASIMIR (27 SEPTEMBER 1771, DANZIG, PRUSSIA, GERMANY [NOW GDAŃSK, POLAND], TO 2 SEPTEMBER 1807, LIEBESHAUSEN, BOHEMIA [NOW LIBČEVES, CZECH REPUBLIC). German-Polish composer. Cartellieri was born into a musical family, with his father an Italian and his mother Latvian. From them, both singers, he received his early musical training, later following his mother
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to Berlin when his parents divorced in 1785. In 1791 he became attached to the court of Polish Count Oborsky, and in his company Cartellieri divided his time between the count’s Polish estates and cities such as Berlin and Vienna. On a visit to the latter, he studied with Johann Georg Albrechtsberger and Antonio Salieri, as well as becoming a close friend of Ludwig van Beethoven. At a concert in 1795, he so impressed Prince Joseph Franz Maximilian Lobkowitz that he was invited to become a teacher and violinist in Bohemia, where he spent the remainder of his life. Cartellieri’s music is characterized by a good sense of orchestral color, as well as progressive harmony. Works include seven operas, two monodramas or dialogues, three oratorios, 11 Masses, three symphonies, five concertos, three wind partitas, and numerous other smaller sacred works. CARTIER, JEAN-BAPTISTE (28 MAY 1765, AVIGNON, FRANCE, TO 1841, PARIS). French violinist and composer. Son of a dancing master, he moved to Paris in 1783 to study violin with Giovanni Battista Viotti, eventually becoming one of his best students known for brilliant technique. In 1788 he was appointed accompanist to Marie Antoinette, and performed in the Opéra orchestra from 1791 until 1821, when he was pensioned. In 1797 he wrote a treatise, L’art du violon, dedicated to the new Conservatoire, although he was never offered a position on its faculty. He also served both the Napoleonic and Bourbon courts. Although he wrote at least two operas and several symphonies, his published music (14 sets) remains focused upon sonatas, variations, and smaller pieces for his instrument. CARULLI, FERDINANDO MARIA MEINRADO FREANCESCO PASCALE ROSARIO (9 FEBRUARY 1770, NAPLES, TO 17 FEBRUARY 1841, PARIS). Italian guitarist and composer. Although the bulk of his over 400 compositions, most featuring the guitar, were written and published after 1800, he began his career as a student in Naples on the cello, being trained by local musicians. By 1795 he had switched over to guitar and begun a career as a solo performer on this instrument, traveling throughout Europe. He expanded the technical side of performance, although many of his works, especially the concertos, reflect his own fascination with the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Haydn, who he imitated. The result is that the music tends to be diatonic, though with an expanded range and technique of the guitar. More properly, his works must be seen as transitionary between the Classical and Romantic periods, belonging more to the society of the latter than the former. CARUSO, LUIGI (25 SEPTEMBER 1754, NAPLES, TO 15 NOVEMBER 1823, PERUGIA, ITALY). Italian composer. Caruso was educated at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in Naples under Nicola Sala. In
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1773, the debut of his opera Il barone di Trocchia during the Carnival led to commissions throughout Italy for operas, mainly buffa. By 1786, however, he obtained permanent employment at the San Lorenzo Church in Perugia, where he remained save for a two-year sojourn in Urbini beginning in 1808. He was well traveled throughout Europe, but he never achieved the same fame as his colleagues Domenico Cimarosa or Giovanni Paisiello, whose musical style he imitated. His works include 64 operas, six oratorios, six secular cantatas, 12 sets of dances, a symphony, and a sonata for organ. CARVALHO, JOÃO DE SOUSA (22 FEBRUARY 1745, ESTREMOZ, PORTUGAL, TO ca. 1799, ALENTEJO, PORTUGAL). Portuguese composer. Following early study of music at the Colégio dos Santos Reis Magos in Vila Viçosa, he was admitted to the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio in Naples, where he came into contact with leading opera composers of the Neapolitan theatres. In 1766 his opera Nitteti was performed in Rome with great success, but the following year he returned to Portugal to become the Mestre-de-capela at the Irmandale de Santa Cecilia and professor at the Seminário de Patriarcal, where his students included António Leal Moreira and Marcos António de Fonseca Portugal. In 1778 he succeeded Davide Perez as the music teacher for the royal family. He retired in 1798 a very wealthy man. His surviving compositions are few but include 15 operas, an oratorio, a secular cantata, six Masses, four Te Deums, vespers, a modhina, and two keyboard sonatas. His operatic style is reminiscent of Niccolò Jommelli, with whom he is often compared. See also BALDI, JOÃO. CASALI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (1715, ROME, TO 6 JULY 1772, ROME). Italian composer and organist. Trained in Bologna under Padre Giovanni Battista Martini, he became assistant at the church of St. John Lateran in Rome in 1759, later becoming maestro di cappella. While he remained there the rest of his life, he also functioned in the same post at the church of Santa Maria in Vallicella. Casali was noted for his adroit writing of a cappella church music, even though he also indulged in larger orchestral settings. His works include nine operas, 12 oratorios, 25 Masses, 150 antiphons, 60 Psalms, 10 graduals, 90 offertories, 10 Magnificats, 43 introits, 20 motets, and numerous other smaller sacred works. CASANOVES, PADRE NARCÍS (17 FEBRUARY 1747, SABADELL, NEAR BARCELONA, TO 1 APRIL 1799, VIÑA-VIEJA, NEAR MONSERRAT, CATALONIA). Catalan monastic composer and organist. As a child, he was educated in the monastery of Monserrat, where in 1763 he became a novice and a few years later a Benedictine monk. His position his entire career was as teacher in the monastery school and organist alongside his colleague Anselm Viola. He left about 50 compositions, almost all of
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which are smaller sacred works or organ pieces, although there exist five Masses. The Christmas responsories are particularly intricate, although the style is somewhat conservative. CASSATIO, CASSATION. See DIVERTIMENTO. CASTELLANOS, RAFAEL ANTONIO (ca. 1728, PROBABLY ANTIGUA, GUATEMALA, TO 1791, GUATEMALA CITY). Guatemalan composer and organist. Little is known of his youth or family, save that he was an assistant to his uncle, Manuel José de Quiroz, at the Antigua cathedral from 1745 to 1765. Thereafter he was appointed maestro di capilla at the main cathedral in Guatemala City, where he raised the standard of the music to a degree that competed with other centers in New Spain, such as Mexico City. He also taught music at the Colegio de Seises along with his sister. By 1784 his health began to fail. He was known for his elegant, if simple, harmonies and lyrical lines whose rhythms conform to the linguistic patterns of Spanish, Quiche Mayan, and other indigenous languages of the region. His music includes 10 motets, as well as around 160 villancicos, few of which were known outside the immediate neighboring provinces. CASTRATO. A high male voice, generally in the soprano or mezzo-soprano range that was created by castrating young boys before they reached puberty in order to preserve their high voices. The practice was almost entirely Italian, but, if the operation and subsequent training was successful, those who underwent it were often the most valued singers, primarily of Italian opera seria, who also took stage names. The most famous castrato of the age was Carlo Broschi/Farinelli, whose vocal prowess was considered the height of artistic achievement, both in Italy and in London. They excelled in major roles of Greek and Roman royalty or heroes, though beginning around 1740 their numbers (and, subsequently, popularity) began to decline, as fewer male vocalists considered undergoing the necessary operation. The voice type was powerful and flexible, and as physiognomy developed, they had tremendous sustaining power. Virtually all opera serias of the period used castratos, but the best known today are those by Johann Adolph Hasse and the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Lucio Silla, Idomeneo, La clemenza di Tito). In modern revivals, the parts are either sung by well-trained countertenors or women in cross-gender roles. CATCH. A puzzle canon or round generally with two or more voices popular in 18th-century English or English-speaking regions. Often, the poetry is benign in content, but when certain words of the text are combined in canon
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with others, a secondary, frequently obscene, subtext occurs. Usually these were performed at gentlemen’s clubs or single-gender singing societies. CATHERINE II, EMPRESS OF RUSSIA [YEKATERINA II VELIKAYA, SOPHIE FREDERIKE AUGUSTE VON ANHALT-ZERBSTDORNBURG] (2 MAY 1729, STETTIN, GERMANY [NOW SZCZECIN, POLAND], TO 17 NOVEMBER 1796, ST. PETERSBURG). Also called “Catherine the Great,” monarch and librettist. Born into a family of German nobility, she was chosen to be the consort of the future Czar Peter by Empress Elizabeth of Russia in 1744. Her reign as empress (czarina) began in 1762 and made her one of the most powerful political figures in Europe during the 18th century. Her focus on the arts made St. Petersburg a destination for composers and performers. In terms of opera, she employed some of the leading Italian composers of the age, including Tommaso Traetta, Domenico Cimarosa, Giuseppe Sarti, and Giovanni Paisiello. In 1783 she established the Imperial Opera to perform Russian operas, for which she wrote nine librettos to be set by Vasily Pashkevich, Dmitri Bortniansky and others. Although she did not write music, she was a significant national opera patroness of the period, similar to her cousin, Swedish king Gustav III. See also LOLLI, ANTONIO; ZUBOVA, MARIJA. CAVALIERI, CATERINA MAGDALENA JOSEPHA (18 MARCH 1755, VIENNA, TO 30 JUNE 1801, VIENNA). Austrian soprano. Following her debut in 1775 she became one of the leading sopranos in Vienna, equally adept at Italian and German opera. She is best known for her work with Antonio Salieri, her mentor, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. She had a strong, pleasant voice and was well known for her stamina on stage. CAVALLO, FORTUNATO FERDINANDO (ca. 1738, AUGSBURG, GERMANY, TO 1801, REGENSBURG, GERMANY). German composer. Born into a family of Italian parentage, he was educated at the Studenten Seminar in Augsburg before going to Regensburg for further education under Joseph Riepel. In 1770 he became Kapellmeister at the Regensburg cathedral, a post he held until his death. Although well regarded as a composer, his music was largely written for local consumption. At least 20 Masses, numerous symphonies, cantatas, and chamber music were all lost in the fire of 1809 that destroyed the cathedral musical archives. What survives, a Mass and a sacred aria, does not give an accurate picture of his musical endeavors. CECERE, CARLO (7 NOVEMBER 1706, GROTTOLE, ITALY, TO 15 FEBRUARY 1761, NAPLES). Italian composer, flautist, and violinist. Little is known about his early life or training, although he may have received
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education at one of the Neapolitan conservatories. He first appears as a composer of opera buffa in 1738, when his Lo secretista (to a text by Pietro Trinchera) was premiered successfully in Naples. His opera La tavernola abentorosa was censured in 1741 due to its satirical portrayal of monastic life, even though it was apparently written for a monastic audience. During this period he attained a reputation as an excellent contrapuntist and chamber musician. His main instrument was the violin, but he probably also played the flute, due to the focus of his music on that instrument. In addition to three operas, he wrote 25 duets for two flutes, concertos for one and two flutes, a mandolin concerto, and a double concerto for flute and violin. His style typifies the lyrical Neapolitan opera, with clear tunes and stable formal structures (mostly ritornello or binary). CENNICK, JOHN (12 DECEMBER 1718, READING, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, TO 4 JULY 1755, LONDON). English minister and composer. Although born an Anglican, he joined the Moravian Church in 1745 after leading a dissolute life. Thereafter he formed and led congregations throughout Western England and Ireland. He composed over 200 hymns for his parishioners, many of which were sung throughout the United Kingdom. His most famous publication was A Collection of Hymns (1749). CERUTI, ROQUE (ca. 1683, MILAN, TO 3 DECEMBER 1760, LIMA, PERU). Italo-Hispanic composer and organist. Born in Italy, he migrated to the Viceroyalty of Peru in New Spain in 1708 as a musician in the governor’s palace. By 1717 he was maestro di capilla at the Trujillo cathedral, and a decade later he obtained the same post at the Lima cathedral. He held this until his retirement in 1758 due to ill health. Much of his music conforms to the Italian Baroque style of Alessandro Scarlatti, but a number of his villancicos show that he was aware of the emerging galant in their lyricism and diatonic harmony. He often indicated indigenous instruments as accompaniments, creating in effect a unique orchestra. His music includes two Masses, a Magnificat, a Psalm, a jácara, and 38 villancicos or cantadas. See also OREJÓN Y APARICIO, JOSÉ DE. CERVELLINI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (1735, CENEDA, ITALY, TO 1801, CENEDA). Italian composer and organist. Little is known of his life or education, save that he may have studied in Bologna with Padre Giovanni Battista Martini. By 1752 he was appointed to the only position he held during his life as organist at the Ceneda cathedral. There he composed a large number of sacred and solo organ works, almost none of which have been studied. His brother Giuseppe Cervellini was also a composer.
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CERVELLINI, GIUSEPPE (1745, CENEDA, ITALY, TO 1824, CIVIDALE DEL FRIULI, ITALY). Italian composer. Following studies with his brother Giovanni Cervellini in Ceneda, he traveled to Bologna to continue his education under Padre Giovanni Battista Martini. In 1765 he had obtained the post of organist at the Cividale del Friuli Church. By 1780 he moved to Salzburg, but two years later he was appointed organist and composer at the court of Stanislaw II in Warsaw. He returned to Italy in 1805 to become organist at the Trieste cathedral and to teach at the conservatory there. Like his brother, his music has been little studied, although a number of sacred works and an opera (1799) exist. CHABRAN, CHARLES. See CHIABRANO, CARLO. CHABRAN, FELIX. See CHIABRANO, FELICE FRANCESCO. CHACAO SCHOOL. A literal school of music and music composition founded in Caracas, New Spain (now Venezuela), by Padre Pedro Palacios y Sojo in 1783 to serve a rapidly developing musical establishment. Public concerts in the city had begun in 1767, and by this time the need for locally trained musicians and composers was crucial. Local musicians such as José Angel Lamas, Juan Manuel Olivares, José Antonio Caro di Boesi, and Pedro Nolasco Colón were involved, though the focus was on church music. The school fell victim to the War for Independence that began in 1811. CHAMPEIN, STANISLAUS (19 NOVEMBER 1753, MARSEILLES, FRANCE, TO 19 SEPTEMBER 1830, PARIS). French composer and singer. Following early training as a chorister in Pignon, he left for Paris in 1776 to perform at the Opéra, becoming a member of the cast in 1779. During the French Revolution he performed at the Théâtre Feydeau and rejoined the Opéra around 1800. A popular tenor, he also wrote 66 operas, most of the comic variety. In addition, he wrote several Revolutionary hymns and part songs. CHANDLER, SOLOMON (17 JANUARY 1756, ENFIELD, CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES, TO 1827, CATSKILL, NEW YORK). American psalmodist. After early training in mercantile business, in 1792 he arrived in Arminian, New York, where he ran a hotel and a number of shops. Self-taught, he composed about 12 works. CHARKE, RICHARD (ca. 1709, LONDON, TO ca. 1738, JAMAICA). English singer, violinist, and composer. Although born in London, little is
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known about his education. He first appears in 1729 as the leader of the orchestra at the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane run by playwright Colley Cibber. Prior to that he was allegedly a dancing master, though he may have functioned in a private capacity. This year he also began to appear on stage in ballad opera, achieving some fame as a baritone in Henry Carey’s The Contrivances. He collaborated with Thomas Arne on the pantomime called Harlequin Restored, or The Country Revels in 1732 and two years later had his own work, The Festival, performed with reasonable success at Drury Lane. During this decade he also wrote some of the earliest examples of the medley overture, which were performed frequently through the 1740s. Although married to Cibber’s daughter Charlotte, Charke was profligate, earning a reputation as a womanizer and gambler. Eventually his debts became overwhelming, and in 1736 he fled to the colony of Jamaica to avoid debtor’s prison. He died there, probably in early 1738. His musical style is simple and tuneful, consistent with the popular ballad opera songs. He contributed to numerous pastiche works, such as The Lover’s Opera and The Humours of Oxford (1730). CHARPENTIER, JACQUES-MARIE BEAUVARLET (31 JULY 1766, LYONS, FRANCE, TO 7 SEPTEMBER 1834, PARIS). French composer. Son of Jean-Jacques Charpentier, he received his earliest musical education from his father. He moved with his family to Paris in 1771, where he eventually became known as a teacher. In 1797 he was organist at the church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. The bulk of his music dates after 1800 and thus conforms to the early 19th-century styles. But during the French Revolution he was known for writing dramatic scenes, including the 1791 Victoire de l’Armée d’Italie. CHARPENTIER, JEAN-JACQUES BEAUVARLET (28 JUNE 1734, ABBEVILLE, FRANCE, TO 6 MAY 1794, PARIS). French composer and organist, father of Jacques-Marie Charpentier. Himself the son of an organ builder, he moved to Lyons in 1750, eventually attending the Académie des beaux arts in 1763. His first position was with the Hospice de la charité, but in 1771 he moved to Paris to become organist at the St. Victor Abbey. In 1783 he became organist at Nôtre Dame Cathedral. Charpentier can be considered one of the most important organists of the period, producing in 1784 the Journal d’orgue, a compendium containing scores of hymns, Masses, preludes, and other works for daily use. He also wrote two organ concertos, six keyboard sonatas, 18 violin sonatas, three Magnificats, an Organ Mass, two keyboard concertos, 12 carols (Noëls), and numerous Recueils d’ airs.
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CHELLERI, FORTUNATO (MAY 1686, PARMA, ITALY, TO 11 DECEMBER 1775, KASSEL, GERMANY). Italian composer. Following studies under Francesco Bassani in Piacenza, he was offered employment in Spain in 1710. By 1723, however, he had moved to Würzburg and in 1725 became a violinist at the court of Count Karl of Hessen-Kassel. As tutor to the son of the count, he moved to Sweden in 1732 to serve Frederik I, but found the weather not to his liking, returning to Kassel in 1734. During the later years of his life, he became a court counselor. Although the bulk of his music reflects Baroque practice, works written after 1732 begin to show early galant forms, structures, and genres. These include an oratorio, six symphonies, and six keyboard sonatas. He can be considered one of the earliest composers of the 18th-century symphony. See also AGRELL, JOHAN JOACHIM; HÖPKIN, ARVID NICLAS FRIHERR VON. CHERUBINI, [MARIA] LUIGI [CARLO ZENOBIO SALVATORE] (8 SEPTEMBER 1760, FLORENCE, ITALY, TO 15 MARCH 1842, PARIS). Italian-French composer of opera. The son of a keyboard player and teacher, he showed considerable talent for music from an early age. In 1773 he was sent to Bologna to study music, and in 1778 he went on to Milan, where his teachers included Giuseppe Sarti. By 1782 he had begun to compose opera seria, generally following models established by Niccolò Jommelli and Antonio Sacchini. A successful comic opera performance in Venice in 1783 led to commissions throughout Italy, and in 1785 he was invited to write an opera for the King’s Theatre in London. Upon the recommendation of Giovanni Battista Viotti, he was presented at court in Paris and received a commission for a French opera, Démophon, which was successfully premiered at the Opéra in 1788. At that time, Cherubini decided to make Paris his permanent home, being appointed director of the Théâtre de Monsieur (later the Théâtre Feydeau) the following year. During the French Revolution, his rescue operas became popular favorites, and in 1805 Napoleon appointed him music director in Vienna, where he came into contact with Ludwig van Beethoven. His popularity as a composer waned after Napoleon’s defeat, and in 1822 he became director of the Conservatoire, where he helped a number of composers, such as Daniel Esprit Auber and Hector Berlioz, to launch their careers. As a composer, his early works reflect the styles of Italian opera of the period, but his French works, beginning with Lodoïska in 1791, were characterized by adventurous harmony, extreme musical drama, and expressive orchestration. His fame as an opera composer peaked with Les deux journées in 1800, a subject that had a profound influence on Beethoven’s Fidelio. Though he continued to write a considerable amount of music after 1800 in the
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19th-century style, his early works reflecting Classical period forms and structures include five Masses, 38 hymns, a Revolutionary hymn, and 24 operas. He and other composers in Paris also contributed to a comédie mêlée des ariettes titled Les congrès des rois in 1794. See also DELLA MARIA, ANTOINE. CHIABRANO, CARLO (9 FEBRUARY 1725, TURIN, ITALY, TO ca. 1790, PROBABLY PARIS). Also known as Charles Chabran. ItalianEnglish violinist and composer. Son of violinist Giovanni Nicola Chiabrani (1686–1776), he was trained by his father and at the age of 10 was already active in the orchestra in Turin. In 1752 he was appointed as a contrabass player, but in 1755 he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels as a violinist, known for his brilliant technique. By 1784 he appeared in London with his brother Gaetano Chaibrano, becoming known by his English name as a teacher and performer at the Concerts of Ancient Music. Although he disappeared from the London musical scene shortly thereafter, he moved to Paris, where his students included Edouard Du Puy. He is presumed to have died during the French Revolution. His compositional fame rests upon 44 violin sonatas published in London and Paris during the 1780s, but he is alleged to have written concertos for his instrument as well. CHIABRANO, FELICE FRANCESCO (6 MARCH 1756, LONDON, TO 1 MARCH 1829, LONDON). Also known as Felix Chabran. English violinist and composer. Possibly the son of Gaetano Chiabrano, he was active as a violinist at the Italian Opera in London around 1782. By 1798 he had become a governor in the Royal Society of Musicians, a position that he retained his entire life. Although he composed a fair amount of music, his greatest work is a treatise, New Tutor for the Harp and Spanish Guitar, published in 1813, as well as a set of violin duos and several solos. CHIABRANO, GAETANO (12 FEBRUARY 1723, TURIN, ITALY, TO ca. 1790, LONDON). Italian-English violoncellist and composer. Son of Giovanni Nicola Chiabrani and brother of Carlo Chiabrano, he was trained by his father, entering the court orchestra in Turin in 1737. By 1751 he had performed at the Concerts spirituels in Paris, moving on to London the following year, where he was a well-respected performer and teacher. It is known that he was active up through 1782, and he presumably remained in London his entire life thereafter. His surviving music consists of a set of six violin sonatas in the galant style. CHIARINI, PIETRO (ca. 1717, BRESCIA, ITALY, TO ca. 1765, CREMONA, ITALY). Italian composer. Nothing is known of his life or education, save that he appears as an opera composer in 1738 in Venice, with suc-
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cess allowing for commissions throughout Italy for the next decade. In 1754 he was listed as a violinist in Cremona, and two years later was appointed maestro di cappella. He disappears around 1765. His only known compositions are 16 operas, some buffa that show a lively sense of rhythm, although the compositional style seems derivative. CHIESA, MELCHIORE (ca. 1725, PROBABLY FLORENCE, ITALY, TO ca. 1805, MILAN). Italian harpsichordist and composer. Nothing is known about his origins or training. His first appearance as a composer is in Milan in 1758, when he performed a motet in Milan, and in 1762 he was appointed as maestro di cappella at the church of Santa Maria della Scala. In 1778 he functioned as first harpsichordist for the Milanese opera along with Giovanni Lampugnani, and in 1799 he applied for the post of maestro di cappella at the main cathedral. His music was praised by Charles Burney, but little of it has survived. He composed a number of operas (all lost), and his fame rests upon two symphonies, a flute concerto, 12 trio sonatas, and a sonata for dulcimer and keyboard. He also wrote numerous pieces of sacred music, which remain unexplored. CHILCOT, THOMAS (ca. 1700, BATH, ENGLAND, TO 24 NOVEMBER 1766, BATH). English composer and organist. A pupil of Josiah Priest, he succeeded his teacher as organist at the main church in Bath in 1725. Throughout the remainder of his life he was a successful musician and active participant in the musical life of the city. His music reflects the influences of George Frederick Handel but also looks forward to the galant in some of the movements. His most important student was Thomas Linley Sr. His music consists of four anthems, 12 concertos, 12 English songs, and six Lessons for keyboard. CHIODI, BUONO GIUSEPPE (20 JANUARY 1728, SALÒ, LOMBARDY, ITALY, TO 7 SEPTEMBER 1783, SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, SPAIN). Italian-Spanish composer. Little is known of his youth or training, but he was ordained a priest and served at the Bergamo cathedral before being offered the post of maestro di capilla in Santiago de Compostela in 1769. His music has been little studied, but he was a prolific composer. His works include two operas, 14 Masses, 27 motets, 90 Psalms, 27 hymns, seven Lamentations, six Stabat maters, five Magnificats, and 320 villancicos. CHOURMOUZIOS CHARTOPHYLAX (1770, CHALKI, GREECE, TO 1840, CHALKI). Also known as Chourmouzios the Archivist. Greek singer and composer. A student of Gregorius of Crete and Petros Byzantios, he became a singer at the Second Patriarchal School in Constantinople, later
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becoming instrumental in the further development of 19th-century Byzantine chant. He wrote 21 Marian hymns before 1800, and over 34 volumes of liturgical music for the Greek Church. CHRISTADLER, PATER PLACIDUS [JOSEPH] (1709, WANGEN, ALLGÄU, BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG, GERMANY, TO 1767, OTTOBEUREN, BAVARIA). German monastic composer and organist. He came from a musical family, one of whose members, Pater Joseph Christadler (1687–1730), had become known as a composer at the Benedictine monastery of Ottobeuren. In 1724 he followed his uncle’s footsteps by being initiated into the order there, where he remained the rest of his life. He was known as both a builder and performer on the organ, having partially designed the Riepel organ for the monastery. He was better known as a teacher in the local monastic school, whose students included Franciscus Schnitzer. His compositions are largely unknown but include 37 offertories and a litany. The style is mostly homophonic, with little attention to counterpoint. CHRISTEN, PATER MAURUS (1747, PROBABLY NEAR ST. GALL, SWITZERLAND, TO 1812, ST. GALL). Swiss monastic composer. Nothing is known of his life or education, save that he was a monk in the Benedictine monastery of St. Gall and a minor composer. His works include a Mass, six sacred songs in both Latin and German, eight marches, and 17 movements for trumpets and timpani, probably processional music. CHUDY, JÓSZEF (14 JUNE 1753, POZSONY, HUNGARY [NOW BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA], TO 4 MARCH 1813, BUDAPEST). Hungarian composer and conductor. Trained locally, he was appointed as conductor of the theatrical troupe of Count Erdődy in 1785, moving to Budapest. He is credited both with the first performance of a Mozart opera in that city (Die Entführung aus dem Serail, 1785) and with writing the first Hungarian opera, a Singspiel titled Pikkó Herzeg es Jutka Perszi in 1795. His other music has been little studied. CIAMPI, FRANCESCO (1690, PISA, ITALY, TO ca. 1764, ROME). Italian composer and violinist. His training was probably in either Florence or Bologna, and in 1719 he was elected to the Accademia filarmonica. At that time he was maestro di cappella to Duke Massa Alderamo Cybo-Malaspina. In 1735 he became maestro di cappella at the church of Sant’Angelo Custode in Rome, and over the next several years also performed the same office in several other Roman churches. His most successful opera, written in the
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galant style, was Demofoonte of 1735. His works include 10 operas, 11 oratorios, a Mass, a motet, and a Salve Regina. The relationship with Vincenzo Ciampi has not been determined. CIAMPI, VINCENZO LEGRENZO (2 APRIL 1719, PIACENZA, ITALY, TO 30 MARCH 1762, VENICE). Italian composer. He received his education in Naples at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini, where his teachers included Francesco Durante and Leonardo Leo. Following his initial success of an opera at Carnival, he received commissions from Rome and other Italian cities. In 1746 he moved to Palermo as harpsichordist at the theatre, following which he went to Venice as a teacher at the Osepdale degli Incurabili. His music reflects the Neapolitan style of his teachers. Works include 25 operas, four oratorios, a Mass, a Te Deum, a Salve Regina, six organ concertos, 12 trio sonatas, six other concertos, six violin sonatas, and six keyboard sonatas, as well as several organ works. The relationship with Francesco Ciampi has not been determined. CIMADOR, GIAMBATTISTA (1761, VENICE, TO 27 FEBRUARY 1805, BATH, ENGLAND). Italian-English composer, singer, and violinist. Of noble birth, he had his debut as a composer in Venice in 1789 with Aci e Cibele. In 1791 he moved to London, where he became well known as a singer. In 1794 he had a position in Bath as a violinist and editor of the journal The Open Music Warehouse. His music reflects late 18th-century styles. This includes three operas, two canzonetts, a contrabass concerto, a hornpipe for keyboard, and numerous arrangements of the works of others. CIMAROSA, DOMENICO (17 DECEMBER 1749, AVERSA, CAMPAGNA, ITALY, TO 11 JANUARY 1801, VENICE). Italian composer of opera. Born into poverty, his family sent him to Naples to be educated. There his musical talent was recognized by a priest, Padre Polcano, who arranged for him to attend the Conservatorio di Santa Maria de Loreto, where his teachers included Niccolò Piccinni and Antonio Sacchini. In 1772 he had his first success at the Teatro Fiorentini with a pair of operas, Le stravaganze de conte and Le magie de Merlina e Zoroastro. Thereafter, he became one of the most popular and successful composers of opera buffa, working in virtually all of the major cities in Italy, beginning with Rome. In 1779 he was appointed as organist at the Cappella Reale in Naples. His fame grew internationally, so that in 1788 Russian empress Catherine II called him to St. Petersburg to write opera for the court. In 1792, however, economic circumstances forced her to reduce her theatre personnel, and Cimarosa left to accept an invitation
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of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II to write for Vienna. Traveling to the Imperial capital, he sojourned in Warsaw, where he composed three operas, before continuing on to Vienna, where his opera Il matrimonio segreto was a stunning success. Upon his return to Naples, he joined with the opposition to the French occupation, eventually in 1799 being imprisoned and condemned to death. The sentence was commuted to banishment, and an intended return to St. Petersburg was thwarted by his death in Venice on his journey. It was suspected that he had been poisoned by rivals, but an inquest revealed no hint of foul play. Cimarosa was once of the most prolific composers of the Classical period in terms of opera buffa. He wrote almost 100 operas (mostly buffa but also including the late intermezzo), six oratorios, 17 Masses, 16 miscellaneous sacred works, 10 solo motets, two Requiems, 10 secular cantatas, eight duets, seven patriotic hymns, 88 keyboard sonatas, six string quartets, two symphonies, two concertos (one for harpsichord, one for two flutes), two sextets (including one with lyra organizzata), and several partimenti. His style is fluid and facile, with a special focus on lyricism. Cimarosa solidified the potpourri opera buffa overture as a sequence of non-sequitur material in a single movement. His most successful opera Il matrimonio segreto is still part of the standard repertory. See also NICOLINI, GIUSEPPE. CIRRI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (1 OCTOBER 1724, FORLÌ, ITALY, TO 11 JUNE 1808, FORLÌ). Italian composer and cellist. Brother of Ignazio Cirri, he studied under Padre Giovanni Battista Martini in Bologna. In 1739 he took Holy Orders and was elected to the Accademia filarmonica in 1759. Thereafter he embarked upon a tour of Europe, appearing with success at the Concerts spirituels in 1764, whereupon he was invited by the Duke of York to go to London. There he obtained a post with the Duke of Gloucester as director of music, but in 1780 he returned to Forlì to help his ailing brother. Although he spent a year as a cellist in Naples in 1782, he became his brother’s successor in 1787. As a composer, he was well regarded for his cheerful and lively music. Works include six symphonies, seven cello concertos (and two others for violin), a sextet, 18 string quartets, 12 trios, six duos, and 36 cello sonatas. CIRRI, IGNAZIO (20 SEPTEMBER 1711, FORLÌ, ITALY, TO 13 JULY 1787, FORLÌ). Italian composer and organist. His musical education was obtained locally, and in 1758 he took Holy Orders and was elected to the Accademia filarmonica. The following year he obtained the post as maestro di cappella at Forlì. Little has been done on his musical style or works; a number of sacred works exist, as do 12 organ sonatas and six violin sonatas.
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CLARER, PATER THEODOR (15 JUNE 1766, DORNDORF, NEAR ULM, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 18 JULY 1820, OTTOBEUREN, BAVARIA). German monastic composer. Following early studies at the Benedictine schools in Augsburg and Ottobeuren, he entered the monastery as a novice in 1785, being ordained in 1789. There he taught music and in 1801 became the master of the novices and regens chori. He was a promoter of music of earlier times, and his own works were sent to Michael Haydn, who praised them for their solid compositional foundations. Surviving music includes three Masses, three motets, a Magnificat, and a Lied. CLARI, GIOVANNI CARLO MARIA (27 SEPTEMBER 1677, PISA, TO 16 MAY 1754, PISA). Italian composer. He studied in Bologna under Giovanni Colonna, where he produced his first opera, Il savio delirante, in 1695. In 1703 he became maestro di cappella in Pistoia, and around 1724 moved to Pisa, where he remained his entire life. Although the bulk of his music adheres to the Baroque style, beginning in 1730 he began to publish sets of vocal duets and trios with continuo, which eventually numbered over 50. These were admired as the harbingers of the new Italian style and remained as models for composers such as Luigi Cherubini, who considered them the epitome of lyrical melody mingled with delicate counterpoint. George Frederick Handel too valued Clari’s sacred music highly, appropriating five pieces for his own 1750 oratorio Theodora. The bulk of the remaining music, including a substantial amount written for Pistoia, conforms more to the heavily contrapuntal Baroque style. CLEMENT, PATER JOHANN GEORG (1 APRIL 1710, FREUDENTHAL [NOW BRUINTÁL, CZECH REPUBLIC), TO 23 MAY 1794, BRESLAU [NOW WROCŁAW, POLAND]). German clerical composer. Trained in music at the Academia Leopoldina in Breslau, he became rector at the Sandkirche there in 1730. By 1745 he had become bishop at the cathedral, and shortly thereafter also functioned as regens chori at the Heilige Kreuzkirche. By 1755 he had become Kapellmeister at the main cathedral, as well as an important ecclesiastical figure in the city. A prolific composer of sacred music, he was often criticized for his lack of originality, even as his critics noted his excellent sense of counterpoint. His works include 35 Masses, 138 graduals, 64 offertories, nine litanies, two antiphons, 28 hymns, six responsories, seven German cantatas, seven German sacred arias, an oratorio, three Te Deums, 12 vespers, and 10 other miscellaneous sacred works. CLEMENTI, MUZIO (23 JANUARY 1752, ROME, TO 10 MARCH 1832, EVESHAM, WORCESTERSHIRE, ENGLAND). Italian-English composer, keyboardist, born Mutius Philipus Vicentius Franciscus Xaverius
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Clementi. A student of Antonio Borroni in Rome, he was brought to England in 1766 by William Beckford, who established him in Dorset. By 1774 he had moved to London, where he appeared frequently at the public concerts. By 1780 he embarked upon a tour of the European continent, performing before royalty and engaging in friendly competitions with colleagues such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. By 1783 he had returned to London, although in the next years he traveled to Paris, Switzerland, and Italy. In 1790 he had established himself in London, where he began a secondary career as a publisher and fortepiano builder, as well as a sought-after teacher. In 1802 he toured Europe to gain business for his enterprises, including signing Ludwig van Beethoven to publish that composer’s works. He retired in 1830. Clementi’s reputation has rested upon the sometimes harsh judgment of his peers, some of whom labeled him a “mechanicus” (Mozart), and on his graded keyboard works such as those found in The Art of Playing on the Piano Forte, published around 1800 and revised several times thereafter. He composed over 200 pieces for fortepiano, including almost 100 sonatas (with and without optional string accompaniment), as well as six symphonies, a piano concerto (and several others lost), an oratorio, as well as two canzonetts. His music is known by Op and WO numbers in the Tyson catalog. See also BERGER, LUDWIG; CARPANI, GAETANO; MONTGEROULT, HÉLÈNE. CLÉRY [DU VERGER], MARIE-ELIZABETH (ca. 1761, PARIS, TO ca. 1800, PARIS). French keyboardist, singer, and composer. Little is known of her life or training, save that she appeared on the music scene in Paris with a printed air in the Mercure de France in 1761, and in 1780 she appeared at the Concerts spirituels as a singer. She was then appointed harpist at the court of Marie Antoinette. She apparently escaped the French Revolution. Her music includes two Revolutionary odes, four sonatas for harp and violin, and a number of Recueils d’airs. COCCHI, GIAOCCHINO (ca. 1715, PADUA, ITALY, TO 1804, VENICE). Italian composer. Though little is known of his early training, he achieved his first success with the opera Adeleide in Rome in 1743. By 1750 he had become a popular composer in Naples, and further commissions throughout Italy led him to Venice, where he was offered the post of maestro di cappella at the Ospedale degli Incurabili. In 1757 he moved to England, where he remained for several years, but in 1773 he returned to his position in Venice. His music is little known, but he was a popular and prolific composer of operas, mainly buffa. Although there exist a number of sacred works, his fame rests upon his 48 operas.
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COCCIA, MARIA ROSA (4 JUNE 1759, ROME, TO NOVEMBER 1833, ROME). Italian composer and harpsichordist. Acclaimed a child prodigy who wrote her first oratorio at the age of 14 for the Oratorio San Felipe Neri, she received training from Sante Pesci at the Basilica Liberiana in Rome beginning in 1772. In 1775 she was awarded the title maestro di cappella of the Accademia Santa Cecilia in Rome by examination, and by 1779 she was so well regarded that she was admitted to the Accademia filarmonica in Bologna. Although her admittance to these institutions was questioned by Francesco Capalti, a published defense in 1780 included testimonials from Carlo Broschi/ Farinelli and Pietro Metastasio. Her music includes two oratorios, an opera, four Psalms, two cantatas, and six motets, but much has been lost. COELHO NETO, MARCOS (ca. 1740, VILA RICA DE ALBUQUERQUE (NOW OURO PRÊTO), BRAZIL, TO 22 OCTOBER 1806, VILA RICA). Brazilian composer. His early education and later occupations were in musical conservatories in Minas Gerais, namely, the Irmandade de São José dos Homens Pardos and the Irmandade de Nossa Senhora dos Mercês de Cibe. His works are often richly scored, reflecting an active musical establishment. Surviving compositions include three Masses, three litanies, three antiphons, and a large Credo. COFFEY [COBHTHAIGH], CHARLES (ca. 1690, PROBABLY NEAR LIMERICK, IRELAND, TO 13 MAY 1745, LONDON). Irish-English playwright. Best known for his 1731 ballad opera The Devil to Pay, which, although it failed at its first performance at Drury Lane Theatre in London, went on to become the most popular international work, being produced throughout Europe in local translations and being responsible for, among other things, the genesis of the German Singspiel. He was responsible for over a dozen ballad opera texts during his lifetime. COLASCIONE. See GALLICHONE. CÖLESTINE. An instrument invented around 1800 consisting of a threemanual combination of organ and glass harmonica. The inventor was a headmaster in the town of Bad Homburg, Germany, named Zinck, not to be confused with Bendix Friedrich Zinck, to whom the invention has been falsely attributed. COLIZZI [KAUCHLITZ], JOHANN ANDREAS (ca. 1740, GRUDIM, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 1808, THE HAGUE). Bohemian-Dutch composer, presumably of Italian origin. Little is known
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of his early life or training. He first appears at Leiden, where he defended a thesis in 1765. Active in the university musical life, he published his first works there, but by around 1772 he found a position in The Hague as teacher to Princess Louise of Orange. His music has been little studied, but it consists of an opera (lost), 12 concertos, 21 violin sonatas, six divertimentos, and 12 ariettes, almost all of which were published in the Netherlands. COLLA, GIUSEPPE (4 AUGUST 1731, PARMA, ITALY, TO 16 MARCH 1806, PARMA). Italian composer. Following studies in Bologna with Padre Giovanni Battista Martini, he was elected in 1758 to the Accademia filarmonica. In 1760 he moved to Germany but returned to his hometown of Parma in 1766 to become court musical director. In 1790 he was appointed as director of the Ducal Theatre. His music has been little studied but consists of 13 operas, two symphonies, five cantatas, three antiphons, an oratorio, and a bassoon concerto (lost). COLLETT, JOHN (ca. 1730, LONDON, TO 1775, EDINBURGH). English composer and violinist. It is not known who his parents were, although he was the son of either Robert or Thomas Collett, both of whom were active in the Royal Society of Musicians beginning in 1739. It is presumed that either or both trained him in music, for in 1757 he became a member of the society as well. The following year he published a series of “solos” (actually violin sonatas) as his Op. 1, and several years later a set of six “overtures” (recte symphonies) were published dedicated to Thomas Erskine, the Earl of Kelly. This presumes some connection, for in 1770 Collett moved to Aberdeen, Scotland, and a year later to Edinburgh, where he was active in the musical societies there. His orchestral music shows traces of the Mannheim style. These include an opera, five songs, six symphonies, two flute duets, and several sonatas or “solos.” COLÓN, PEDRO NOLASCO (ca. 1750, VALENCIA, VENEZUELA, TO ca. 1800, CARACAS, VENEZUELA). Venezuelan singer and composer. Born into a provincial family of musicians, he probably studied under Padre Pedro Palacios y Sojo and later taught at the Chacao School’s Academia de Música. Active as a church composer, his surviving music consists of nine motets, a lesson for the dead, and a villancico. COMÉDIE EN VAUDEVILLE. See OPÉRA COMIQUE. COMÉDIE LYRIQUE. Also called opéra lyrique. An 18th-century comedy of a much more classical and formal type, the analog to the tragédie lyrique.
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The form consists of the same sort of succession of choruses, recitatives, dances, and arias as the tragédie lyrique. An example is Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Platée. COMÉDIE MÊLÉE DES ARIETTES. A comic opera where the music is composed of various pre-extant popular tunes drawn mainly from other operas but which could also have several newly composed movements. An example is Le diable a quatre by Christoph Willibald von Gluck. See also OPÉRA COMIQUE. COMÉDIE PASTORALE. A comic opera with primarily a pastoral setting, generally involving bucolic subjects, usually with a plot that revolves around prodigal behavior or characters that are interpolated into strange settings, such as court. An example would be Ninette à la cour by Egidio Duni. See also OPÉRA COMIQUE. COMES [GOMEZ], PIETRO (1739, NAPLES, TO ca. 1755, NAPLES). Italian singer and composer. Possibly of Spanish parentage, he received his musical training at one of the conservatories in Naples. He held a position as maestro di cappella to the Duke of Castropignaro and was a professional singer at the Teatro alla Pace. Although he achieved some limited success with his seven operas, his musical style seems simplistic and derivative, probably due to the comparisons with better-trained colleagues. COMI, GAUDENZIO (ca. 1749, CIVITÀ VECCHIA, ITALY, TO ca. 1785, POSSIBLY PARIS). Italian composer. Nothing is known about his youth or training, save that he might have been a bassoonist who performed in London in 1771. By 1784, however, he had moved to Paris, where he published six sets of works in rapid succession. His music is similar to that of Giuseppe Cambini in its predictability and accessibility for popular audiences of the time. His music includes at least 18 symphonies, six duets for two horns and basso, and 12 trios. COMIC WAR. Known in German as Der komische Krieg. A polemic similar to the Querelle des bouffons between actor Heinrich Georg Koch and Leipzig University professor Johann Christoph Gottsched on the social effects and status of the German Singspiel. The controversy began with a performance of Der Teufel ist los in Leipzig on 6 October 1752 by Koch’s troupe, leading to a series of broadsides and public documents, the tone of which was often vociferous and perhaps even slanderous. It followed Gottsched’s condemnation of opera as a genre in his 1742 Der critische
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Dicktkunst. It ended in fall 1753 with a broadside penned by Johann C. Rust that smugly remarked that German opera was a permanent popular entertainment despite efforts to derail it and even though Gottsched won a lawsuit for slander against Koch. By 1766 when the Singspiel was revived by Johann Adam Hiller, its success had been assured in other towns throughout Germany, and only sporadic debate ensued, such as Christoph Martin Wieland’s 1775 Versuch über das deutsche Singspiel. COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE. Improvised street theatre from Italy with stock plots, characters, and situations, the equivalent of modern situation comedy. Characters include Arlecchino, Columbina, et al., portraying clueless lovers, clever servants, rich older men with lack of sense, and often elaborate ruses. These characters often reappear in 18th-century ballet and opera buffa. COMMEDIA IN (or PER) MUSICA. See OPERA BUFFA. COMPONIMENTO DA CAMERA (OR DRAMATICO OR PASTORALE). See AZIONE TEATRALE. COMPTA BATTLÉS, PEDRO ANTONIO (ca. 1770, GERONA, TO 1818, SEGOVIA, SPAIN). Spanish-Catalan composer and organist. Following early training at Gerona, he was appointed as maestro di capilla at the cathedral of Vic in 1791 and three years later offered the same post in Barcelona at the church of Santa María del Mar. Denounced for insufficient ability, he returned to Vic the same year, and subsequently worked at the main cathedral in Segovia. Little of his music has been studied, although he was considered a popular composer of his time. Works, almost all sacred, include four settings of the Lamentations. CONCERTMASTER. See KONZERTMEISTER. CONCERTS SPIRITUELS. The most famous 18th-century public concert series begun in 1725 in Paris. These were held first at the Salle des Cent Suisses in the Tuileries Palace, but in 1784 they were moved to the stage area of the Salle des Machines, a former opera house in the same location. In their last year, 1790, it occurred at a city theatre. The concerts generally started at six o’clock in the evening and were originally meant to provide entertainment during Lent and religious holidays when other entertainments were prohibited; it was a public venue initially run by Anne-Danican Philidor (1681–1728). The early years were characterized by a preponderance of sacred works and a tenuous economy. In 1734 the series was taken on by the
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Académie royale de musique, which used it to promote French music. By 1762, when it was taken on by Antoine Dauvergne, it had become profitable and a showplace for the debuts of composers and performers, both French and foreign. In 1773 the triumvirate of Simon LeDuc, François-Joseph Gossec, and Pierre Gaviniès ran the series, following which singer Joseph Legros took it on. It was finally closed in 1790 during the Revolution. The Concerts spirituels became the model for imitators throughout Europe, such as the Riddarhuskonserter in Stockholm founded in 1730. New talent and new genres, such as the sinfonia concertante were developed and made popular here, and it was the forerunner of the modern concert series in all respects. See also BALBASTRE, CLAUDE-BÉNINGE; BRÉVAL, JEANBAPTISTE SÉBASTIAN; BRUNI, ANTONIO BARTOLOMEO; CAMBINI, GIUSEPPE MARIA GIAOCCHINO; CANTATA CONCERTO; DESHAYES, PROSPER-DIDIER; DEVIENNE, FRANÇOIS; DUVERNOY, FRÉDÉRIC; PIANTANIDA, GIOVANNI; SINFONIA CONCERTANTE. CONFORTI, ANTONIO (1743, PIEDMONT, ITALY, TO ca. 1790, PROBABLY VIENNA). A pupil of Gaetano Pugnani, he was probably trained in Turin and sent on tour. By 1772 he had found a permanent position in Vienna, where Charles Burney commented on his style of playing. As a composer, he wrote mainly for his instrument, but the only works to have survived are two violin and two keyboard sonatas. CONFORTO, NICOLA (25 SEPTEMBER 1718, NAPLES, TO 17 MARCH 1793, ARAJUEZ, SPAIN). Spanish-Italian composer. Following musical education at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto under Francesco Mancini, he had his first success in Naples in 1746, followed by commissions from Rome. In 1755 he was named as the court composer in Madrid, a post he held until his death. His works all reflect the Neapolitan style of the time. These include 22 operas; nine Lamentations; a motet; a Miserere; 21 cantatas, arias, and duets; and two symphonies, as well as two organ toccatas. CONTI, GIACOMO (24 MAY 1754, MILAN, TO 24 JANUARY 1805, VIENNA). Italian violinist and composer. Little is known of his early training or career, save that he probably was trained by Milanese composers, perhaps Giovanni Andrea Fioroni. He first appears as a participant at a concert in Zürich in 1786, whereafter he left to serve in the orchestra of Prince Potemkin in St. Petersburg. After Potemkin’s death he moved to Vienna, where he was first violinist at the Italian opera and in 1796 became a member of the Hofkapelle. He also taught noble pupils, and on certain occasions
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after 1803 substituted for Antonio Salieri as orchestra leader. His playing was dismissed as perfunctory, and his musical compositions were noted for dry, technical passages and superficial content. These include three violin concertos, 12 violin sonatas, three trios, nine duos, a symphony, and several popular song arrangements. CONTI, NICOLA [NICCOLÒ] (ca. 1715, PROBABLY NAPLES, TO ca. 1760, PROBABLY NAPLES). Italian composer. His musical education was under Francesco Durante, but there is no record of his having attended one of the famed conservatories. In 1733 he was named a member of the court capella, and thereafter he seems to have functioned as maestro di cappella at a number of churches in the city. His surviving music shows that he was a careful and thoughtful composer, whose harmony and use of the voice was often praised as progressive. His works, little studied, include five operas, six oratorios, four cantatas, three Lamentations, 10 Lessons, and a number of smaller motets. COOKE, BENJAMIN (1734, LONDON, TO 14 SEPTEMBER 1793, LONDON). English composer and organist. Son of a well-known music publisher, Cooke received his musical education from Johann Pepusch, from whom he took over the directorship of the Academy of Ancient Music after Pepusch’s death in 1752. He later attended both Oxford and Cambridge universities, where he obtained doctorates in music. By 1760 he had been admitted as a member of the Royal Society of Musicians, and in 1762 he was appointed as organist at Westminster Abbey. A second appointment as organist at St. Martin’s in the Fields was made in 1782. Cooke was well regarded during his life as an organist and composer of glees, often winning prizes for his social works, such as the 1775 collection of Catches, Glees, and Canons. Although his style was deemed old-fashioned, he nonetheless was one of the major figures in English musical society of the time, influencing an entire generation of organists. His 1784 Ode to the Passions, an oratorio, owes much to George Frederick Handel in its conservatism. His compositions, which have been little studied, include 20 anthems, two complete Anglican services (one for Gibraltar), the aforementioned oratorio, and a large number of catches and keyboard works. Several organ concertos are also extant. CORBISIERI, ANTONIO (21 MAY 1720, MARZANO DI NOLA, ITALY, TO 7 JANUARY 1790, NAPLES). Italian composer and organist, brother of Francesco Corbisieri. His earliest musical education was at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in 1733. By 1749 he had a successful premiere of an opera buffa in Naples, but in 1754 he turned almost exclu-
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sively to sacred music as organist in several Neapolitan churches. His work reflects the Neapolitan style with good melodic lines and homophonic choruses. These include four operas, a concert aria, two oratorios, four Passions, and a large number of smaller sacred works. His music has been little studied. CORBISIERI, FRANCESCO (ca. 1733, MARZANO DI NOLA, ITALY, TO ca. 1802, NAPLES). Italian composer and organist. Brother of Antonio Corbisieri, he was trained at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini beginning in 1744. His teachers include Lorenzo Fago. In 1764 he obtained the post of organist at the Cappella Reale in Naples. By 1779 he was first organist and subsequently vice maestro di cappella. His works, little studied, include three operas, six Mass movements, four motets, two litanies, nine Psalms, and numerous sacred arias and organ works. CORDANS, BARTOLOMEO (12 MARCH 1698, VENICE, TO 14 MAY 1757, UDINE, ITALY). Italian organist and composer. Although he initially began his career intending to become a Franciscan monk, he abandoned this in 1724 to study music. In 1733 he became maestro di coro at several of the Ospedales, a position that allowed him to obtain the post of maestro di cappella at the cathedral in Udine in 1735. Although much of his early music reflects Baroque practice, his five operas and 24 violin sonatas (as well as a considerable amount of late sacred music) reflect a more modern style. His music, however, has been little studied. CORFE, JOSEPH (bap. 9 FEBRUARY 1740, LONDON, TO 29 JULY 1820, LONDON). English singer and organist. In 1752 he was a chorister and by 1783 had been appointed as a singer and Gentleman of the Royal Chapel. In 1792 he left London for a post as organist in Salisbury, where he remained until 1804. He is best known for his treatise on singing, but left few musical compositions. These include only glees, songs, and several anthems. CORRI, DOMENICO (4 OCTOBER 1746, ROME, TO 22 MAY 1825, HAMPSTEAD, ENGLAND). Italian-English composer and keyboardist. He received training in music in the household of Cardinal Portocarero in Rome, and in 1763 he was sent to Naples to study with Nicola Porpora. In 1767 he returned to Rome to conduct concerts for the English nobility, the success of which brought him an invitation to direct the series at St. Cecilia Hall in Edinburgh, Scotland. There in 1779 he founded a music publishing business, which eventually became Corri and Sutherland. In 1790, he moved to London, where he continued his trade as a publisher, sold keyboard instruments with Jan Ladislav Dussek, and wrote operas for the King’s Theatre.
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Toward the last years of his life, he was active as a keyboard teacher, though he suffered occasional bouts of insanity. His music, considered popular and tuneful, reflects galant stylistic practices, although his operas contain hints of exoticism. His works include six operas, six canzonetts, numerous songs, a concerto for fortepiano, 21 keyboard sonatas, numerous smaller keyboard works, and several tutorials. CORYPHÉE. A dancer in 18th-century ballet ranked just below the soloists and above the general corps de ballet. COSTA, ABBÉ ANTÓNIO DA (ca. 1714, PORTO, PORTUGAL, TO ca. 1780, VIENNA). Portuguese guitarist and music theorist. In 1749 he left Portugal to tour Spain and Italy, eventually settling in Rome by 1754. There he found a patron in Duke João de Bragança, who took him to Venice and subsequently to Vienna. There he associated frequently with leading musicians of the city, including Christoph Willibald von Gluck and Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf. Charles Burney, who became a close friend, describes him as “a kind of Rousseau, but still more original,” with a penchant for living in extreme poverty by refusing monetary patronage. Burney also noted his attempts to improve the guitar, his unusual concepts of harmony and modulation, and his unique performance style, which can only be termed eccentric. No compositions survive, but Burney mentions sonatas for the guitar, as well as a duo for two violins. COSTA, ANTÓNIO PEREIRA DA (ca. 1697, FUNCHAL, PORTUGAL, TO ca. 1770, FUNCHAL). Portuguese organist and composer. In 1740 he was appointed as organist at the cathedral in his hometown, achieving some success in London for his published compositions, such as 12 concerto grossos in the style of Francesco Geminiani. Although the bulk of his surviving music is Baroque in style, a set of 12 serenatas for solo guitar published in London in 1755 demonstrates a newer style. He also composed cantatas and organ music, though his works remain to be studied. COSTANZI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (3 SEPTEMBER 1704, ROME, TO 5 MARCH 1778, ROME). Italian composer and organist. A student of Giovanni Lulier, he entered the service of Cardinal Ottoboni in 1721. With the cardinal’s support he had his first operatic success in 1727 but decided thereafter to devote his time to sacred music. In 1740 he became the maestro di cappella at the Congregazione di Santa Cecilia. His most famous student was Luigi Boccherini. His own music has been little studied but includes 17 operas, four cantatas, and a large amount of sacred music.
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COTUMACCI, CARLO (1711, VILLA SANTA MARIA, ITALY, TO 1785, NAPLES). Italian composer, son of Michele Cotumacci. Following study in Naples at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana under Francesco Durante, he was appointed organist at the Naples cathedral in 1755, a post he held for the remainder of his life. His music has been little studied but includes a Mass, a Requiem, and 14 toccatas for organ. COTUMACCI MICHELE (1682, VILLA SANTA MARIA, ITALY, TO 1750, VILLA SANTA MARIA). Italian organist and father of Carlo Cotumacci. He was educated in Naples at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini under Gennaro Ursino and Francesco Provenzale, and became an organist both in his hometown and later in Naples. Almost all of his music has been lost, but the two works that have survived, an opera based upon St. Francis of Sales and a cantata, show some knowledge of the developing galant Neapolitan style. COUPERIN, ARMAND-LOUIS (25 FEBRUARY 1727, PARIS, TO 2 FEBRUARY 1789, PARIS). French composer and keyboardist. Born into the famed family of musicians, he was the son of Nicolas Couperin, who probably gave him his entire musical education. He succeeded his father as the organist at St. Gervais Church in 1752, later obtaining additional posts at St. Barthélemy, St. Jean-en-Grève, and in 1755, Nôtre Dame. He also became a successful teacher, along with his wife, keyboardist Elisabeth-Antoinette Blanchet (1729–1815). In 1770 he was appointed as keyboardist for the Royal Chapel. He died as the result of being hit by a carriage on his way to a service. Couperin’s music includes a number of motets; four cantatilles for voice and instruments; a symphony, trio, and quartet all for two keyboards; as well as sets of variations and two published collections of named keyboard works: the Pièces de Clavecin of 1751 and the Sonates en pièces de Clavecin of 1765. His surviving motet from 1787 demonstrates a good sense of homophonic style, while the keyboard works tend to be old-fashioned in the vein of Jean-Philippe Rameau or family forebears. Charles Burney lauded him for his improvisatory prowess. See also BALBASTRE, CLAUDE-BÉNINGE. COWPER, WILLIAM (26 NOVEMBER 1731, BERKHAMSTED, HERTFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND, TO 25 APRIL 1800, EAST DEREHAM, ENGLAND). English hymnodist and poet. Son of a rector, he was educated at the Westminster School and intended to become a lawyer. After a nervous breakdown, he moved to the English countryside near Olney, where his mentor John Newton asked him to contribute to a new hymnal. He published some 12 hymns in the Olney Hymnal. His later career as a writer and poet was important, but his most enduring legacy are these hymns.
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CRAMER, CARL FRIEDRICH (7 MARCH 1752, QUEDLINBURG, SAXONY, GERMANY, TO 8 DECEMBER 1807, PARIS). German theologian and music publisher. A member of the Sturm und Drang literary group, the Göttinger Hainbund, he began to study literature at the University of Kiel around 1775. There he began translating opera librettos and began a journal Magazin der Musik, which was one of the most progressive and forwardlooking works of the time that discussed music in all its aspects. Although not a musician himself, he developed the art of music criticism in the 18th century. He is not related to either Johann Baptist Cramer or Wilhelm Cramer. CRAMER, JOHANN BAPTIST (24 FEBRUARY 1771, MANNHEIM, TO 16 APRIL 1858, LONDON). German-English keyboardist and composer. Son of Wilhelm Cramer, he received his earliest training from his father before being taken to London at an early age. There he studied fortepiano under Johann Friedrich and Muzio Clementi, and he began to concertize while still in his teens. In 1788 he began touring Europe in France and Austria, and in 1799 he undertook a second tour to the continent but without much success. In England he became a well-respected figure, whose students included numerous English keyboardists of the early 19th century. His music is little performed but consists of nine fortepiano concertos, two piano quintets, a piano quartet, over 20 songs, 56 keyboard rondos, 33 divertimentos, and 73 piano sonatas written before 1800. CRAMER, WILHELM (bap. 2 JUNE 1746, MANNHEIM, TO 5 OCTOBER 1799, LONDON). German-English violinist and composer. The son of a violinist, he studied under Johann Stamitz and Christian Cannabich in Mannheim. In 1752 he was appointed as violinist in the Mannheim orchestra but left soon thereafter for a post in Stuttgart. In 1769 he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels, and in 1772 he moved to London, where he was encouraged to settle by Johann Christian Bach. He soon became one of the foremost performers on the instrument, being a favorite at the public concerts until the arrival of Johann Peter Salomon and Giovanni Battista Viotti in the late 1780s. His music has been little studied but consists of eight violin concertos and several smaller chamber pieces. His son Johann Baptist Cramer became a leading composer and keyboardist, while a second son, Franz Cramer (1772–1848) followed in his footsteps as a violinist. CRINAZZI, GIORGIO. See FOSSOMBRONI, ANTONIO MARIA. CRISPI, PIETRO MARIA (ca. 1737, ROME, TO 16 JUNE 1797, ROME). Italian composer. By 1762 he had become a member of the Organizatione di Santa Cecilia and in 1772 was appointed as organist at the church
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of San Luigi dei Francesci, as well as functioning as maestro di cappella for the Marescotti family. His music, little studied, includes five operas, 13 oratorios, and numerous sonatas, symphonies, and trios. CROTCH, WILLIAM (5 July 1775, NORWICH, ENGLAND, TO 29 DECEMBER 1847, TAUNTON, ENGLAND). English organist and composer. A child prodigy, he was taken to London to be educated beginning in 1779. While in his teens he attended Oxford University, where he obtained a B.A. degree. His first oratorio (set twice during his life), The Captivity of Judah, was performed at Oxford successfully in 1789, and by 1797 he was awarded a professorship in music at the university, receiving his doctorate two years later. He was also well known for his paintings during the early part of the 19th century. His music written prior to 1800 consists of the aforementioned oratorio, as well as two symphonies, an organ concerto, and several anthems. During his later years he continued to write sacred music but also turned toward the catch and glee. CSÁRDÁS. Also known in German and English as czardas. A Hungarian dance that derived from the verbunkos by the end of the 18th century. Consisting of a slow section and a fast conclusion, it was a popular national form, particularly among violinists. Composers of the period specializing in this genre include János Bihari. CSERMÁK, ANTAL GYÖRGY (ca. 1774, PROBABLY BRATISLAVA [NOW SLOVAKIA], TO 25 OCTOBER VESZPRÉM, HUNGARY). Hungarian violinist and composer. Nothing is known of his youth or training, save that the earliest information is that he made his debut as a violinist in Vienna and Bratislava around 1794. The following year he was appointed as concertmaster in Budapest, where he came into contact with János Bihari. In 1802 he was appointed as violinist in the orchestra of Prince Antal Grassalkovich in Gödöllő, later moving to Veszprém. He is best known for his arrangements of Hungarian dances, specifically the verbunkos. His music includes six string quartets, numerous arrangements for quartets of strings, and a series of Hungarian dances. CUMMING, ANGUS (ca. 1750, GRANTOWN, SCOTLAND, TO AFTER 1790, GRANTOWN). Scottish composer of popular music. A musician in the small town of Grantown on the Strathspey, his only contribution to music is a collection of reels published in Edinburgh in 1780. He was, according to the publisher’s note, one of the most “original” of pure Scottish dance music composers from “many generations of musicians in Strathspey.”
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CUNHA, DOMINGOS SIMÕES DA (1755, BARACATU, MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL, TO 1824, BARACATU). Brazilian composer. Probably trained at the local Imandade, he became maestro de capilla there about 1780. His music, never explored, consists mainly of sacred works, several short operas, and a number of vocal pieces. CUPIS [DE CARMAGO], FRANÇOIS (10 NOVEMBER 1732, PARIS, TO 13 OCTOBER 1808, PARIS). Also known as le Cadet or Cupis de Renoussard. French cellist and composer. The son of a music teacher and brother of Jean-Baptiste Cupis Sr., he was a problematic child. Trained at the Collèges des Quatre Nations in Paris under Martin Berteau, he was arrested in 1751 for theft and had a complaint brought against him for drunkenness in 1759 by his own brother, Charles Cupis, a horn player at the Opéra. In 1764 he joined the orchestra at the Concerts spirituels and three years later the Académie royale de musique. He renounced the theatre in 1770 in order to marry, and thereafter he may have become a maker of violins in Paris. In 1803 he published a treatise titled Méthode d’alto précédé d’un abrégé des principes de musique de différents airs nouveaux dont plusieurs avec variations et terminé par un long caprice ou étude. His own compositions, which included mostly chamber works, have remained unstudied. CUPIS [DE CARMAGO], JEAN-BAPTISTE, JR. (1741, PARIS, TO ca. 1800, PROBABLY PARIS). French cellist and composer. The son of Jean-Baptiste Cupis Sr., he may have studied both with his uncle, François Cupis, and Martin Berteau. He spent an uneventful but brief career at the Académie royale de musique and at the Opéra before turning exclusively to private teaching in 1772. His best-known works are a treatise, Méthode nouvelle et raisonée pour apprendre à jouer du violoncello, published in 1772, and three cello concertos, six cello sonatas, and 15 duos for two cellos, as well as a number of song adaptation collections. CUPIS [DE CARMAGO], JEAN-BAPTISTE, SR. (bap. 23 NOVEMBER 1711, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, TO 30 APRIL 1788, MONTREUIL, FRANCE). French violinist, horseman, horticulturist, and composer. The son of a music teacher, he received his earliest training from his father. In 1729 he moved to Paris where in 1738 he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels as a violinist. Although he received a privilege to publish his music, he apparently did not obtain an official position but rather worked freelance for over two decades. In 1750 he became a forester for the Vincennes royal park, and in 1773 he was ennobled by Empress Maria Theresia. He retired thereafter to Montreuil, where he cultivated peaches. Virtually all of his music reflects the
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late French style of the 1740s, but has been little studied, despite a contemporaneous reputation as a fine player and musical arranger. His works include four symphonies, 13 violin sonatas, and a musical divertissement for the marriage of the Dauphin (later Louis XVI) in 1745. CURCIO, GIUSEPPE (17 JULY 1752, NAPLES, TO 9 AUGUST 1832, ROME). Italian composer. Following training at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in 1779, he was appointed as a composer for the Teatro del Fondo. In 1800 he moved to Fermo, where he served as maestro di cappella at the local church. A prolific composer of sacred music, he and his music have received little study. His works include 22 operas (mostly opera buffa), 10 Masses, five cantatas, 27 offertories, 10 antiphons, 20 Psalms, 24 introits, five litanies, four Lessons, four Magnificats, and six keyboard sonatas. CZARDAS. See CSÁRDÁS.
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D DA PONTE, LORENZO [EMMANUALE CONIGLIANO] (10 MARCH 1749, CENEDA, ITALY, TO 17 AUGUST 1838, NEW YORK). Italian librettist. The son of a Jewish tanner, he took the name of the local bishop. Intending to become a teacher and clergyman, he was ordained a priest in 1773, but he was banned from Venice for various affairs. In 1783 he arrived in Vienna, where he established himself as an opera librettist, writing for Antonio Salieri, Vicente Martín y Soler, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; the three works written for Mozart have become iconic examples of 18th-century opera (Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Cosí fan tutte). In 1790, he was dismissed upon the death of Joseph II, eventually moving to Paris and then London, where he sought employment as a wine seller and an opera librettist. Intrigues led to his dismissal there in 1799, and in 1805 he immigrated to the United States, settling in New York and Pennsylvania as a grocer and merchant. He became an American citizen in 1819 and in later life was appointed as professor of Italian at Columbia College, though the post was largely honorary. Da Ponte had a gift for excellent timing and language, with his opera texts sidestepping some of the more controversial topics of the period. He is best known for his work with Mozart, as well as his own reminiscences published toward the end of his life. DA PONTE, VINCENTA (ca. 1750, PROBABLY VENICE, TO AFTER 1775, PROBABLY VENICE). Although her name indicates patrician origins, it is unknown what connection if any she shared with Lorenzo Da Ponte. She was a member of the chorus at the Ospedale della Pietà around 1775, when she composed a series of four monferrina dances. Nothing is known about her later life. DAISSER, SISTER PEREGRINA (28 OCTOBER 1710, INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA, TO 22 NOVEMBER 1757, INNSBRUCK). Austrian monastic composer. Little is known about her life, save that she joined the Servite cloister in Innsbruck at around the age of 18. There she became known as a composer and keyboardist, though most of her music, consisting of Masses
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and other sacred works, were provided mainly for her order. Her music, most of which seems to have been lost, has never been studied. DAL BARBA, DANIEL (5 MAY 1715, VERONA, ITALY, TO 26 JULY 1801, VERONA). Italian composer, librettist, violinist, and singer. Although he attended the University of Verona in law, he was self-taught as a musician, and in 1737 he was appointed as a violinist at the local theatre. In 1744 his opera Il Tigrane was premiered with some success, and over the next several years he performed on stage as a tenor. In 1749 he was named as maestro di cappella at the local Accademia filotema as well as the Accademia filarmonica, also serving for ten years beginning in 1769 as the musical director of the cathedral. His musical style, which has been little explored, is galant. His compositions include seven operas, an oratorio, five symphonies (four with a quartet of horns), four concertos (flute and violin), and 12 trio sonatas. In addition, he published the treatise Teorica e prattica musicale per suonare bene il violin in 1751. DALAYRAC, NICOLAS-MARIE (8 JUNE 1753, MURET, HAUTE GARRONE, FRANCE, TO 22 NOVEMBER 1809, PARIS). French composer. Born into a family in the minor nobility (original name D’Alayrac, changed during the Revolution), he was educated in music at the College of Toulouse before moving to Paris to study law. An interlude at home in Muret convinced him of his talent for music, and despite a commission in the private guard of the comte d’Artois, he began to frequent musical salons in the French capital. By 1777 he had published string quartets, and in 1781 he was asked by the baron de Bésenval to compose music for the stage, beginning with the one-act opéra comique Le petit souper. The success of this work allowed him to be considered the successor of André Ernest Modeste Grétry, and between 1788 and 1789 he achieved his greatest successes with Nina and Les deux petits Savoyards. During the Revolution he prospered writing Revolutionary hymns. In 1804 he was one of the first recipients of the Légion d’honneur. He passed away the day before his last opera was scheduled to be performed on the anniversary of Napoleon’s coronation. His music is known by its facility with melody, much of which became well known internationally. His works include 57 operas (all comic), six Revolutionary odes, Masonic music, 36 string quartets, six string trios, and six violin duets. His operas, performed at the beginning of the 19th century throughout Europe, await resurrection. D’ALEMBERT, JEAN LE ROND (16 NOVEMBER 1717, PARIS, TO 29 OCTOBER 1783, PARIS). French encyclopedist and music theorist. Fol-
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lowing training at a Jansenist School, he completed his study of medicine and law in Paris, submitting his first treatise (on mathematics) to the Académie royale du sciences in 1739. By 1751 he had partnered with Denis Diderot to produce the Encyclopédie, producing an outline of its contents in a Discours préliminaire. In 1749 he reviewed a Mémoire by Jean-Philippe Rameau, synthesizing his musical-theoretical propositions in a work titled Eléments de musique théoretique et pratique suivant les principes de M. Rameau in 1751. He also produced a balanced and insightful critique of the Querelle des bouffons. See also PHILIDOR, FRANÇOIS-ANDRÉ DANICAN. DALL’CROUBELIS, [DOMINGO] SIMONI (ca. 1727, AMSTERDAM, TO ca. 1790, COPENHAGEN). Dutch-Danish composer. Nothing is known about his origins or training, but by 1765 he was active as both a composer and teacher (music master) in Amsterdam, which he indicated was his place of birth. By 1785 he had moved to Copenhagen, where he became well known as a teacher, writing music for the public concert series. His style closely conforms to that of Empfindsamkeit, although he demonstrates a good sense of sonata form structure. His surviving music includes eight flute concertos, 11 symphonies (and six sinfonia concertantes), two sextets, four quintets, 11 string quartets, 11 trios, and various Recueils, or arrangements of popular opera arias. DALL’OGLIO, DOMENICO (ca. 1707, PADUA, ITALY, TO 1764, NARVA, RUSSIA [NOW ESTONIA]). Italian-Russian violinist and composer. A student of Giuseppe Tartini, he was appointed as concertmaster of the cathedral orchestra in Padua in 1721. In 1735, however, he and his brother Giuseppe, a cellist, accepted an invitation of employment at the Russian court in St. Petersburg, where for the next 30 years they both served. He died on his way back to Italy in 1764. He was known for his performance on the lute and violin, as well as his collaborations with Francesco Araja. His music includes a prologue, a concert aria, 34 violin sonatas, around 12 symphonies (six published 1735 in Paris, as well as several “Russian” symphonies), 17 violin concertos, a sonata for string quartet, several pieces for viola and basso, as well as numerous ballets. DANKOWSKI, ADALBERT WOJCIECH (ca. 1760, WIELKOPOLSKA, POLAND, TO ca. 1810, LEMBERG, POLAND [NOW L’VOV, UKRAINE]). Polish composer and violist. Following early training at the Cistercian monastery in Obra, he became a musician there beginning in 1779 and may have taken Holy Orders. In 1787 he was active as organist at the Gniezno cathedral, but by 1790 he was reported to be a violist at the theatre
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in Lemberg, where he apparently remained the rest of his life. His music is little explored, but consists of 39 Masses, three Requiems, 27 vespers, seven litanies, 37 motets, a Salve Regina, and two symphonies. DANZI, FRANCESCA DOROTHEA [LEBRUN] (24 MARCH 1756, MANNHEIM, TO 14 MAY 1791, BERLIN). German soprano and composer. Daughter of cellist Innocenz Danzi and elder sister of Franz Ignaz Danzi, she made her debut as a soloist in 1772 in Antonio Sacchini’s opera La Contadina in corte. She was a popular singer who won praise from Charles Burney for her talent. By 1777, the same year she married oboist and composer Ludwig August Lebrun, she was regularly touring Europe as a soloist. She wrote few pieces; indeed she published only two sets of sonatas for the keyboard and violin in London in 1780 but probably wrote other chamber works as well. Fétis cites a set of trios for piano, violin, and cello, which have been lost. DANZI, FRANZ IGNAZ (15 JUNE 1763, SCHWETZINGEN, GERMANY, TO 13 APRIL 1826, KARLSRUHE, GERMANY). German composer and cellist. Son of Mannheim orchestra cellist Innocenz Danzi, he received his earliest musical education in Mannheim from members of the Kapelle, as well as Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler. At the age of 15 he was appointed to the orchestra, but a few years later he remained behind in Mannheim when the majority moved to Munich. His earliest successes as a composer of works for the stage occurred there, but in 1784 he was named his father’s successor as principal cellist in Munich. In 1791 he undertook tours throughout Germany as a conductor, including with the Guardasoni troupe, and in 1807 he was appointed as conductor at the court in Stuttgart. Here he formed a fast friendship with Carl Maria von Weber. In 1812 he moved to Karlsruhe, where he spent the remainder of his life. An active composer, he wrote 16 operas; incidental music to 25 plays; eight Masses; 87 chamber works, among which several dozen woodwind quintets were popular throughout Europe; five symphonies; six sinfonia concertantes; concertos for the bassoon, horn, flute, and violoncello; as well as a large number of other sacred works, songs, and smaller instrumental pieces. He was also active as a librettist. His style, though conservative, is characterized by inventive use of orchestral color, particularly with respect to the wind and brass instruments. See also BRANDL, JOHANN EVANGELIST. DANZI, INNOCENZ (ca. 1730, ITALY, TO 17 APRIL 1798, MUNICH). Italian-German violoncellist and composer, father of Franz Iganz, Maria Margarethe, and Francesca Danzi. Although it is not known from whence
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he came in Italy, he was already well known as a solo cellist when he joined the Mannheim orchestra in 1754. Shortly thereafter, he married the sister of composer Carl Toeschi, and within a decade had become one of the highest paid members of the ensemble. In 1778 he moved with the court to Munich and retired in 1783. He was known for his facility on his instruments. As a composer, he is less well known, although he, like the rest of the members of the orchestra, composed for his instruments. Surviving works include a string quartet and a concerto for violoncello. See also RITTER, PETER. DANZI, MARIA MARGARETHE. See MARCHAND, MARIA MARGARETHE. DAUVERGNE, ANTOINE (3 OCTOBER 1713, MOULINS, FRANCE, TO 11 FEBRUARY 1797, LYONS, FRANCE). French violinist and composer. The son of a musician, he received his earliest training from his father before moving to Paris to study composition under Jean-Philippe Rameau. In 1739 he was appointed violinist in the royal chambers, and in 1744 he became a violinist at the Opéra. By 1752 he began a career as a conductor and opera composer, becoming director of the Opéra in 1769. By 1787 he was given less responsibility there due to his inept administrative skills, retiring in 1790 to a life of economic distress. Dauvergne was one of the most influential composers in Paris, being responsible for bringing Christoph Willibald von Gluck there to write French opera. Although Charles Burney criticized his music as pedantic and dull, his works demonstrate a solid sense of harmony. These include 18 operas or ballets, a number of other stage works, a cantatille, 14 motets, two concerts en symphonies (a sort of suite), six sonatas, and a number of smaller keyboard works. See also LA BORDE, JEAN-BENJAMIN FRANÇOIS DE. DÁVALOS CHAVEA, MANUEL (ca. 1730, LIMA, PERU, TO 1811, LIMA). Peruvian organist and composer. The son of an organist at the Lima cathedral, he received training from his father Juan Crisóstomo Dávalos before obtaining the appointment as second organist at the cathedral in 1757. By 1765 he succeeded his father as first organist and in 1798 was appointed as maestro di capilla. His music has been little studied, but it includes several villancicos, as well as a Mass and Lamentations setting. DAVAUX, JEAN-BAPTISTE (19 JULY 1742, LA CÔTE SAINT-ANDRÉ, FRANCE, TO 2 FEBRUARY 1822, PARIS). French composer and government official. Born into a family of privilege, he was trained on the violin beginning in 1767. Thereafter he started a career as an official, joining
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the household of the Prince de Rohan in 1775 and later serving the Ministry of War. His first comic operas were produced in 1785, and his works were premiered frequently at the Concerts spirituels. These include two operas, 13 sinfonia concertantes, four symphonies, four violin concertos, 26 quartets (mainly for strings), four quintets, six duos, and six trios. DE AMICIS, ANNA LUCIA (ca. 1733, NAPLES, TO 1816, NAPLES). Italian soprano, also known as Anna de Amicis-Buonsollazzi. Born into a family of actors and singers, she received her training as part of the family company, touring Italy and France as a comic opera soprano. In 1762 she debuted in London at the King’s Theatre, after which she became an international star in dramatic roles. In 1768 she married a doctor in Florence but continued her career until 1778, when she starred in the main role in Christoph Willibald von Gluck’s Armide. She is best known for her versatile voice and extended range, which was used in operas written for her by Johann Christian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Niccolò Jommelli. DE CHARRIÈRE, ISABELLE [BELLE VAN ZUYLEN, ISABELLE AGNETA ELISABETH VAN TUYLL VAN SEROOSKERKEN] (20 OCTOBER 1740, CASTLE ZUYLEN, NEAR UTRECHT, TO 27 DECEMBER 1805, COLUMBIER, SWITZERLAND). Dutch-French woman of letters, author, noblewoman, and composer. Born into a privileged family, she was sent at the age of 10 to Geneva, Switzerland, where she completed a thorough education emphasizing the arts. She married Charles-Emmanuele de Charrière de Penhaz in 1771 and thereafter moved permanently to Columbier outside of Neuchâtel, although she traveled frequently to both Holland and Paris, where her teachers included Niccolò Zingarelli. An admirer of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, she became well known in Parisian intellectual circles as a prolific correspondent and author of plays and novels. When the French Revolution occurred, many of those fleeing the Terror were taken in by her as refugees. As a composer, her work reflects the popular French idioms of the time and includes numerous songs, some minuets, and several keyboard sonatas. Her musical education is not entirely clear, although she was well versed in compositional skills. DE CROES, HENRI-JACQUES (19 SEPTEMBER 1705, ANTWERP, TO 16 AUGUST 1786, BRUSSELS). Belgian composer and organist. He received his earliest training at the St. Jakobskerke in Antwerp before becoming employed as a violinist with the Thurn und Taxis court, spending much of his time beginning in 1723 in Frankfurt. In 1725 he entered the service of Charles of Loraine where he became concertmaster in 1744 and maître
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de chapelle in 1746. A good friend of Pierre van Maldere, de Croes was responsible for the excellent reputation of the Brussels court ensemble. His works include five operas, 53 Masses, 63 motets, 32 symphonies, six concertos for two violins, five concertos for flute, 12 quartets, six violin duos, and 12 violin sonatas (six published in Paris as Op. 1 in 1743), as well as numerous smaller chamber works. Much of his sacred music has been lost. DEGTYARYOV, STEPAN ANIKIYEVICH (1766, BORISOVKA, NEAR KURSK, RUSSIA, TO 5 MAY 1813, KURSK). Russian singer and composer. Born a serf, he was trained as a chorister and by 1789 had become concertmaster on the estate of his overlord, Count Sheremet’yev. In 1790 he traveled to Italy with Giuseppe Sarti and on his return enrolled at the Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg. By the early part of the 19th century, he had become Kapellmeister at the Sheremet’yev estate. All of his music, save for the oratorio Minin i Poiharsky about the defeat of a Polish invasion in 1612, was burned by the composer in advance of the Napoleonic occupation of Moscow. DELAVAL, MADAME (fl. 1791–1802). English harpist, pianist, and composer. Her actual name and origins are unknown, although she studied in Paris with Jan Křtitel Krumpholtz. She apparently was part of the Seaton Delaval family of Northumberland, and in 1790 she was employed by Johann Peter Salomon in his public concerts. Her last appearance in London was in 1796 at Covent Garden. As a performer, she was well regarded among the salon society of the time, publishing a number of smaller works and songs, though she also wrote a memorial cantata for Louis XVI. DELLA MARIA, [PIERRE] ANTOINE [DOMINIQUE] (14 JUNE 1769, MARSEILLES, FRANCE, TO 9 MARCH 1800, PARIS). French composer. After training with local musicians in Marseilles, he had his first opera performed there in 1787. Its success allowed him to go to Naples for further training under Nicola Sala, after which he had a short career in Italy as an opera composer. In 1797 he arrived in Paris, where he was well received as a potential rival to Luigi Cherubini. His early death prevented a promising career. His music was noted for simplicity and expressive feeling for whatever language he chose. His music consists of 15 operas, six Psalms, three concertos, seven string quartets, six concert arias or duets, a fortepiano sonata, and several songs. DELLA PIETÀ, AGATA (ca. 1720, VENICE, TO ca. 1780, VENICE). Venetian composer, singer, and educator. As a foundling admitted to the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, nothing is known of her parents or birth name; as
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was usual, she took the last name of the orphanage, adding the first name of a popular saint. As a student, she was trained in the musical arts by Giovanni Porta, Nicola Porpora, and Andrea Bernasconi, who wrote solo parts for her. Around 1740 she was singled out in an anonymous tribute to the musicians of the Ospedale, and she wrote music up through at least 1777. Only two pieces survive, a Novo aprili and a setting of Psalm 134. In addition, she wrote a pedagogical work on singing titled Regali per Gregoria, dedicated to one of her pupils. See also DELLA PIETÀ, MICHIELINA; DELLA PIETÀ, SAMARITANA. DELLA PIETÀ, MICHIELINA [MICHAELIS, MICHIELETTA] (ca. 1700, VENICE, TO ca. 1750, VENICE). Venetian composer, singer, organist, and educator. As a foundling admitted to the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, nothing is known of her parents or birth name; as was usual, she took the last name of the orphanage, adding the first name of a popular saint. She apparently began her education under Francesco Gasparini, continuing under Giovanni Porta, Nicola Porpora, and Andrea Bernasconi, receiving a license to teach in 1726. None of her compositions survive, but she is known to have written a litany in 1740 and a hymn, Pange lingua, the following year. See also DELLA PIETÀ, AGATA; DELLA PIETÀ, SAMARITANA. DELLA PIETÀ, SAMARITANA [SANTA, SANZA] (ca. 1715, VENICE, TO ca. 1774, VENICE). Venetian composer, singer (contralto), violinist, and educator. As a foundling admitted to the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, nothing is known of her parents or birth name; as was usual, she took the last name of the orphanage, adding the first name of a popular saint. As a student, she was trained in the musical arts by Giovanni Porta, Nicola Porpora, and Andrea Bernasconi, and by 1740 she was able to perform in public both violin concertos and cantatas by former director Vivaldi. Around the same time, she succeeded Anna Maria della Pietà as director of the orphanage orchestra. Her compositions were mainly sacred works, and only one of them, a Laudate pueri, has survived. It shows her to have been a competent composer well versed in both the stile antico and modern homophonic choral style. See also DELLA PIETÀ, AGATA; DELLA PIETÀ, MICHIELINA. DELLER, FLORIAN JOHANN (1 MAY 1729, DROSENDORF, LOWER AUSTRIA, TO 19 APRIL 1773, MUNICH). German composer and violinist. Little is known of his early education, save that it was at regional monastic schools. He first appears in 1751 as a violinist in Stuttgart, where he studied under Niccolò Jommelli. His first success as a composer was with a ballet, Orfeo, choreographed by Jean-Georges Noverre. By 1769 he had achieved a
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success as an opera composer in Vienna with a production at the Burgtheater of Il maestro di cappella and had been appointed concertmaster and Hofcompositeur in Stuttgart. He died in Munich on his way back from further work in Vienna. Deller was known as a facile composer particularly of ballet music, with a good solid sense of danceable rhythm and lively melodies. His works include 11 ballets, nine comic operas, four symphonies, six trio sonatas, two flute concertos, and numerous sacred compositions. He has been little studied as a composer. DELUSSE, CHARLES (ca. 1720, PARIS, TO ca. 1774, PARIS). French flautist and composer. Nothing is known about his origins or training, although, as a flautist, he must have been related to the Delusse family of woodwind makers. He first appears in 1743, where he is described in the Mercure de France as a teacher. His L’Art de la flute was a well-respected tutorial, and in 1758 he may have performed as a member of the orchestra at the OpéraComique. He disappears from history around 1774. His music, all published, includes a cantatille, several Recueils, a comic opera, six flute sonatas, a trio, and six flute duets. His musical style is decidedly galant. DEMACHI, GIUSEPPE (7 JUNE 1732, ALESSANDRIA, ITALY, TO 1791, LONDON). Italian violinist and composer. Following training in his hometown and initial employment in the cathedral, he moved to Casale Monferrato to become a composer in the ensemble of Count Sannazarro. In 1774 he moved to Geneva to become one of the founders of the Société de Musique, and in 1779 he became maestro di cappella at the court of Princess Caroline of Nassau-Weilberg in Kirchenheim in the Pfaltz-Rheinland. In 1763 he returned to Alessandria, and he died shortly after arriving in London to perform as a soloist in the public concerts. His music conforms to the mid-century Italian style, with galant tendencies. His compositions include four sinfonia concertantes, several symphonies (of which one is titled Le campane di Roma [The Bells of Rome]), 56 trio sonatas, 18 duos, 10 violin concertos, and six orchestra quartets. DEMAR, JOHANN SEBASTIAN [JAKOB-IGNAZ-SEBASTIAN] (29 JUNE 1763, GAUASCHACH, NEAR WÜRZBURG, GERMANY, TO 25 JULY 1832, ORLÉANS, FRANCE). German composer and organist. Born into a musical family, he was sent by his parents to Strasbourg to study with Franz Xaver Richter. By 1783 he had obtained a position as organist at the town of Weissenburg but a few years later left for Vienna, where he was a pupil of Joseph Haydn. In 1788 he went to France, first to Paris and then a year later to Orléans, where he established himself as a teacher. He was a
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founder of the Société des Concerts in 1806 and finally became organist at Saint-Paterne Church, thereafter changing his name to reflect that of Johann Sebastian Bach. His music has been little studied but includes concertos for fortepiano, horn, clarinet, and flute, as well as a Mass, several motets, several songs, and a trio for two horns and keyboard. DEMARS, HÉLÈNE-LOUISE (ca. 1736, PARIS, TO AFTER 1770, PARIS). French composer. The daughter of Baroque composer Jean Odéo Demars (1695–1756), she achieved recognition for three cantatilles published by the Mercure de France in 1748. One of these, L’oroscope, was dedicated to Mademoiselle de Sodise, indicating her involvement with Parisian intellectual society of the time. She disappears from history shortly thereafter. DEMMLER, JOHANN MICHAEL (bap. 28 SEPTEMBER 1748, HILTENFINGEN, GERMANY, TO 6 MAY 1785, AUGSBURG). German composer and organist. Trained as a chorister at Augsburg cathedral, he attended the Jesuit College of Sankt Salvator in 1769, becoming organist at the cathedral a year later. Although a close friend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who recommended him for the position of organist in Salzburg in 1778, he chose to remain in Augsburg. His music has received only cursory attention by scholars, but consists of 18 stage works (Singspiels, pantomimes, incidental music), nine Masses, two hymns, 15 sacred arias or duets, a symphony, and a keyboard concerto. Much of his music appears to have been lost, however. DENKE, JEREMIAS [JEREMIAH] (2 OCTOBER 1725, LANGENBIELAU, SILESIA, GERMANY [NOW BIELAWA, POLAND], TO 28 MAY 1795, BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES). German composer and organist. After his baptism into the Moravian Church at Gnadenfrei, he moved to Herrnhut in 1748 as an organist. In 1761 he immigrated to the United States along with Johann Peter and Simon Peter. His first American work was a simple piece for the Provincial Synod in Bethlehem in 1766, possibly the earliest concerted music written in America. His music, with diatonic harmony and simple voice leading, includes three sets of sacred songs, as well as several anthems. DEPPISCH, VALENTIN JOSEPH (ca. 1746, PÉCS, HUNGARY, TO 14 MARCH 1782, PÉCS). Hungarian-German organist and composer. Nothing is known of his youth or training, but in 1769 he was appointed as a musician at the cathedral in Pécs. By 1778 he had attained the position of first organist. His music reflects the ornate Italianate style of the time, though his
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instrumental compositions show the influence of Joseph Haydn. His surviving works include four Masses, a Requiem, two vespers, a Magnificat, a symphony, two Italian concert arias, and several small secular chamber and sacred works. DESHAYES, PROSPER-DIDIER (ca. 1740, FRANCE, TO 1815, PARIS). French dancer, teacher, and composer. Nothing is known about his early career, although it was said by later biographers that he may have been a pupil of Jean-Georges Noverre. He first appears in 1761 in Paris, where he was a dancer at the Comédie-Française, later becoming balletmaster there and a dancer at the Opéra. In 1777 he premiered his first works at the Concerts spirituels, eventually receiving some acclaim for his instrumental works and oratorios. In 1784 he joined the École royale de chant as a dance teacher, around the time his first opera premiered. For several years during the Revolution he was employed at the National Treasury, during which he wrote his most successful opera, Zélia, in 1791. In 1801 he returned to the Opéra as a dancer. During his lifetime, he was known for his use of colorful orchestration and singable melodies in his vocal works. These include 19 operas, two oratorios, and numerous motets and hymns, as well as two concertos (bassoon and clarinet) and several pieces of Harmoniemusik. In 1799 six symphonies were published in Vienna under the name “Dechaye,” which may be those referred to in Robert Eitner’s lexicon almost a century later. These show a pattern whereby in the finales a modulation to the parallel minor is always present, indicating a single author of the set. Whether these are by this composer is not yet established. Two were published separately and attributed to Giuseppe Cambini, although they are stylistically incompatible with that composer’s style. DESORMERY, LÉOPOLD-BASTIEN (ca. 1740, BAYONNE, LORRAINE, FRANCE, TO ca. 1810, BEAUVAIS, FRANCE). French singer and composer. Trained in Nancy, he first appears as a singer at the Opera in Lyons, where he later taught at the music school. In 1770 he was in Strasbourg, where he appeared on stage as an actor, and in 1774 he performed at the Théâtre Italien in Paris. His music was performed, but he had no lasting career as a composer, for much of it is derivative. His works include six operas, two Revolutionary odes, three motets, a cantatille, and numerous songs. DEURING [DÖRIG], PATER BENEDIKT [JOHANN GABRIEL] (17 SEPTEMBER 1690, GLARUS, SWITZERLAND, TO 3 JANUARY 1768, ENGELBERG, SWITZERLAND). Swiss monastic composer. The son of an organ builder, he received his musical education from his father
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before entering the Benedictine monastery in Engelberg in 1710. By 1734 he was a teacher there, and in 1736 he became parish priest in Auw and Sins before being selected as sub-prior in 1759. As a composer, his music, exclusively sacred works, reflects the changes between the Baroque and Classical styles. Although his early works were destroyed in a fire in 1729, his surviving compositions include 40 vespers and a Salve Regina. DEVIENNE, FRANÇOIS (31 JANUARY 1759, JOINVILLE, FRANCE, TO 5 SEPTEMBER 1803, CHARENTON, NEAR PARIS, FRANCE). French flautist and composer. Following early musical education as a choirboy, he was sent to Paris to study flute with Félix Rault. In 1780 he joined the orchestra of the Prince de Rohan, making his debut at the Concerts spirituels in 1782. Thereafter he played flute and bassoon at the Opéra until the Revolution, when he joined the military band of the French Guards. In 1795 he was appointed as an inspector and professor of flute at the new Conservatoire following the publication two years earlier of his treatise Méthode de flûte théoretique et pratique. A prolific composer especially for his own instrument, he wrote 12 operas, seven sinfonia concertantes, 14 flute and five bassoon concertos, 25 quintets and quartets, 46 trios, 147 duos, and 67 sonatas, as well as a symphony and two Revolutionary hymns. DIDEROT, DENIS (5 OCTOBER 1713, LANGRES, FRANCE, TO 31 JULY 1784, PARIS). French philosopher, writer, and critic. After early education at the Lycée Louis le Grand, he received his master’s degree in philosophy in 1732, thereupon embarking upon a career as a writer. Approached to put together the comprehensive Encyclopédie in 1749, he partnered with Jean d’Alembert to create a monumental compendium of knowledge, with the first comprehensive discussions of music. He wrote many of the articles himself, but allowed others to be written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He was also friends with Baron Friedrich Melchior Grimm, one of the figures in the Querelle des bouffons. See also BAYON, MARIE-EMMANUELLE. DIETER, CHRISTIAN LUDWIG (13 JUNE 1757, LUDWIGSBURG, GERMANY, TO 15 MAY 1822, STUTTGART, GERMANY). German composer and violinist. Orphaned at the age of 13, he entered several military academies, eventually being employed by Duke Carl Eugen of Württemberg. Although he was initially thought of as a court painter, his musical talents soon allowed him to study with Antonio Borroni. After the success of his first opera in 1779, he attempted to escape from Württemberg but was caught and imprisoned. Pardoned in 1781 he was promoted to court musician, a post
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he held until his retirement in 1817. Although he was a well-regarded composer for his dramatic music, his works have received little attention. These consist of 13 operas, several ballets, five concertos, 48 duets, 12 trios, and a quartet. DISCHNER, JOHANN MICHAEL (ca. 1728, POSSIBLY MUNICH, GERMANY, TO 19 OCTOBER 1796, AUGSBURG). German organist and composer. He attended the Jesuit Gymnasium in Munich before being employed as an organist in Ingolstadt, where he possibly attended university. His move as organist in Augsburg at the cathedral is not known but he functioned as choir director there from about 1760 on. His music has been little studied but includes six Masses, two litanies, and a hymn. DITTERSDORF, [AUGUST] CARL DITTERS VON (2 NOVEMBER 1739, LEIGRUBE, VIENNA, TO 24 OCTOBER 1799, ČERVENÁ LHOTA, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC]). Austrian composer, chief forester, and violinist. Born August Carl Ditters, he received his earliest education at the Jesuit school in Vienna, where he displayed a precocious talent as a violinist, enough so that in 1751 he was performing with local court orchestras. Here he came to the attention of Giueseppe Bonno and Christoph Willibald von Gluck, the latter of whom took him with him to Italy in 1763. There Ditters achieved success as a virtuoso, and by 1765 he had been hired by Archbishop Adam Patachich as Michael Haydn’s successor at Großwerdein (now Oradea, Romania). He improved the quality of the ensemble, but in 1769 it was dissolved and Ditters relieved of his duties. He found other employment with the Archbishop of Breslau, Count Philipp Gotthard von Schaffgotsch as a state administrative functionary at Schloss Johannesberg (now Janský vrch, Poland), and in 1773 he was appointed as chief forester at nearby Javernig (Javornik). This appointment required aristocratic rank, and Ditters was ennobled as von Dittersdorf at Freiwaldau (Jeseník). In 1784 he returned to Vienna where he participated actively in the musical life of the city. His rank allowed him access to all levels of the court society, and his abilities earned him the friendship of colleagues such as Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with whom he performed in a string quartet (the cellist was his student Jan Křtitel Vanhal). In 1790, however, he returned to music as Kapellmeister to Duke Carl Christian Erdmann zu Württemberg-Oels, a post that also included governmental administrative duties. He moved to Oels (Olésnice) and then Karlsruhe in Upper Silesia. A reversal of fortune caused him to retire in 1796, and he moved to the small town of Neuhof (Červená Lhota), where he died only a couple of days after completing his autobiography.
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Dittersdorf was a prolific and progressive composer, particularly with respect to his use of the characteristic symphony, sometimes based upon Classical stories. He was conventional in terms of his harmony, but his skill in contrasting instruments (as well as writing for unusual timbres and combinations) demonstrates a good sense of color. His formal structures are often conventional, and his textures mainly homophonic, but he was considered one of the foremost composers of Vienna during his day. He can be considered one of the most popular composers of Singspiels of his day, with one work, Doktor und Apotheker, achieving international success. The number of works composed demonstrates an almost inexhaustible creativity and includes: 127 symphonies (with another 90 likely, making him the most prolific composer in the genre of all time, if true), 18 violin concertos, five viola concertos, eight oboe concertos, four keyboard concertos, nine other concertos (for oboe d’amore, harp, contrabass, cello, flute, and two violins), four sinfonia concertantes (including two for string quartet and orchestra, one for viola, contrabass, and orchestra, and another for 11 solo instruments), four serenades, five cassations, 16 divertimentos, 18 string trios, seven string quartets, six horn quintets, six string quintets, 35 partitas, 72 preludes, 31 keyboard sonatas, 136 solo keyboard works, 16 violin sonatas, 32 operas, three concert arias, 16 secular cantatas, 16 Masses, a Requiem, four oratorios, 11 offertories, eight litanies, and 170 smaller sacred works such as Psalms, motets, and so forth. His music is known by K or Krebs numbers. See also MÜLLER, WENZEL. DIVERTIMENTO. An occasional instrumental work, also called Cassatio (Cassation) or Notturno (Nachtmusik), meant for light entertainment during the 18th century. It usually consists of a suite of movements, the most common structure being five arranged fast-minuet-slow-minuet-finale. The first movements are generally composed according to the sonata principle, while the last movement is commonly a rondo. It is related to the partita and serenade, the former of which is generally for wind instruments and the latter a much larger work. Scoring ranges from single instruments, such as a keyboard, to large orchestras. An example of the former is by Raynor Taylor, published in the United States around 1795, but the majority come from Central Europe. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote over 25 works in this genre, though some, such as the three “divertimenti” (KV 136–138), are actually closer to the regular 18th-century symphony in form and structure. Divertimenti sometimes have a more pictorial or situational context, such as Michael Haydn’s Sinfonia Berchtesgadiensis, commonly known as the “Toy Symphony.” DIVERTIMENTO GIOCOSO. See OPERA BUFFA.
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DIVERTISSEMENT. Derived from the ballet portions of the tragédie lyrique, this was used to describe the succession of ballet movements, sometimes mixed with solo vocal portions and chorus, ending in a Passacaglia or Chaconne. Originally these were to conclude large-scale operas based upon French models, during the 17th century, but by the middle of the 18th they could be independent works. Composers include Christoph Willibald von Gluck, Niccolò Piccinni, and Joseph Martin Kraus (Soliman II, Quatre intermèdes pour Amphitryon). DIVERTISSEMENT CONCERTANT. This has nothing to do with the regular divertissement but rather appears to have been a sort of single-movement concerto for keyboard or harp and orchestra in which there are three shorter sections imitating the longer concerto format. Perhaps the only composer of this is Nathaniel Gottfried Gruner, who published two works about 1770. DOLES, JOHANN FRIEDRICH (23 APRIL 1715, STEINBACH-HALLENBERG, THURINGIA, TO 8 FEBRUARY 1797, LEIPZIG). German composer. In 1727 he entered the Thomasschule in Leipzig as a pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach, and in 1739 he matriculated in law at Leipzig University, where in March 1744 he performed a festival cantata in honor of the founding of the Gewandshaus musical establishment the prior year. He initially obtained a post as organist in Freiburg that same year, and in 1756 he succeeded Johann Gottlob Harrer as cantor of St. Thomas and leader of the Thomasschule in Leipzig. He retired in 1789. There he continued to create sacred music, collaborate with leading poets of the period on songs, and became acquainted with the leading composers of the period. A 1790 cantata, Ich komme vor dein Angesicht, to words by Christian Fürchtegott Gellert (1715–1769), was dedicated to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Gottlieb Naumann. His most important theoretical work is the Anfangsgründe zum Singen, which carried on the vocal performance traditions he learned from Bach, elaborated with his own notions of simplicity in sacred music. He was often criticized for his elaborate and modern settings that fully conformed to late 18th-century standards of large choral and orchestral forces, as well as elaborate and often virtuoso parts. His surviving music includes 160 cantatas, 35 motets, three Passions, two Te Deums, two Masses, and a German Magnificat; a Singspiel written in 1748 for the Peace of Wesphalia has been lost. He also published around 40 songs, many to texts by Gellert. Among his students is Franz Vollrath Buttstett. DOMNICH, HEINRICH (13 MARCH 1767, WÜRZBURG, GERMANY, TO 19 JUNE 1844, PARIS). Franco-German horn player and composer. The son of the court horn player Friedrich Domnich (1728–1790), he and his two
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brothers, Jacob (1758–1806) and Arnold (1771–1834), studied under their father. His first position was in the orchestra of Count von Elz of Mainz, but in 1783 he moved to Paris to study under Jan Václav Stich (Giovanni Punto). In 1785 he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels, later being appointed as second horn at the Opéra. During the French Revolution, Heinrich Domnich was a member of the National Guard ensemble, and in 1795 he was appointed as professor at the Conservatoire. His most important work is a treatise titled Méthode de premier et de second cor published in 1807, which outlines how the 18th-century natural horn was to be taught and used. His own works include three horn concertos (and a sinfonia concertante for two horns) and 27 romances for voice and pianoforte. DONBERGER, GEORG JOSEPH (3 MARCH 1707, BRUCK AN DER LEITHA, LOWER AUSTRIA, TO 2 APRIL 1768, HERZOGENBURG PRIORY, LOWER AUSTRIA). Austrian monastic composer. Following training at the local Jesuit schools, Donberger was sent to Vienna to study under Antonio Caldara. In 1733 he was ordained and entered the priory at Herzogenburg, where he remained his entire life. He was a prolific composer of sacred music whose music was widespread throughout the various Catholic monasteries and churches of Austria. While he demonstrates some contrapuntal mastery, the fruit of his studies in Vienna, much of his later music reflects the homophonic style of mainstream sacred music of the period. His works include 92 Masses, 17 Requiems, 12 offertories, 10 Te Deums, and over 200 smaller sacred works such as motets, Psalms, and vespers. DOOLITTLE, ELIAKIM (29 AUGUST 1772, CHESHIRE, CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES, TO APRIL 1850, ARGYLE, NEW YORK). American psalmodist. After attending Yale University he appeared in Hampton, New York, as a teacher. In 1806 he published The Psalm Singer’s Companion, which contained a number of his 45 works. DORSCH, JOSEPH (ca. 1740, PROBABLY MUNICH, TO AFTER 1775, MUNICH). German composer and probably violinist. Nothing is known about him, save that he is not to be confused with noted German theologian Anton Joseph Dorsch (1758–1819). He was apparently an instrumentalist in Munich, although he does not appear as a member of the court orchestra. His sole surviving works—six trios, a violin sonata, a symphony, and a wind serenade—show him to have been a talented and descriptive composer.
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DOSSENBACH, PATER MICHAEL [JOHANN] (14 DECEMBER 1764, BAAR, SWITZERLAND, TO 4 JUNE 1833, EINSIEDELN, SWITZERLAND). Swiss monastic composer. The son of a state councilor, he became a Bendictine novice at Einsiedeln in 1787. In 1794, the year he was ordained, he was appointed as associate musical director at the monastery. He fled to Bludenz in Austria in 1798 in advance of the French troops, serving there and in Salzburg until 1801, when he returned to Switzerland. A literate and talented man, he wrote a number of works reminiscent of the style of Michael Haydn. His music, little studied, includes 10 Lieder and two Marian antiphons. DOW, DANIEL (1732, PROBABLY GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, TO JANUARY 1783, GLASGOW). Scottish musician and composer. Nothing is known about his early life or education. He first appears in 1765 as the impresario of a series of concerts that featured his own students. He may have been a guitar player, but over the next decade he arranged and promoted concerts in the city that included his own dance tunes, particularly reels and Strathspeys. In 1774 he published a collection of these arranged for violin and basso, several of which were later appropriated by other Scottish composers such as Nathaniel Gow. DOYAGÜE, MANUEL JOSÉ (17 FEBRUARY 1755, SALAMANCA, SPAIN, TO 18 DECEMBER 1842, SALAMANCA). Spanish organist and composer. A student of Juan Martín Ramos, he became his teacher’s assistant and replaced him as chorusmaster in 1781. In 1789 he was appointed to the permanent post of professor of music at Salamanca University. Although quite prolific as a composer of sacred music, his works have never been studied or cataloged. DRAGONETTI, DOMENICO CARLO MARIA (9 APRIL 1763, VENICE, TO 16 APRIL 1846, LONDON). Italian composer, guitarist, and contrabassist. At the age of 12 he began his studies with Michele Berini, eventually being employed as a contrabass player in the theatres in Venice. Other posts at the St. Mark’s Cathedral and in the nearby town of Vincenza kept him in Venice for 30 years. Although his fame as a performer and composer spread, he turned down offers of touring and foreign employment until 1794, when he moved to London to perform at the King’s Theatre. Therafter he toured Europe regularly as a soloist, being acquainted with figures such as Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Leopold Koželuh. His main contributions involved his own instrument and include a new type of bow, the
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idiomatic writing that separated the contrabass from the cello, and the development of new techniques. His music includes six concertos for contrabass (and several other works with orchestra), 12 waltzes for solo contrabass, 10 works with keyboard, a quintet, a quartet, and a duo. His most important work is the method Complete System for the Double Bass published in London in 1795. DRAMATIC POEM. A type of musical work that developed in the late 18th century as the result of the Sturm und Drang literary movement and consisting of the portrayal of a work of literature or a character, involving conflict and emotions, with the plot developing through dialogue, action, and incidental music. It may or may not be staged, but it consists of a number of movements, both vocal and instrumental. An exemplar is Antonín Reicha’s Leonore. DRAMMA BERNESCO. See OPERA BUFFA. DRAMMA EROICOMICO. See OPERA BUFFA. DRAMMA GIOCOSA. An outgrowth of the opera buffa featuring elements of drama or tragedy interwoven with comedy, often in two or four acts. Examples include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Giuseppe Gazzaniga’s Il convivitato di pietra, both based upon the Don Juan story. DRAMMA PER MUSICA. See OPERA SERIA. DRESSLER, ERNST CHRISTOPH (1734, GEUSSEN, GERMANY, TO 6 APRIL 1779, KASSEL, GERMANY). German singer and composer. Although he demonstrated talent in music at an early age, his training was at the universities in Jena and Halle in theology before moving to Leipzig to study literature with Christian Fürchtegott Gellert. He then found an occupation as quartermaster with a Hussar regiment before coming to the notice of the Margrave of Hessen-Kassel, who appointed him court secretary and supported his musical education. He served as a singer and organist at Wetzlar beginning in 1771 and by 1774 was resident in Kassel. His music is all but unknown; his claim to fame is that one of his marches was the theme for a set of variations, the first published work of Ludwig van Beethoven. His surviving music includes a symphony, six Lieder, and several dances.
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DREXEL, JOHANN CHRYSTOSOMUS (24 JANUARY 1758, EPFENHAUSEN, GERMANY, TO 9 FEBRUARY 1801, AUGSBURG, GERMANY). German composer and organist. The son of a farmer, he was sent in 1761 to Augsburg to be educated by the Augustinians, later attending the Jesuit College of Sankt Salvator. In 1786 he went to Salzburg to study under Michael Haydn, becoming ordained in 1790, the same year as he was appointed musical director at the Augsburg cathedral. He became Kapellmeister there in 1797. His musical style is similar to his teacher Haydn and consists of around 30 Masses, as well as a litany, two vespers, and several smaller motets. DREYER, JOHANN MELCHIOR (24 JUNE 1747, RÖTTINGEN, WÜRTTEMBERG, GERMANY, TO 22 MARCH 1824, ELLWANGEN, GERMANY). German organist and composer. After study at the Jesuit Gymnasium in Ellwangen, Dreyer obtained his only position, the organist at the monastery, which he retained for over 40 years. His music, little studied, is characterized by a studied simplicity. Works include 24 sonatas for organ, six Requiems, 24 vesper Psalms, six Tantum ergos, 26 Masses (six published as “simple country Masses” as his Op. 2), six symphonies, three Marian antiphons, and six Misereres. DRUSCHETZKY, GEORG (7 APRIL 1745, JEMNÍKY, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 21 JUNE 1819, BUDAPEST). Bohemian oboist and composer. After musical training in his hometown and Dresden under Carlo Besozzi, he joined the 50th Regiment of the grenadiers in 1762, performing in the regimental band in Dresden and Vienna. By 1783 he had settled in Vienna, but three years later he joined the court of Count Anton Grassalkovich in Bratislava, and in 1794 Cardinal Battyány in Budapest. He was a prolific composer of Harmoniemusik, with a talent for combining wind sonorities. His works include nine Masses, three theatre pieces, two motets, five graduals, seven offertories, three Te Deums, 27 symphonies, 12 concertos (including two for timpani), two fantasies, 47 string quartets, 16 other wind quartets, two quintets, seven songs, 32 miscellaneous chamber works, and over 150 partitas or serenades for Harmoniemusik. DU PUY, [JEAN BAPTISTE] EDOUARD [LOUIS CAMILLE] (ca. 1770, BAIGORY, BASSE NAVARRE, FRANCE, TO 3 APRIL 1822, STOCKHOLM). French-Swedish violinist, tenor, and composer. Raised in Geneva, Switzerland, by an uncle, he studied keyboard under Jan Ladislav Dussek and violin under Carlo Chiabrano in Paris. Thanks to connections
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he was appointed to the court of Prince Heinrich of Prussia at Rheinsburg but was forced to leave after he rode a horse into the middle of a church service in 1792. He then wound up in Stockholm, where he was appointed as a violinist in the Royal Opera orchestra. In 1799 his Jacobin sympathies forced him to leave Stockholm, and he was offered a post at the Opera in Copenhagen. Caught in bed with a royal princess, he was forced to leave for Paris in 1809, but the appointment of Field Marshal Bernadotte as the crown prince of Sweden in 1812 allowed him to return to Stockholm, where he spent the remainder of his life. Du Puy was noted as a fine singer, excellent actor, and versatile violinist in the French manner, but he also wrote prolifically for both the stage and public concerts. His works include 24 operas (including Ungdom og dårskap), five official cantatas for state occasions, five concertos, several symphonies, about 50 Lieder, and numerous other chamber works. DUFF, CHARLES (ca. 1750, DUNDEE, SCOTLAND, TO ca. 1822, DUNDEE). Scottish musician and composer. Information on his youth and musical training is nonextant, but his brother Archibald Duff was a dancing master at Montrose and Aberdeen, where he may also have been educated. By 1792 he was a resident in Dundee, where he was the leader of the musical society there, as well as publishing arrangements of tunes by John M’Donald, a local dancing master, as well as his own reels. In 1798 he returned to Montrose, where he performed on the violin, returning to Dundee sometime before 1808. He continued making a living as a teacher, seller of instruments, and arranger or composer of music until his death. DULONGPRÉ, LOUIS (16 APRIL 1759, SAINT-DENIS, PARIS, TO 26 APRIL 1843, ST. HYACINTHE, QUÉBEC, CANADA). French Canadian musician, painter, music teacher, performer, and stage manager. Nothing is known about his early life in France, but it appears that he arrived in Albany, New York, on a French troopship during the American Revolution. In 1785 he arrived in Montréal, where he advertised as a dancing master and music teacher; he was reputed to have been an excellent performer on stringed instruments and woodwinds. In 1789 he formed, along with Louis-Joseph Quesnel, the Théâtre de Société, the first major public performance venue in the city. In 1793, after the company dissolved, he went to Baltimore to study painting, and upon his return to Canada in 1795 he did not resume his career in music. It is not known if he composed musical works. DUNI, ANTONIO (1700, MATERA, CALABRIA, ITALY, TO ca. 1770, SCHWERIN, GERMANY). Italian composer. Like his younger brother, Egidio Duni, he was trained by his father, later entering the Conservatorio
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della Pietà dei Turchini in Naples. His first position was in Trier with the cathedral, but he was appointed after only a year to the court of the Duke of Ossuna in Madrid, where he became a friend of the castrato Carlo Broschi/ Farinelli. In 1755 he sought to expand his reputation by touring northern Europe. After a brief sojourn in Paris, he traveled to Schwerin, where he joined a traveling Italian opera troupe as maestro di cappella. After performances in Riga in 1766 he resigned in a disagreement with the troupe’s director and returned to Schwerin as the music teacher of the Duchess of Mecklenburg. He apparently remained there for the rest of his life. His music includes five symphonies, five concert arias for Farinelli, six duets for two violins, six motets, a Mass, a litany, a vesper setting, two zarzuelas, and at least one intermezzo; other operas have not survived. DUNI, EGIDIO ROMUALDO (11 FEBRUARY 1708, MATERA, CALABRIA, ITALY, TO 11 JUNE 1775, PARIS). Franco-Italian composer. Following early education by his father, Francesco Duni, he attended the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto in Naples, where his teachers included Giovanni Pergolesi and Leonardo Vinci. In 1738 he had his first success with an opera seria, Nerone, in Rome. Further commissions followed, including Demofoonte for London, but in 1749 he settled in Parma as the maestro di cappella. In 1755 confounded by the emerging popularity of the opera buffa over the opera seria and the preference of the court for French opera, he was turned exclusively to the latter, composing a series of extremely popular works, such as Le peintre amoreux de sa modèle, which became an international success (in addition he was said to have contributed to the pasticcio Ninette à la cour, though evidence is lacking). Following this he moved to Paris, where he established a reputation as one of the leading comic opera composers. His successes include the popular La fée Urgèle of 1765, which was first produced at Fontainebleau. His style is simple and melodic, blending the Italian lyricism with French homophony. His works include 37 operas (seria and comique), four oratorios, Masses, a Te Deum, a litany, six trio sonatas, and a set of minuets. See also DUNI, ANTONIO. DUNI, JEAN-PIERRE (27 SEPTEMBER 1759, PARIS, TO ca. 1810, PARIS). French violinist and composer. Son of Egidio Duni, he was probably trained by his father and joined the Opéra orchestra around 1779. The remainder of his life is unknown, although he appears to have survived the Revolution and continued into Napoleonic times. His sole surviving compositions are a set of six violin sonatas published in 1781. DUODRAMA. See MELODRAMA.
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DUPHLY, JACQUES (12 JANUARY 1715, ROUEN, FRANCE, TO 15 JULY 1789, PARIS). French keyboardist. Trained at the cathedral at Évreux by François d’Agincourt, he obtained his first position at the cathedral at St. Eloi at the age of 19. In 1740 he added a second position at the church of Nôtre Dame de la Ronde, which he attempted to maintain with the help of his sister, Marie-Anne-Agathe, who substituted for him. In 1742 he decided to give up his position and performing on the organ, according to Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg, and concentrate on playing the harpsichord. He soon attained a reputation as one of the premier teachers in Paris, publishing between 1744 and 1768 four books of music for the instrument. He apparently all but ceased to compose music after the last was published, living out the remainder of his life in complete obscurity, even though Jean-Jacques Rousseau had asked him to contribute articles on the harpsichord for his dictionary. Only about 52 keyboard works, all published in the collections, survive. These show him to have been indebted to Jean-Philippe Rameau, although the last collections contain some rather interesting and unique twists on the use of Alberti bass. DUPORT, JEAN-PIERRE (27 NOVEMBER 1741, PARIS, TO 31 DECEMBER 1818, BERLIN). French cellist and composer. A student of Martin Berteau, he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels in Paris in 1761. Shortly thereafter he joined the orchestra of the Prince de Conti and began to tour. By 1773 he had been hired by Frederick II as the teacher of the crown prince of Prussia, as well as being first cellist in the court orchestra. He retained this position until pensioned in 1811. Duport was best known for his adroit performance technique, particularly his use of the thumb position. His compositions reflect the standard style of the late 18th century and include four concertos (three for violin, one for cello), a sinfonia concertante (in collaboration with Pierre Vachon), 37 sonatas, five duos, and a number of airs variés. See also JARNOVIĆ, IVAN. DURÁN, JOSEP (ca. 1730, BARCELONA, TO ca. 1791, BARCELONA). Catalan composer and organist. His early studies were at one of the conservatories in Naples, where he became immersed in the Neapolitan style. In 1755 he served as court composer to the Marquéz de los Vélez, but shortly thereafter he became maestro di capila at the Barcelona cathedral. He is responsible for Antigone, one of the first Spanish language operas to demonstrate the modern Neapolitan style. His works include two operas and a large number of sacred works, although he has never been studied in depth.
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DURANTE, FRANCESCO (31 MARCH 1684, FRATTAMAGGIORE, NEAR NAPLES, ITALY, TO 13 AUGUST 1755, NAPLES). Italian composer and pedagogue. He began his studies in Naples at the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo, continuing at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana under Alessandro Scarlatti. He succeeded Scarlatti there in 1725, and in 1742 he became the successor to Nicola Porpora at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto. Although active as a composer, he was mostly known as a thorough and much-beloved teacher, whose pupils such as Giovanni Pergolesi, Niccolò Jommelli, and Giovanni Paisiello achieved considerable fame. Although the bulk of his music is in the Baroque style, some of his later works from about 1730 on reflect the more lyrical and diatonic style of emerging Classicism. These include sacred works for a cappella chorus, as well as seven orchestral quartets (titled concertos), an oratorio (San Antonio di Padova from 1754), and 22 Masses that blend the older contrapuntal style with the newer galant textures and structures. See also ANFOSSI, PASQUALE; ARENA, GIUSEPPE; AVOSSA, GIUSEPPE; BONNO, GIUSEPPE BATTISTA; CIAMPI, VINCENZO LEGRENZO; FENAROLI, FEDELE; FIORILLO, IGNAZIO; GEREMIA, GIUSEPPE; INSANGUINE, GIACOMO ANTONIO FRANCESCO PAOLO MICHELE; LANG, JOHANN GEORG; SACCHINI, ANTONIO; TERRADELLAS, DOMINGO MIGUEL BERNABE; ZERAFA, BENIGNO. DURAZZO, COUNT GIACOMO (27 APRIL 1717, GENOA, ITALY, TO 15 OCTOBER 1794, PADUA). Italian nobleman and impresario. From a prominent family, Durazzo received his patent of nobility in 1744 and thereafter was sent throughout Europe on diplomatic missions. In 1749 he was posted to the Hapsburg court in Vienna, where he soon obtained royal patronage and became the director of the French Theatre by 1752. Though he also functioned as director of the Imperial Theatre, in which capacity he gathered both Raniero Calzabigi and Christoph Willibald von Gluck into a circle with the intent of reforming serious opera. In 1761 he left Vienna due to theatrical disputes, being posted to Venice as ambassador. Durazzo was an important catalyst in the development of 18th-century opera. See also KELLY, MICHAEL WILLIAM. DUSˇEK, FRANTIŠEK XAVER (bap. 8 DECEMBER 1731, CHOTĚBORKY, NEAR JAROMÉŘ, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 12 FEBRUARY 1799, PRAGUE). Bohemian composer and keyboardist. Following early training at the Jesuit Gymnasium at Hradec Králové under the patronage of Count Johann Carl Sporck, he was sent to
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Prague to study under Franz Habermann and subsequently Vienna under Georg Christoph Wagenseil. In 1770 he returned to Prague where he was associated with the musical establishments of Counts Pachta and ClamGallas, in addition to making a living teaching and composing. His music is known for its elaborate structures and short development sections. His works include 37 symphonies, five serenades, nine concertos (almost all for fortepiano), four sinfonia concertantes, 37 parthies, 21 trios, 14 keyboard sonatas for four hands, eight keyboard sonatas, and five songs. Other works, particularly those for the voice and church, have issues of attribution. He was married to mezzo-soprano Josefa Dušek. See also MAŠEK, VINCENZ. DUŠEK, JOSEFA [HAMBACHER] (bap. 6 MARCH 1754, PRAGUE, TO 8 JANUARY 1824, PRAGUE). Austro-Bohemian singer. Trained by her husband, František Dušek, she began an extraordinarily successful career as a concert singer. Her association with the Mozart family came early due to close relatives in Salzburg and a family visit in 1766. By 1786 she was one of the foremost mezzo-sopranos in Europe, touring frequently and appearing in roles at the Bohemian National Theatre. She was known for her exceptional musicianship and flexible range. DUSSEK, JAN LADISLAV [DUŠÍK, VÁCLAV JAN] (12 FEBRUARY 1760, ČÁSLAV, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 20 MARCH 1812, ST. GERMAIN-EN-LAYE, FRANCE). Bohemian keyboardist and composer. He received his earliest musical training from the Jesuit gymnasiums at Jihlava and Kutná hora, and while at the last he performed as organist at the St. Barbara Church. Taken into the service of a Captain Männer, Dussek toured Austria’s Belgian provinces, functioning as organist in Mechelen for a brief span. Thereafter he embarked on a series of tours, stopping in 1782 in Hamburg, where he may have studied with Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. In 1786 he settled in Paris, where he became a favorite performer of Marie Antoinette. In 1789, however, he suddenly moved to London, which he made his home for a decade. Upon his return to Paris, he found a patron in Talleyrand, despite his former royalist connections. He was known for his handsome features but was considered vain and arrogant. Notable as one of the best pianists of the period, most of his music reflects his idiomatic preference. These include several tutors for the instrument. Works include 34 sonatas for the fortepiano, 15 concertos, 38 violin sonatas, six harp sonatas (possibly a legacy of an alleged affair with Anne-Marie Krumpholtz), six canzonetts, three string quartets, a Mass, and three harp concertos. His music bears Craw numbers. See also DU PUY, EDOUARD; DUSSEK, KATEŘINA VERONIKA ANNA; MONTGEROULT, HÉLÈNE.
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DUSSEK [DUSÍKOVA], KATEŘINA VERONIKA ANNA (8 MARCH 1769, ČÁSLAV, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 1833, LONDON). Bohemian harp player and composer. The daughter of Jan Ladislav Dussek, she was trained by her father. In 1795 she moved to London, where she became a favored performer in salon society. She married a music publisher, Francesco Cianchettini. Her music is mostly written for her instrument and includes two concertos, three sonatas, a number of romances, and several smaller chamber works. DUTILLIEU, PIERRE (15 MAY 1754, LYONS, FRANCE, TO 28 JUNE 1798, VIENNA). French composer. Following studies in Naples, he worked as a composer for the Teatro al Fondo there until 1791, when he was offered an appointment at the Burgtheater in Vienna. His works include five opera buffas, five ballets, a concerto for violin, six duets for violins, and various other chamber works. His style is reminiscent of Domenico Cimarosa. DUVAL [or DUVALL], MADEMOISELLE (ca. 1718, TO AFTER 1778). French composer, singer, and musician. Nothing is known about her life or education; indeed, no source reveals even her first name. She did, however, have a successful debut as a composer in 1736 at the age of 18 with her ballet héroïque Les Génies, ou Les caractères de l’Amour, which she apparently accompanied at its premiere on the harpsichord. Thereafter she appeared regularly in smaller roles at the Opéra, apparently being pensioned around 1770 or so. A review of her opera called it “worthy of Rameau,” indicating that she may have been seen as a prodigy. The last mention of her is in 1775 when she is listed as a dancer at the Opéra. DUVERNOY, FRÉDÉRIC (16 OCTOBER 1765, MONTBÉLARD, FRANCE, TO 19 JULY 1838, PARIS). French horn player and composer. Largely self-taught, he first appeared in Paris at the Comédie-Italienne in 1788, the same year as he debuted at the Concerts spirituels. In 1790 he was second horn at the Opéra-Comique and subsequently performed with the National Guard ensemble during the French Revolution. By 1801 he had achieved fame as the best low horn player in Paris, serving the Imperial Chapel under Napoleon. Although as a composer he wrote several concertos, trios, duos, and sonatas for his instrument, his fame rests upon a treatise, Méthode pour le cor, from 1802.
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E EBERL, ANTON (13 JUNE 1765, VIENNA, TO 11 MARCH 1807, VIENNA). German composer and keyboardist. Early composition and keyboard lessons were taken with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Although Eberl intended to study law at the University of Vienna, family bankruptcy in 1785 forced him to teach piano. In 1795 he accompanied both Mozart’s widow and sister-in-law Aloysia Lange on a concert tour to Germany, from which he accepted a post at St. Petersburg the following year. He returned to Vienna in 1803 at the height of his popularity as a composer of Singspiels but died of blood poisoning shortly thereafter. His music reflects the late Viennese style of his teacher and other composers such as Antonio Salieri, being well crafted and tuneful. Works include eight Singspiels, two cantatas, a chamber serenata, five symphonies, four fortepiano concertos, a sextet, two quintets, five quartets, nine trios, seven violin sonatas, two duos, nine keyboard sonatas, and numerous smaller pieces for the fortepiano. EBERLE, PATER CASPER (1741, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 1811, OTTOBEUREN, BAVARIA). German monastic composer. Nothing is known of his life, save that he was educated at the monastic school at Ottobeuren, entering the Benedictine monastery as a teacher around 1767. His surviving music includes four settings of the Pange lingua and a Requiem. EBERLIN, JOHANN ERNST (27 MARCH 1702, JETTINGEN, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 19 JUNE 1762, SALZBURG). German composer and organist. Eberlin received his earliest musical education at the Jesuit Gymnasium in Augsburg in 1712, where he was a pupil of Georg Egger and Balthasar Siberer. He moved to Salzburg in 1721 to attend university, and in 1727 he was named organist in the main cathedral. By 1749 he had attained the position of Kapellmeister for Archbishop Schrattenbach, which he held until his death. In 1754 he was also appointed as a steward of the principality of Salzburg. Eberlin was known mainly for his sacred music, which was written for both the main cathedral, the Benedictine-run university, and the St. Peter’s monastery church. These include over 95 plays and other didactic
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music such as the monodrama Sigismundus (1763); 11 oratorios; three operas (set to texts by Pietro Metastasio and probably performed in concert versions); 58 Masses; 160 settings of the Mass Proper; numerous hymns, litanies, Psalms, and responsories; 21 German sacred arias; nine Requiems; as well as three symphonies, nine toccata and fugues, 65 preludes and versetti, and other smaller keyboard works. In addition, he also wrote a composition treatise titled Fundimena partiturae (1766). Both Leopold Mozart and Michael Haydn were influenced by Eberlin’s music, in particular his good grasp of the contrapuntal style. The bulk of his theatre music, however, conforms more to the prevailing homophonic Italian style, as do his symphonies, showing that he adapted to the changing musical tastes of the time. See also ADLGASSER, ANTON CAJETAN. EBERLIN, MARIA CAECILIA (17 NOVEMBER 1728, SALZBURG, AUSTRIA, TO 14 DECEMBER 1766, SALZBURG). Austrian composer and keyboardist. The daughter of Johann Ernst Eberlin, she received musical training from her father. In 1751 she married bass singer Joseph Meissner and belonged to the family circle of Leopold Mozart. Most of her works, in the style of her father, date from the period between 1750 and her death. Her use of orchestra demonstrates a considerable ability as a composer, although her works have not been studied thoroughly. Surviving music includes seven songs with orchestra, as well as several choral works. EBERS, CARL FRIEDRICH (25 MARCH 1770, KASSEL, GERMANY, TO 9 SEPTEMBER 1836, BERLIN). German composer and conductor. The son of a teacher, he was probably trained by musicians at the local court. In 1793 he became the musical director of an itinerant troupe that performed throughout northern Germany, often staying in cities and courts such as Schwerin, Neustrelitz, and Magdeburg for several years at a time. In 1822 he retired to Berlin, where he occasionally directed plays and conducted smaller ensembles. His musical activities have been little studied, so little can be determined about his musical style, save that in many ways it follows the North German Singspiel with memorable tunes but with an often dramatic orchestration. His works include four operas, two concertos, and a sinfonia concertante, as well as a number of symphonies, cantatas, Lieder, and smaller chamber works. ECHEVERRÍA ARAVA, AUGUSTÍN DE (ca. 1730, PROBABLY ARÁNZAZU, SPAIN, TO 11 JUNE 1792, ARÁNZAZU). Spanish-Basque monastic composer and organist. As a child he studied with the Franciscan monks at Aránzazu monastery, entering the priesthood after he finished his
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education. There he taught at the monastic school, sang tenor in the choir, and performed on the viola in the orchestra. His first works appear in 1756, at which time he had already taken Holy Orders. His works have been little studied but include seven Lamentations, two keyboard sonatas, and two villancicos in the Basque language. ECK, FRIEDRICH JOHANN (17 MAY 1767, SCHWETZINGEN, GERMANY, TO 22 FEBRUARY 1838, PROBABLY NANCY, FRANCE). German violinist and composer. Following violin lessons with a local court violinist, he was appointed as a supernumerary member of the Mannheim orchestra in 1778, later becoming a full member when the court moved to Munich. There he studied composition with Peter von Winter, later serving as director of the chamber theatre at court. In 1798 he briefly succeeded Christian Cannabich as director of instrumental music, but was dismissed two years later. At that time, he eloped with a countess and settled in France, where he appears to have given up his career. His music was composed mainly for his own performance, where his playing was noted for its pure tone. His works include five violin concertos and two sinfonia concertantes. ECKARD, JOHANN GOTTFRIED (21 JANUARY 1735, AUGSBURG, TO 24 JULY 1809, PARIS). German painter, keyboardist, and composer. The son of a coppersmith, he was trained as an artist, although he conceived such an interest in the fortepiano that he taught himself to play using Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Versuch. In 1758 his friend and mentor, keyboard builder Andreas Stein, persuaded Eckard to accompany him to Paris, where he took up residence painting miniature portraits. Within a short time, he had become a staple of the Parisian concert scene, championing the fortepiano through his own performances and compositions, such as the six sonatas published as Op. 1 in 1763. Charles Burney noted specifically that he was a “man of genius and a great master of his instrument,” substantiating local comments. His style of music evokes that of his model, Bach, and he appears to have composed exclusively for the fortepiano. Surviving works are eight sonatas and a set of variations, but he was also known to have composed fortepiano concertos and fugues. ECKHARD, JACOB (24 NOVEMBER 1757, ESCHWEGE, GERMANY, TO 10 NOVEMBER 1833, CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES). German-American composer and organist. After initial posts as an organist, he joined the Hessian army, arriving in the United States in 1776. After the Revolutionary War he settled in Richmond, Virginia, but in 1786 he moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where he
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became an important member of the Lutheran congregation there. He composed both anthems and patriotic songs, but his main focus was on hymns, published in 1794 as the Choralbuch. EDELMANN, JEAN-FRÉDÉRIC [JOHANN FRIEDRICH] (5 MAY 1749, STRASBOURG, TO 17 JULY 1794, PARIS). French-Alsatian composer, teacher, and government bureaucrat. Edelmann was educated at the University of Strasbourg in law and music, when in 1774 he moved to Paris to become a teacher and music arranger. Among his publications were arias from operas by Christoph Willibald von Gluck, who became a close friend, and others for voice and keyboard. In 1781 his pastoral opera La bergère des Alpes was performed with considerable success at the Tuilleries, followed the next year by a classical work, Arian dans l’isle de Naxos at the Opéra. In 1789 he joined the French Revolution and was given the post of governor of the Lower Rhine (Alsace), whereupon he returned to Strasbourg. In 1792 he was celebrated for his revolutionary cantata Chant pour l’Armée du Rhin in which the tune “La Marseillaise” appeared for the first time. In 1794, however, he was arrested and sent for trial in Besançon. Acquitted initially, he was sent to Paris, where another court found him guilty and had him guillotined. Although he wrote a number of songs, as well as three operas and an oratorio (Esther, 1781, now lost), and though he provided vocal cantatas on revolutionary subjects, such as the work above and the 1790 Hymn pour la Fête de la Fédéracion, the bulk of his compositions are instrumental. These include 30 keyboard sonatas; five concertos for the fortepiano; 12 keyboard quartets; six trios for flute, violin, and keyboard; and a one-act ballet titled Feu [Fire]. His music has been cataloged by Benton and uses B numbers. See also LEMOYNE, GABRIEL. EDSON, LEWIS, JR. (23 JANUARY 1771, BRIDGEWATER, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES, TO 23 MAY 1845, MINK HOLLOW, NEW YORK). American psalmodist. Taught by his father, Lewis Edson Sr., he was employed as a post rider in 1795 in Cooperstown, New York. In 1801 he had moved to New York City as a music teacher, and in 1815 he was listed as a manufacturer of nails. He left 20 works, most of which reflect the simple style of his father. EDSON, LEWIS, SR. (22 JANUARY 1748, BRIDGEWATER, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES, TO 1820, MINK HOLLOW, NEW YORK). American psalmodist. In 1761 he enlisted in the British army, fighting in the French and Indian War. A blacksmith by trade, he sympathized with the British, which forced him and his family to move to Lanesboro in
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1773 and by 1781 on to Cooperstown, New York, where he farmed. Three of his contrapuntal tunes were often reprinted, and a majority of the 23 others were printed in 1800 in The Social Harmonist. See also EDSON, LEWIS, JR. EEDEN, GILLES VAN DEN (ca. 1708, LIÈGE, BELGIUM, TO 17 JUNE 1782, BONN, GERMANY). Flemish organist. His life has been little studied and therefore little information is known about him, other than he taught Ludwig van Beethoven thorough bass and organ in his old age and was replaced in 1781 as court organist by Christian Gottlob Neefe due to ill health. He appears to have been hired at Bonn around 1727, and there are intimations that he was a composer of vocal and organ music, though no works have apparently survived. EGUIGUREN Y EZCAREGUI, FERNANDO DE (17 MARCH 1743, EIBAR [NOW GIPUZKOA], SPAIN, TO ca. 1800, ARÁNZAZU, SPAIN). Spanish-Basque monastic composer. Very little is known about his life, the bulk of which was spent in contemplation in the Aránzazu monastery. He was ordained in 1760 and probably performed in the monastic choir. His works include three Masses, a Lamentation, and a substantial number of motets. EICHNER, ADELHEID MARIA (1 SEPTEMBER 1762, ZWEIBRÜCKEN, GERMANY, TO 5 APRIL 1787, POTSDAM, GERMANY). German singer and composer. The daughter of Ernst Eichner, she probably received precocious training in musical composition from her father, as well as voice lessons from a castrato in Mannheim. In 1773 she made her debut while still a child at Potsdam, eventually becoming a principal singer in the court opera company in 1782. Her voice was said to have had a range of over three octaves, though she was often criticized for her stiff and unnatural acting skills. She had a sensitive disposition, the result of a “severe emotional disturbance” from which she passed away early. As a composer, she was said to have written numerous works, although only a set of 12 Lieder mit Melodien fürs Klavier survives. EICHNER, ERNST (15 FEBRUARY 1740, BAD AROLSEN, GERMANY, TO 1777, POTSDAM, GERMANY). German bassoonist, violinist, and composer. The son of a musician, Johann Andreas Eichner (1694–1768), he studied under his father before becoming Kapellmeister at the court of Duke Christian IV in Zweibrücken. After his symphonies were published in Paris, he obtained a position as violinist with the Mannheim orchestra in 1768, winning a prestigious award in Paris in 1772 for his compositions after tours there and in London. In 1773 he accepted a position in Potsdam with the
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musical ensemble of Crown Prince Friedrich (later Friedrich Wilhelm). He was one of the most significant and progressive composers of the mid-century German symphony, though he often chose to retain the three-movement format. His music is known for its colorful and sensitive orchestration. His music includes 30 symphonies, 18 concertos (mostly for winds), 14 quartets, a quintet, two wind divertimentos, 12 trios for strings, seven sonatas, six duos, and six keyboard sonatas. His daughter, Adelheid Eichner, was a singer and composer with a precocious talent. ELIAS, FREI MANUEL DOS SANTOS (ca. 1740, PORTUGAL, TO ca. 1780, LISBON). Portuguese clerical composer. Nothing is known about his life or musical training, save that he was a member of the Carmelite monastery in Lisbon around the middle of the 18th century. Only one work, a flute concerto, has survived. It demonstrates knowledge of the Mannheim style. ELSNER, JÓZEF ANTONI FRANCISZEK [JOSEF ANTON FRANZ] (1 JUNE 1769, GRODKÓW, SILESIA [NOW POLAND], TO 18 APRIL 1854, WARSAW). Polish violinist, teacher, and composer. Born into a German family, he was trained in Breslau [now Wrocław, Poland] at the Jesuit Gymnasium as well as the University of Breslau, where he studied medicine and theology. In 1789 he traveled to Vienna, where he turned toward a career in music. In 1791 he obtained a post as violinist in Brno, and the following year he became theatre composer in Lemburg (now L’vov, Ukraine), a post he held for eight years. In 1799 he settled in Warsaw, where he became a well-respected teacher whose pupils included Frédéric Chopin. As a composer, much of his music reflects early 19th-century Romanticism, but he did compose a number of pieces in the Classical style, including three Polish operas (before 1804), eight symphonies, nine string quartets, three trios, 24 Latin and nine Polish Masses, and a large amount of sacred music. EMPFINDSAMKEIT. A term also known as the “empfindsamer Stil” stemming from northern Germany, which connotes an aesthetic whereby intimate, sensitive expression is imbued into music to evoke emotion, especially melancholy. The term itself derives from a literary movement, at the head of which were playwright Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and poet Friedrich Gottlob Klopstock. The style was based upon Italian models but promoted by people such as Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach as a way of “touching the heart and move the affections.” Stylistically it incorporates fluid harmony; rhythmic, thematic, and dynamic contrasts; and the use of contrast between themes or shorter motives, often with repetition and sequence. Joseph Martin Kraus describes the difference between Empfindsamkeit and Sturm und Drang as that between emotions and passion.
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ENDERLE, JOHANN JOSEPH VON (ca. 1710, PROBABLY BAVARIA, TO 1748, NÜRNBERG, GERMANY). German musician. He first appears in history in 1728 when he was admitted as a stadtpfeifer in the city of Nürnberg, a post he retained his entire life. His proficiency on oboe, horn, and bassoon inspired Kapellmeister Johan Agrell to write technically difficult pieces. He may also have been a composer of works for his instruments. See also ENDERLE, WILHELM GOTTFRIED. ENDERLE, WILHELM GOTTFRIED (21 MAY 1722, BAYREUTH, GERMANY, TO 18 FEBRUARY 1790, DARMSTADT, GERMANY). German composer and violinist. At the age of 14 he was taken to Nürnberg to be educated, eventually winding up in Berlin, where he studied under composers of the Berlin School. In 1748 he was appointed by the Archbishop of Würzburg as a violinist, eventually moving to the court of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1753 as concertmaster. His music includes eight symphonies, two violin concertos, six violin duos, 18 flute trios (and one for three flutes), and a trio sonata. He also wrote three celebratory cantatas for his patrons. His style is mostly galant although the cantatas employ Baroque compositional techniques. See also ENDERLE, JOHANN JOSEPH VON. ENGEL, JOHANN JACOB (11 SEPTEMBER 1741, PARCHIM, PRUSSIA, GERMANY, TO 28 JUNE 1802, PARCHIM). German aesthetician and librettist. Following early education at the Rostock Gymnasium, he attended university at Bützow and Leipzig in law and theology. While at the latter he became known as an author of Singspiel texts. In 1775 he was appointed as professor of liberal arts at the Joachimsthal Gymnasium in Berlin, where he became tutor to the crown prince and a member of the Berlin School. He was a close friend of Johann Friedrich Reichardt and dedicated his main aesthetical treatise Über die musikalische Malerey of 1780 to him. His views on representational tone painting versus musical expression influenced Ludwig van Beethoven. ENGELMANN, JOHANN CHRISTOPH. See KAFFKA, JOHANN CHRISTOPH. ENVALLSSON, CARL (24 OCTOBER 1756, VAXHOLM, SWEDEN, TO 14 JULY 1806, STOCKHOLM). Swedish librettist and lexicographer. In 1776 he earned his degree from the University of Uppsala, which allowed him to become appointed as a secretary in the War College. In 1781 he made the acquaintance of composer-singer Carl Stenborg, with whom he formed an often rocky friendship. He was to write 52 librettos for Stenborg’s Swedish Comic Theatre between 1781 and 1799, many of which were translations or
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adaptations in Swedish. In 1802 he published a dictionary of music in Swedish, the Svenskt Musikaliskt Lexikon, which included some of the first descriptions of non-Western musics. For this he was appointed a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. He apparently also wrote music for several songs. EPILOGUE. A short musical work generally in one act that follows the production of a larger stage piece, such as an opera or play. The subject matter is varied, ranging from a commentary on the opera or play itself to comic relief in the form of a satire or farce, and not infrequently a special panegyric for a patron or honoree. An example is the Epilogue to Lodoïska by Johann Christian Friedrich Haeffner, composed in 1794. Such pieces were common in theatres on the periphery, such as in the new United States, Sweden, or Russia. This type of work was also known as an afterpiece. ERNST, FRANZ ANTON [FRANTIŠEK ANTONÍN] (3 DECEMBER 1745, SANKT GEORGENTHAL, BOHEMIA [NOW JIŘETÍN POU JEDLOVOU, CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 13 JANUARY 1805, GOTHA, GERMANY). German-Bohemian composer and violinist. A student of Antonio Lolli, he was appointed in 1778 as the successor of Georg Anton Benda at the theatre in Gotha. Well known for his brilliant style of playing, he was also a composer of Singspiels. Little work on him has been done, however, and his only surviving compositions appear to be a violin concerto and an organ prelude. ERRICHELLI, PASQUALE (ca. 1730, NAPLES, TO ca. 1780, SULMONA, ABRUZZI, ITALY). Italian composer and organist. Presumably of Neapolitan birth, he first appears as a student at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini, from which he was appointed as an organist at the Capella del Tesoro di San Gennero in 1747, eventually being promoted to first organist there in 1763. In 1753 the premiere of his opera La serva astute in Naples established him as a resident composer, and the following year his Issipile was critically acclaimed as a worthy model of the style of Johann Adolph Hasse. Despite further successes, however, in 1775 he became maestro di cappella at the small town of Sulmona in the Abruzzi, where he vanishes from history. His music includes seven operas, an oratorio, a Mass, a symphony, two trio sonatas, and around 10 arias or secular cantatas, all in the Neapolitan style. ERSKINE, THOMAS ALEXANDER, 6th EARL OF KELLIE (1 SEPTEMBER 1732, KELLIE CASTLE, FIFE, SCOTLAND, TO 9 OCTOBER 1781, BRUSSELS). Scottish composer and violinist. Born into a noble family of lesser means, he began his studies in Edinburgh with William Mc-
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Gibbon (1696–1756), a composer and violinist who taught him the Baroque style. As a member of the Edinburgh Musical Society (under the name Lord Pittenween), he performed frequently with Francesco Barsanti, whose music he studied. In 1752 he traveled to Mannheim, where he became a pupil of Johann Stamitz and an auxiliary member of the Mannheim orchestra under the name Fiddler Tam. Returning to London in 1763, he championed the Mannheim style among English composers, even as he rose high in Freemason societies, eventually becoming a grand master. Erskine moved back to Edinburgh in 1767, where he led a sybaritic lifestyle. He died on his way to Spa in Belgium, where he intended to take the cure for alcoholism. Erskine’s music was popular throughout the British realms during the last half of the 18th century, primarily for its use of Mannheim devices and clever orchestration. His works include 23 minuets, 11 symphonies or overtures, nine trio sonatas, nine string quartets, several violin duets, a concert aria, a lost serenata, and several pieces of wind music. ESCHENBURG, JOHANN JOACHIM (7 DECEMBER 1743, HAMBURG, TO 27 FEBRUARY 1820, BRAUNSCHWEIG, GERMANY). German literary figure and amateur composer. A professor at the Carolineum in Braunschweig, Eschenburg was well known for his compilations of German literature, as well as some 14 translations and discussions on music, including a translation of Charles Burney. He also organized concerts in Braunschweig and translated French opéra comique for the German stage, including works by André Ernest Modeste Grétry. His own musical efforts were small and amateurish, but include 19 Lieder and a motet. ESCHSTRUTH, HANS ADOLPH FREIHERR VON (28 JANUARY 1756, HOMBERG, NEAR KASSEL, GERMANY, TO 30 APRIL 1792, KASSEL). German state bureaucrat and composer. Trained under Johann Vierling in Schmalkalden as a youth, he moved to study law at Rinkeln and Göttingen, before becoming an administrator in Marburg, where he studied under Bernhard Hupfeld. He returned to Kassel, where he became a state administrator and highly regarded salon composer. His music has been little studied but consists of 12 pieces for Harmoniemusik, 12 keyboard sonatas, and around 50 Lieder. ESPONA, PADRE MANUEL (1714, SANT FELIU DE TORELLÓ, CATALONIA, TO 9 JANUARY 1779, MONTSERRAT, CATALONIA). Catalan monastic composer and organist. He began attending the Escolania de Montserrat in 1724 studying music under Vincenç Presiac, and in 1733 he was ordained and formally entered the Benedictine order at Montserrat. He
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remained there his entire life, functioning as the schoolmaster of the Escolania. His music includes four Magnificats and three responsories. ESTEVES, JOÃO RODRIGUES (ca. 1699, TO 1 NOVEMBER 1755, LISBON). Portuguese composer of sacred music. Considered one of the major figures in the early part of the 18th century in Portugal, Esteves was sent to study in Rome with Giovanni Pitoni in 1719, returning to his homeland seven years later. In 1729 he was appointed as the musical director at the Basilica de Santa Maria in Lisbon, as well as continuo instructor at the Seminário da Patriarcal. It is almost certain that he died during the 1755 earthquake in Lisbon. His surviving music (91 works) includes an eight-voice Mass, as well as 22 Psalms, eight responsories, two Te Deums, a Miserere from 1737, and a Magnificat. His musical style adheres closely to the stile antico, but his later motets demonstrate a good homophonic harmony that corresponds to the emerging Classical style. EXIMENO Y PUJADES, ANTONIO (26 SEPTEMBER 1729, VALENCIA, SPAIN, TO 9 JUNE 1808, ROME). Spanish mathematician and music theorist. After being educated in quadrivial studies at seminary schools he joined the Jesuit order in 1745, teaching at the Seminario de Nobles de San Ignacio in Valencia. In 1763 he taught mathematics in Segovia, but in 1767 he left Spain for Rome when the Jesuits were expelled from the country. There he settled as a secular priest, studying music with Padre Felice Masi. In 1772 he published his most significant treatise, Dell’origine e delle regole della musica, which claimed that music ought to be derived from the melody of spoken language and not mathematics. A controversy over this view led him to give up writing about music theory, although in 1798 he wrote a description of Spanish music when he returned briefly to Spain. EYBLER, JOSEPH LEOPOLD EDLER VON (8 FEBRUARY 1765, SCHWECHAT, NEAR VIENNA, AUSTRIA, TO 24 JULY 1846, VIENNA). Austrian composer. After early musical studies with his father, he enrolled at St. Stephen’s in Vienna where he studied composition with Johann Georg Albrechtsberger. In 1792 he became choir director at the Carmelite Church, and two years later obtained a position at the Schottenkloster. In 1824 he was appointed as court Kapellmeister, retaining that position until disabled by a stroke in 1833. As a relative of Joseph Haydn and close friend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven, he was a prominent figure in musical circles during the last part of the 18th and first quarter of the 19th century. His music is characterized by bold harmonies and a sense of drama expressed in orchestral color. His works include two
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operas, 33 Masses (and three Mass movements), 37 graduals, 34 offertories, four antiphons, four oratorios, seven Te Deums, 11 hymns, five other sacred works, 16 Lieder and numerous choral pieces and canons, three symphonies, six sinfonia concertantes, a clarinet concerto, a divertimento, over 100 dances, a sextet, four quintets, nine quartets, and six sonatas. His music is known by HV or Hermann numbers.
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F FABRIZI, VINCENZO (1764, NAPLES, TO ca. 1812, ROME). Italian composer. A student of Giacomo Tritto, he made his debut as an opera composer at the Carnival in Naples with I tre gobbi rivali in 1783. In 1786 he became maestro di cappella at the University of Rome, later adding the position of director of the Teatro Capranica. During this period he traveled widely throughout Italy fulfilling commissions, achieving a reputation as an imitator of Domenico Cimarosa. His works include 15 operas (mostly buffa). His music has been little studied. FAGO, LORENZO (13 AUGUST 1704, NAPLES, TO 30 APRIL 1793, NAPLES). Italian composer and organist. Son of organist Nicola Fago (1677–1745), he received his early education from his father before entering the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini. In 1731 he became second organist at the Naples cathedral; the same year he also became a teacher at the same conservatory. In 1744 he was promoted to primo maestro, a position he held the remainder of his life. Little of his music has survived. These include an oratorio, two arias, a Lesson, a Mass, and four motets, all of which reflect a conservative, strict style. His son, Pasquale Fago, also became a composer. See also SCIROLI, GREGORIO; TARCHI, ANGELO. FAGO, PASQUALE (1740, NAPLES, TO 11 NOVEMBER 1794, MONTECORVINO, ITALY). Italian composer and politician, also nicknamed “Il Tarantino.” The son of Lorenzo Fago, he was educated at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini. In 1762 he was appointed organist at the Naples cathedral, succeeding his father in 1766 when his father stepped aside to devote his time to his post at the conservatory. In 1771 he abandoned music to become a state bureaucrat with the Kingdom of Naples and the Two Sicilies, holding advancing posts until 1788, when he became governor of Montecorvino. His music, little studied, includes three operas, a cantata, an aria, and a duet. FAJER, FRANCISCO JAVIER GARCÍA (2 DECEMBER 1730, NALDA, LOGROÑO, SPAIN, TO 9 APRIL 1809, ZARAGOZA, SPAIN). Spanish organist and composer, known as “Lo Spagnoletto.” Trained at the 187
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Colegio de Infantes de la Seo, he was also a choirboy at the Zaragoza cathedral. From there he was sent to Naples to study at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini, after which he was appointed maestro di cappella in Treni. There he received his nickname. In 1756 he returned to Spain to direct music at La Seo in Zaragoza. He died during the French siege of the city. Fajer was a prolific composer primarily of sacred music. His works, often large scale with a good sense of orchestration, are now beginning to be studied. These consist of four operas, six oratorios, 86 Masses, 15 Credos, six sequences, 35 antiphons, 11 canticles, 112 responsories, 83 Psalms, five Stabat maters, 24 motets, seven hymns, four cantatas, 42 villancicos, and three settings of the Seven Last Words. FALB, PATER REMIGIUS (1714, PROBABLY NEAR MUNICH, TO 20 NOVEMBER 1770, KLOSTER FÜRSTENFELDBRUCK, NEAR MUNICH). German monastic composer. A member of the Cistercian order, nothing is known of his life or musical education, save that it was probably at the monastery where he spent his entire life. He had some connections to the Bavarian court, for his published music is dedicated to the Elector Maximilian III Joseph of Bavaria. His works, in an often naïve style, have never been explored, but a set of Masses and a set of six pastoral symphonies were published in Augsburg around 1755. FARINELLI. See BROSCHI, CARLO. FARINELLI, GIUSEPPE. See FINCO, GIUSEPPE FRANCESCO. FASCETTI, GIOVANNI LORENZO (1712, LUCCA, ITALY, TO 1781, MILAN). Italian composer. Nothing is known of his parentage or education. He first appears in Lucca in 1744 as the composer of an opera, and in 1757 he was appointed as maestro di cappella at the church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli in Milan, a post he held his entire life. His music remains almost completely unknown, but surviving works consist of two operas, an oratorio performed in Rome in 1754, a motet, and several Mass movements. FASCH, CARL FRIEDRICH CHRISTIAN (18 NOVEMBER 1736, ZERBST, GERMANY, TO 3 AUGUST 1800, BERLIN). German composer and keyboardist. Son of Baroque composer Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688–1758), he was trained by his father on the keyboard and Carl Höckh on violin. After performing for Franz Benda, he was offered a post as cembalist at the court of Frederick II in Berlin in 1756. He was promoted to conductor of the Royal Opera in 1774, and although the new monarch
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Friedrich Wilhelm had little use of him, he remained at court until his death. Of special interest is that Fasch’s home became a gathering place for Berlin singers and intellectuals beginning in 1789, forming a group that was later to become legitimized as the Berliner Sing-Akademie. As a composer, he wrote nine oratorios, 11 cantatas, five Psalms, four Masses, a Requiem, an ode (the Morgengesang), a symphony, and six keyboard sonatas. His students include Carl Friedrich Zelter and Johann Rellstab. FAUVEL, ANDRÉ-JOSEPH (1756, BORDEAUX, FRANCE, TO ca. 1830, PARIS). Also known as “l’ainé” to distinguish him from his brother. French violinist, violist, composer, and teacher. A pupil of violinist Pierre Noël Gervais, he began performing in the public concerts in his hometown by about the age of 20. Shortly thereafter in 1782 he accepted Pierre Rode as a young pupil, and the two performed frequently up to 1787, when both moved to Paris. There they appeared with success at the Concerts spirituels. In 1794, Fauvel became a violist in the Opéra orchestra, a position he retained until his retirement in 1814. His music has been little studied but consists of a number of symphonies, a sinfonia concertante, at least a dozen string quartets, some string trios, and several method books. FAVART, CHARLES SIMON (13 NOVEMBER 1710, PARIS, TO 12 MAY 1792, PARIS). French librettist. The son of a pastry chef, Favart was educated at the Lycée Louis le Grand and in 1734 scored his first success with a vaudeville Les deux jumelles. By 1750 he had become director of the Opéra Comique in Paris, which he used to promote his style of comic text featuring rustic characters, often thrown into urban situations. Married to a successful actress and singer, he became the most successful impresario in Paris. By 1765, however, his wife was subject to the unwarranted attentions of Maurice, le comte de Saxe, and although her death prevented things from getting out of hand, Favart himself was forced to flee to Strasbourg. In later years he returned to Paris, where he lost his eyesight due to age. As a librettist, he wrote over 150 texts, the most important of which were Annette et Lubin (1743) and Ninette à la cour (1753), all of which became popular through their settings by Nicolas-Marie Dalayrac and others. He also maintained an extensive correspondence with Count Giacomo Durazzo in Vienna. See also NOVERRE, JEAN-GEORGES. FAVI, ANDREA (1743, FORLI, ITALY, TO 1822, FORLI). Italian composer. Almost nothing is known about Favi, who spent his entire life in his hometown of Forli. His early education was probably there, and by 1775 he had become maestro di cappella at the church of Santa Croce, later
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also directing the municipal orchestra. He was a member of the Accademia filarmonica in Bologna, establishing a similar conservatory and honorary music institution in Forli around 1790. His music includes two operas, three oratorios, a symphony, and numerous smaller sacred works. FEDERAL OVERTURE. A common instrumental work, generally in one or two movements, consisting of a potpourri of popular tunes, many with political implications, that appeared in concert programs in the new United States of America. The initial work was by Benjamin Carr and premiered in Philadelphia in 1794. This was replaced by the more commonplace medley overture, of which it is a subgenre, after around 1800. FELDMAYR, JOHANN GEORG (17 DECEMBER 1756, PFAFFENHOFEN AN DER ILM, GERMANY, TO 1834, HAMBURG). German violinist and composer. He was educated at the Indersdorf monastery in music before joining the court of Duke Kraft Ernst of Oettingen-Wallerstein as a violinist in 1780. After an unsuccessful attempt at obtaining a position in Schwerin, he found further employment at the theatre in Hamburg in 1802, where he remained his entire life. Feldmayr’s music reflects similarities with Antonio Rosetti, his colleague at Wallerstein, but has been little studied. These include two Requiems, two Misereres, an oratorio, an opera, 24 cantatas, 17 sacred arias, two symphonies, four concertos and four sinfonia concertantes, two serenades, and 22 wind partitas. FELDPARTHIE. See PARTHIE/PARTITA. FENAROLI, FEDELE (25 APRIL 1730, LANCIANO, ITALY, TO 1 JANUARY 1818, NAPLES). Italian composer. His earliest education was at the Conservatorio Santa Maria di Loreto in Naples under Francesco Durante. In 1762 he became assistant maestro di cappella at the conservatory, later obtaining the full title in 1777. In 1797 he was instrumental in the consolidation of the Neapolitan conservatories. His own main contributions were five textbooks for the education of composers, but his music, little studied, includes two operas, three oratorios, five Masses, a Requiem, five Lamentations, 13 Lessons, 28 Psalms/antiphons, and several smaller works for voice. FEO, FRANCESCO (1691, NAPLES, TO 28 JANUARY 1761, NAPLES). Italian composer. Best known as an opera composer, he received his training at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in Naples. By 1723 he was a well-respected teacher at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana, where his students included Niccolò Jommelli. In 1739 he moved
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to the Conservatorio dei Poversi di Gesù Cristo. From 1743 he functioned primarily as a church composer in the city. Although the bulk of his operas reflect Baroque styles and practices, his church music and at least six of the opera serias were composed according to the emerging Classical Neapolitan style of Giovanni Pergolesi and others. These late works include six operas, two serenatas, 14 oratorios, a symphony, three Passions, and nine sacred dialogues. More importantly, he was one of the major teachers of the first two generations of Classical period composers in Naples. See also ZERAFA, BENIGNO. FERLING, ERIC (ca. 1733, POSSIBLY TILLBERGA, NEAR VÄSTERÅS, SWEDEN, TO 20 DECEMBER 1808, TURKU [ÅBO], FINLAND). Swedish violinist and composer. Ferling was hired in 1761 as an ordinary violinist in the Swedish Hovkapell, but at a salary that was barely adequate. He began to appear regularly at the public concerts as a soloist, and in 1767 he was appointed as concertmaster following the dismissal of Antoine Perichon. His first contract, however, was not awarded until 1774 due to political wrangling. At that time he was also chief copyist of the Royal Opera, a post he held for over a decade. In 1786 he requested release from his contract, but it was not until 1790 that he was able to leave Stockholm to direct the newly established Musikaliska Sällskap in the Finnish town of Åbo (now Turku). Here he established the first major concert series in Finland that existed up until the town’s occupation by Russian troops in 1806. Ferling’s compositions include a violin concerto and numerous minuets and contradances. His performance style was said to be highly virtuoso. His concerto bears this out with good range and technical demands on the instrument, and deft accompaniment. FERNÁNDEZ, JOAN EXEQUIEL (ca. 1730, LÉON, SPAIN, TO ca. 1810, SANTANDER, SPAIN). Spanish composer and organist. Little is known of his early life, save that he studied with Ramón Gargallo in Léon, becoming his assistant and, in 1754, maestro di capilla at the main cathedral. He remained there until 1794, when he obtained the same position at the cathedral in Santander. His music, consisting largely of sacred works, including villancicos and at least eight Lamentations, has remained mostly unexplored. FERRADINI, ANTONIO (ca. 1718, NAPLES, TO 1779, PRAGUE). Italian-Bohemian composer and organist. Following instruction at one of the Naples conservatories, he made his debut as an opera composer in 1739, receiving commissions thereafter from throughout Italy. In 1751 he was employed briefly in Spain, but in 1757 he moved permanently to Prague, where
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he wrote almost exclusively for the church. His music is characterized by a conservative, sometimes even anachronistic style. It includes 11 operas, an oratorio, a Mass (and eight Mass movements), four motets, a Stabat mater, three symphonies, several madrigals, a quartet for three flutes and cellos, six keyboard sonatas, four cantatas, five sacred arias, and 15 duets. He is no relation of Giovanni Battista Ferradini. FERRADINI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (ca. 1710, VENICE, TO 25 NOVEMBER 1791, MUNICH). Italian composer and oboist. He received his musical education at the Conservatorio dei Mendicante in Venice before moving to Munich to complete his studies under Pietro Torri. In 1732 he was named chamber composer to the Bavarian court, and later in 1737 he had become director of chamber music and successfully premiered his opera Cantone in Utica. He moved to Padua in 1755, where he established an academy of music. By 1790 he had returned to Munich to retire. His music has been little studied although it attracted the attention of Leopold Mozart. Works include 14 operas, 76 cantatas, 25 symphonies, 12 duo sonatas, three trio sonatas, and three divertimentos. He is no relation of Antonio Ferradini. See also MARIA ANTONIA WALPURGIS, PRINCESS OF SAXONY. FERRARI, GIACOMO GOTIFREDO (bap. 2 APRIL 1763, ROVERETO, ITALY, TO 2 DECEMBER 1842, LONDON). Italian composer and keyboardist. After being orphaned as a child, he spent his early years as an apprentice silk merchant before going to Naples, where he studied under Giovanni Paisiello and Gaetano Latilla. In 1787 he made his debut in Paris but fled to London in 1792 to avoid the Revolution. His Complainte de la reine de France the following year is one of the most important pieces of antirevolutionary music written. In England he was a successful composer, theorist, and singing teacher with close ties to George IV. His music, little studied, includes seven operas, two piano concertos, 20 violin sonatas, six Italian ariettas, as well as a number of works for harp, violin, and keyboard. FERREÑAC, RAMÓN (1763, ZARAGOZA, SPAIN, TO 1832, ZARAGOZA). Spanish organist and composer. During his early years he functioned as an ordinary musician at the Seo de Zaragoza, where he was trained in all likelihood. In 1783 he became maestro di capilla at the cathedral in Huenca but two years later returned to Zaragoza to become organist at the cathedral of Nuestra Señora del Pilar. Ferreñac can be considered one of the most important members of the Zaragoza organ school, writing numerous small works for the instrument that were distributed widely throughout Spain.
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His music, however, has received little attention, consisting of a number of sacred works. FESTA TEATRALE. See AZIONE TEATRALE. FESTING, MICHAEL CHRISTIAN (29 NOVEMBER 1705, LONDON, TO 24 JULY 1752, LONDON). English composer and violinist. A student of Richard Jones and Francesco Geminiani, he became known during his lifetime as one of the most popular violinists in London. In 1726 he was a member of the King’s Musick, and in 1742 he directed the public concerts at Ranleigh Gardens. His most important student was Thomas Arne. As a composer, many of his works reflect Baroque practice, but his later pieces, such as the odes and a number of the concertos, incorporate galant stylistic elements. His music consists of three large odes, around 30 songs, 30 concertos, 24 trio sonatas, 32 duo sonatas, and numerous catches and glees. FIALA, JOSEF (3 FEBRUARY 1748, LOCHOVICE, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 31 JULY 1816, DONAUESCHINGEN, GERMANY). Bohemian-German composer and oboist. His earliest musical training was at a local Jesuit school, after which he obtained a post as oboist for Countess Netolicka in Prague. By 1774 he had been hired at the court of Oettingen-Wallerstein, later moving in 1777 to Munich to become principal in the court orchestra of Elector Maximilian Joseph. A year later he joined the Salzburg court ensemble of Archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo, where he became a close friend of the Mozart family. In 1785 he followed Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to Vienna to seek his fortune, eventually moving on to St. Petersburg, but in 1790 he returned to Berlin as a viola da gambist at the court of Friedrich Wilhelm II. This position was not to his liking, and in 1792 he obtained the post as Kapellmeister for Prince Benedict zu Fürstenberg at Donaueschingen, where he spent the rest of his life. An active composer as well as a performer, his style is characterized by well-constructed themes and adept use of instrumentation within the normal forms of the period. His music includes 19 symphonies, 21 concertos (including one for English horn), 30 partitas, 24 quartets, 10 trios, 18 duos, two keyboard sonatas, an Ave Maria, and other smaller chamber works. His music is known by FWV or Rheinländer numbers. FILS [FILTZ], [JOHANN] ANTON (bap. 23 SEPTEMBER 1733, EICHSTÄTT, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 14 MARCH 1760, MANNHEIM). German composer and cellist. Son of a court cellist in the small town of
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Eichstätt, Fils attended the local Jesuit Gymnasium before enrolling in the University of Ingolstadt. In 1754 he was appointed as a cellist in the famed Mannheim orchestra, for whom he composed the bulk of his music, much of it published in Paris. His brief life ended, according to Christian Daniel Friedrich Schubart, from ingesting poisonous spiders, which Fils allegedly claimed tasted like strawberries. Although the causes of his demise may seem lurid and in fact be apocryphal, there is no doubt that Fils was one of the most prolific composers of the middle of the century. His works include at least 44 symphonies, 30 concertos (mostly for cello and flute), 28 trio sonatas, 14 trios (mainly for two violins and cello), three violin sonatas and one for cello, a flute quartet, seven Masses, two litanies, two Magnificats, and two vespers. Schubart considered him one of the most eloquent composers of the age, and his music demonstrates a thorough knowledge of the sonata principle, careful use of Mannheim effects, and a good sense of lyricism. FINAZZI, FILIPPO (2 JULY 1705, GORLAGO, ITALY, TO 22 APRIL 1776, LOMBARDEI, GERMANY). German-Italian composer and castrato. Following his debut in 1726 as an opera singer, he performed throughout the Holy Roman Empire for the next decades, achieving a considerable reputation for his flexible voice. In 1725 he was elected to the Accademia filarmonica and in 1743 was invited by the Mingotti troupe to travel with them throughout Germany, beginning in Linz. While there he began to achieve a reputation as a composer of opera. In 1746, however, he decided to give up touring near Hamburg, first being converted to Lutheranism. His music has been all but forgotten, but includes three operas (and many insertion arias), six symphonies, 12 Lieder, a motet, six cantatas, four oratorios, and a keyboard sonata. FINCO, GIUSEPPE FRANCESCO [FARINELLI] (7 MAY 1769, ESTE, ITALY, TO 12 DECEMBER 1836, TRIESTE, ITALY). Italian composer. Supported in his musical education as a youth by the castrato Carlo Broschi/ Farinelli, whose name he took, he attended the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini, studying under Lorenzo Fago. He made his debut at the Teatro Nuovo in 1795 with the opera buffa L’uomo indolente, beginning a career as a composer in the style of Domenico Cimarosa throughout Italy. He obtained a post as maestro di cappella at the Teatro Regio in Turin in 1810, later moving to Venice in 1817 and Trieste in 1819. His 60 operas (mainly buffa) were considered as rivals to Giaocchino Rossini in Italy. Other works include five Masses, 11 cantatas, three oratorios, two Te Deums, three piano sonatas, and a host of smaller sacred works.
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FIORAVANTI, VALENTINO (11 SEPTEMBER 1764, ROME, TO 16 JUNE 1837, CAPUA, ITALY). Italian composer. After studies in Rome under Giuseppe Jannacconi, he made his debut in Naples following further instruction from Domenico Cimarosa and Giovanni Paisiello. By 1800 he was director of the main theatre in Lisbon, and in 1807 he was acclaimed in Paris for his opera buffas. Facing rivalry with Giaocchino Rossini, he moved to Rome in 1816, where he composed almost exclusively sacred works for the Vatican. Although many of his works reflect early Romanticism and he was seen as perhaps the most significant opera composer between Cimarosa and Rossini, his music has been little studied. He wrote 84 operas, as well as a symphony and smaller vocal works; the bulk of this sacred music remains to be studied. FIORENZA, NICOLA (ca. 1700, NAPLES, TO 13 APRIL 1784, NAPLES). Italian violinist and composer. His early training was at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto under Francesco Barbella before he was offered a post as a violinist at court. He was eventually appointed as concertmaster in 1758, but by that time he had become a director of the conservatory thanks to a winning lot drawn among the candidates. He was dismissed from his post in 1762 for abuse of students. His music includes 15 concertos (most of which reflect the style of Antonio Vivaldi) and nine symphonies. See also SACCHINI, ANTONIO. FIORILLO, FREDERIGO (1 JUNE 1755, BRAUNSCHWEIG, GERMANY, TO ca. 1825, LONDON). German composer and violinist. A child prodigy on the violin, he was probably trained by his father, Ignazio Fiorillo. He obtained his first position in 1777 in St. Petersburg but three years later toured Poland as a virtuoso before winding up in Riga as a conductor in 1782. In 1785 he made a debut at the Concerts spirituels in Paris and three years later moved permanently to London, where he performed frequently with Johann Peter Salomon. He was a proficient performer on both the mandolin and violin and later became known primarily as a teacher. His music includes four violin concertos, 14 sinfonia concertantes, three quintets, 15 string quartets (and 18 flute quartets), 21 trios, 52 duos, 24 violin sonatas, three canzonetts, and other smaller works. His main fame rests upon his Op. 3, 36 caprices meant as a pedagogical tool for the violin. FIORILLO, IGNAZIO (11 MAY 1715, NAPLES, TO 1787, FRITZLAR, GERMANY). German-Italian composer and violinist. Following studies with Francesco Durante and Leonardo Leo, he made his debut as an opera
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composer in 1732 in Trieste, with a further success of his opera Mandane in Venice three years later leading to commissions throughout Italy. In 1754 he was appointed as Kapellmeister by the Duke of Braunschweig-Wölfenbüttel, and success as a composer there led him to become Kapellmeister in Kassel to Duke Friedrich II of Hessen-Kassel. He retired to the small town of Fritzlar. His works include 56 operas (and six intermezzos), three Masses, a Requiem, three Te Deums, an oratorio, five symphonies, and six keyboard sonatas. See also FIORILLO, FREDERIGO. FIORONI, GIOVANNI [GIAN] ANDREA (1716, PAVIA, TO 19 DECEMBER 1778, MILAN). Italian composer and organist. Fioroni studied under Leonardo Leo at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in Naples before becoming maestro di cappella at the Milan cathedral in 1747. He succeeded Giovanni Battista Sammartini as maestro di cappella at Santa Maria della Visitazione in 1775. His pupils included Alessandro Rolla and Vincenzo Manfredini. His music was well regarded during his lifetime for its expressive beauty but has been little explored today. It includes an opera, an oratorio, a Passion, three sacred cantatas, 16 Masses, two Requiems, numerous Mass movements, 42 introits, 31 offertories, 20 antiphons, 50 hymns, 76 Psalms, 64 motets, 23 canticles, 21 sacred songs, six responsories, three vespers, eight litanies, a symphony, two trios, a keyboard concerto, and six sonatas. See also SALARI, FRANCESCO; ZUCCHINETTI, GIOVANNI BERNARDO. FISCHER, ANTON (bap. 13 JANUARY 1778, RIED, SWABIA, GERMANY, TO 1 DECEMBER 1808, VIENNA). German composer and tenor. Following studies with his elder brother Pater Matthäus Fischer at Heilig Kreuz, he moved to Vienna to pursue his career as a singer, joining Emanuel Schickaneder’s Theater auf der Wieden in 1800. By 1806 he was assistant Kapellmeister to Ignaz von Seyfried, but his early death prevented a burgeoning career as a composer of the Singspiel. His works include 19 original Singspiels, several popular arrangements of works by André Ernest Modeste Grétry, two Masses, two cantatas, and several songs, arias, and fortepiano pieces. FISCHER, FERDINAND (1723, BEBRA, GERMANY, TO 1805, BRAUNSCHWEIG, GERMANY). German composer. Little is known of his education or career, save that he appears to have been appointed as a musician at the court of the Duke of Braunschweig-Luneberg about 1763, when a set of six trio sonatas was published. In 1800 he taught theory to Joachim Nicolaus Eggert (1779–1813), being described as an excellent teacher. His
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surviving music includes 18 symphonies, nine quartets (six published in Mannheim), a cantata, a quintet, three trio sonatas, and several keyboard works. FISCHER, JOHANN CHRISTIAN (1733, FREIBURG, SAXONY, GERMANY, TO 29 APRIL 1800, LONDON). German oboist and composer. He obtained his earliest education from Alessandro Besozzi in Warsaw, where he made his debut in the 1750s. By 1760 he had become employed at the Saxon court in Dresden, where he came to the attention of Frederick II. The Prussian monarch invited him in 1764 to move to Berlin, after which he toured Paris and Mannheim. In the former he had a successful debut at the Concerts spirituels. He arrived in London in 1768, where he eventually became appointed as a chamber musician to Queen Charlotte along with colleagues Carl Friedrich Abel and Johann Christian Bach. In 1770 he published his Compleat Tutor for the Hautboy, one of the first method books for the instruments in English. He was known for his singing tone and technical ability on his instrument. As a composer, he also enlarged the repertory, writing 16 oboe concertos (and seven others for flute and bassoon), 12 flute sonatas, 18 flute duets, three quartets, three oboe sonatas, and at least 12 songs. FISCHER, LUDWIG (18 AUGUST 1745, MAINZ, GERMANY, TO 10 JULY 1825, BERLIN). German bass. Although he began music studies as an instrumentalist, after 1770 he was educated in Mannheim by Anton Graaff, following which in 1775 he began teaching at the Jesuit Gymnasium and Music Seminar. When the court moved to Munich in 1778, he followed, but by 1780 he and his wife, Barbara Strasser (1758–1825), had found positions at the new German Opera in Vienna. When this was dissolved in 1783, he went on tour, first to Paris where he successfully debuted at the Concerts spirituels. Further touring throughout Europe followed, but it was through the intervention of Johann Friedrich Reichardt in 1789 that he found a permanent position in Berlin. He was pensioned in 1815. As seen in his most famous role, that of Osmin in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail, he had a remarkable range, extending downward so that even Joseph II stated that he sang “too low” for a bass. As a composer, he wrote a considerable number of pieces for voice, but only a set of two songs has survived. FISCHER, MICHAEL GOTTARD (3 JUNE 1773, ALACH, NEAR ERFURT, GERMANY, TO 12 JANUARY 1829, ERFURT). German composer and organist. His early studies were with Johann Christian Kittel, who considered Fischer one of his most important students. When Kittel
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gave up his post at the Barfüßerkirche, Fischer was appointed his successor as well as town musical director responsible for public concerts. When Kittel died in 1809, he became his successor once more at the Predigerkirche. His musical style is more modern than that of Kittel’s other students, most likely due to his imitation of the style of Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler, who he considered his model. His counterpoint is also freer, with extensive harmonic experimentation. His music includes four symphonies, two string quartets, two concertos, four motets, and four arias. It has, however, been little studied. FISCHER, PATER MATTHÄUS [KARL KONRAD] (bap. 28 NOVEMBER 1763, RIED, SWABIA, GERMANY, TO 5 MAY 1840, AUGSBURG, GERMANY). German monastic composer. He became a chorister at the Augustinian monastery at Heilig Kreuz in 1773 and was ordained in 1788. From 1784 on, he functioned as a teacher and regens chori for the monastery. In 1810 he moved to Augsburg to become regens chori at the St. Georg Church, later expanding his duties to two other churches in the city. He was an active composer, whose works include 23 Masses, several Singspiels, 13 offertories, 11 sacred arias, four hymns, a motet, a Psalm setting, a vesper, two cantatas, and three instrumental fugues. He also taught his younger brother Anton Fischer. FISCHETTI, DOMENICO (1725, NAPLES, TO ca. 1810, SALZBURG). Italian composer. Son of a popular Baroque opera composer, Giovanni Fischetti (1692–1743), he attended the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio where he studied under Francesco Durante and Leonardo Leo. He probably made his debut as a composer with Armindo in 1742, but by 1753 he had established himself as a composer in Venice, where he collaborated with Carlo Goldoni. In 1762 he joined the Molinari troupe in Prague and for the next decade traveled with them and the Bustelli troupe throughout central Europe. Eventually he was appointed as maestro di cappella but seems to have been unsuccessful. In 1772 he was appointed as Kapellmeister in Salzburg by Archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo but after a few years was reassigned to training church singers. When Luigi Gatti was appointed as his successor, he vanished from the musical establishment. His music has been little studied outside of the operas, of which there are at least 26 (and numerous additional arias). He wrote at least two oratorios, as well as numerous Masses and motets. FISHER, JOHN ABRAHAM (ca. 1744, LONDON OR DUNSTABLE, TO MAY 1806, DUBLIN, IRELAND). English composer and violinist. At an early age he attracted the patronage of Lord Trawley, who arranged for his
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debut as a violinist at the King’s Theatre in 1765. Shortly thereafter he was engaged at Covent Garden and became the director of the orchestra in 1768. He was also commissioned by other London theatres to write stage music. He received a doctorate in music from Oxford University in 1777. In 1780 he journeyed to Vienna, marrying the soprano Nancy Storace, but rumors of abuse forced him to leave Austria in 1784. He then moved to Dublin, where he lived out the remainder of his life as a teacher. An eccentric performer, he was known for his technical skill. His works include 13 operas, an oratorio, an anthem, an ode, seven symphonies, three violin concertos, six violin sonatas, six duos for two violins, and three volumes of occasional songs and cantatas. FLACKTON, WILLIAM (bap. 27 MARCH 1709, CANTERBURY, ENGLAND, TO 5 JUNE 1798, CANTERBURY). English composer and organist. He studied under William Raylton beginning in 1716, but by 1725 he had established himself as a bookseller in Kent. In 1735 he became organist at the church of St. Mary of Charity. During his lifetime he was an assiduous collector of music, particularly for the church. His own works include numerous songs (with and without orchestral accompaniment), a cantata, two anthems, 31 hymns, 12 sonatas, six overtures for keyboard, and two solos for strings. FLEISCHMANN, [JOHANN] FRIEDRICH [ANTON] (18 JULY 1766, MARKTHEIDENFELD, NEAR WÜRZBURG, GERMANY, TO 30 NOVEMBER 1798, MEININGEN, GERMANY). German bureaucrat and composer. Encouraged by his schoolmaster father, he studied music at the Mannheim Jesuit Gymnasium under Abbé Georg Joseph Volger and Ignaz Holzbauer before continuing his education in law at the University of Würzburg. In 1786 he became a private secretary to the state councilor in Regensburg, later obtaining a similar post in Meiningen at the court of Duke Georg I of Saxe-Meiningen. He is best known for his Singspiels, of which he composed two. In addition, he wrote around 12 Lieder, two symphonies, three piano concertos (and a double concerto for violin and piano), and a sonata for fortepiano, as well as several Harmoniemusik arrangements of operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. FLIES, BERNHARD (ca. 1770, BERLIN, TO ca. 1799, BERLIN). German amateur composer. Although little is known about his life, he was a physician who dabbled in music, publishing several songs (including the lullaby Schlaf mein Prinzchen once attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) and small piano works. His style is simple and uncomplicated.
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FODOR, CAREL ANTON [CAROLUS ANTONIUS] (12 APRIL 1768, VENLO, NETHERLANDS, TO 22 FEBRUARY 1846, AMSTERDAM). Dutch composer and pianist, brother of Josephus Andreas Fodor and Carel Emanuel Fodor. Born into a musical family, he studied in Mannheim and Paris before returning to Amsterdam in 1795. There he became one of the leaders of Dutch musical society, writing works that reflect early 19thcentury Romantic forms. His music includes three symphonies, eight concertos for fortepiano, an opera, numerous songs in Dutch, and a large number of chamber works. FODOR, CAREL EMANUEL (31 OCTOBER 1759, VENLO, NETHERLANDS, TO ca. 1799, PARIS). Dutch keyboardist. Brother of Carel Anton Fodor and Josephus Andreas Fodor, he probably studied in Germany before settling in Paris in 1780. There he became known as a teacher and performer at the Concerts spirituels. He disappears from history after several concerts the last year of the century. His surviving music, almost unknown, consists of a symphony, a set of keyboard concertos, and a number of fortepiano sonatas. FODOR, JOSEPHUS ANDREAS (21 JANUARY 1751, VENLO, NETHERLANDS, TO 3 OCTOBER 1828, ST. PETERSBURG). Dutch violinist and composer. Brother of both Carel Anton Fodor and Carel Emanuel Fodor, he was sent to Berlin to study with Franz Benda. In 1780 he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels and thereafter toured as a virtuoso, although he also taught in Paris beginning in 1787. In 1792 he was given a position at the Imperial chapel in St. Petersburg, where he remained for the rest of his life. His music has been little studied but consists of 19 violin concertos, 42 string quartets, 127 duos (mostly two violins), 13 sonatas (12 violin), and several arrangements. FOMIN, YEVSTIGNY IPATEYEVICH (16 AUGUST 1761, ST. PETERSBURG, TO 27 APRIL 1800, ST. PETERSBURG). Russian opera composer. Orphaned at an early age, he was sent by his uncle to the Academy of the Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, where he was to be trained as an architect. In 1776, however, he decided to concentrate on music, taking harpsichord lessons from Matteo Bomi and composition from Hermann Raupach and Blasius Sartori. Sartori encouraged him to further his education in Italy, and in 1782 he arrived in Bologna where he became a student of Padre Giovanni Battista Martini and Stanislao Mattei. Within three years he had been elected to the prestigious Accademia filarmonica, around the same time as he returned to St. Petersburg at the request of Catherine II, who wished him
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to compose Russian operas. He also taught at the theatre school. His most famous work was a Russian version of the Orpheus legend, Orfey i Evridika, produced in 1792. An indication of his dramatic style of musical composition that includes Russian folk elements can be found in his choruses to the play Yuropolk i Olega of 1798. He is said to have composed some 30 operas, as well as a pair of choral concertos in Old Church Slavonic. FORKEL, JOHANN NIKOLAUS (22 FEBRUARY 1749, MEEDER, NEAR COBURG, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 20 MARCH 1818, GÖTTINGEN, GERMANY). German composer, professor, and historian. His earliest education was in Coburg, following which in 1766 he attended the Johannischule in Lüneberg. Shortly thereafter he moved to Schwerin to become assistant conductor of the cathedral choir. Noticed by Duke Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Forkel was given a stipend to study at Göttingen University beginning in 1769. A year later he was awarded the post of university organist, receiving his doctorate in 1787. The following year he published his Allgemeine Geschichte der Musik followed in 1792 by the Allgemeine Litteratur der Musik, both of which established him as a major historian-bibliographer of the period. His correspondence with the sons of Johann Sebastian Bach led him to create over a period of several decades one of the first biographical studies, published in 1802 as Über Johann Sebastian Bach: Leben, Kunst und Kunstwerke as part of an attempt to bring out Bach’s complete works. His scholarly studies often overshadowed his work as a composer. His musical style tends to follow the norms of the period, with particular influence of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. Surviving works include 22 Lieder, five keyboard concertos, seven trio sonatas, four large cantatas or odes, and several sets of variations and smaller keyboard works. See also BACH, WILHELM FRIEDEMANN. FORTUNATI, FERDINANDO (1772, PARMA, TO ca. 1812, SANTO DOMINGO [NOW DOMINCAN REPUBLIC]). German-Italian horn player and oboist. Probably trained by his father, Gian Francesco Fortunati, he was employed at Berlin in the court orchestra in 1797. In 1801, he obtained a commission and was placed in charge of military music in the Republic of Santo Domingo on the Caribbean island of Hispanola, where he vanishes from history. His music probably consists of marches and pieces for Harmoniemusik. FORTUNATI, GIAN FRANCESCO (27 FEBRUARY 1746, PARMA, ITALY, TO 20 DECEMBER 1821, PARMA). Italian composer. Following initial studies under Ottombono Nicolini in Piacenza he was sent off
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to Bologna in 1767, where he became a pupil of Padre Giovanni Battista Martini. In 1769 his first operatic success in Parma allowed him to obtain an appointment at court, and in 1774 he succeeded Tommaso Traetta as maestro di cappella. His works, little studied, include seven operas, a Mass, nine Lamentations, seven cantatas, 16 arias, six duets, four sinfonia concertantes, six quartets, and numerous smaller works. See also FORTUNATI, FERDINANDO; PAËR, FERDINANDO. FOSSOMBRONI, ANTONIO MARIA (20 MARCH 1750, AREZZO, ITALY, TO 31 DECEMBER 1782, VIENNA). Italian-Austrian singer and composer. Born into a family of minor nobility, he studied keyboard and violin at the school at San Domenico. In 1776 he was forced to flee his family’s residence due to gambling debts, moving to Venice where he appeared under the pseudonym of “Giorgio Crinazzi of Perugia.” Success as a singer at the Teatro San Cassiano allowed him to move to Trieste in 1778, where he became the tutor to the children of Count Voinovich as well as a singer in the local opera house. In 1780 he was briefly in the service of Countess von Wurembrandt in Graz before moving on to Vienna to become a teacher. In 1781 he spent several months at Esterháza singing opera under Joseph Haydn, but a lung ailment forced him to return to Vienna, where he died, probably of tuberculosis, the following year. His musical compositions have not been studied, but he published a set of six funeral cantatas for Empress Maria Theresia in 1781, and a large celebratory cantata was published in Trieste as well. FOYTA, ERASMUS (1714, ZLONICE, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 14 JUNE 1793, ROUDNICE, BOHEMIA). Bohemian violinist and teacher and brother of Václav Franz Foyta. After brief instruction in Prague, he found a post as a local music teacher in the town of Roudnice in the Litoměřice province. He taught his son, Ignác Foyta, violin and probably composed a few compositions. His music is now completely unknown. He was succeeded in his position by his son Vilém Foyta (1750–1810), who also remains largely unstudied. FOYTA, IGNÁC ŘEHOŘ (2 MARCH 1748, ROUDNICE, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 20 MARCH 1808, PRAGUE). Bohemian violinist and composer. Son of Erasmus Foyta, he studied with his father at the local school in Roudnice. By 1770 he was employed alongside his uncle, Václav Franz Foyta, at the Kreuzkirche in Prague as a violinist. He relocated to St. Petersburg in 1778, where he played violin and contrabass in the Imperial Theatre. By 1791, however, he had returned to Prague, where
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he remained as a teacher at the Theiner Schule. Foyta has remained almost completely unstudied, and his music, consisting of symphonies and sacred works, unknown. FOYTA, VÁCLAV FRANZ (1712, ZLONICE, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 1776, PRAGUE). Bohemian violinist and composer. His earliest training was most likely in Prague, where he obtained the post of Konzertmeister at the Kreuzkirche, probably around 1735. He was best known for having composed a variety of sacred works, as well as a set of six symphonies, but this music remains all but unknown. FRANCHI, CARLO (ca. 1743, NAPLES, TO ca. 1780, PROBABLY ROME). Italian composer. Biographical information is scarce, but it is assumed that he was trained at one of the conservatories in Naples. In 1765 he had a success there with the opera buffa Le vedova capricciosa, which ignited a brief career as an opera composer. The bulk of his works, 15 operas (in addition, two sacred works also survive), appear to have been written mainly for the Teatro Argentina in Rome. His most famous success was a collaboration with Pasquale Anfossi in 1771 with the opera Il barone di Rocca Antica. FRÄNZL, FERDINAND (24 MAY 1767, SCHWETZINGEN, GERMANY, TO 27 OCTOBER 1833, MANNHEIM). German violinist and composer. The son of violinist Ignaz Fränzl, he was trained in Strasbourg by Franz Xaver Richter and Ignaz Pleyel before becoming a leader of a violin section in Munich in 1789. Three years later he obtained a post as Konzertmeister in Frankfurt am Main, later touring Europe. In 1806 he succeeded Christian Cannabich as Kapellmeister in Munich, a post he held until his retirement in 1826. His music has been little studied but seems to conform to the style of Pleyel. Works include 10 operas, 25 Lieder, a cantata, two symphonies, nine string quartets, three trios, and numerous smaller chamber pieces. FRÄNZL, IGNAZ FRANZ JOSEPH (bap. 4 JUNE 1736, MANNHEIM, TO 3 SEPTEMBER 1811, MANNHEIM). German violinist and composer. Following studies under Johann Stamitz he became a member of the famed Mannheim orchestra in 1754. In 1768 he had his debut at the Parisian Concerts spirituels, which led to a reputation as a skillful violinist with great technical ability. In 1773 he was appointed Konzertmeister in Mannheim, but in 1788 he failed to follow the court to Munich and remained behind as director of the national theatre. His musical style reflects conscious use of
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the forms, structures, and devices found in Mannheim. His works include a Mass, six symphonies, nine ballets, seven violin concertos, four string quartets, six sonatas, and several other works for violin. He also taught his son, Ferdinand Fränzl. FRANZOSINI, BARTOLOMEO (27 FEBRUARY 1768, INTRA, NEAR LAGO MAGGIORE, ITALY, TO 25 JUNE 1863, INTRA). Italian composer and architect. Born into a prosperous family in Lombardy, he studied in Milan. In 1793 he obtained the post of organist at San Vittorio Basilica in Intra, where he remained until he retired in 1839. He was well regarded throughout the region, often receiving commissions for sacred music from the Duomo in Milan and other larger churches. Though much of his music was written after 1800 and conforms to the early style of Romanticism, there exist at least six symphonies, several Masses, and a Requiem that demonstrate his Classical training. His music has been cataloged according to Olzer numbers. FREDERICK [FRIEDRICH] II HOHENZOLLERN, KING OF PRUSSIA (24 JANUARY 1712, BERLIN, TO 17 AUGUST 1786, POTSDAM, PRUSSIA). German monarch, polymath, flautist, and composer, often nicknamed “the Great” or (more familiarly during the period) as “Der alte Fritz.” Suffering from an abusive father, Frederick sought at every opportunity to escape the tyranny imposed upon him and his education. Tutored at first by a French Huguenot governess, he later came under the influence of Jacques Duhan, who educated him in the world of French literature and philosophy, as well as that of the ancient classics. In 1730 he attempted to flee to England but was captured and forced to watch a good friend, Hans Hermann von Katte, executed. Although pardoned for his “treason,” he spent the next two years in internal exile before being granted a home in Rheinsberg. There he gathered around him a group of musicians and literary figures, all of whom moved to Berlin when he ascended the throne in 1740. He immediately reorganized the Kapelle and in 1742 established the Royal Opera. Although he grew more isolated toward the end of his life, he threw himself into numerous artistic ventures and provided patronage and support to a wide range of musicians, artists, philosophers (such as Voltaire), and men of letters. He provided the impetus for the establishment of the Berlin School, whose main figures, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Carl Heinrich and Johann Gottlieb Graun, Franz and Johann Georg Benda, Johann Friedrich Agricola, and others dominated North German music with their emphasis upon the empfindsamer Stil (Empfindsamkeit). As a musician he studied flute under Johann Joachim Quantz and was considered a good player, whose slow movements were particularly sensitive
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(but who often disregarded tempos in the faster movements). He also wrote librettos for Graun and others, as well as entertaining visiting musicians, such as Johann Sebastian Bach, who wrote the Musical Offering on a gnarly theme improvised by the King. As a composer, he wrote 121 flute sonatas, as well as four flute concertos, four symphonies, an overture to Il re pastore, and a march to celebrate his victory at Hohenfriedberg. Much of his music was written for soirées at court with himself as the principal performer. See also ALGAROTTI, COUNT FRANCESCO; ANNA AMALIA, PRINCESS OF PRUSSIA; FISCHER, JOHANN CHRISTIAN; KOSPOTH, BARON OTTO CARL ERDMANN VON; ROLLE, JOHANN HEINRICH; SULZER, JOHANN GEORG; WILHELMINE, PRINCESS OF PRUSSIA. FREITHOFF [FREYTHOF], JOHAN HENRIK (1713, KRISTIANSAND, NORWAY, TO 24 JUNE 1767, COPENHAGEN). Norwegian-Danish violinist and composer. In the 1730s he was sent to Italy to study violin, receiving musical education from Giovanni Battista Sammartini in Milan. In 1737 he entered the service of Duke Gian Gastone de Medici in Florence but decided after five years to return to Norway. On his way he spent time in Constantinople before turning north. In 1744 he was appointed as violinist at the court of Christian VI in Copenhagen, becoming secretary of the chancellery in 1766. His music reflects the galant style and consists of two trio sonatas, six trios, two violin sonatas, and eight songs for a Danish play. FRENCH, JACOB (15 JULY 1754, STOUGHTON, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES, TO MAY 1817, SIMSBURY, CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES). American psalmodist. Trained at the singing school of William Billings, he joined the Continental army in 1774. After his discharge, he moved to Connecticut to make a living as a farmer and singing teacher. He wrote 173 works, of which a number were published in two collections, The New American Melody of 1789 and The Pslamodist’s Companion of 1793. FREYDT, JOHANN LUDWIG (18 FEBRUARY 1748, ASCHERSLEBEN, PRUSSIA, GERMANY, TO 4 JANUARY 1807, NIESKY, SAXONY, GERMANY). German composer and woodwind player. Son of an officer in the Prussian army, he received musical training at Stassfurt. In 1767 he was a bassoonist in the Royal Footguards in Hannover, joining the Moravian Church in 1777. He taught at the school in Niesky until his retirement in 1805. He was a prolific composer, whose works include numerous anthems and sacred songs.
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FRIBERTH [FRIEBERT], [FRANZ] CARL (7 JUNE 1736, WULLERSDORF, LOWER AUSTRIA, TO 5 AUGUST 1812, BADEN, NEAR VIENNA). Austrian tenor and composer. At an early age he came to the attention of Prince Esterházy, who sent him in 1759 to Italy to study voice. Upon his return a few years later, he was employed at the Esterházy court as a vocalist, eventually extending his talents to writing or revising texts for the court theatre, which were set by his supervisor, Joseph Haydn (who may also have been his teacher in music composition). In 1776 he left the position to become Kapellmeister at the two Jesuit churches and the Minoritetenkirche in Vienna, a position he occupied until his death. There he devoted himself to the composition of church music, in addition to instructing pupils such as Maria Theresia von Paradies. His musical style is similar to Haydn, but his works have been little explored. These include nine Masses, a Stabat mater, five motets, a Requiem, three litanies, six canons, three Salve Reginas, and 24 Lieder. FRICK, PHILIPP JOSEPH (27 MAY 1740, WILLANZHEIM, NEAR KITZINGEN, GERMANY, TO 15 JUNE 1798, LONDON). German composer, organist, and glass harmonica virtuoso. Little is known about his training or early career, but in 1764 he appears as an organist in the Kapelle of the Margrave of Baden-Baden. Five years later he embarked upon a career as a soloist on the glass harmonica, invented by Benjamin Franklin. In 1774 he was in Russia, where he was employed as a teacher, but by 1780 he went to London, where he remained. He wrote three treatises on harmonization of chords and thorough bass, and his surviving music includes two symphonies, an oboe concerto, a woodwind partita, three piano trios, two duets, and smaller works for keyboard, although there is some debate on whether these works are all by him. FRIEBERT, [JOHANN] JOSEPH VON (4 DECEMBER 1724, GNADENDORF, LOWER AUSTRIA, TO 6 AUGUST 1799, PASSAU, GERMANY). German composer and singer. Trained at the Melk monastery as a chorister and by his father, a local organist, Friebert arrived in Vienna in 1748, where he studied under Giuseppe Bonno. In 1755 he was offered a position singing in the Hoftheater, and in 1763 he left to become Kapellmeister at the cathedral in Passau. As a tenor, he was known for his lyrical voice and sensitive interpretation. His music has been little studied, but conforms to the Viennese style with which he was familiar. Works include four Singspiels, six Italian operas, and a number of smaller church works. FRIGEL (FRIGELIUS), PEHR (2 SEPTEMBER 1750, KALMAR, SWEDEN, TO 24 NOVEMBER 1842, STOCKHOLM). Swedish composer and music administrator. Frigel’s earliest musical education in theory
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and organ was received at the Kalmar Gymnasium, but in 1770 he came north to Uppsala, where he attended university, eventually receiving a master’s degree in 1776. Taking up a government position in the Ministry of Finance in Stockholm the following year, he also frequently had his compositions performed at the Society Utile dulci. He subsequently studied composition under Johann Gottlieb Naumann and Joseph Martin Kraus. In 1796 he became the permanent secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, functioning also as the archivist and head librarian. His symphonies, hybrid crosses between suites and overtures, were well accepted, even though old-fashioned. Although his only opera, Zoroastre (1784), did not reach the stage, he frequently contributed incidental music to popular Swedish opera pastiches such as Äfventryaren (1791) and Eremiten (1798). He also composed one oratorio and a number of cantatas, songs, and piano works. His style was considered extremely conservative, although he often scored for large orchestra. He ceased musical composition in 1815. FRISCHMUTH, JOHANN CHRISTIAN (25 NOVEMBER 1741, SCHWABENHAUSEN, NEAR GOTHA, GERMANY, TO 31 JULY 1790, BERLIN). German actor and composer. Little is known of his early musical education, save that it must have occurred in the city of Gotha, where he was employed in 1778 as an actor at the theatre. In 1782, after a year or two performing as a traveling actor, he settled in Berlin, where he became a popular composer of Singspiels. Little of his music has survived or has been studied. Only one stage work, Clarisse, exists, as do two cantatas. FRITZ, GASPARD (18 FEBRUARY 1716, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, TO 23 MARCH 1783, GENEVA). Swiss composer and violinist. Son of a cellist, he received his training in both composition and violin from Giovanni Battista Somis in Turin. In 1737 he returned to Geneva, where he became known as the director of a musical society featuring English expatriates and a well-regarded teacher. Charles Burney noted that he maintained a quality of performance in a town where music was little practiced. Fritz also published his music in Paris, gaining a wider audience. His style reflects galant tendencies. His music consists of six symphonies, a violin concerto, six violin sonatas, and six duos. FUENTES ALCÁCER, PASCUAL (1721, ALDYA, SPAIN, TO 1768, VALENCIA, SPAIN). Spanish composer. At the age of 10 he was a chorister at the cathedral in Valencia, where he received his earliest education. By 1746 he had become a tenor at the cathedral in Albarracín, and in 1757 he was appointed maestro di capilla at Valencia, as well as teaching at the local music conservatory. Fuentes composed a large amount of sacred music,
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including six Lamentations and numerous villancicos, but his works have been little studied. FUGUING TUNES. See PSALMODY. FURIÓ, PEDRO (ca. 1705, ALICANTE, SPAIN, TO 1780, OVIEDO, SPAIN). Spanish singer and composer. Details of his early education are sketchy, and he first appears in 1734 as a singer at the Colegio San Nicolás de Bari in Alicante. At the same time he held a post at the cathedral of Santa María d’Elche, apparently already being ordained at that time. In 1750 he was appointed as maestro di capilla in Jáen and over the next decade held posts, often for as little as a year, in Malaga, Valencia, Grenada, and Léon. In 1767 he was appointed as cantor at Santiago de Compostela, returning to Léon in 1770 and finally obtaining a post at Oviedo in 1775. His music consists of a cappella polyphony, usually in the stile antico. In addition to a book of Masses, he wrote nine Lamentations and a number of motets. See also LÁZARO, JOAQUÍN. FURLANETTO, BONAVENTURA (27 MAY 1738, VENICE, TO 6 APRIL 1817, VENICE). Italian composer. Coming from a poor family, he was largely self-taught, though a Jesuit education brought him close to the priesthood. In 1762 he composed his first works and soon became known for his oratorios. In 1768 he was appointed as maestro di cappella at the church of Santa Maria Visitazione, and six years later was given a temporary post as second organist at St. Mark’s. In 1794 he was named interim maestro di cappella there, obtaining the permanent post in 1814. Furlanetto composed mainly for the Venetian churches in a style that was considered conservative by his peers. His music includes 39 oratorios, 10 cantatas, 12 Masses (and many Mass movements), 32 motets, five introits, 34 antiphons, three Requiems, 65 hymns, 20 Magnificats, and numerous smaller Psalm settings and hymns. FURNO, GIOVANNI (1 JANUARY 1748, CAPUA, ITALY, TO 20 JUNE 1837, NAPLES). Italian composer and pedagogue. Following the completion of his musical studies at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana in 1772, he was appointed a teacher there three years later. In 1808 he was the composition instructor at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini and later at the Real Conservatorio San Pietro a Maiella. A wellrespected pedagogue, his most famous student was Vincenzo Bellini. As a composer, little of his music has survived; only two operas, a Miserere, and a symphony, as well as several smaller orchestral works.
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FUSZ, JÁNOS (16 DECEMBER 1777, TOLNA, HUNGARY, TO 9 MARCH 1819, BUDAPEST). Hungarian composer and pianist. He received his earliest education in nearby Baja near the city of Kecskemét and earned a reputation as a local piano teacher there following instruction with Ignác Végh in 1790. By 1795 he was in Vienna, where his teachers in musical composition included Johann Georg Albrechtsberger. He then performed frequently in the city and in Hungary until 1815, when he retired to Budapest. His music is all but unknown, but his most important composition is an opera, Pyramus és Thisbe, performed in the Hungarian capital in 1801.
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G GABELONE, GASPARO (12 APRIL 1727, NAPLES, TO 22 MARCH 1796, NAPLES). Italian composer. Son of Michele Cabalone, he opted for respelling his name to avoid confusion between the two. He entered the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto, where he studied under Francesco Durante. In 1757 he was active at the Teatro Nuovo as a composer and conductor, but in 1780 he abandoned opera for sacred music. His works have been little studied but include three operas, six oratorios, two Masses, a Requiem, three Passions, 14 fugues, and two symphonies, as well as other arias and cantatas. GABLER, JOSEPH (6 JULY 1700, OCHSENHAUSEN, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 8 NOVEMBER 1771, BREGENZ, AUSTRIA). German master organ builder. The son of a carpenter, he grew up at the Ochsenhausen Benedictine monastery. Having learned his craft, he concentrated on designing and building organs for monasteries in Weingarten, Ottobeuren, Ochsenhausen, and elsewhere. His instruments were known for their unusual stops and registers. GAELLE, PATER MEINGOSUS (1752, BUCH, NEAR TETTNANG, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 1816, MARIA PLAIN, SALZBURG, AUSTRIA). German-Austrian monastic composer. In 1771 he became a member of the Benedictine monastery in Weingarten, where he taught music. His most famous work, the Singspiel Die Erschaffung von Adam und Eva written entirely in dialect, was performed in 1796. Following the dissolution of the monastery Gaelle taught theology at the University of Salzburg. GAIANI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (20 NOVEMBER 1757, BOLOGNA, ITALY, TO 13 OCTOBER 1813, BOLOGNA). Italian composer and organist. A student of Padre Giovanni Battista Martini and Stanislao Mattei, he was elected to the Accademia filarmonica in 1781. He served as maestro di cappella in several churches in Bologna, most importantly the church of Santa Maria della Morte. In 1802 he functioned as harpsichordist at the Teatro Communale. A composer whose works were considered somewhat 211
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mediocre in invention, he wrote mostly for the church. These include an intermezzo, three oratorios, 18 Kyries, 22 Glorias, 12 Credos, eight graduals, 59 Psalms, seven Magnificats, a Dies Irae and a Salve Regina, in addition to a number of organ works. GAIL, SOPHIE. See GURRE, EDMÉE SOPHIE. GALANT. French term used in the 18th century to describe light music with periodic melodies, homophonic texture, and contrasting themes, often made up of sequenced motives. The term evokes clarity and naturalness in music and is often generically used to describe a style that flourished throughout Europe during the years 1730 to 1760. It is described in the treatises of JeanJacques Rousseau and Johann Georg Sulzer. GALEAZZI, FRANCESCO (1758, TURIN, ITALY, TO JANUARY 1819, ROME). Italian theorist, violinist, and composer. Following early training in Turin, he obtained a position as violinist in the Teatro Valle in Rome, where he remained for 15 years. Afterward, he gained the patronage of Tommaso Balucanti in Ascoli, where he lived for all but the last years of his life. He is best known for his three-volume treatise, Elemento teorico-pratici de musica, which contains one of the few descriptions of the sonata principle written during the 18th century. He was well regarded as a teacher, but his own music was relatively sparse, consisting only of a sacred duet, 14 duets for violins, 12 string trios, and two violin sonatas. GALIMBERTI, FERDINANDO (ca. 1715, PROBABLY MILAN, TO AFTER 1751, MILAN). Italian composer and violinist. As with his colleague Antonio Brioschi, nothing is known about his life or training, save that he was active in Milan as a composer between the years 1725 to 1751, when he vanishes from history. One of his published sets of symphonies indicates that he was Milanese, though this cannot be proven. His students include Franz Meyer von Schauensee, who studied violin with him from 1740 to 1742. His own music is similar to that of Giovanni Battista Sammartini and includes 12 symphonies, two violin concertos, a march for brass instruments, five Mass movements, five Psalms, two Magnificats, a Sequence, a Miserere, a motet, and an offertory. His music has been neglected, however. GALLARDO, JOSÉ LINO (1773, OCUMARE DEL TUY, VENEZUELA, TO 1837, CARACAS, VENEZUELA). Venezuelan contrabassist, conductor, and composer. Trained composer of the Chacao School, he composed his first works around 1790. He was able to survive the 1818 massacre
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and become one of the new nation’s major musical figures during the 19th century. He was director of the Academia de Música after 1819 and was a founding member and conductor of the Philharmonic Society before the revolution. Only his later works written after 1800 survive, with the exception of some smaller church pieces. GALLASSI, ANTONIO (ca. 1750, ITALY, TO 1792, BRAGA, PORTUGAL). Italian composer and organist. Nothing is known of his life or training, save that he was appointed as musical director in Braga, Portugal, in 1780. He served the cathedral for the remainder of his life. Although a number of sacred works survive, his main composition was a popular Te Deum for that church. GALLES, PADRE JOSEP (1758, CASTELLTERCOL, CATALONIA, SPAIN, TO 1836, VIC, CATALONIA, SPAIN). Catalan clerical composer and organist. Little or nothing is known of his early education or musical training, save that it may have been at the monastery at Montserrat, where he was ordained around 1780. At around the same time, he obtained the post of organist and choirmaster at the cathedral in Vic, which he retained for the remainder of his life. His music has been little studied, and only several versos for organ and 23 keyboard sonatas in the style of Domenico Scarlatti have been published. GALLICHONE. Also known as the Colascione. An 18th-century, sevencourse lute favored by lautenists during the period, although its ancestry goes back over a century earlier. Many are pitched in D major. GALLO, DOMENICO (1730, VENICE, TO ca. 1775, VENICE). Italian violinist and composer. Little or nothing is known about his life, save that he was active in the city as a composer of sacred music. An oratorio was commissioned for the Scuole pie in 1750, and by 1755 two sets of trio sonatas had been published in England attributed to Giovanni Pergolesi (movements of which were used in Igor Stravinsky’s Pulcinella in the 20th century). His other music consists of several violin concertos, several symphonies (one of which was published around 1780), 36 other trio sonatas, and several smaller sacred works. GALLODIER, LOUIS (1733, TO 6 June 1803, Stockholm). Swedish balletmaster and dancer. A student of Jean-Georges Noverre, Gallodier began his career as a dancer at the Opéra and occasionally at the opéra comique in Paris in 1756. He joined the Dulondel troupe shortly thereafter, arriving
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in 1758 as the lead dancer. In 1771 the rest of the troupe was dismissed, but Gallodier remained behind in Stockholm as balletmaster, a position he held for over 20 years. In 1795 he retired, though he retained the title until his death. He was largely responsible for recruiting one of the most innovative corps de ballet for the Royal Swedish Opera under Gustav III. As a dancer, he was well known for his fluid and beautiful movements. He introduced the progressive ballet style of Noverre to the north. GALUPPI, BALDASSARE (18 OCTOBER 1706, BURANO, VENETIAN REPUBLIC, ITALY, TO 3 JANUARY 1785, VENICE). Italian composer and violinist. Although largely self-trained as a youth, a catastrophic failure of his first opera, Gli amici rivali, at the age of 16 directed him to receive professional training from Benedetto Marcello and Antonio Lotti in Venice. By 1729 he had attained a reputation in the city as a facile and progressive composer of opera, finding employment in various opera houses as a continuo player. In 1738 he was appointed as the musical director of the Ospedale dei Mendicanti, later traveling to London to perform his operas. By 1745, beginning with La forza d’amore, he started writing comic operas, and only four years later he began collaborating with Carlo Goldoni on a series of comic works for the Venetian carnival. Although he continued to receive a salary from the Mendicante and as assistant maestro di cappella at St. Mark’s, he concentrated almost exclusively on commissions for various cities in Europe. In 1762 he was appointed as maestro di coro at St. Mark’s as well as musical director at the Ospedale degli Incurabili, and two years later he traveled to St. Petersburg to produce operas at the court of Catherine II, including Ifigenia in Tauride. Upon his return to Italy in 1768, he turned toward the composition of sacred music. Charles Burney considered Galuppi an “intelligent and agreeable gentleman,” the most original of all of the Italian composers met during his journey. He is one of the earliest composers to develop the ensemble finale, and his use of colorful orchestration was praised by Burney, among others. His writing showed a special gift for good melody and knowledge of vocal writing. He set much of Pietro Mestastasio’s texts to music, and his collaboration with Goldoni produced popular comic works, such as La Diavolessa (1755), Il mondo alla roversa and Il mondo della luna (1750), and La Cantarina (1756), many of which were produced successfully all over Europe. He also delved into historical opera with Gustavo I (1740, to a serious text by Goldoni), based upon the figure of Swedish king Gustaf Wasa. In all, Galuppi wrote 90 sonatas for keyboard, seven concertos “à 4,” 106 operas, 27 oratorios, 19 cantatas, several Masses, and a host of smaller sacred works, some of which were formerly attributed to Antonio Vivaldi and Johann
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Adolph Hasse. His son, Antonio Galuppi (ca. 1740—1780), was a librettist who supplied texts for at least four operas composed by his father. See also ADOLPHATI, ANDREA; LUCHESI, ANDREA LUCA; SALOMONI, GIUSEPPE, SR.; ZOPPIS, FRANCESCO. GAMBARINI, ELISABETTA DE (7 SEPTEMBER 1731, LONDON, TO 9 FEBRUARY 1765, LONDON). English composer, mezzo-soprano, and keyboardist. Born to an Italian musician resident in London, Carlo Gambarini, she may have studied under Francesco Geminiani. She earned a reputation for her singing as leads in three Handel oratorios, including Judas Maccabeus in 1747. Her most important compositions include two books of Lessons for the harpsichord published beginning in 1748—a third book also exists—as well as numerous songs. GAMBOLD, JOHN, JR. (15 NOVEMBER 1760, LONDON, TO 21 JUNE 1795, BARBY, SAXONY, GERMANY). English-German keyboardist and composer. Son of a Moravian Church minister, he was sent for his education at Niesky in 1774. Although he intended to be a theological scholar, he was appointed as a teacher, dedicating his entire life to that pursuit. His music reflects the central German style of this period and consists of 26 smaller keyboard works, as well as six keyboard sonatas published in Leipzig in 1788. GARAY ÁLVAREZ, RAMÓN FERNANDO (1763, AVILES, NEAR ALICANTE, SPAIN, TO 1823, JÁEN, SPAIN). Spanish composer. Following studies with Juan Andrés de Lombida and Joaquín Lázaro, he became organist and maestro di músicos at the monastery of San Jerónimo del Retiro. In 1792 he was maestro di capilla at the cathedral in Jáen. His music, little studied, consists largely of polychoral sacred works with striking echo effects, and includes seven Lamentations settings. GARCIA, JOSÉ MAURÍCIO NUNES (22 SEPTEMBER 1767, RIO DE JANEIRO, TO 18 APRIL 1830, RIO DE JANEIRO). Brazilian composer and organist. He received his initial training under a local cleric, Salvador José, becoming one of the founding members of the Irmandade of St. Cecilia in 1784. He was ordained a priest in 1792 and became mestre di capella at the main cathedral in Rio de Janeiro in 1798. When the court of Dom João VI moved to Brazil to escape the Napoleonic wars, he was immediately appointed at the court as well, ultimately becoming one of the first native-born composers to achieve this distinction. During this period of time he was active as a composer and teacher, but in 1808 his work was undermined by
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Marcos António de Fonseca Portugal, who usurped his position. When the court left to return to Portugal in 1821, Garcia was left without a position and died in poverty. His musical style was quite eclectic, with an original use of form and often colorful orchestration. He left over 200 compositions, as well as a treatise, Compendio de Música, published in 1821. Included are four operas (including the O trionfo de América from 1809), 19 Masses, three Requiems, six keyboard fantasies, two symphonies, and a large number of sacred works. The music is known by Mattos numbers. GARCÍA DE CARRASQUEDO, JUAN ANTONIO (FEBRUARY, 1734, ZARAGOZA, SPAIN, TO 12 APRIL 1812, SANTANDER, SPAIN). Spanish composer. Following studies with Francisco García Fajer, he was appointed maestro di capilla at the cathedral of Santander; he was ordained in 1761. His life was mostly uneventful, and his music incorporates both Spanish elements and strict counterpoint. His music has been little studied but consists of five Masses, three villancicos, a Requiem, four hymns, four Psalms, five motets, a responsory, and two Magnificats. GARCÍA PRADA, MANUEL (ca. 1720, ASTORIES, SPAIN, TO 1759, SEGOVIA, SPAIN). Spanish composer. Little is known about his life, save that he was trained at the Colegio Real in Madrid and assumed the post of maestro di capilla in Segovia in 1752. His music, exclusively sacred, includes several motets, Masses, and two Lamentations. GARDI, FRANCESCO (ca. 1760, PROBABLY NEAR MODENA, TO ca. 1810, VENICE). Probably born in a small village near Modena, he made his debut as a composer in that city in 1786. The following year he was appointed to a post with the Ospedale dei Derelitti in Venice, and in 1797 he became maestro di cappella at the Ospedale dei Mendicanti. His last work was a cantata for a friend of Napoleon from 1809, and he is presumed to have died the following year. His works include 26 operas (mainly buffa), five cantatas, five oratorios, and two symphonies. GARTH, JOHN (ca. 1721, HARPERLEY, NEAR WITTON-LE-WEAR, DURHAM COUNTY, ENGLAND, TO 29 MARCH 1810, DARLINGTON, ENGLAND). English composer and cellist. Little is known about his life or works, save that he spent much of his career in and around Durham in central England, where for a time he functioned as organist at a parish church near Sedgefield. In 1742 he became a freemason, and in 1745 he organized a series of public concerts in Stockton. By 1772 he had moved to Durham where he again organized concerts, sometimes in collaboration with
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Charles Avison from nearby Newcastle. He composed about 30 sonatas for keyboard, six cello concertos, and several trio sonatas, but his best-known work is The First Fifty Psalms by Benedetto Marcello that he arranged along with Avison. His music is decidedly old-fashioned, with a nod to Baroque techniques. The sonatas, however, do demonstrate rudimentary binary form and are in two movements, fast and a minuet. GASPARINI, QUIRINO (24 OCTOBER 1721, GANDINO, ITALY, TO 30 SEPTEMBER 1778, TURIN). Italian composer and organist. Following early study in Bergamo, he arrived in Milan in 1737 to study with Giovanni Foroni. He then went to Bologna as a student of Padre Giovanni Battista Martini, being elected to the Accademia filarmonica in 1751. In 1756 he made his debut as an opera composer in Milan, but three years later he had moved back to Bergamo to become maestro di cappella at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. In 1760 he was appointed to the same post at the cathedral in Turin. The bulk of his music consists of sacred works written in the prevailing mid-century Classical sacred style. These include two operas, 17 Masses, nine litanies, six antiphons, five Misereres, a Stabat mater (popular for many years), three Requiems, and 40 sacred hymns and motets, as well as 12 trio sonatas and two concertos. See also DELLA PIETÀ, MICHIELINA. GAß, PATER FELIX [GEORG ANTON] (8 AUGUST 1715, NEUSTADT AN DER SEELE, GERMANY, TO 20 FEBRUARY 1752, FREIBURG IM BREISGAU, GERMANY). German monastic composer and organist. He entered the Augustinian order as a novice in Münnenstadt in 1733, and by 1737 he was active as an organist in Freiburg im Breisgau. Following his ordination in 1739 he moved to Fribourg in Switzerland in 1740, returning to Freiburg in 1743. His music has been little studied but includes 12 Masses, 12 offertories, 24 concertos, and 30 sacred arias. GASSMANN, FLORIAN LEOPOLD (3 MAY 1729, MOSTĔ [BRÜX], BOHEMIA, TO 21 JANUARY 1774, VIENNA). Austro-Bohemian composer. The son of a goldsmith, Gassmann received his earliest music education from a local choirmaster, Jan Vobořil, in violin and keyboard before attending the Gymnasium at Chomutovĕ. He began his career as a violinist in Karlový varů before traveling to Italy to study under Padre Giovanni Battista Martini in Bologna. He made his debut as an opera composer in Venice during the Carnival season of 1757 with an opera seria, Merope, produced at the Teatro San Moisè. Thereafter followed a successful career as a composer of opera in Italy until 1763 when Joseph II called him to Vienna to write ballets for the court theatre. He was appointed successively as chamber
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composer and Kapellmeister, and in 1771 he founded the Tonkünstlersozietät, an organization that benefited musicians in Vienna and their progeny. He composed the opening work, an oratorio, La Bethulia liberata, for the inaugural concert. He passed away prematurely as the result of an accident he sustained in Italy. His major protégé was Jan Křtitel Vanhal. Gassmann was a much beloved and prolific composer, whose works include 21 operas, 10 opera insertions into works of others or pasticcios, two cantatas, the aforementioned oratorio, five Masses, 10 antiphons, 18 Propers, three hymns, two antiphons, a Requiem, 32 symphonies, six quartets, numerous divertimentos, and two trios for flute, violin, and viola. His musical style was progressive, with interesting and advanced harmony, good contrasting themes, lively orchestration, and an excellent sense of proportion. His instrumental music is known by Hill numbers. See also KOŽELUH, JAN ANTONÍN. GATES, BERNARD (23 APRIL 1686, THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS, TO 15 NOVEMBER 1773, NORTH ASTON NEAR OXFORD, ENGLAND). English bass singer, theorist, and composer. His earliest education was as a chorister at the Royal Chapel beginning in 1697, and by 1708 he had been appointed as a Gentleman of the Royal Chapel. In 1711 he became a lay vicar at Westminster Abbey and in 1740 the director of the choir there. He retired in 1757. He was a frequent soloist for George Frederick Handel, appearing mainly in sacred works. He also was an active teacher, whose unusual solmization method was remarked upon by John Hawkins, among others. He was a founding member of several important musical societies, but his own preference for a conservative type of music led him to disassociate himself in later years. His music includes six anthems and a morning service. GATTI, LUIGI (11 JUNE 1740, MANTUA, ITALY, TO 1 MARCH 1817, SALZBURG). Italian composer and singer. Gatti received his earliest musical education in Mantua before being appointed as a tenor at the Santa Barbara Church there. He was also ordained a priest, but in 1768 he achieved a success for his opera Alessandro nell’Indie. His large cantata Virgilio e Manto inaugurated the Teatro Scientifico, and in 1779 he was appointed assistant director of the church. Connections with Salzburg allowed him to travel there in 1783 where he obtained the post of Kapellmeister, much to Leopold Mozart’s chagrin. He remained there the remainder of his life. His musical style is conventional, focusing mainly upon sacred music. He is best remembered for his dealings with the Mozart family, although relations were often uncordial. As a composer, his main period of activity was prior to around 1805; his compositions include six operas, 12 cantatas (mostly secular), 20 Masses, 40 offertories, 18 vespers, three litanies, a Requiem,
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three ballets, six miscellaneous sacred hymns and Psalms, three symphonies, a serenade, three divertimentos, three concertos (two for keyboard and one for violin), two septets, a sextet, an oboe quintet, two oboe quartets, 10 sonatas, and two trios. His music has been little explored, no doubt due to the issues concerning the Mozarts. GAUMER, JOHANN NEPOMUK (1727, REINSTETTEN, NEAR OCHSENHAUSEN, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 1793, ISNY, ALLGÄU, GERMANY). German monastic composer. He entered the St. Georg Benedictine monastery in 1744, becoming ordained in 1751. He was elevated to prior of the monastery in Isny shortly before his death. None of his music has survived, save for a single motet and a set of three fugues published in Augsburg in 1776. GAVEAUX, PIERRE (9 OCTOBER 1760, BÉZIERS, FRANCE, TO 5 FEBRUARY 1825, CHARENTON, NEAR PARIS). French composer and singer. Trained as a chorister at the Béziers cathedral, he also studied organ under Abbé Conde. About 1780 he performed in Bordeaux as a tenor in the opera, studying composition under Franz Beck. By 1788 he was performing throughout Provence, and after a brief time at Montpelier he moved to Paris, where he became a principal singer at the Théâtre de Monsieur. During the French Revolution he opened a music shop and wrote patriotic tunes, such as “Le réveil du peuple,” which caused considerable controversy. In 1795 he began to write operas, becoming a popular composer of comic works. By the end of his life he had mental problems and retired to an asylum in 1819. Gaveaux’s tunes include both simple and folklike tunes with colorful orchestration. His works, little studied, include 35 operas, seven symphonies, and six large romances, as well as the usual Recueils. GAVINIÉS, PIERRE (11 MAY 1728, BORDEAUX, FRANCE, TO 8 SEPTEMBER 1800, PARIS). French violinist and composer. Son of an important violin maker, he moved to Paris with his father in 1734, where he studied music from local teachers. In 1741 he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels in works by his model, Jean-Marie Leclair [L’Aîne]. Within a few years he was a regular performer there, well known for his technique and sonorous lower register. Sometime around 1753, however, he was sent to prison as the result of an illicit affair with a countess, but in 1759 he returned to the Concerts spirituels, and the following year he had his only opera, the Intermède Le pretend, performed with considerable success. Between 1773 and 1777 he collaborated with Jean Legros in running the Concerts spirituels, and by 1785 a pension granted him by a noble family allowed him to live
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comfortably without steady employment. During the Revolution, he was a member of the orchestra at the Théâtre de la rue de Louvois, and in 1795 he became the first professor of violin at the newly established Conservatoire. Though he composed the usual popular songs and Recueils, his main focus was on works for his instrument, which are characterized by extensive use of the lower registers. These include three symphonies, eight violin concertos, two suites, seven violin sonatas (six of which were published as his Op. 1), six sonatas for two violins, and a harpsichord sonata. He also wrote a series of études in 1800 for his students. GAZZANIGA, GIUSEPPE (5 OCTOBER 1743, VERONA, TO 1 FEBRUARY 1818, CREMA, ITALY). Italian composer. Although he contemplated the priesthood in his youth, he persuaded his father that he wanted a career in music, attending the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana in Naples, studying under Niccolò Piccinni and Nicola Porpora. He made his debut as an opera composer in 1765 at the Teatro San Carlo, which led to commissions throughout Italy. Over the next two decades he traveled widely, producing operas in central European centers such as Dresden, Prague, and Vienna. By 1791, however, he returned to Italy to become maestro di cappella at the cathedral in Crema. His works include 51 operas, three oratorios, two Requiems, a Stabat mater, two Tantum ergos, a symphony, and three piano concertos. He is best known today for his 1787 opera Il convitato di pietra, also called Don Giovanni Tenorio, considered a predecessor to the more known work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. See also DRAMMA GIOCOSA. GEBEL, GEORG, JR. (25 OCTOBER 1709, BRIEG, SAXONY, GERMANY [NOW BRZEG, POLAND], TO 24 SEPTEMBER 1753, RUDOLSTADT, GERMANY). German composer and organist. The son of a musician, Georg Gebel, Sr. (1685–1750), he received his early training from his father in Breslau, entering the Maria Magdalena Gymnasium, where he became organist in 1729. He also became Kapellmeister at the nearby court of the Duke of Württemberg-Oels and in 1734 was taken into the service of Count Heinrich von Brühl in Warsaw. By 1746 he had been called to become concertmaster at the court of the prince of Schwarzburg at Rudolstadt; he succeeded to the post of Kapellmeister there in 1750. His early works are largely in the Baroque polyphonic style, but his compositions after 1740 reflect galant practices, making him a transitional figure. His music includes 12 operas, two oratorios, four complete cantata cycles, about 20 symphonies, six violin concertos, and numerous smaller sacred and chamber works. See also GEBEL, GEORG SIEGMUND.
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GEBEL, GEORG SIEGMUND (ca. 1715, BRESLAU, SAXONY, GERMANY [NOW WROCŁAW, POLAND], TO 1775, BRESLAU]. German organist and composer. The second son of Georg Gebel, Sr. (1685–1750), he was trained by his father and in 1736 became assistant organist in Breslau. He moved between different churches in town until 1749, when he became principal organist at the St. Elisabeth Church. Although he wrote cantatas and other sacred and organ works, his music appears to have been lost. See also GEBEL, GEORG, JR. GEBHARD, JOHANN GOTTFRIED (2 AUGUST 1755, GERMANY, TO ca. 1799, BARBY, SAXONY, GERMANY[?]). German composer. Nothing is known of his origins or early education, although it is supposed he came from a Moravian Church family. In 1777 he attended the school in Barby in theology, but by 1784 he had become a teacher of music. In 1790 he left the seminary and all trace of him is lost in 1799; although this most likely indicates the date of his death, he may also have embarked upon a mission to lesser-known quarters of the world. Of his music, several piano sonatas and 42 anthems have survived, showing that he had considerable talent as a composer. GEHOT, JOSEPH JEAN (8 APRIL 1756, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, TO 1820, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES). Belgian-American violist and composer. Gehot received his musical education from Pierre van Maldere and Henri-Jacques de Croes in Brussels, and it is thought that he performed occasionally in the royal chapel of Prince Charles of Lorraine before immigrating to England in 1779. The following year he was elected a member of the Royal Society of Musicians in London, and for the next 12 years he performed as a violist both at the King’s Theatre and at the Pantheon, as well as public concert events or Vauxhalls given at venues such as Ranleigh Gardens. His opera The Maid’s Last Shift was successfully performed in 1787, leading to commissions for several additional works, and in 1784 he published a treatise, The Theory and Practice of Music, followed by The Complete Instructions for Clarinet in 1790. In September 1792 he arrived in Philadelphia where he appeared at a concert in the New Theatre with the premiere of a 12-movement symphony titled “A Voyage to the New World.” As principal violin with the New Theatre, he participated in the vibrant musical life of the Philadelphia opera houses, and in 1801 he published his final theoretical work, The Complete Instructions for Every Musical Instrument. Within a few years he had retired from the musical scene of the city and died in poverty and neglect at the age of 64. Though virtually all of his music written for the theatre has been lost, he was able to publish
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36 string quartets, as well as 24 military pieces and 12 duets for violin and cello, all of which show that he was a capable and inventive composer. The style is reminiscent of his teachers and perennial American favorites, such as Joseph Haydn. GEISLER, CHRISTIAN GOTTFRIED (10 OCTOBER 1730, TÖPPLIWODA, SILESIA, GERMANY [NOW CIEPŁOWODY, POLAND], TO 3 JUNE 1810, ZEIST, NETHERLANDS). German composer and organist. Brother of Johann Christian Geisler, he joined the Moravian Church along with the rest of his family at an early age. As a youth he demonstrated considerable talent in music, serving in the communities of Neusalz and Herrnhaag, as well as at Zeist. In 1755 he was briefly organist at the Moravian Church in London, but he left two years later to become a teacher of organ at Zeist. His music consists of over 10 anthems, all written in the prevailing homophonic style. GEISLER, JOHANN CHRISTIAN (13 MARCH 1729, TÖPPLIWODA, SILESIA, GERMANY [NOW CIEPŁOWODY, POLAND], TO 14 APRIL 1815, BERTHELSDORF, NEAR HERRNHUT, SAXONY, GERMANY). German composer. His earliest musical education came from Moravian Church teachers, who taught him organ and harp. In 1745 he formed a trombone choir at Gnadenfrei in Silesia, subsequently serving as music teacher and pastor to a number of congregations throughout Europe. His first musical compositions date from 1760, and over the course of 45 years he wrote over 300 works, mainly anthems in the homophonic style but often incorporating larger instrumental ensembles. His brother, Christian Gottfried Geisler, was also active, and his students include Johannes Herbst. GEISLER [GEISSLER], PATER BENEDIKT (1696, DETTELBACH, GERMANY, TO 1772, TRIEFFENSTER, GERMANY). German monastic composer and organist. Nothing is known of his life, beyond the fact that he became a Benedictine monk, serving in the monastery at Trieffenster for all his life. He was a prolific composer of sacred music, some of which is in the Baroque style and much of which reflects galant tendencies. His works, almost all unstudied, include 31 Masses, 18 offertories, 12 antiphons, eight vespers, six litanies, and two Regina coeli settings. GEMINIANI, FRANCESCO (5 DECEMBER 1687, LUCCA, ITALY, TO 17 SEPTEMBER 1762, DUBLIN, IRELAND). Also known as Il furibondo. Italian violinist, theorist, and composer. A student of Alessandro
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Scarlatti and Carlo Lonati, he spent his early career both as a violin soloist and occasional composer of opera in rivalry with George Frederick Handel. By 1730 he had settled permanently in England, where he remained save for a brief sojourn in Paris in the 1740s. He passed away from the effects of apoplexy in Dublin due to misfortunes caused by a recalcitrant student. Although the bulk of his music reflects Baroque compositional style and practice, he published a set of concerto grossi (Op. 7) where the concertino consists of a string quartet rather than the usual trio, thus representing a transitional stage to the new style. His 1751 Art of Playing the Violin as well as the Guida Harmonia of the following year are seminal works demonstrating performance practice of this period. GEMMINGEN-HORNSTEIN, ERNST VON (11 FEBRUARY 1759, CELLE, GERMANY, TO 13 MARCH 1811, MANNHEIM). German amateur composer and nobleman. After his father’s early death, he was taken to Heilbronn, where he grew up, possibly learning music from local teachers. In 1777 he attended the University of Göttingen, and by 1781 he was taken on a grand tour of France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands, following which he entered the service of Markgraf Carl Alexander von Brandenburg as his privy councilor and director of chamber music. In 1786 he was in diplomatic service but returned to Heilbronn to settle into a domestic life. He assembled one of the largest collections of music in the 18th century, but his own training is unknown. He did, however, compose four violin concertos and multiple sets of Lieder. His style is reminiscent of Joseph Haydn. GENERALI, PIETRO (4 OCTOBER 1773, ROME, TO 8 NOVEMBER 1832, NOVARA, SPAIN). Italian composer originally named Pietro Mercandetti. After early education at the Cappella Musicale Liberiana in Rome under Giovanni Masi and brief study in Naples, he was engaged at the Congregazione di Santa Cecilia. In 1800 he debuted as an opera composer, eventually composing 56 works and being known as a rival to Giaocchino Rossini. While his main works properly belong to the early Romantic period and are excellent examples of Rossinian bel canto, his early sacred works, including motets and Masses, reflect a more conservative style of the Neapolitan School. GEREMIA, GIUSEPPE (19 NOVEMBER 1732, CATANIA, ITALY, TO JANUARY 1814, CATANIA). Italian composer and organist. His musical education was obtained in Naples at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto under Francesco Durante. In 1760 his first work, an oratorio, was produced with success, and by 1763 he was active at the Teatro Nuovo.
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Despite offers of employment from as far away as St. Petersburg, he chose to return to Catania in 1773 to become maestro di cappella at the main cathedral. His music follows Neapolitan stylistic practices and includes an opera, 15 oratorios, four cantatas, 23 Masses, a Requiem, and many smaller sacred works. His music has been little studied. GERL, FRANZ XAVER (30 NOVEMBER 1764, ANDORF, UPPER AUSTRIA, TO 9 MARCH 1827, MANNHEIM, GERMANY). Austrian bass singer and composer. He possibly studied music under Leopold Mozart during his early years in Salzburg about 1777, but he attended university there in physics. In 1785 he appeared as a bass at Erlangen and in 1787 joined Emanuel Schickaneder as a singer and composer at the Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna. Over the next decade he contributed portions of music to the pasticcio Singspiels performed there, as well as performing signature roles such as Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In 1802 he was appointed to the company of the German national theatre in Mannheim. As a singer, he was known for a deep, resonant voice, but his skill as a composer appears to have been somewhat limited. His known works include contributions to 14 Singspiels. GERVAIS, PIERRE NOËL (1746, MANNHEIM, GERMANY, TO 1805, BORDEAUX, FRANCE). French violinist and composer. The son of a musician in the service of Carl Theodor, the Elector of Mannheim, he was trained by Ignaz Fränzl and Franz Beck. Settling in Bordeaux, he became first violinist at the Grand Théâtre there, and in 1784 he traveled to Paris, where he performed with great success at the Concerts spirituels. He returned to Bordeaux, however, and remained there his entire career. Little of his music has survived; only a published set of violin concertos, which show that he had great technical skill. His most important students were AndréJoseph Fauvel and Pierre Rode. GESTURE. A term referring to stage acting, in music most frequently involved in opera. During the Baroque, gesture on stage during arias meant primarily marching to the front of the stage, striking a pose, and holding it with minimal movement for the length of the piece. A new style of more active posturing and gestures featuring fluid motions developed around 1738, however, with emotions being communicated by movements of the body and hands. Treatises on the subject of expression and Empfindsamkeit (here defined as emotionality) were written by theatre aestheticians such as Luigi Riccoboni (An Historical and Critical Account of the Theatres in Europe, viz., the Italian, Spanish, French, English, Dutch, Flemish and German Theatres, in which is
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contained a Review of the Manners, Persons and Characters of the Actors; intermixed with Many Curious Dissertations upon the Drama published in London in 1741), Denis Diderot, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. GHERARDESCHI, DOMENICO (1733, PISTOIA, ITALY, TO 1800, PISTOIA). Italian composer and organist. Brother of Filippo Gherardeschi, he studied music in his hometown. In 1770 he was appointed as maestro di cappella of the Pistoia cathedral upon the resignation of his brother. His music, which conforms to the galant style, has been little studied and consists mainly of sacred works. See also GHERARDESCHI, GIUSEPPE. GHERARDESCHI, FILIPPO MARIA (11 OCTOBER 1738, PISTOIA, ITALY, TO 30 SEPTEMBER 1808, PISA). Italian composer and brother of Domenico Gherardeschi. He studied under Padre Giovanni Battista Martini in Bologna in 1756, being elected to the Accademia filarmonica five years later. In 1763 he was appointed as maestro di cappella in Volterra, at the same time as he functioned as organist in Pisa. In 1770 he obtained the post of director at the Pistoia cathedral, later also serving the court of Leopold of Tuscany in 1783. In 1785 he was appointed maestro di cappella at the church of Santo Stefano in Pisa. His music is little known, but includes seven operas, 10 sonatas, a concerto, and numerous sacred works, as well as a treatise, Elementi per suonare il cembalo. GHERARDESCHI, GIUSEPPE (3 NOVEMBER 1759, PISTOIA, ITALY, TO 6 AUGUST 1815, PISTOIA). Italian composer and organist. Son of Domenico Gherardeschi and nephew of Filippo Gherardeschi, he studied in Naples at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini under Nicola Sala. Returning to Pistoia, he was appointed organist at the church of Santa Maria Ulimità in 1770 after resigning as maestro di cappella of the main cathedral in favor of his brother. In 1800 he returned as maestro di cappella at the Pistoia cathedral, becoming his brother’s successor. A prolific composer in the modern church style of the time, he wrote two operas, four cantatas, an oratorio, 30 Masses, 37 Lamentations, 90 motets, five Te Deums, seven symphonies, a quintet, six trios, and six violin sonatas, as well as many smaller chamber and sacred compositions. GHIRETTI, GASPARO (1747, NAPLES, TO 1827, PARMA, ITALY). Italian violinist and composer. Following his early education at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini, he was appointed as chamber musician to the Duke of Parma. There he composed concertos for his instrument, as well as chamber works. His most important pupil was Nicolò Pagannini.
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GIAI, FRANCESCO SAVERIO (27 SEPTEMBER 1729, TURIN, TO 12 AUGUST 1801, TURIN). Italian composer. The son of Giovanni Antonio Giaj, he attended the Collegium Puerorum Innocentium in Turin. In 1759 he was sent to Bologna, Rome, and Naples, where he furthered his musical studies with Padre Giovanni Battista Martini and Francesco de Majo. By 1764 he had become director of the Royal Cappella in Turin, a position he inherited from his father. His music is characterized by a solid contrapuntal background and a sense of good orchestration that is equal to the large-scale sacred works of his time. His surviving music, little studied, includes 11 Masses (and six Mass movements), three Requiems, 25 Psalms, three Magnificats, two Te Deums, four litanies, 26 Lessons, and numerous other smaller works. GIAJ, GIOVANNI ANTONIO (11 JUNE 1690, TURIN, TO 10 SEPTEMBER 1764, TURIN). Italian composer and organist. Educated at the Cappella degli l’Innocenti in Turin, he had his first opera premiered in 1715. In 1727 he was appointed as maestro di cappella for the city, but he left a year later for several years in Malta. By 1732 he had returned to his former position, which he retained the remainder of his life. Although his early works reflect Baroque practice, many of the later operas are imitative of the new Neapolitan style, with good lyrical lines and more homophonic accompaniment. His works include 15 operas, five Masses (and 11 Mass movements), a Requiem, 15 Psalms, 16 hymns, seven litanies, nine sequences, 36 motets, two cantatas, five symphonies, a violin concerto, and several smaller keyboard works. See also GIAI, FRANCESCO SAVERIO. GIANOTTI, PIETRO (ca. 1700, LUCCA, ITALY, TO 9 JUNE 1765, PARIS). French-Italian composer and contrabassist. Nothing is known about his early musical education, but in 1728 he appeared in Paris, where he published his first set of violin sonatas. By 1739 he had become employed as contrabassist with the Académie royale de musique, as well as taking students, such as Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny. In 1749 he began to appear at the Concerts spirituels as well. In 1759 he published a treatise, Le guide du compositeur, which is based upon the theory of Jean-Philippe Rameau. A further treatise on the keyboard remained unpublished until after his death. Although the bulk of his music, as many as 24 sonatas for the violin, as well as about 12 trio sonatas, reflect more of a conservative Baroque practice, his cantata L’école des filles and the quodlibet Les soirées de Limeil, using folk instruments, show that he was aware of the emerging galant style. GIARDINI, FELICE (12 APRIL 1712, TURIN, TO 8 JUNE 1796, MOSCOW). Italian violinist and composer known as Degiardino. Regarded as a child prodigy, he made his debut as a soloist in Milan at the age of 12. Dur-
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ing the 1750s he toured Europe as a soloist, eventually settling in England. In 1784 he was appointed as theatre director in Naples, but the bankruptcy of the organization forced him to seek employment outside of Italy. He attempted to find a post in England in 1793, eventually moving to Moscow as a teacher. His music, in the Neapolitan style, includes three operas; an oratorio; a sinfonia concertante for flute, harp, violin, and orchestra; 12 violin concertos; 36 violin sonatas; 22 trios and 12 trio sonatas; and seven quartets. GIBELLI, LORENZO (24 NOVEMBER 1718, BOLOGNA, ITALY, TO 5 NOVEMBER 1812, BOLOGNA). Italian bass-baritone and composer. A student of Padre Giovanni Battista Martini in 1744, he was elected as a member of the Accademia filarmonica in 1749 and thereafter had a career as a singer at the Teatro Communale. He also served as maestro di cappella at the church of San Salvatore. His music has been little studied but consists of five operas, five oratorios, a cantata, a Mass, an antiphon, and three hymns. He was best known for his sonorous voice. GIBERT, PAUL-CÉSAR (1717, VERSAILLES, FRANCE, TO 1787, PARIS). French composer. Son of a Royal Guard, he was sent to Naples to study music. By 1750 he had returned to France, settling in Paris as a teacher of singing. In 1760 his first opéra comique, La fortune du village, followed the next year by his most important success, Soliman second, at the Théâtre Italien, for which Charles Simon Favart imported costumes and sets from Constantinople. In 1766 three of his motets were performed at the Concerts spirituels, and shortly thereafter a set of singing exercises, Les Solfèges, was published. Gibert was one of the first to popularize the mêlée des ariettes, a compendium of salon works taken from his own operas, but his music is often considered to lack originality. Surviving works include seven operas and three motets, as well as several sets of arrangements. GILLET, ALEXANDER (14 AUGUST 1749, GRANBY, CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES, TO 19 JANUARY 1826, TORRINGTON, CONNECTICUT). American psalmodist. He graduated from Yale in 1770 and was ordained a Congregational minister in 1773. He served as a pastor at Wolcott, Connecticut, before moving to Torrington in 1792. His 32 works were published piecemeal in various collections. GILLINGHAM, GEORGE (11 DECEMBER 1768, GUDDINGTON, BEDFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND, TO 1827, NEW YORK). Anglo-American violinist and composer. His earliest position was in Birmingham as a violinist in the local theatre orchestra, but in 1785 he was pointed out by Charles Burney as having performed in the Handel Centennial Festival. In 1790 he
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was elected to the Royal Society of Music, and in 1794 he immigrated to the United States to Philadelphia, where he participated as a director in the Amateur and Professionals concerts. In 1797 he moved to New York to direct the Greenwich Theatre, performing with his wife and son until 1821. His music has not survived, but he composed several ballad operas for New York. GIORDANI, GIUSEPPE (19 DECEMBER 1751, NAPLES, TO 4 JANUARY 1798, FERMO, ITALY). Italian composer, known as Giardinello. His earliest studies were at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto, and by 1774 he was employed at the Naples cathedral as a conductor, with his operas being especially sought after throughout Italy. In 1789 he had a tremendous success at La Scala in Milan, which led to an appointment as maestro di cappella in Fermo in 1791. His music is characterized by a dramatic content with close attention to the text. This includes 32 operas, 11 oratorios, three cantatas, 10 Masses, a Requiem, 85 offertories, 13 Psalms, 14 hymns, five motets, 27 responsories, seven litanies, three violin and five pianoforte sonatas, six trios, and several smaller sacred works. GIORDANI, TOMMASO (ca. 1730, NAPLES, TO FEBRUARY 1806, DUBLIN). Italian-English composer. Raised in a musical family that formed its own opera troupe in 1745, he traveled throughout Europe where he performed as a singer in the company. In 1753 he obtained a post as a singer at Covent Garden in London, later moving in 1764 to Dublin where he wrote his first operas (all in English). He returned to compose for the King’s Theatre in 1770 and then returned to Dublin in 1783 for the remainder of his life. A prolific composer who adapted readily to the English style, his works were popular. His music consists of 26 operas (and many insertions), an oratorio, three incidental music sets, 44 canzonetts, 27 concertos (mostly flute and violin), five odes/large cantatas, two symphonies, six quintets, 12 quartets, 17 trios, 31 duos, and 33 sonatas, as well as small works and dances. He also was a prolific composer of the English song. GIORGI, GIOVANNI (ca. 1690, VENICE, TO JUNE 1762, LISBON). Italian-Portuguese composer. He possibly received his early training under Antonio Lotti in Venice, but by 1719 he had become maestro di cappella at St. John Lateran in Rome. In 1725 he was called to Lisbon to become the director of music at the Lisbon cathedral. He remained there the rest of his life, although he occasionally undertook commissions from Italy. His musical style demonstrates the changeover from Baroque practice to the more homophonic and lyrical Neapolitan style, although many of his sacred works also use the stile antico. His music, little studied, consists of 33 Masses, 145
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graduals, 137 antiphons, 152 offertories, 167 Psalms, 49 hymns, 20 responsories, 162 motets, five sequences, a set of Lamentations, and a set of madrigals. GIORNOVICHI, GIOVANNI MANE. See JARNOVIĆ, IVAN MANE. GIROLAMI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (1702, VERGEMOLI, NEAR LUCCA, ITALY, TO 20 JANUARY 1786, CASTELNUOVO, ITALY). Italian clerical organist and composer. The son of a musical family, he was ordained a priest in 1724, and in 1763 he became the maestro di cappella at the cathedral in Castelnuovo. He was pensioned in 1784. His music is all but unknown, but it consists mostly of sacred works, including several Masses (and Mass movements), a Requiem, and numerous smaller compositions. GIULIANI, ANTONIO MARIA (17 AUGUST 1739, RAVENNA, ITALY, TO 21 FEBRUARY 1831, MODENA, ITALY). Italian keyboardist and composer. Trained at an early age in Modena, he was a member of the Accademia filarmonica, and in 1773 he became maestro di cappella at the main cathedral in the city. In 1783 he took on the additional post of in-house composer at the Teatro, retiring about 1807. His music is all but unknown outside of a concerto for two mandolins and orchestra. His works, however, include operas, sacred music, and chamber works. GIULIANI, GIOVANNI FRANCESCO (ca. 1760, LIVORNO, ITALY, TO 1818, FLORENCE, ITALY). Italian composer and violinist. A student of Pietro Nardini, he moved to Florence early in his career, eventually becoming the director of the Teatro degli Intrepidi there. He also taught at the Accademia di Belle Arti as a professor. His musical style is closely modeled on that of Joseph Haydn and his teacher. His works include an intermezzo, three ballets, eight notturnos, 10 concertos, two symphonies, four quintets, 45 quartets (many with mandolins), nine trios, 30 duets, and six keyboard sonatas. His music has been little studied, however. GIULIANO, GIUSEPPE (ca. 1720, NAPLES, TO ca. 1776, NAPLES). Italian composer and mandolin player. Almost nothing is known about him, although he appears to have been a native of Naples and functioned there as a violinist and mandolin player between 1764 and 1776, when he disappears from history. Conversely, his music was popular throughout Europe, being exported to as far away as Sweden. His style is reminiscent of Empfindsamkeit, with a penchant for Neapolitan lyricism. His works include several symphonies, two concertos for mandolins, and two mandolin sonatas.
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GIULINI, COUNT GIORGIO (16 JULY 1714, MILAN, TO 26 DECEMBER 1780, MILAN). Italian member of the nobility, statesman, historian, and amateur composer. As a part of the ruling class, Giulini was educated in various arts, including music with Giovanni Battista Sammartini. He became a part of the Milanese council, however, with his musical endeavors being relegated to local events. His most important work is a history of the city of Milan, Memorie spettanti alla storia di Milano of 1779, which earned him the enmity of their Austrian rulers. His music, much in the style of his teacher, includes several symphonies and chamber works. GIULINI, JOHANN ANDREAS (bap. 15 OCTOBER 1723, AUGSBURG, GERMANY, TO 21 AUGUST 1772, AUGSBURG). German clerical composer. A student at the Sankt Salvator Jesuit Gymnasium in Augsburg, he was trained in theology at Schwetzingen before being ordained a priest in 1749. He returned to Augsburg shortly thereafter, and in 1755 he became Kapellmeister at the cathedral, a position he retained the remainder of his life. A well-respected theorist and teacher whose students included Johann Michael Demmler, he composed in a style that combined Baroque counterpoint with Classical harmonic and stylistic elements. His most important work is the Canticum Zachariae, but he wrote school dramas, a number of Masses, symphonies, and a large amount of sacred music, most of which has never been explored. GIUSSANI, SEVERO (ca. 1715, PROBABLY MILAN, TO ca. 1770, MILAN). Italian tenor and composer. Nothing is known of his training or life, save that he served as a tenor in the cathedral choir in Milan, as well as in the opera house. He appears in several lists of the cappella under Gian Andrea Fioroni up through 1768. His main known works are two sonatas for organ and harpsichord. GIUSTINI, LODOVICO (12 DECEMBER 1685, PISTOIA, ITALY, TO 7 FEBRUARY 1743, PISTOIA, ITALY). Italian church composer and keyboardist. He received his earliest training from his father, Francesco Giustini, who was an organist at a Jesuit church, the Congregazione dello Spirito Sancto. In 1725 he succeeded his father, later also becoming a teacher at the Collegio dei Nobili. In 1734 he obtained the additional post of organist at the main cathedral in Pistoia, the Santa Maria dell’Umilità. The bulk of his music has been lost, with the exception of a few sacred arias and a published set of 12 Sonate da cimbalo di piano e forte detto volgarmente di martelletti (Op. 1), which are some of the earliest works specifically meant for the fortepiano. Other music consisted of sacred cantatas and at least one oratorio and set of
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Lamentations composed in collaboration with Giovanni Clari. His style is reminiscent of the early galant, with clear themes and contrasts, although he still uses the Baroque suite form in the sonatas. GLACKMAYER, JOHANN CONRAD FRIEDRICH [FREDERICK] (10 AUGUST 1759, HANNOVER, TO 12 JANUARY 1836, QUÉBEC CITY, CANADA). German-Canadian composer, performer, and teacher. Glackmayer was the son of a fife player in a military band, and according to anecdotal evidence, he exhibited considerable talent as a performer at an early age. Although destined for a career as a musician at the local court, he left for Canada, arriving in Trois Rivières in 1777. By 1783 he was resident in Québec City, where he taught stringed instruments and keyboard; as well, he ran a business importing both music and instruments from Europe. In 1790 he inaugurated subscription concerts with a fellow immigrant, Francis Vogeler (see Franz Heinrich Vogler), and from 1813 until his death he functioned as an organist at the main church in the city. As a composer, he wrote a number of compositions in many genres. Newspaper advertisements include mention of a variety of chamber music and symphonies, but the only music to have survived are several marches and arrangements of larger works for keyboard. Glackmayer, however, may be considered the first music teacher of importance in Canada. GLASER, JOHANN WENDELIN (1 MAY 1713, OSTHEIM VOR DER RÖHN, BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG, GERMANY, TO 6 FEBRUARY 1783, WERTHEIM, BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG, GERMANY). German composer and organist. The son of a cantor, he attended the Gymnasium at Schleusingen, and subsequently the Latin school in Nürnberg, where he focused upon music education in preparation for following in his father’s footsteps. In 1738 he succeeded to the post of cantor at Ostheim, but by 1741 he accepted the post of preceptor and cantor at Langenburg and subsequently at Wertheim in 1744. His compositions number over 300 cantatas, including three complete cycles, as well as a treatise titled Praeceptor bene instructus on the proper singing and instruction of Lutheran chorales. GLASS HARMONICA. Also known as “the Musical Glasses.” Said to have been invented by American Benjamin Franklin around 1760, it consists of a series of graduated glass basins that are fixed to a spindle and sitting in a metal trough of water. The spindle is rotated by a pedal mechanism. The sound is produced either by rubbing one’s wet finger along the rims of the rotating glasses or by a keyboard system. Composers of the 18th century were often enamored by the ethereal sound; compositions were written by Johann
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Adolph Hasse, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Gottlieb Naumann, and Christoph Willibald von Gluck, among others. GLEE. Developed in the 17th century, particularly in English or Englishspeaking regions, the glee can be defined as a part song for three or four voices generally performed a cappella. These consist of several short, contrasting movements or sections and were meant as chamber music for salons, clubs, and other organizations. Unlike the catch, the glee is generally an innocuous poetic text. The most famous organization was the Noblemen and Gentlemen’s Catch Club of London, which offered an annual prize for the best glees beginning in 1762. A mixed gender club, the London Glee Club, was formed in 1787. Composers of glees include Benjamin Cooke, Thomas Arne, and Philip Hayes. GLEISMAN, CARL ERIK (1767, STOCKHOLM, TO 9 DECEMBER 1804, STOCKHOLM). Swedish composer and organist. For most of his career, he was considered an amateur whose main profession was as a secretary at the state fire insurance office. By 1792, however, he had obtained the post of organist at the St. Clara Church, although several years earlier he had become a regular at the Palmstedt Literary Circle, where several of his songs, later published in the Musikaliskt tidsfördrif, were performed. His music is simple in style, with little harmonic variation and sometimes awkward phrasing. Surviving pieces include insertions into the pasticcio opera Eremiten of 1798, 25 songs (of which 11 were published), and a number of smaller fortepiano pieces. GLEISSNER, FRANZ JOHANN (6 APRIL 1761, NEUSTADT AN DER WALDNAAB, GERMANY, TO 28 SEPTEMBER 1818, MUNICH). German composer, singer, contrabass player, and publisher. Trained at the Jesuit Gymnasium in Amberg, he composed his first work, a Requiem, in 1778. In 1780 he went for further education in Munich, where he was attached to a military regiment in 1785. He was able to compose for the stage during the next several years, and in 1791 he became employed by the court orchestra as a contrabassist. In 1796 he founded a lithographic process for notation, which he and publisher Johann André used under royal privilege in Offenbach. In 1806 he returned to Munich to become inspector of royal printing. Gleissner worked with André on the first catalog of the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He himself was a prolific composer, writing 30 Masses, two Requiems, eight litanies, three vespers, five offertories, 12 other sacred works, an oratorio, 12 stage works (ballets and Singspiels), 13 symphonies, four
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quartets, 12 Lieder, 12 flute duets, over 60 works for keyboard, and several other smaller chamber works. GLUCK, CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD RITTER VON (2 JULY 1714, ERASBACH BEI BERCHING, UPPER PALATINATE, GERMANY, TO 15 NOVEMBER 1787, VIENNA). German composer of international stature. Although little is known about his youth, Gluck reported that he came from a musical family; his father, a forester, was adept at various instruments. In 1731 he attended Prague University studying logic and mathematics before moving to Italy to study music under Giovanni Battista Sammartini in Milan. His first opera, Artaserse, was performed there in 1741, followed by Demetrio in Venice a year later. Thereafter, he composed works throughout Italy before moving to London in 1746. Despite disparaging remarks by George Frederick Handel, he achieved some success there, and joined the Mingotti troupe as their Kapellmeister. He toured with them for several years until 1750, when he married the daughter of a wealthy Viennese merchant, thus allowing him economic stability. He then began to write operas for both Prague and Vienna, the latter beginning in 1754 with Le cinesi. In 1756 he was invested as a Knight of the Golden Spur by Pope Benedict XIV, thus allowing himself to be known by the title Chevalier von Gluck. By 1758 he had turned toward the opéra comique, beginning with La fausse esclave. During this period he also became acquainted with the director of the opera, Count Giacomo Durazzo, choreographers Gasparo Angiolini and Franz Hilverding, as well as librettist Raniero Calzabigi. Discussions on the dramatic ballet led to the 1761 premiere of Don Juan, followed the next year by the opera Orfeo ed Euridice, leading to an important work, Alceste, of 1767, which contains a seminal preface describing the concept of opera reform. In 1774 Gluck was called to Paris around the same time as he was named hofKapellmeister in Vienna. Here he produced a series of operas ranging from French revisions of his Viennese works to original pieces such as Iphigénie en Aulide and Armide. This led to the revival of the French opera, as well as a controversy when the Théâtre Italien brought Neapolitan composer Niccolò Piccinni to Paris to foment a rivalry similar to the Querelle des bouffons two decades earlier. In 1779 Gluck returned to Vienna following a stroke that occurred during his final opera, Écho et Narcisse. A German opera, Hunnenschlacht, remained fragmentary, and a further Parisian commission, Les Danïades, was given over to Gluck’s pupil Antonio Salieri. Gluck wrote over 50 operas, ranging from opera seria to opéra comique, as well as numerous additions to pasticcios, at least 40 ballets, ranging from divertissements to ballets d’action, 12 Lieder, nine symphonies, eight trio
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sonatas, four Psalms/sacred works, and a number of miscellaneous works. Gluck can be considered a seminal figure in the development and reform of opera in the Classical period. His influence ranged from Italy to Scandinavia and from Russia to France; moreover, he wrote in virtually all of the styles of opera of the period, as well as being a major contributor to the development of the 18th-century ballet. Of particular note is his ability to orchestrate his operas, using timbre effectively to create dramatic moments. His works bear Wq (Wotquenne) numbers. See also EDELMANN, JEAN-FRÉDÉRIC; KOŽELUH, JAN ANTONÍN; SORKOČEVIĆ, LUKA; TITZ, ANTON FERDINAND. GNECCO, FRANCESCO (1769, GENOA, ITALY, TO 1811, MILAN). Italian violinist and composer. Following studies under Giacomo Costa and Giuseppe Mariani, he worked for a time as maestro di cappella in Savona before making his debut in 1792 as a composer of opera with Auretta e Masullo. A prolific composer of operas, he remained in Milan the remainder of his life, living off of commissions from throughout Italy. His works include 24 operas, two symphonies, a sextet, two quintets, seven string quartets, three clarinet trios, and six notturnos. GOLDBERG, JOHANN GOTTLIEB [THEOPHILUS] (bap. 14 MARCH 1727, DANZIG [NOW GDAŃSK, POLAND], TO 13 APRIL 1756, DRESDEN). German keyboardist and composer. Although little is known about his early education, his talent for playing the harpsichord attracted the attention of the Russian ambassador to Saxony, Hermann Karl von Keyserlinck, who took the young child in 1737 to Dresden to be educated. He was first sent to Johann Sebastian Bach and subsequently this composer’s son, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, who was resident in the Saxon capital. In 1745 he left the service of Keyserlinck and in 1751 was given a position with Count Heinrich von Brühl. He died shortly thereafter from tuberculosis. Although he was a well-regarded virtuoso on the keyboard, Goldberg’s reputation rests largely upon an apocryphal story by Johann Nikolaus Forkel regarding a set of variations composed by Johann Sebastian Bach to cure Keyserlinck’s insomnia. Goldberg, however, began composing at the age of 10, eventually writing a number of cantatas (one of which Bach performed in 1743), two keyboard concertos, five trio sonatas, a set of 24 polonaises, and chorale preludes. GOLDONI, CARLO (25 FEBRUARY 1707, VENICE, TO 6 FEBRUARY 1793, PARIS). Italian librettist of mainly opera buffa. Though he spent the bulk of his life near Venice writing librettos for comic operas, he
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was educated in law and often resorted to making his living as a lawyer. During his lifetime, he wrote a variety of works in all literary genres, but his 80 librettos are often considered the most popular for their accessible language and good comic timing. These include La buona Figliuola by Giovanni Paisiello and Il mondo della luna, set by a number of composers including Joseph Haydn. See also MACCARI, GIACOMO. GOLLER, PATER MARTIN [JOSEF] (20 FEBRUARY 1764, LAJEN BEI KLAUSEN, AUSTRIA, TO 1836, INNSBRÜCK, AUSTRIA). Austrian monastic organist and composer. He was trained at the Benedictine monastery in St. Georgenburg before acting as organist in 1780. He entered the order around 1785 and in 1800 was regens chori at the Benedictine monastery in Fiecht until its dissolution in 1806. Thereafter he taught music in Innsbrück. His music reflects a simple style similar to Michael Haydn, though much of it was destroyed in the Fiecht monastery fire in the 19th century. His works include 15 Masses, two Te Deums, two vespers, 18 graduals and offertories, 22 Tantum ergos, 18 sacred Lieder, and a concerto for two clarinets. GOMES, ANDRÉ DA SILVA (DECEMBER 1752, LISBON, TO 17 JUNE 1844, SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL). Portuguese-Brazilian composer. Following early training in Lisbon, he was taken to Brazil by Fra Manuel da Ressurreição as a musician for the cathedral of São Paulo, where he was made mestre di capella in 1774. He served here his entire life, being pensioned in 1823, teaching a generation of composers of the Portuguese colony and later empire of Brazil, as well as writing music for the Societas Ordem Terceira do Carmo. Over 130 compositions survive in the cathedral archives in São Paulo, including Psalms and Masses, but also keyboard works and modhinas. His early style is similar to composers active in Lisbon, such as Davide Perez, who served as his model. GOMES DA ROCHA, FRANCISCO (ca. 1746, VILA RICA DE ALBUQUERQUE [NOW OURO PRÊTO], BRAZIL, TO 9 FEBRUARY 1808, VILA RICA). Brazilian composer. Trained at the musical conservatories in Minas Gerais, he became conductor of the orchestra at São Tomé in 1768, and in 1800 at the Ordem Terceiro do Como. His surviving works include four large responsories. GÒNIMA, EMMANUEL [MANUEL] (1712, LLEIDA, CATALONIA, TO 26 FEBRUARY 1792, GIRONA, CATALONIA). Catalan composer. His earliest studies were in Barcelona with Pablo Llina, following which in
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1733 he sought the post of mestre de capella at the Vic cathedral. Unsuccessful in this application, he eventually won a similar position at the Girona cathedral in 1733. He remained in this position until his death, although his major duties were taken over in 1774 by Francesc Juncá i Carol. His works include numerous villancicos and smaller sacred works such as hymns and responsories. There are also several Masses, all of which are conservative in their setting. See also PONS, JOSÉ. GONZÁLEZ GAITÁN Y ARTENGA, JUAN MANUEL (1710, CORDOBA, SPAIN, TO ca. 1785, CORDOBA). Spanish composer and singer. Trained as a child in the choir of the cathedral in Cordoba, he was appointed as maestro di capilla in Segovia in 1741, serving there a decade before returning to his hometown to undertake a similar post. He retired in 1780 and disappears from history. His music includes Masses and motets but has been little studied. GORDILLO, PADRE CARLOS (ca. 1710, QUITO, ECUADOR, TO ca. 1757, QUITO). Ecuadorian singer and composer. Raised and educated by clerics at the main cathedral in Quito, he rose from being a choirboy to being appointed maestro di capilla in 1743, following the death of Francisco Haranjo (1690–1742). He succeeded to the post because no other candidate was available; the church council deemed him marginal. His music seems to have been limited to motets, but almost all of it was destroyed in the earthquakes of 1754 and 1757. GÖRNER, JOHANN GOTTLIEB (bap. 16 APRIL 1697, PENIG, SAXONY, GERMANY, TO 15 FEBRUARY 1778, LEIPZIG). German composer and organist. In 1712 he enrolled in the Thomasschule, where he studied music under Johann Kuhnau. By 1716 he had become a student at Leipzig University and held the post of organist at the Paulinerkirche. Shortly before the arrival of Johann Sebastian Bach, he was appointed as organist at the Nicolaikirche and the St. Thomas Church, a post he retained for his entire life. A dispute over directorship of the university collegium musicum with Bach led to a division of duties into an “old” and “new” ensemble, though it had no effect on a collegial personal relationship. After Bach’s death Görner failed to become his friend’s successor, but in 1764 he led the public concert series in Leipzig for several years. His early works, including some 32 cantatas, are Baroque in style, but several compositions from his later years—namely, three symphonies and two keyboard concertos—demonstrate an awareness of the emerging galant style.
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GOSSEC, FRANÇOIS-JOSEPH (17 JANUARY 1734, VERGINES, HAINAUT, FRANCE [NOW BELGIUM], TO 16 FEBRUARY 1829, PASSY, NEAR PARIS). French-Belgian composer. Gossec received his earliest musical training in a local church under Jean Vanderbelen before becoming a chorister in Antwerp, where he was trained further by AndréJoseph Blavier. In 1751 he moved to Paris, where he became a pupil of JeanPhilippe Rameau. He succeeded Rameau as the conductor of the orchestra of tax official Le Riche de la Poupelinière before accepting an appointment with the Prince de Condé. In 1760 he produced a Requiem that gained him overnight fame for its “terrifying” music. His fame as a symphonist and composer of opera in Paris was matched by his activity as a musical entrepreneur. In 1769 he founded the Concerts des amateurs, in 1773 he helped to reorganize the Concerts spirituels, and in 1784 he instructed at the École de chant. During the Revolution he was France’s most famous composer, writing a large number of works for the Directorate, and later when Napoleon rose to power, he was one of the first teachers at the Conservatoire, a post he held until his retirement in 1817. During his long life, he was considered the foremost composer in France, regardless of political views. His early works show the influence of the Italian style, but beginning in the 1770s he became a strong supporter of Christoph Willibald von Gluck. Gifted with a knack for memorable tunes and sometimes awe-inspiring orchestral effects, Gossec seemed to have a gift for discerning popular music. He was a prolific composer, writing 48 symphonies, six sinfonia concertantes, 22 operas, four ballets, 12 trio sonatas, six string quartets and six flute quartets, three Te Deums (including a massive multimovement work from 1817), two oratorios, the aforementioned Requiem, three Masses, numerous smaller sacred works, a wind symphony, and dozens of Revolutionary hymns, dirges, marches, and cantatas. See also SAINTGEORGES, JOSEPH BOULOGNE, LE CHEVALIER DE. GOTTSCHED, LUISE ADELGUNDE VICTORIA [NÉE KULMUS] (11 APRIL 1713, DANZIG [NOW GDAŃSK, POLAND], TO 26 JUNE 1762, LEIPZIG). German intellectual, author, musician, and composer. Born into a prominent family, she studied music locally before moving to Leipzig, where she met and married university professor and aesthetician Johann Christoph Gottsched (1700–1766). Although her main occupation was as a playwright and poet, she did study music under Johann Ludwig Krebs and later lautenist Sylvester Leopold Weiss (1687–1750). Known for her defense of her husband in the Comic War, she supported his efforts to imbue opera with a moral and pedagogical standard. Her own compositions are sparse; there are only a few songs and pieces for lute and keyboard.
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GOW, NATHANIEL (25 MAY 1763, INVER, PERTHSHIRE, SCOTLAND, TO 19 JANUARY 1831, EDINBURGH). Scottish composer, musician, and publisher. Son of Neil Gow, he was sent to Edinburgh where he received violin lessons from Robert Mackintosh. In 1782 he was appointed as a musician in the Royal Trumpeters, at the same time as he performed as a cellist for the Alexander McGlashan dance band. Thereafter he was known for his performance ability, as well as his publication of Scottish tunes in the six-volume Collection of Strathspey Reels and the four-volume set of Scottish “slow” tunes. By 1818 his style of music had become old-fashioned, and he was forced to declare bankruptcy shortly before his death. His music spans the divide between folk tunes and conventional compositions. For example, in 1800 he published as series of keyboard fantasies, one of which (Caller Herring) was based upon market cries of Edinburgh. GOW, NEIL (1727, INVER, PERTHSHIRE, SCOTLAND, TO 1 MARCH 1807, INVER). Scottish composer and folk violinist. Gow learned to play the folk fiddle at age 13 by studying under John Cameron, one of the leading Baroque fiddlers of the period. Although trained as a weaver, Gow decided to focus on his music, and at age 18 he won a competition that brought him the patronage of the Duke of Athol. He became one of Scotland’s most important composers of reels, many of which were published during his lifetime and continue to be popular today. He is credited with 87 reels, dances, and Strathspeys. GRAF, CHRISTIAN ERNST (30 JUNE 1723, RUDOLSTADT, THURINGIA, TO 17 JULY 1804, THE HAGUE). Also spelled Graaf or Graff. Dutch-German composer and organist, brother of Friedrich Hartmann Graf. Son of the Kapellmeister to the court of the Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Johann Graf (1684–1750), he was trained by his father as a violinist and keyboardist, later joining the court orchestra as the former. In 1748 he left for the Netherlands to seek his fortune, finding employment as the director of the collegium musicum in the city of Middelburg in 1750. He elevated the quality of the performances to such an extent that he came to the attention of the Dutch court. During this period he also published his first work, the Sei Sinfonie Op. 1. In 1754 he moved to The Hague, where he was employed by Princess Anna of Hannover, later becoming Kapellmeister to William V. In 1782 he published his treatise Proeve over de Natuur der Harmonie, and in 1790 he retired. Charles Burney noted that he was an educated man who was cheerful and had a gift for teaching. As a composer, he wrote 62 symphonies, 30 string quartets, 19 trio sonatas, 18 flute quintets, 12 flute quartets, six piano sonatas, six violin sonatas, a host of smaller
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chamber pieces, two oratorios, and around 35 Lieder. His style incorporates Italianate mannerism common to the Mannheim composers, although his late works, particularly his oratorio from 1802 Der Tod Jesu is more akin to Joseph Haydn’s late oratorios in his large-scale setting and unusually dramatic musical language. His Grande Symphonie Hollandaise is a large-scale work that incorporates a chorus, more an oratorio than a symphony. GRAF, FRIEDRICH HARTMANN (23 AUGUST 1727, RUDOLSTADT, GERMANY, TO 19 AUGUST 1795, AUGSBURG, GERMANY). German composer and flautist. The son of Kapellmeister Johann Graf (1684–1750) and brother to Christian Ernst Graf, he joined a military regiment in 1743, being wounded and interned during the Seven Years’ War. In 1759 upon his release he moved to Hamburg, and in 1769 he was persuaded by his brother to come to The Hague, even though he had formed an association with Count Bentheim in Steinfurt. In 1772, however, he obtained the post of musical director at the Protestant church in Augsburg, where he remained the rest of his life. He was considered one of the foremost composers of the period, receiving an honorary doctorate from Oxford University in 1789, several years before Joseph Haydn. His music includes two oratorios, three cantatas, numerous Psalms, two symphonies, seven concertos, 30 flute quartets (and 12 string quartets), six trio sonatas, six duos, and other miscellaneous chamber music. GRAGNANI, FILIPPO (3 SEPTEMBER 1768, LIVORNO, ITALY, TO 28 July 1820, LIVORNO). Italian composer. The son of violin-maker Antonio Gragnani, he received his earliest musical education under Giulio Lucchesi, a local cantor. Following a mediocre career composing chamber music in Milan, Gragnani immigrated to Paris in 1810, where he became a successful composer for the guitar. His works include a symphony, four divertimentos, a sextet, a quartet, two trios, 30 duos, eight sonatas, and many small works and arrangements for one or more guitars. GRÄTZ, JOSEPH (2 DECEMBER 1760, VOHLBURG, GERMANY, TO 17 JULY 1826, MUNICH). German composer and organist. He received his early musical education at the monastery of Rohr bei Abendsberg before attending the Gymnasium in Ingolstadt. There he was employed as an organist at the Jesuit church. He subsequently became a professor of rhetoric at Neuberg before deciding to dedicate his life to music. To finish he training, he traveled to Salzburg, where he became a student of Michael Haydn. In 1788 he was appointed as court keyboardist in Munich. His music has been little studied but consists of two Singspiels, nine Masses, two litanies, seven
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motets, 12 sacred songs, 13 Lieder, five concertos, three sonatas for organ, and 31 organ versetti. All show the influence of his teacher Haydn. GRAUN, AUGUST FRIEDRICH (1698/99, WAHRENBRÜCK, BRANDENBURG, GERMANY, TO 5 MAY 1765, MERSEBURG, GERMANY). German composer and cantor. The eldest of three brothers who became professional musicians, he received his earliest training at Grimma, before obtaining the post of cantor at the cathedral in Merseburg, where he remained the rest of his life. He had a high reputation as a composer and musician during his lifetime, even though his relationship with both the town council and Kapellmeister Johann Theodor Roemhildt was occasionally rocky. Unfortunately, no compositions by Graun have as yet been identified, although it is likely that these were mainly sacred works written in a mid-century style; a Kyrie and Gloria attributed to him are doubtful. See also GRAUN, CARL HEINRICH; GRAUN, JOHANN GOTTLIEB. GRAUN, CARL HEINRICH (7 MAY 1704, WAHRENBRÜCK, BRANDENBURG, GERMANY, TO 8 AUGUST 1759, BERLIN). German composer and singer. Born into a family of musicians, Graun was educated at the Kreuzschule in Dresden in 1714, where he composed his earliest works, sacred compositions, under the tutelage of Johann Zacharias Grundig. In 1718 he matriculated at Leipzig University, where he continued his musical studies with Emanuel Benisch, Johann Christoph Schmidt, and Christian Pezold. In 1725 he was employed in Braunschweig as a tenor, and it was there that he composed his earliest opera Polydorus. Further successes led to his coming to the attention of Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia, into whose musical establishment at the court in Rheinsburg he was admitted in 1735. He remained at the Prussian court after it moved to Berlin when the crown prince became Frederick II, and in 1742 he was appointed Kapellmeister at the opera. Along with colleagues Johann Joachim Quantz, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and Franz Benda, as well as his brother Johann Gottlieb Graun, he was part of the inner intellectual artistic circle that formed around the king, and during the last decade of his life he was known, along with Johann Adolph Hasse, as one of the chief opera seria composers of the period. His inaugural opera for Berlin, Cesare e Cleopatre (1742), can be considered a seminal work in the composition of the Italian opera in German, and his Montezuma (1755), to a text by Frederick II, explores an exotic subject unusual for the period. The same year he collaborated with poet Carl Ramler in writing a new type of Passion titled Der Tod Jesu, which only a few years later Johann Adam Hiller stated was an indispensible piece for any music library. It remained the quintessential German Easter oratorio on into the 19th
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century. The scope of Graun’s compositions has yet to be determined, given that many compositions, particularly chamber works, bear only his last name. This leads to inevitable confusion with his brothers’ works, and there remain issues of proper attribution. He did, however, write 32 operas (mostly opera seria), six Easter oratorios/cantatas, a Te Deum, six cantatas, seven Masses, 15 German sacred cantatas, 32 songs, three symphonies, seven concertos for keyboard, 25 trios (mainly two violins or flutes and basso), and numerous smaller works. The music has been cataloged by Christoph Hewel and is known by GraunWV numbers, further specified as CHG in the catalog itself. GRAUN, JOHANN GOTTLIEB (27 OCTOBER 1703, WAHRENBRÜCK, BRANDENBURG, GERMANY, TO 28 OCTOBER 1771, BERLIN). German composer and violinist. The middle brother of three who became professional musicians, Graun received his earliest education at the Kreuzschule in Dresden before enrolling in music at Leipzig University. In 1723 he studied with violinist Giuseppe Tartini in Prague before obtaining the post as concertmaster in Merseburg in 1726. In 1728 he relocated to Arolsen to serve in the court of Prince von Waldeck, before joining the private orchestra of Crown Prince Frederick (later Frederick II) of Prussia in Ruppin and Rheinsburg in 1732. There he was concertmaster at the opera until his death. Along with his brother Carl Heinrich Graun, he was one of the principal figures in the musical circles of the Berlin court, and although he concentrated his own efforts toward writing instrumental works, he was adept at vocal genres as well. Among the latter can be counted an oratorio, La Passione di Gesù Cristo; several sacred works; six Lieder; and seven Italian secular cantatas. He was a prolific composer of the former, however, in many cases defining the emerging North German empfindsamer Stil (Empfindsamkeit). He composed no fewer than 54 symphonies, 13 two-movement overtures, 62 trios (mostly for flutes/violins and basso), 36 sonatas for violin, four sonatas for flute, and 62 concertos (48 for violin, five for two violins, three for oboe, two for bassoon, two for violin/viola, and one each for viola da gamba and viola da gamba/cembalo). A horn concerto in manuscript at Lund, Sweden, is also probably by him. The scope of his compositions has yet to be determined, given that many works, particularly chamber music, are attributed only to “Graun.” The music, along with a detailed discussion of the attribution problems, has been cataloged by Christoph Hewel (GraunWV numbers with JGG specified). See also BACH, WILHELM FRIEDEMANN. GRAUPNER, [JOHANN CHRISTIAN] GOTTLIEB (6 OCTOBER 1767, VERDEN, NEAR HANNOVER, GERMANY, TO 16 APRIL 1836, BOSTON). German-American oboist and composer. Son of a military
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oboist, he also joined the military, where he received his earliest musical training. In 1788 he was discharged and moved to London, where he performed in the Salomon concerts. In 1795 he immigrated to Prince Edward Island and then Charleston, South Carolina, where he performed in public concerts. Hired as principal oboist for the Federal Street Theatre in Boston in 1797, he opened a music business in 1800 and was one of the founding members of the Philharmonic Society beginning in 1809. Little of his music has survived—only a few songs, a march, and several smaller works—but in the early part of the 19th century he published method books for the pianoforte and clarinet. GRAVANI, PATER PEREGRINUS (13 JANUARY 1732, JAROMĔŘICE NAD ROBYNOU, MORAVIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 18 APRIL 1815, BRNO, CZECH REPUBLIC). Moravian clerical composer. Little is known of his musical education, save that it must have been in or around Jaromĕřice, where there was a good Jesuit Gymnasium. In 1762 he became regens chori at the church of St. Jacob in Brno, a position he retained his entire life. A Premonstratensian monk, he formed a massive music library, drafting one of the earliest thematic catalogs of its large collection. As a composer, he idolized Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whose style he followed closely. His own music has, however, received little attention. It includes 12 Requiems as well as several hundred other sacred works. GRAZIANI, CARLO (ca. 1720, ASTI, ITALY, TO 1787, POTSDAM, GERMANY). Italian cellist and composer. Little is known of his early life or training. He made his debut at the Concerts spirituels in 1747, and immediately he was offered the post of first cellist in the orchestra of La Pouplinière. When this dissolved he move to London where he appeared frequently as a soloist in 1764. By 1770 he had been hired as the teacher of Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm in Prussia, retiring in 1773 in favor of Jean-Pierre Duport. He was known for his brilliant double stops and rapid passagework. His compositions include 18 sonatas for cello (published in Paris), as well as several cello concertos and duos for cello and another string instrument. GRAZIOLI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (6 JULY 1746, BOGLIACO, ITALY, TO 6 FEBRUARY 1828, VENICE). Italian composer. A student of Ferdinando Bertoni, he was appointed as temporary organist at St. Mark’s Cathedral in 1770, and by 1785 he had become first organist. He retained this post for the rest of his life. His music is almost entirely sacred, consisting of two cantatas, 15 Masses, 50 Mass movements, 13 Marian antiphons, 69
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Psalms, 50 motets, two litanies, two sinfonia concertantes, and 18 sonatas for both violin and keyboard. GREGOR, CHRISTIAN (1 JANUARY 1723, DIRSDORF, SILESIA, GERMANY [NOW POLAND], TO 6 NOVEMBER 1801, BERTHELSDORF, NEAR HERRNHUT, SAXONY, GERMANY). German composer and church administrator. The son of a peasant farmer, he was baptized into the Moravian Church in 1740, serving as both pastor and organist. In 1770 he visited Moravian colonies in the United States, returning to Europe where he was ordained a bishop in 1789. His major accomplishment was to insert concerted anthems and arias into the church services of the church. As a composer, he wrote well over 400 compositions, including anthems, cantatas, and arias. He was also responsible for the 1778 Moravian hymnal and 1784 Chorale book. See also HASSE, GEORG FRIEDRICH. GREINER, JOHANN THEODOR (1740, GRÄFENRODE, THURINGIA, GERMANY, TO 1797, WORMS, GERMANY). German composer and organist. Early in his career he moved, along with his violinist father, to Stuttgart, where he was a violinist and music publisher. Around 1770 he obtained the position as city organist in Worms. His music has been little studied but includes 13 symphonies (12 of which were published in two volumes), five trios, a serenade, and a sacred song. GREIS, ANTON (ca. 1750, REGENSBURG, GERMANY, TO 3 MAY 1809, GEISLING, GERMANY). German theologian and composer. Trained in the local cathedral school in Regensburg, he was prefect of the boy’s choir there from 1763 to 1769, where his students included Emanuel Schickaneder. In 1777 he became pastor at the church in Geisling, where he died shortly after the city was burned by the French. His music includes a few sacred compositions, including a Requiem. GRÉNON, LOUIS-CHARLES (1734, SAINTES, FRANCE, TO 10 JANUARY 1769, SAINTES). French composer. Trained by his father, a musician, he obtained the post of maître de musique at the cathedral of Puyen-Velay in 1754. The following year he began studies in theology at the local seminary, eventually being ordained a priest in 1761. In May 1763 he was appointed to a post in Clermont but left two years later for Saintes, his hometown, where he stayed until his premature death. His music was considered solid contrapuntally, though much is only for voices and continuo. His works include four Masses, 26 hymns, 11 antiphons, a large choral cantata (La voix
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des saints), 25 Psalms, two motets, six symphonies, four Magnificats, two Te Deums, three Lamentations, and several other smaller works. GRENSER, CARL AUGUSTIN (11 NOVEMBER 1720, WIEHE, THURINGIA, TO 4 MAY 1807, DRESDEN). German woodwind maker. Following apprenticeship in Leipzig beginning in 1733, he moved to Dresden in 1739, where he became one of the foremost makers of woodwind instruments, especially bassoons, of the entire period. His sons became instrument makers, and one, Johann Friedrich Grenser, immigrated to Stockholm, where he became a composer. GRENSER, JOHANN FRIEDRICH (1758, DRESDEN, TO 17 MARCH 1795, STOCKHOLM). German-Swedish woodwind player and composer. The son of well-known maker of woodwind instruments, Carl Augustin Grenser, almost nothing is known about his earliest musical education, save that it must have included members of the Dresden Hofkapelle, including Johann Gottlieb Naumann, the Kapellmeister. On 25 July 1775 he performed as an oboe soloist at the Stockholm public concerts, and shortly thereafter was offered the position with the Royal Opera orchestra. In 1783 he moved into the position of principal flautist, and began a secondary career as a composer, writing music for the concerts, as well as a large amount of chamber works for societies such as Utile dulci. He was also director of the Harmoniemusik of Prince Carl, Duke of Södermanland (later Carl XIII), as well. Grenser was a popular composer, who published his first set of trios for two flutes and basso in Berlin in 1779. He was also well known among Stockholm audiences for his lively folklike overtures to two operas, Masqueraden and Tillfälle gör tjufven (both 1783), as well as incidental music for plays produced at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, including Gustav III’s Helmfelt, Natalia Narishkin and Olof Lannerstierna’s Slädpartiet. He also composed the ballet Landsby Mölleren, which was a seminal work in the creation of the Romantic ballet when produced in Copenhagen in 1805 by Antoine Bournonville, father of choreographer August Bournonville. His other music includes other ballet pieces, 6 symphonies (including one with a solo post horn), concertos for every woodwind instrument and horn (all but the clarinet and oboe are lost), and numerous arrangements for wind band. His musical style can be described as using folk dances and tunes, but with an adherence to Mannheim models. GRENSER, JOHANN HEINRICH WILHELM (5 MARCH 1764, LIPPRECHTSRODA, THURINGIA, GERMANY, TO 12 DECEMBER 1813, DRESDEN). German woodwind maker. Apprenticed to his uncle, Carl Augustin Grenser, beginning in 1779, he eventually took over the busi-
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ness in 1794. He was responsible for the invention of a bass clarinet (1793) and an alto clarinet (1808), both of which eventually replaced the basset horn. GRESNICK, ANTOINE-FRÉDÉRIC (2 MARCH 1755, LIÈGE, BELGIUM, TO 16 OCTOBER 1799, PARIS). French-Belgian composer. After studies at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana in Naples, he returned to France, becoming director of the opera in Lyons in 1780. In 1786 he accompanied Gertrude Mara to London but by 1794 had settled in Paris. In 1799 his opera Le rêve stirred considerable controversy, and rumors that his death was caused by intrigues related to this opera cannot be discounted. His music reflects the style of François-Joseph Gossec, being simple and homophonic. This includes 19 operas, two concertos, a symphony, several large hymns, and a number of smaller vocal works. GRÉTRY, ANDRÉ ERNEST MODESTE (8 FEBRUARY 1741, LIÈGE, BELGIUM, TO 24 SEPTEMBER 1813, MONTMORENCY, FRANCE). Belgian composer. As a chorister at the church of St. Denis, he became a student of Jean-Pantaléon Leclerc (1697–1760), also studying keyboard under Nicolas Rennekin and harmony under Henri Moreau. In 1752 the arrival of an Italian opera troupe awakened his interest in theatre music, and following the successful performance of a Mass for the Liège cathedral in 1759 he traveled to Rome to attend the College d’Archis. In 1765 his opera La vendemmatrice was performed in Rome with success, and Grétry decided to go to Paris to compose French opera. Traveling by way of Geneva, where he met and befriended Voltaire, he arrived in Paris in 1767, but it took almost two years before the patronage of Swedish ambassador Gustaf Philip Creutz brought him into contact with Marmontel. Their first collaboration, Le Huron, in 1768, brought him instant fame as the foremost composer of opéra comique. Thereafter, a series of works (Zémire et Azor, 1771; Le caravane du Caire, 1783; and Richard Coeur-de-lion, 1784) brought him international fame, allowing him to transition easily in French intellectual society through the Revolution. In 1797 he was named as an examiner in the newly established Conservatoire, receiving the Légion d’honneur. By 1803 he had been awarded a lifetime pension by Napoleon, which allowed him to live comfortably despite the lack of success of his last operas. Grétry’s popularity as a composer was the result of a good sense of theatre, wherein his music, often using simple or rondo forms, is subordinate to the stage action. His orchestration is often colorful, with unusual instruments and a good sense of harmony and rhythm. His overtures, for example, often have vocal interludes built in (Richard Coeur-de-lion) making them part of the stage action rather than a prelude. He was a prolific composer, writing 68 operas, about 45 romances (songs for voice and keyboard, often with another
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instrument for color), 12 sacred pieces (mostly hymns or antiphons), a Mass, six Revolutionary odes, a large secular cantata, seven string quartets, seven symphonies, six sonatas, and a flute concerto. He must be seen as the most popular French composer of the late 18th century. His daughter Lucille Grétry also became a composer. See also SOLIÉ, JEAN-PIERRE. GRÉTRY, LUCILLE (15 JULY 1772, PARIS, TO MARCH 1790, PARIS). French composer. The daughter of André Ernest Modeste Grétry, she received her earliest musical education from her father and Jean-François Tapray. Her earliest work is an opera, Le marriage d’Antonio, which she produced in 1786 with some success; her contributions were the bass lines and vocal parts, with orchestration done by her father. A second opera of her work produced in 1791 received only a single performance. Although precocious as a composer, she suffered from tuberculosis as well as an unhappy marriage that left her scant time to fulfill her potential as a composer. GRILL, FRANZ (1756, PROBABLY VIENNA, TO 18 AUGUST 1793, ÖDENBURG, AUSTRIA [NOW SOPRON, HUNGARY]). German keyboardist and composer. Very little is known of his life, though he probably studied in Vienna under Franz Anton Hoffmeister, who recommended him as a chamberlain to Ferenc Count Széchényi in Ödenburg. His music, little studied, consists of 12 string quartets, 18 violin sonatas, and 24 minuets, all closely modeled on the style of Joseph Haydn. GRIMM, JOHANN DANIEL (5 OCTOBER 1719, STRALSUND, POMERANIA, SWEDEN [NOW GERMANY], TO 27 APRIL 1760, GROß HENNERSDORF, GERMANY). German composer and teacher. Following early education from local musicians, he joined the Moravian Church in 1747, teaching at religious schools in Herrnhut and Marienborn. Among his students was Johann Friedrich Peter. In 1755 he compiled a chorale book containing around 1000 tunes, arranged according to meter. His other composition, written in a homophonic style, include 13 string trios, 13 cantatas, and many anthems. GRONEMAN, JOHANNES ALBERTUS (1711, HAMM, GERMANY, TO 30 MAY 1778, THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS). Dutch composer and organist. The son of a military musician, he and his brother Johannes Fredericus Groneman moved to the Netherlands around 1729 as members of a military regiment, in which Albertus was an oboist. By 1732 he had moved to Leiden and began performing as a violinist while insinuating himself into high social circles and marrying a wealthy wife. By 1736 he had become carillon player and organist at The Hague, where he also organized
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a concert series known as the Nieuw Vaux-Hall. Although employed at the main cathedral, he had bouts of mental depression, which led him in 1756 to be committed to an asylum for the remainder of his life. His music has largely been lost, but published works include 12 violin sonatas and six trio sonatas. Several symphonies can also be added to the canon. GRONEMAN, JOHANNES FREDERICUS (ca. 1708, COLOGNE, GERMANY, TO 1781, THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS). Dutch composer and flautist. Unlike his brother Johannes Albertus Groneman, little is known of his life or activities, since he avoided publicity and led a quiet existence. He performed in concerts both in The Hague and Amsterdam but appears not to have been employed in any of the court orchestras. His surviving music consists of several flute sonatas and a trio sonata written in the galant style. GRUA [PIETRAGRUA], CARLO LUIGI (ca. 1700, MILAN, TO 11 APRIL 1773, MANNHEIM). Italian-German composer and father of Franz Paul Grua. Trained in Milan in the musical traditions of Lombardy, he first appears in 1734 as Kapellmeister in Mannheim. With the ascension of Carl Theodor as elector in 1742 and the subsequent reinvigoration of the Mannheim orchestra a few years later, Grua concentrated almost exclusively on writing sacred music. His style reflects the Italianate Neapolitan and Lombardic models of his youth. Surviving works include two operas, seven oratorios, five Masses, a litany, and several smaller sacred works. GRUA, FRANZ PAUL (1 FEBRUARY 1753, MANNHEIM, TO 5 JULY 1833, MUNICH). German composer and violinist. Son of Carlo Grua, he received his training from his father and members of the Mannheim orchestra, including Ignaz Holzbauer and Ignaz Fränzl. Although he became a member of the orchestra in 1776, a year later he was sent by Carl Theodor to study music in Bologna with Padre Giovanni Battista Martini. Upon his return, he moved with the court to Munich, where he succeeded Andrea Bernasconi as composer of church music. His musical style reflects the extensive and colorful orchestration of second-generation Mannheim composers. Works include 31 Masses, four Requiems, an opera, 29 offertories, four graduals, three Stabat maters, and 138 smaller sacred works, as well as two symphonies and four concertos. GRUBE, BERNHARD ADAM (21 JUNE 1715, WALSCHLEBEN, GERMANY, TO 20 MARCH 1808, BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES). German-American composer and singer. Born into a family of the Moravian Church, he began his career as a teacher at the age
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of 17 following studies at the University of Jena. In 1748 he immigrated to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to become a missionary to the Delaware (Lenapi) nation. By 1765 he was pastor at Lititz, Pennsylvania, where he directed the collegium musicum of the church. He later served in North Carolina, New Jersey, and New England before retiring to a Moravian community. His music consists of a large number of sacred vocal works, mainly anthems. GRUBER, GEORG WILHELM (22 SEPTEMBER 1729, NUREMBURG, GERMANY, TO 22 SEPTEMBER 1796, NUREMBURG). German composer, violinist, and organist. Following studies under Carl Heinrich Dretzel, he embarked upon a concert tour of Germany in 1747, but with limited success. In 1750 he was a city musician in Nuremburg, and in 1765 he succeeded Johan Agrell as Kapellmeister. His music has been little studied but conforms to the galant idiom of the time. It consists of a Mass, a Salve Regina, a Christmas cantata, a large hymn, two keyboard concertos, and eight trio sonatas. See also SCHUBART, CHRISTIAN DANIEL FRIEDRICH. GRÜNBERGER, PATER THEODOR [JOHANN PAUL] (25 JUNE 1756, BETTBRUNN, GERMANY, TO 27 JANUARY 1820, MOOSBURG, BAVARIA, GERMANY). German monastic composer and organist. The son of an organist, he was sent to Munich to be educated. In 1777 he became an novice in the Augustinian monastery there, becoming a priest two years later. At this time he established his connections with the Thurn und Taxis court in Regensburg. In 1794 he came into conflict with governmental authorities for his political views, fleeing to Augsburg to escape prison. Pardoned by the Elector of Bavaria he returned to Munich, only to leave for Regensburg in 1803 after the dissolution of the monasteries. There he functioned as a city priest and professor of voice and organ. His music features his principal instrument, being in style close to Michael Haydn. His works include six Masses, two German Masses, six organ Masses, and numerous organ works for the sacred service, as well as two violin sonatas. His music has been little explored beyond the compositions for organ. GRUNER, JOHANN GOTTFRIED (ca. 1700, OELSNITZ, GERMANY, TO 19 AUGUST 1763, GERA, GERMANY). German organist and composer. Little is known of his early life or training, save that in 1727 he was appointed cantor for the city church in Zwickau. In 1736, he became cantor and choir director in Gera, where he stayed the remainder of his life. Although his music has been little studied, a number of works for the Lutheran Church seem to show traits of Empfindsamkeit. His son Nathaniel Gottfried Gruner became his successor.
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GRUNER, NATHANIEL GOTTFRIED (bap. 5 FEBRUARY 1732, ZWICKAU, GERMANY, TO 2 AUGUST 1792, GERA, GERMANY). German composer and organist. The son of Johann Gottfried Gruner, he received his training from his father, eventually becoming his assistant when the family moved to Gera. In 1764 he was appointed as successor to his father as cantor and professor at the local Gymnasium. Although little known today, he was highly regarded during his lifetime, so much so that when his house burned down, his colleagues Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Johann Friedrich Reichardt arranged a subscription publication of six sonatas to help in his recovery. His music includes four part songs, five Psalms, two cantatas, a number of lost motets, seven concertos, 18 sonatas, three quartets, two partitas, and a symphony. He also wrote two divertissement concertants, which appear to be single-movement concertos for harp or keyboard. GSPAN, IGNAZ (ca. 1750, GERMANY, TO 13 FEBRUARY 1794, REGENSBURG, GERMANY). German violinist and composer. Nothing is known about his life and training. He first appears as an actor and musician with the Berner troupe in Bavaria, which performed Singspiels in Nuremberg, Erlangen, and Ansbach. By 1779 he was musical director of the troupe, but in 1782 he obtained the post as musician at Regensburg for the court of Thurn und Taxis; later in 1790 he became director of the court theatre. Little of his music has survived, but this includes the Singspiel Die Magd, die Frau, a viola concerto, a Tantum ergo, and several smaller pieces. GSUR, TOBIAS (1726, LOWER AUSTRIA, TO 20 MAY 1794, VIENNA). Austrian composer and bass singer. No information exists about his early life or origins. In 1750 he was appointed as a singer and musical director of the Benedictine priory of Schottenkirche in Vienna, a position he held until 1772. Thereafter he performed as a singer frequently in the city, but he was apparently regarded as a difficult person. When Florian Gassmann died, Leopold Hofmann was denied a position as court Kapellmeister due to the appointment committee’s concern that his vacant position would be occupied by Gsur, who was considered “unsuitable.” Gsur apparently returned to his position at the monastery. His music is little explored, but consists of a Requiem, a Mass, a litany, five graduals, and several Psalms. GUALDO, GIOVANNI [JOHN] (ca. 1730, VICENZA, ITALY, TO 20 DECEMBER 1772, PHILADELPHIA). Italian-American composer and impresario. Of noble birth, nothing is known about his musical training, but Gualdo immigrated to Norfolk, Virginia, from London in 1767, where he had formerly maintained a shop as a wine merchant. Upon his arrival in Philadelphia later that year, he advertized himself as a composer and teacher
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of string instruments and flute, in addition to opening a wine shop. His first concert on 9 November 1769 included the first known symphony written in the colonies, as well as both a flute and violin concerto and a trio. Further concerts were given at the house of a Mr. Davenport or the Assembly Room over the succeeding years. Francis Hopkinson, however, noted on 17 August 1771 that Gualdo had been committed to the ward for insane inmates at the Pennsylvania hospital. The only compositions to have survived are the Six Easy Entertainments for 2 treble instruments and basso published in 1771. GUÉDON DE PRESLE [MADEMOISELLE] (ca. 1720, PARIS, TO ca. 1754, PARIS). French singer, actress, and composer. Probably born in the early part of the 18th century in Paris, she was most likely the daughter of Honoré Claude Guédon de Presle, who himself regularly performed before court in private concerts and entertainments. During the 1740s and early 1750s she sang secondary roles at the Théâtre de la Reine in Paris, as well as performing frequently at private concerts. Her compositions seem to have been limited to songs, which began to be published in 1729 in The Hague. Between 1742 and 1747, songs appeared frequently in the Mercure de France. These works tend to be simple and tuneful, which accounts for their popularity. GUÉNIN, MARIE-ALEXANDRE (20 FEBRUARY 1744, MAUBERGE, FRANCE, TO 22 JANUARY 1835, ETAMPES, FRANCE). French composer and violinist. Following early education in the French provinces, he arrived in Paris in 1760 to study violin with Pierre Gaviniès and François-Joseph Gossec. In 1773 he made his debut at the concerts spirituels, after which he became a chamber musician at Versailles to the French court and served as concertmaster in the orchestra of the Prince de Condé. In 1783 he was appointed first violin at the Opéra. Although a popular teacher, his royalist sympathies were not in keeping with the French Revolution, and in 1789 he disappeared from view. He may have taken a ship to the West Indies, and then arrived around 1792 in Charleston, South Carolina. From there he seems to have appeared in Philadelphia and New York before returning to France about 1795 to teach at the Conservatoire. He later accepted a position at the École des chants in 1802, from which he retired to the countryside in 1813. Guénin was a well-regarded violinist and composer during his lifetime, displaying a talent on the instrument that served as a model of the French school of violin playing. As a composer he wrote eight symphonies, three orchestral trios, three concertos for violin (and viola), six string quartets, nine trios, nine duos, and a dozen violin sonatas.
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GUERINI, FRANCESCO (ca. 1710, NAPLES, TO 1785, LONDON). Italian composer. Little is known about his early life or training, although it is likely he attended one of the Neapolitan conservatories. By 1740 he was in the service of the Prince of Orange in The Hague, moving to London in 1760, where he established himself as a salon composer. His music, little studied, consists of 18 trios, 18 violin sonatas, six cello sonatas, 12 keyboard sonatas, and 18 duos for various instruments. GUEST, JANE MARY [MRS. MILES] (ca. 1762, BATH, ENGLAND, TO MARCH 1846, BATH, ENGLAND). English keyboardist and composer. The daughter of a tailor, Guest demonstrated talent in music at around 6 years of age. She was sent to study with Johann Christian Bach, under whose tutelage she became known in English court circles, giving her first public performances around 1779. She returned to Bath, where she became a local musical celebrity, eventually marrying Abraham Miles. She continued to teach, as well as concertize, eventually becoming the teacher of the royal princesses in 1804. Her home continued to be a center for musicians and society until her death. Her works include several piano concertos (lost, but which she performed under the direction of Venanzio Rauzzini), seven sonatas for the keyboard (published in 1783), and a series of small works for keyboard and/or voice. GUGEL, FRANZ ANTON (1743 TO 1802). German composer. Nothing has been done on either his life or works, although it appears that he was active as a Kapellmeister for the town of Weiltingen. His sons may have been the horn players Joseph and Heinrich Gugel, and he may have wound up his career as an administrator for the city of Mainz during the French occupation. His works include a ballet, 14 symphonies, three quartets, three divertimentos, a cantata, and a cello sonata. GUGLIELMI, DOMENICO (1713, MASSA, ITALY, TO 1790, MASSA). Italian organist and composer. Son of Jacopo Guglielmi (1681–1742), he was instructed by his father. In 1744 he succeeded his father as organist at the Massa cathedral, becoming maestro di cappella in 1750. His music, consisting entirely of sacred works, has not been researched. GUGLIELMI, PIETRO ALESSANDRO (9 DECEMBER 1728, MASSA, ITALY, TO 19 NOVEMBER 1804, ROME). Italian composer. His earliest studies were with Francesco Durante at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto in Naples, from which he emerged in 1753 as an opera composer, with his first major success in Turin two years later.
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By 1762 he had been called to Dresden to direct opera (though not as Kapellmeister), and in 1768 he moved to London before returning to Italy in 1772. There he received commissions for his works from around the country. He made a home in Naples in 1777, but in 1793 he was appointed as maestro di cappella at St. Peter’s in Rome. Considered one of the most popular composers principally of opera buffa during his lifetime, he was known for good lyrical melodies and a progressive sense of harmony. His works have been little studied, and what research exists focuses mainly upon his operas (about 100). In addition, he composed nine oratorios, a Requiem, and nine celebratory cantatas, as well as a considerable amount of instrumental music. See also GUGLIELMI, PIETRO CARLO; ISOUARD, NICOLÒ. GUGLIELMI, PIETRO CARLO (11 JULY 1772, LONDON, TO 28 FEBRUARY 1817, NAPLES). Italian composer. The son of Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi, he also studied music at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto in Naples after initial instruction from his father. By 1794 he was appointed as musical director in Madrid, with the premiere of his opera Dorval e Virginie in Lisbon the following year. Thereafter he moved from Naples (1797) to London (1808), before settling in the Guglielmi home city of Massa, where in 1814 he became maestro di cappella. His works, like those of his father, have been little studied outside of his 33 operas. GUILLEMAIN, LOUIS-GABRIEL (5 NOVEMBER 1705, PARIS, TO 1 OCTOBER 1770, CHAVILLE, NEAR PARIS). French violinist and composer. Raised by Count de Rochechouant, he was sent to Turin to study with Giovanni Battista Somis. In 1729 he was a violinist at the Académie de musique in Lyons, later moving to Dijon in 1734. By 1737 he was in Paris as a court musician. Always in debt and an alcoholic, he died under mysterious circumstances, allegedly being stabbed 14 times, although this may have been a cover for suicide. He left behind 24 symphonies, 18 trio sonatas, 30 violin sonatas, 12 quartets, an opera, 12 caprices, and six duos. GUPTA, RAMNIDHI. See BABU, NIDHU. GURRE, EDMÉE SOPHIE [SOPHIE GAIL] (28 AUGUST 1775, PARIS, TO 24 JULY 1819, PARIS). French singer and composer. She studied voice with Bernardo Mengozzi in Paris, and thereafter sang in various salons, where she was known for her sentimentality and good tone. Her music consists of several sets of songs published in 1790.
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GÜRRLICH, JOSEPH AUGUSTIN (1761, MÜNSTERBERG, SILESIA [NOW ZIĘBICE, POLAND], TO 27 JUNE 1817, BERLIN). German organist, contrabass player, teacher, and composer. Little is known of his early education, save that he was probably trained at the Jesuit schools in nearby Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland). In 1779 he was a teacher at the Catholic school in Berlin, and in 1784 he became organist at the Hedwigskirche. In 1793, however, he joined the Royal Kapelle as contrabassist, and around 1800 began conducting productions at the Royal Theatre. He became its musical director in 1811 and Kapellmeister in 1816 shortly before his death. Gürrlich was well regarded as a composer and teacher, whose students included Ludwig Berger. His own works consist of seven operas, several sacred cantatas, music for the Freemasons, numerous sacred works (mainly motets), a concertino for glass harmonica, and a number of chamber works. It has, however, been little studied. GUSTAV [GUSTAVUS] III OF SWEDEN (24 JANUARY 1746, STOCKHOLM, TO 29 MARCH 1792, STOCKHOLM). Swedish monarch and patron of the arts. The first Swedish-born prince in almost a century, Gustav’s father was Adolph Frederik of the house of Holstein-Gottorp; his mother, Louisa Ulrika, was the sister of Frederick II of Prussia. From an early age he demonstrated an intense interest in both music and drama, and in 1771 he ascended to the throne of Sweden following the death of his father. The following year he staged an audacious coup d’état, establishing his own power in a parliamentary government. The same year he ordered the creation of the Royal Opera, a nationalist venue that would promote Swedish-language works based both upon French and Swedish historical models. In 1787 he allowed for the creation of the Royal Dramatic Theatre to promote plays as well as ballet. Following a war with Russia from 1788 to 1791, he was assassinated at a masked ball by Jakob Anckarström, the subject of which became the source for operas in the 19th century by Daniel Auber and Giuseppe Verdi (Un ballo in maschera). Trained in the arts, Gustav personally guided the development of Gustavian Opera, writing librettos, providing a public financing scheme, and choosing subject matter. He hired or imported significant composers of the period, including Joseph Martin Kraus, Abbé Georg Vogler, and Johann Gottlieb Naumann, as well as supporting native composers such as Carl Michael Bellman, Carl Stenborg, and Olof Åhlström. His own musical achievements were limited to a single march composed for string quartet; he did, however, appear regularly as an actor and director up to 1780. See also MICHELESSI, ABBÉ DOMENICO; UTTINI, FRANCESCO ANTONIO BALDASSARE.
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GUTIÉRREZ GARCÍA, FRANCISCO ANTONIO (1762, LÉON, SPAIN, TO 1828, TOLEDO, SPAIN). Spanish composer. He received his musical education under José Ramón Gargallo in Léon before becoming maestro di capilla at the cathedral in Segovia in 1783. By 1793 he was an organist at La Encarnación in Madrid, and his success there led to the principal musical post at the cathedral of Toledo in 1799. His music often has large orchestration but has been little studied. It consists of 14 Lamentations, as well as a number of Masses and villancicos. GYROWETZ, ADALBERT [VOJTĚCH MATJÁŠ JÍROVEC] (23 FEBRUARY 1763, ČESKE BUDĚJOVICE, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 19 MARCH 1850, VIENNA). Austro-Bohemian composer. The son of a local choirmaster, he was sent to Prague to study music and law. In 1785 he arrived in Vienna, although a year later he left for Italy in the employ of Prince Ruspoli. For the next six years he traveled throughout Europe, winning praise for his compositions in Italy and France. By 1791 he had arrived in London, where he was befriended by Joseph Haydn. Returning to Vienna, he eventually became Kapellmeister at the Hoftheater in 1804. Although he was best known during his early career as a composer of symphonies whose progressive structure, good sense of melody, and interesting orchestration were lauded, his later career after 1800 involved the stage, for which he composed nationalist works such as Hans Sachs. His music includes 28 operas, 17 ballets, 11 Masses, two vespers, numerous other shorter sacred works, around 60 symphonies (of which 40 were published), two keyboard concertos and three sinfonia concertantes, three flute quartets, around 60 string quartets, 30 trios, 40 violin sonatas, 47 Lieder, and other smaller chamber works.
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H HABERMANN, ANTON [ANTONÍN] (1704, KÖNIGSWART, BOHEMIA [NOW CHEB, CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 14 JANUARY 1787, PRAGUE). Bohemian composer and organist, brother of Carl and František Habermann. He served as a musician at churches in Prague for most of his life. Although he composed music, no research has been done on him, so the type and number of compositions remains uncertain. HABERMANN, CARL [KAREL] (1712, KÖNIGSWART, BOHEMIA [NOW CHEB, CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 4 MARCH 1766, PRAGUE). Bohemian composer and organist. The brother of Anton and František Habermann, he served as a musician at churches in Prague for most of his life. Although he composed music, no research has been done on him, so the type and number of compositions remains uncertain. HABERMANN, FRANTIŠEK VÁCLAV [FRANZ] (20 SEPTEMBER 1706, KÖNIGSWART, BOHEMIA [NOW CHEB, CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 8 APRIL 1783, EGER, BOHEMIA). Bohemian-German composer, brother of Anton and Carl Habermann. Following early musical education at the Jesuit school in Klatovy, Habermann was sent to complete his training in Spain and Italy. Following a brief time as organist for various churches in Prague, in 1731 he entered the service of the Prince of Condé, whose diplomatic missions took him to Florence. A decade later he returned to Prague, where he directed choirs in various monastic churches until 1773, when he accepted the post of cantor at Eger. A versatile and facile composer, his music displays the flowing lyrical melodies of Bohemian works. Though it has been little studied, works consist of five oratorios, two stage works (including a Czech pastoral), 19 Masses, six litanies, a motet, two concertos, and numerous symphonies. HABERMANN, FRANZ JOHANN (1750, PRAGUE, TO 1799, EGER, BOHEMIA). Bohemian-German composer and singer. The son of František Habermann, he followed his father, from whom he received his musical
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training, to Eger and became his successor as cantor in 1783. His works are mostly sacred, but a study of his music still remains to be done. HACZEWSKI, ADAM (ca. 1750, POLAND, TO ca. 1800, POLAND). Polish composer, sometimes known as Antoni Haczewski. Known for only a single symphony in D major from 1771, a work in a modern style reflecting the influence of Joseph Haydn, his life, training, and career remain unknown. His work, however, demonstrates a careful craftsmanship and competence that reflects thorough study. HADRAVA, NORBERT (ca. 1750, HUNGARY, TO ca. 1806, NAPLES). Hungarian-Austrian diplomat, inventor, and amateur composer. Little or nothing is known of his early life or education, save that he was a member of a family of the minor nobility and came from Hungary. In 1774 he was appointed to the Austrian legation in Berlin, and in 1779 he was attached as secretary to the Holy Roman ambassador in Naples. He taught music to Ferdinand IV, introducing him to an instrument he had perfected, the lire organizzata, for which he commissioned composers such as Joseph Haydn, Ignaz Pleyel, and Abbé Johann Sterkel to write compositions. His most important literary works are travel and political diaries, the latter in a series of letters to Johann Paul Schulthesius and the former published as Ragguagli di varii scavi e scoverte di antichità in Naples in 1793. His own musical efforts include several works for his own instrument, as well as nine ballets, and several smaller keyboard works, mainly arrangements of popular operas. HAEFFNER, JOHANN CHRISTIAN FRIEDRICH (2 MARCH 1759, OBERSCHÖNAU, THURINGIA, GERMANY, TO 28 MAY 1833, UPPSALA, SWEDEN). German-Swedish composer and organist. Trained in music initially by the organist of the church at Klein-Schmalkalden, Haeffner went to Leipzig, where he studied law at the university and enrolled in the school for singing run by Johann Adam Hiller. By 1778 he was the head of a traveling troupe, and while on tour in central Germany in 1780 was offered the post as organist at the German Church in Stockholm. A year later he was made a singing teacher and chorusmaster at the Royal Opera, as well as being kapellmästare for the Swedish Comic Theatre run by Carl Stenborg for a brief period of time. In 1787 the debut of his opera Elektra made him one of the major composers of Gustavian opera, and in 1792, following the death of his superior Joseph Martin Kraus, he was appointed as interim Kapellmästare for the Royal Opera. By 1808, poor relationships with his musicians and the inability to revive the opera led to his dismissal and removal to Uppsala, where he became director musices. As a composer, his music is
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of uneven quality, and it was generally known that he was both irascible and unable to complete projects he began. Although Elektra contains powerful Gluckian music, his other works tend to be banal and slavishly imitative of the styles of his time. His music includes five operas (and other insertions into pasticcios), an oratorio, two Psalms, a Swedish Te Deum, three groups of part songs, three symphonies, several smaller chamber works, and, most importantly, three versions of the Swedish hymnal, the first published in 1807. HAGEN, BERNHARD JOACHIM (APRIL 1720, HAMBURG, TO 9 DECEMBER 1787, ANSBACH, GERMANY). German composer and lautenist. Most likely a relative of composer Peter von Hagen I, he was born somewhere in the vicinity of Hamburg, if not the city itself. His family was musical, and he received training in violin and lute. In 1737 he obtained a position in Bayreuth, where he studied composition under the Kapellmeister Johann Pfeiffer. After serving many years in the orchestra, he found a position in Ansbach, where he served as town organist. As a composer, his music reflects the Empfindsamkeit style, although it has been little explored and little has survived apart from his music for the lute. Works include 12 solos for lute, six trios (with lute), two lute concertos, and a pair of duos for lutes. HAHN, GEORG JOACHIM JOSEPH (bap. 24 JULY 1712, MÜNNERSTADT, GERMANY, TO 21 JANUARY 1772, MÜNNERSTADT). German composer and theoretician. His early education was at the Augustinian Gymnasium in his hometown beginning in 1725. In 1730 he was a scribe in Würzburg but returned to Münnerstadt six years later to take up the post of choir director at the parish church of St. Margareta. He was also music teacher at the local Gymnasium and later served the city council. He wrote a well-regarded treatise on thorough bass, Wohl unterwiesene General-BassSchüler. His music, little studied, includes 165 sacred arias, 22 antiphons, 16 verses, 14 Masses, 10 preambles, three vespers, and two sonatas. See also WÜST, PATER COELESTIN. HAINDL, FRANZ SEBASTIAN (11 JUNE 1727, ALLTÖTTING, GERMANY, TO 23 APRIL 1812, PASSAU, GERMANY). German violinist and composer. The son of a choral director in a small Bavarian town, he received his early musical education from his father before going to Munich to study violin. In 1748 he was appointed violinist in Innsbruck, returning to Munich in 1752 to serve as violinist in the Bavarian Hofkapelle of Duke Clemens. In 1785 he accepted a position as theater director and Konzertmeister for the Archbishop of Passau. His music was frequently performed in Austria in various monasteries throughout his life. These have, however,
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been little studied. They include a Singspiel, an oratorio, two Masses, two offertories, other smaller sacred works, two symphonies, two partitas, and a flute concerto. HALLE, CAROLINA FREDRIKA [FRU WALTER, FRU MÜLLER] (5 FEBRUARY 1755, COPENHAGEN, TO 17 NOVEMBER 1826, STOCKHOLM). Danish-Swedish singer. She received her earliest training under Paolo Scalabrini at his school before marrying composer Thomas Walter in 1755. She divorced shortly thereafter following allegations of an abusive relationship, and subsequently eloped with violinist Christian Friedrich Müller to Stockholm, where she became the prima donna in 1780, replacing Elisabeth Olin. In 1782 she and her husband fled Sweden to escape debts, and although she attempted to establish herself in London and Germany, she met with little success. In 1783 she returned to Sweden, where she became the leading actress in virtually every major role for the next two decades. She was pensioned in 1806. A versatile and highly dramatic actress, she was a favorite with Stockholm audiences. Her voice, however, had a burr in the upper registers, meaning that her range was limited; it was dark colored, more of a mezzo-soprano than lyrical. Almost all of the singers of the early 19th century were her students at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. HALTENBERGER, PATER BERNHARD [JOHANN NIKOLAUS] (6 AUGUST 1748, SCHONGAU, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 19 AUGUST 1780, WEYARN, BAVARIA). German monastic composer and teacher. Born in a small town at the foot of the Alps, he was sent to Munich to be educated at the Gregorianum. By 1765 he had been admitted to the Augustinian monastery at Weyarn as an initiate, becoming ordained in 1772. In 1768 he was appointed a teacher at the monastic school in violin and keyboard, later functioning as regens chori until his death. Haltenberger sought to introduce a new style of music into the monastery through use of modern forms and structures. Many of his sacred works are homophonic, with dependence upon brilliant choral and orchestral writing rather than counterpoint. His works include 12 Masses, two Requiems, eight litanies, 10 offertories, 17 sacred songs, two Stabat maters, a Te Deum, an orchestral serenade, a quartet, and a Latin drama, Qualem penetravimus hic locum. HAMAL, HENRI (20 JULY 1744, LIÈGE, BELGIUM, TO 17 SEPTEMBER 1820, LIÈGE). Belgian composer. The nephew of Jean-Noël Hamal, he received his musical education from his uncle, and subsequently became a duodenus at the Liège Cathedral of St. Lambert. In 1763 he was sent to Italy, and although he stayed mostly in Rome, he was able to become a
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pupil of Giuseppe Sarti in Naples. In 1778 he returned to Liège, succeeding his uncle as the director of music of the cathedral. Hamal was sympathetic to the French Revolution, and his work with the Société d’Emulation brought him into conflict with the ecclesiastical authorities. By 1798 he had retired, agreeing to function only with the oversight of public education under the Napoleonic government. He wrote two works, one on the history of the theatre in Liège and another on artists. His musical style blends that of late 18th-century France and Italy. His music, which has been largely neglected, encompasses two operas, 16 Masses, two Requiems, two Te Deums, a host of smaller motets and hymns, 15 secular cantatas (including several in Flemish), songs, two symphonies, an oboe concerto, and six keyboard sonatas. He also left a great many fragmentary works for orchestra. HAMAL, JEAN-NOËL (23 DECEMBER 1709, LIÈGE, BELGIUM, TO 26 NOVEMBER 1778, LIÈGE). Belgian composer and organist. The son of the St. Lambert Cathedral organist, he became a chorister at an early age, later studying theory and composition with Henri-Louis Dupont and Arhold Delhaye. So remarkable was his progress that in 1728 he was sent to Rome to study with Giuseppe Amadori at the Liège College, becoming ordained as a priest three years later. In 1738 he returned to Liège as the director of music and organist of the cathedral, the same year that he and his father inaugurated Concerts spirituels in imitation of Paris. In 1745 he was anointed Imperial Canon, returning to Rome in 1750 where he met Niccolò Jommelli there and Francesco Durante in Naples. Hamal was a prolific and progressive composer who had a keen sense of depicting language in music. His four operas sometimes use local folk melodies, while his three oratorios are lyrical blends of the Italian and French styles. He concentrated mostly on sacred music for the cathedral, writing no fewer than 33 Masses, five Requiems, three Te Deums, 32 large motets, 51 smaller motets, six litanies, five Lamentations, and numerous Psalms. Included is his large cantata setting of In exitu Israel, probably his greatest work. He was also active as an instrumental composer, writing 12 symphonies (for strings, all published in 1743) and six trio sonatas, as well as a host of smaller pieces. See also HAMAL, HENRI. HAMMEL, PATER STEPHAN (1756, GISSIGHEIM, GERMANY, TO 1 FEBRUARY 1830, VEITSHÖCHHEIM, GERMANY). German monastic composer. Nothing is known of his youth or training, save that he entered the Benedictine order around 1776. By 1795 he was the parish priest in the city of Veitshöchheim, serving there until his death. As a composer, his music is all but unknown. It consists of 41 preludes, three Masses, a Te Deum, a vesper, and two antiphons.
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HAMMER, FRANZ XAVER (1741, OETTINGEN, GERMANY, TO 11 OCTOBER 1817, LUDWIGSLUST, GERMANY). German composer, cellist, and viola da gamba player, also called Marteau. Following early training at the court of Oettingen-Wallerstein, he obtained a position as cellist at Esterháza, where he served under Joseph Haydn. He left after two years to tour, giving concerts in Pressburg [now Bratislava] and Prague. The same year he became a member of the Tonkünstlersozietät in Vienna. By 1785 he was appointed as cellist at the court of the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, where he remained until 1813. A well-regarded performer on both cello and viola da gamba, he left few compositions: only two Masses, a symphony, two sonatas, several minuets, and concertos for both cello and gamba. HAMPEL, ANTON JOSEPH (ca. 1710, PRAGUE, TO 30 MARCH 1771, DRESDEN). Bohemian-German horn player and composer. Trained in the Bohemian school of horn-playing, he made his career in Dresden, where he was appointed principal second horn in 1737 in the Hofkapelle. In 1753 he teamed with instrument maker Johann Georg Werner to create a new type of natural horn, called the Inventionshorn, where the crooks that set the pitch were inserted into the central section of the instrument, thus making it less cumbersome than the Baroque terminally crooked horn. In 1762 he wrote a treatise, Lectio pro cornu, which outlined a new method of creating notes beyond the natural harmonic series through stopping the bell with the hand (hand stopping). His most famous pupil was Jan Václav Stich (Giovanni Punto). He was an advocate of lower register second horn playing, and to that end he composed at least three concertos for the instrument, as well as several sets of trios and duets. HANKE, CARL (1750, ROSSWALD, MORAVIA [NOW RUDOLTICE, CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 10 JUNE 1803, FLENSBURG, GERMANY). German-Bohemian composer. Trained at the court of Rosswald, he became a member of Count Albert von Hoditz’s orchestra by 1776. Prior to that time, he spent several years in Vienna, where he studied under Christoph Willibald von Gluck. In 1778 he left for Italy to complete his musical training and upon his return became the musical director of several theatres in succession at Brno, Warsaw, and Hamburg, before settling in Flensburg in 1786. There he functioned as an ordinary city musician, acting as cantor and founding a public concert series in 1792. His works have been little studied, but he was known as a versatile composer. His music includes five Singspiels, seven ballets, 17 occasional cantatas, several incidental music sets for the stage, two symphonies, and around 300 duets for two horns, in addition to numerous other lost works including cantatas, quartets, concertos, and trios. He also published several books of Lieder.
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HÄNSEL, PETER (29 NOVEMBER 1770, LEPPE, SILESIA, GERMANY [NOW LIEPA, POLAND], TO 18 SEPTEMBER 1831, VIENNA). German violinist and composer. Following studies in Warsaw with his uncle, he joined the orchestra of Grigori Potemkin in St. Petersburg in 1787. By 1791 he had moved to Vienna as a member of the ensemble of Princess Lubomirska, during which time he became a pupil of Joseph Haydn. In 1802 he moved on to Paris for several years, retiring to Vienna in 1818. Hänsel’s music reflects his training as a violinist and conforms to the style of his teacher Haydn. His works include 58 string quartets (and three woodwind quartets), four quintets, six trios, 15 duos for violins, and 30 polonaises. HANSER, PATER WILHELM [JOHANN NEPOMUK JOSEPH] (12 SEPTEMBER 1738, UNTERZEIL, NEAR LEUTKIRCH, SCHWABEN, GERMANY, TO 27 JUNE 1796, SCHUSSENRIED, GERMANY). German monastic composer and teacher. Following education in church schools, he entered the Premonstraterian monastery of Schussenried in 1758. By 1765 he was well known as an organist and was asked to come to the French monastery at Lavaldieu, where he taught Etienne-Nicolas Méhul. He returned to Germany around 1785. His music is little known today. Works include eight sacred dramas, 24 vesper settings, a Mass, three Magnificats, eight antiphons, and 20 Psalms. HARDOUIN, HENRI (7 APRIL 1727, GRANDPRÉ, FRANCE, TO 13 AUGUST 1808, GRANDPRÉ). French composer and organist. Educated as a chorister at the Reims cathedral, he became maîtrise in 1749, being ordained in 1751. In 1765 his music began to be performed in Paris at the Concerts spirituels, and by 1776 he had become canon at the cathedral in Reims. He lost his position around 1790 during the French Revolution and hid with other Catholics in Cléville, but he was restored in 1794. He retired to his birthplace in 1801. As a composer, he was known for two treatises on how to perform plainchant, the first published in 1762. He wrote a considerable amount for the church, including 70 Masses, 22 Psalms, 91 hymns, 85 motets, five Requiems, nine Magnificats, and five Te Deums. Much of his music was destroyed during the Second World War. HARMONIEMUSIK. Also known in French as Pièces d’harmonie. Defined as music written for an ensemble consisting entirely of wind instruments, it developed in central Europe in Germany and the Holy Roman Empire shortly after the turn of the 18th century, and in France and England it became popular after 1760. Usually employed by the nobility as personal musicians, the Harmonie comprised pairs of horns, bassoons, and either clarinets or oboes; later around 1780 this was increased by employing both clarinets and oboes,
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to which could be added additional wind instruments such as flutes, English horns, basset horns, and so forth. One of the earliest ensembles was the Feldmusik of the Princes Esterházy, but virtually all courts maintained such a group by around 1790. They performed regularly in venues such as the Concerts spirituels beginning in the early 1760s. Specialized genres include the serenade and parthie, although they also performed reductions drawn from operas. Composers such as Franz Krommer, Franz Danzi, Antonín Reicha, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart contributed significant works. HARRER, JOHANN GOTTLOB (8 MAY 1703, GÖRLITZ, SAXONY, GERMANY, TO 9 JULY 1755, CARLSBAD [KARLOVY VARY], BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC]). German composer and organist. A student of Jan Dismas Zelenka, he attended the University of Leipzig in law, following which he received a stipend from Count Heinrich von Brühl to study music in Italy in 1722. In 1731 he was a musician in the private court ensemble of Count Brühl in Dresden, where he was active both as a church organist and secular composer of entertainments. In 1750 he became Bach’s successor as cantor at St. Thomas in Leipzig and director of the Thomasschule, a post he retained the remainder of his life, although he may have been appointed as chamber composer to the Saxon court in April of 1755. He died while taking a cure at Carlsbad. As a composer he was known for his infusion of the Italian style into his music, giving it a hybrid nature much in the vein of Johann Adolph Hasse. His interest in theory was evident in his treatise Specimen contrapuncti duplicis, and his music often contains brilliant orchestra writing. His music consists of six oratorios, four Psalms, a large double-chorus Magnificat, 51 cantatas (including a complete cycle), 27 symphonies, 24 suites, 38 partitas, three trio sonatas with oboes, three viola d’amore sonatas, a carillon quartet, a flute quartet, and numerous smaller works. HARTMANN, CHRISTIAN CARL (1750, ALTENBURG, SAXONY, GERMANY, TO 1804, PARIS). German flautist and composer. Trained in nearby Dresden as a woodwind player, he was employed there in the court orchestra until 1774, when he moved to Paris to take up a position as lead flautist of the Opéra. In 1783 he embarked upon a nine-year grand tour that took him as far afield as St. Petersburg as a soloist, but he returned to Paris where he weathered the Revolution as a teacher on his instrument. He was the first flute instructor at the Conservatoire at its founding in 1797. As a performer, he was known for his pure tone and facile technique. Little of his music has survived, although he wrote several flute concertos, two symphonies, and a number of smaller chamber works. He also published two sets of exercises (cadenzas and technical methods) for his instrument.
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HARTMANN, JOHAN ERNST, JR. (2 MARCH 1770, COPENHAGEN, TO 16 DECEMBER 1844, COPENHAGEN). Danish composer and organist. Son of Johann Ernst Hartmann, Sr., he received his earliest musical education from his father. By 1795 he was appointed as the organist at the Christianskirke in Copenhagen, and later in 1806 he obtained posts as cantor and organist at the royal cathedral in Roskilde. He also functioned as a wellknown teacher and conductor of Det forenede musikaliske Selskab, but he never achieved the fame of his father or son. His music has been unexplored, but includes a large cantata from 1789 and numerous smaller works for organ. HARTMANN, JOHANN ERNST JOSEPH, SR. (24 DECEMBER 1726, GROß-GOLGAU, SILESIA [NOW POLAND], TO 21 OCTOBER 1793, COPENHAGEN). German-Danish composer. Trained in music by his father, he obtained a post as a violinist at the court of Count Schaffgotsch in Breslau in 1754. Thereafter he was employed in Rudolstadt and then Plön at the court of Duke Friedrich Carl of Schleswig-Holstein until 1762, when the Kapelle was dissolved. He then moved with the other musicians to Copenhagen, where he was subsumed into the Kongelige Kapel of Frederik V. Here he taught music to the later Christian VII and conducted concerts at the Harmoniske Selskab. In 1779 he had his greatest success under the Guldberg regime with the Nordic opera Balders død, followed the next year by Fiskarne, both of which can be considered seminal Danish national operas, and in the latter the first intimations of the national anthem. Although virtually all of his music was destroyed in a fire in 1794, what survives demonstrates that he was an able and progressive composer with an excellent sense of musical drama and orchestrational color. These works include five Syngespile, a violin concerto, five large cantatas, two Passions, 12 symphonies (of which only a few survive), numerous Lieder, and several smaller chamber works. HASSE, GEORG FRIEDRICH (1771, SAREPTA, RUSSIA, TO 1 MAY 1831, FULNECK, ENGLAND). German-English composer and organist. Born in an enclave of the Moravian Church in Russia, he received his musical education in Niesky and Barby, the last under Christian Gregor. He was appointed as a teacher and organist at Groß Hennersdorf where he taught music until he transferred to Fulneck in Yorkshire, England. There he was a teacher of foreign language, organist, and musical director. His works include numerous homophonic anthems, though little work has been done on his music. There is no relationship to Johann Adolph Hasse. HASSE, JOHANN ADOLPH (bap. 25 MARCH 1699, BERGDORF NEAR HAMBURG, GERMANY, TO 16 DECEMBER 1783, VENICE). German composer. Following studies in Hamburg beginning in 1714, he
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joined the Hamburg opera as a tenor. By 1719 he had obtained a position as a singer in Braunschweig, where his opera Antioco was premiered in 1721. He thereupon decided to travel to Italy to study opera and musical composition, living briefly in several of the major centers. By 1725 he was a resident in Naples, where, as a protégé of Carlo Carmignano, he had his first major work, Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra performed with Carlo Broschi/Farinelli in the principal role. This won him a commission from the Teatro San Bartolomeo, and his works became successful throughout the country. In 1730 he moved to Venice, where he married mezzo-soprano Faustina Bordoni. A brief sojourn in Vienna was followed in December of 1731 by an appointment in Dresden following the success of his opera Cleofide. It was during this time that he established a lifelong connection with Pietro Metastasio, whose texts he set for the next 40 years. In 1733 he was named Saxon court Kapellmeister under Elector Friedrich August II, and during the next two decades he spent time commuting between that city, Italy, and Warsaw to write opera. In 1752 he suffered the first of several severe attacks of gout, exacerbated by a rivalry in Venice between prima donnas, one of whom was his wife. In 1760 he was resident in Vienna to write opera for Empress Maria Theresia but continued his annual travels to Italy, where he was considered the most famous composer of opera seria. In 1774 he finally left Vienna to settle in Venice permanently. Hasse can be considered one of the most important—if not the most important—figures in the mid-century opera seria. His music of the last half of his life goes beyond Baroque forms and structures of his early operas to encompass truncated da capo arias, through-composed cavatinas, and a dramatic part writing in which ornamentation enhances the dramatic content of the text. Charles Burney considered him one of the most ingenious composers of the period, noting that he was “superior to all other lyric composers” of the time. He was a prolific and facile composer, whose works include 77 operas (almost all seria, but also intermezzos and serenatas), 11 oratorios, 93 secular cantatas, 67 solfeggi for the voice, 15 Masses, six Requiems, numerous Mass movements, 10 offertories, 32 Psalms, 25 antiphons, 23 hymns, 40 motets, 48 sacred arias, six symphonies, 60 concertos (many for flute), 30 flute sonatas, 24 trio sonatas, 49 keyboard sonatas, three quartets for mixed instruments, and numerous other smaller chamber works. His music, cataloged in 1911, still awaits a more thorough updating. See also MARTINEZ, MARIANNE VON. HAULTETERRE, ELISABETH DE [MADAME LÉVESQUE] (ca. 1720, FRANCE, TO AFTER 1776, PARIS). French violinist and composer. Nothing is known about her origins or musical education, save that
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she first appears as a young girl in April 1737 performing violin sonatas by Jean Leclair at the Concerts spirituels in Paris. A review in the Mercure de France only indicated that she is “lately arrived from the provinces,” implying that she was not a relation to the more famed musical Hotteterre family. She may have taken lessons from Jean-Marie Leclair [L’Aîne], given that her first publication, Le premiere livre de sonates (Op. 1), is dedicated to him. She was apparently well known in Parisian musical circles, possibly as a teacher on the violin and harp. In 1768 her Op. 3, Recueil d’airs choisis, indicated her name at that time as Madame Lévesque, proving her marriage. She disappears from history following the publication of her Op. 4, Recueils d’aires choisis, with harp accompaniment. Her Op. 2 concerto for violin and strings is her only orchestral work. HAURA, PATER JERONÝM (30 NOVEMBER 1704, TYN NAD VLTAVOU, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 7 MARCH 1750, BRNO, MORAVIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC]). Bohemian monastic composer. He first appears as a violinist in Petroviĕ in 1722, and in 1728 he joined the Augustinian order at Velehrad. After serving in Prague, he arrived in Brno in 1736, where he joined the Order of Hermits. His music is simple in style, reflecting the galant idioms of the day. Surviving works consist of five pastorellas, three motets, and a cantata. HAWKINS, JOHN (29 MARCH 1719, LONDON, TO 21 MAY 1789, LONDON). English historian. Educated as an architect, he began making his living as a solicitor in 1749 while becoming a fixture in English social circles. In 1759 he was able to retire on his wife’s inheritance, devoting his time to sportfishing. By 1771 he had been appointed as a magistrate in Middlesex and was knighted the following year. His curiosity led him into numerous realms, often resulting in works of significance that were subsequently overshadowed by contemporaneous criticism or the works of colleagues. Such was his A General History of the Science and Practice of Music, published in 1776, which suffered in comparison with the works of Charles Burney. It is still, however, a useful view of 18th-century music history. HAYDN, [FRANZ] JOSEPH (31 MARCH 1732, ROHRAU, AUSTRIA, TO 31 MAY 1809, VIENNA). Iconic Austrian composer. The son of a wheelwright, he displayed a talent for music at an early age. By 1739 he had been accepted as a chorister at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, where he studied under various teachers, including Georg Reutter Jr. After about 10 years, his voice changed, and he was dismissed, lodging with a friend, Michael Spangler. His earliest works date from this period. By 1753, however,
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he had met Nicola Porpora through various connections at court thanks to a number of small church and ensemble work, including his first opera, Der krumme Teufel of 1751. Around 1756 he was employed by Baron Carl Joseph Fürnberg, who recommended him a year or two later as Kapellmeister for Count Karl Joseph Morzin at the court in Lukavec, Bohemia (now Czech Republic). When Morzin’s Kapelle was dissolved, Haydn was recommended to Prince Paul Anton Esterházy as vice Kapellmeister to replace the aging Gregor Joseph Werner. Upon Werner’s death in 1766, Haydn was appointed as Kapellmeister under the new prince, Nicholas Esterházy, who he served for almost three decades until 1790. He worked in Vienna, Eisenstadt, and Esterháza with a court Kapelle of around 24 members. In 1776 he also functioned as an opera impresario. After his nominal retirement in 1790 he was made an offer to travel to London by Johann Peter Salomon for the 1791 season, the first of two visits, with the second in 1794. Around this time he became Ludwig van Beethoven’s teacher, although their relationship proved to be rocky. By 1792 he had renewed his position with Prince Nicholas II, but his duties were much less onerous as Kapellmeister, allowing him to collaborate on significant compositional projects with Baron Gottfried van Swieten, such as the 1798 Die Schöpfung and the 1801 Die Jahreszeiten. His last public function occurred in 1805, save for one, and he died during the occupation of Vienna by French troops. Haydn can be considered perhaps the best-known composer of his time, whose music was performed and imitated by composers throughout the world. Performances of his works, particularly his symphonies, sonatas, and string quartets, occurred during his lifetime in places as far-flung as Chile, Philadelphia, the Cape of Good Hope, as well as throughout Europe. In this sense he was a unique composer of his time. His musical style varied from the galant to early Romanticism in the final quartet movements, and his position as one of the longest-serving Kapellmeisters of the time offered him the opportunity to become “original,” as he once stated. He described his own compositional activity this way: “I was never a hasty writer, and always composed with deliberation and diligence.” Although he achieved considerable fame for his instrumental music, his vocal works, particularly his Masses and oratorios, are equally iconic in the modern repertory. His music includes considerable intricate counterpoint, monothematic development, surprising harmonic (and other) twists, and an often dramatic orchestration. A prolific composer, he wrote 15 Masses, 23 miscellaneous sacred works, six oratorios/ large cantatas, 11 secular cantatas, 24 operas (and several other stage works), 26 secular vocal works with orchestra, 398 folk song arrangements, 51 Lieder, 25 other secular vocal works, 47 canons, 108 symphonies, 24 marches and
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other orchestral works, 39 concertos, 32 divertimentos, 70 string quartets, 21 string trios, 126 trios that include the baryton, 33 other baryton works, 13 works for two lire organizze, 29 keyboard trios, 47 keyboard sonatas, and numerous other miscellaneous works for keyboard and other instruments. His music is known by Hoboken (Hob) numbers arranged systematically. See also HÄNSEL, PETER; HAYDN, [JOHANN] MICHAEL; LICKL, JOHANN GEORG; NOVOTNÝ, FRANZ NIKOLAUS; PLEYEL, IGNAZ; SORKOČEVIĆ, LUKA; TITZ, ANTON FERDINAND; TOMASINI, ALOIS LUIGI; VRANICKÝ, ANTONÍN. HAYDN, [JOHANN] MICHAEL (14 SEPTEMBER 1737, ROHRAU, LOWER AUSTRIA, TO 10 AUGUST 1806, SALZBURG). Austrian composer and organist. The second son of a wheelwright, he displayed a talent for music at an early age and was sent, like his brother Joseph Haydn, to Vienna to sing as a chorister at St. Stephen’s Cathedral under Georg von Reutter Jr. It was said that his voice surpassed that of his brother, and although he was dismissed from the choir when his voice broke in 1753, he continued to study at the Jesuit Church, where he shared organist duties with Johann Georg Albrechtsberger. It was here that he began composing sacred music, eventually attaining a reputation throughout Lower Austria for his music at local churches and monasteries. Around 1757 he was approached by Archbishop Adam Patachich for the position as Kapellmeister in Großwardein (now Oradea, Romania). There the musical establishment was meager, and around 1762 he appears to have returned to Vienna to compose for public concerts. The same year he was hired by Prince-Archbishop Sigismund von Schrattenbach of Salzburg as court composer and concertmaster. By 1782 he had become organist at the Salzburg cathedral, a position he retained his entire life. During this period he was a crucial participant in the attempts to reform Catholic church music under Schrattenbach’s successor, Hieronymus Colloredo, eventually making major contributions to the second edition of the Salzburg Hymnal in 1790 and Anton Diabelli’s compendium, Ecclesiasticon, of 1792. In 1798 he traveled to Vienna to visit his brother and again in 1801 to write music for the Holy Roman court. Haydn’s reputation during his lifetime was as one of the best—if not the best—composers of sacred music of the period, whose gift for counterpoint and harmony could span the gulf between the simple needs of the Josephian reform movement to the pomp and splendor required for cathedrals and monastic churches. His music was a fixture in all of the main Salzburg churches, from the Dom to St. Peter’s Abbey (in whose environs he lived). Indeed, figures such as his own brother and Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann considered his music superior to that of the former. His attention to good contrasting and often lyrical
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themes and formal structures can be found in his instrumental music, particularly the serenades and symphonies, of which he was a major composer. His students include Sigismund von Neukomm and Carl Maria von Weber. His compositions include 44 symphonies, 12 concertos, 21 serenades, 19 string quartets, six quintets, 10 trio sonatas, 19 keyboard compositions, a number of other chamber works for various combinations (trios, duos, solo sonatas, etc.), four operas, three ballets, 47 Masses, 130 graduals, 65 canticles, 65 offertories, 47 antiphons, 16 hymns, five sacred cantatas, seven oratorios, seven motets, 19 Psalms, 65 canons, 97 part songs, 46 Lieder, 14 secular cantatas, eight concert arias, and around 40 other works. His music has been cataloged several times, with the sacred works known by K (or Klafsky) numbers and the instrumental by P (or Perger) numbers. These have been supplanted by MH numbers in the recent chronological catalog by Sherman and Donely. See also FOSSOMBRONI, ANTONIO MARIA; PICHL, VÁCLAV; RAINPRECHTER, JOHANN NEPOMUK. HAYES, PHILIP (bap. 17 APRIL 1738, OXFORD, TO 19 MARCH 1797, LONDON). English composer and organist. Son of Oxford professor William Hayes Sr., he received his earliest musical education from his father. In 1763 his masque Telemachus earned him a BMus degree, and in 1767 he spent a short period as a singer at the Royal Chapel in London. In 1776 he was appointed as organist of the New College in Oxford and a year later succeeded his father as professor of music, at the same time earning his doctorate. Over the next decade he added positions as organist at Magdalen College, the University Church, and St. John’s College, where he became known for his lectures consisting of his own odes and oratorios. In 1780 he founded the Festival of the Sons of the Clergy at St. Paul’s in London, and thereafter he commuted frequently between the two cities. He hosted Joseph Haydn at Oxford when that composer arrived to receive an honorary doctorate there. Although his formal musical style owes much to the preference for George Frederick Handel among English audiences, his instrumental works demonstrate knowledge of the formal structures of the Classical styles of Johann Christian Bach, among others. He was also a prolific composer of catches, glees, and such. His obesity was often cause for caricature. His works include 48 anthems, over 30 songs, 16 Psalms, 16 odes, two oratorios, the aforementioned masque, two services, six keyboard concertos (published in 1769), and six violin sonatas. His keyboard concertos were the first in England to include the fortepiano as a solo instrument. See also HAYES, WILLIAM, JR. HAYES, WILLIAM, JR. (bap. 6 DECEMBER 1741, OXFORD, TO 22 OCTOBER 1790, LONDON). English canon and composer. Like his
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brother Philip Hayes, he studied under his father William Hayes Sr., entering Magdalen College as a chorister. Upon his graduation in 1761 he became a singer in the choir of New College, becoming a Chaunter in 1764. In 1765 he was ordained as a canon at Worcester Cathedral, later serving at St. Paul’s before becoming a vicar at Tillingham in Essex. His musical works, entirely devoted to Anglican hymns, reflect the conservative style of the time. HEICHLINGER, PATER ANDREAS (26 NOVEMBER 1746, GROßKÖZ NEAR GÄNZBURG, BAVARIA, TO 4 SEPTEMBER 1804, SALEM PRIORY, BAVARIA). German monastic composer. Probably trained by local monastic schools, he took his vows in the Cistercian monastery in Salem in 1765. Ten years later he was appointed prior. His music consists of eight sacred songs, four Masses, a pair of cantatas, and two antiphons; much has probably not survived, however. HEINSIUS, [MICHAEL] ERNST (ca. 1700, HULST, NETHERLANDS, TO 4 JANUARY 1764, ARNHEM, NETHERLANDS). Dutch composer and organist. Little is known of his training, but by 1738 he had been appointed as organist in the town of Arnhem. That year he moved to Bergen op Zoom as cathedral organist, and when the church was destroyed by fire he became a carillon player and barge commissioner at the port town of Purmerend. By 1740 he had returned to Arnhem as organist at the Grote Kerk, also functioning as director of the town orchestra. His music has been little studied but includes seven concertos, six symphonies, three songs, and a trio, all in the galant style. HELLENDAAL, PIETER (1 APRIL 1721, ROTTERDAM, TO 19 APRIL 1799, CAMBRIDGE). Dutch-English composer, violinist, and organist. His earliest position as organist at the St. Nicolaus Church in Utrecht was obtained at the age of 12 with only a rudimentary musical education. After four years, he embarked upon a six-year study tour of Italy, where his teachers included Giuseppe Tartini. Upon his return to the Netherlands, he became a well-regarded violin soloist in Amsterdam, Delft, and The Hague, and he attended the University of Leiden for three years beginning in 1749. In 1751 his association with Princess Anne of Hannover allowed him to move permanently to England, where he continued his career as a violinist and became a close associate of George Frederick Handel. In 1760 he accepted a position as organist at St. Margaret’s in Kings Lynn, Norfolkshire, and later in 1762 he was offered the position of organist at Pembroke College, Cambridge University. He remained there the rest of his life, only changing colleges to Peterhouse College in 1777.
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Hellendaal had a solid reputation as a composer, although his music tends toward an older style. His first publication, a set of six violin sonatas (Op. 1) in Amsterdam in 1744, are based upon Italian models of Tartini, and his set of six concerto grossi (Op. 3) from 1758 are all Baroque in form, although there is a more homophonic part writing. His fame rests largely upon his treatise Three Grand Lessons for Keyboard, Violin and Continuo from 1790 and the Collection of Psalms and Hymns for the Use of Parish Churches in 1793. His works include 29 sonatas for violin and basso, the aforementioned six concerto grossi, eight sonatas for cello and basso, and concertos for violin and keyboard (lost), as well as an overture and a trio sonata. Vocal music is largely confined to simple Anglican sacred works or a series of catches and glees, for which he won a prize from the Nobleman and Gentlemen’s Catch Club in 1769. His only modern work is a secular pastoral cantata titled Strepton and Myrtilla from 1783. His works have been cataloged by Leednert Haasnot in his 1883 dissertation. HEMMERLEIN, [FRANZ] ANTON (1730, BAMBERG, GERMANY, TO 1811, BAMBERG). German cellist and composer. The brother of organist Joseph Hemmerlein, he was trained in 1744 at the Academia Ottoniana in Bamberg, becoming a pupil of Joseph Riepel and Franz Xaver Woschitka. He also studied timpani and functioned at the ducal court in Bamberg as both cellist and timpanist. His works have been almost completely unknown; the only surviving pieces are some dance works and a violin sonata. HEMMERLEIN, JOHANN NIKOLAS (ca. 1720, WIESENTHEID, GERMANY, TO AFTER 1763, PROBABLY BAMBERG, GERMANY). German composer. Details of his youth and training are lacking, but in 1741 he was employed at the court of Count Rudolf Franz Erwein of Schönborn. The following year he accepted a post at the Bamberg seminary, where he taught cello and performed in the court orchestra. His surviving works include a Mass and a cello concerto, but little research has been done on his life and works. See also HEMMERLEIN, ANTON; HEMMERLEIN, JOSEPH. HEMMERLEIN, JOSEPH (1742, BAMBERG, GERMANY, TO 1799, PARIS). German composer and organist. Son of Johann Nikolas Hemmerlein, he probably received his musical education from his father in Bamberg. In 1766 he left for Frankfurt and by 1781 had become town organist in Koblenz. In 1786 he accepted a post with Countess Vorbach, in whose service he traveled to Paris. His music has been little studied but includes two symphonies, eight pianoforte concertos, six piano trios, 18 violin sonatas, and 14 keyboard sonatas.
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HENNEBERG, JOHANN BAPTIST (5 DECEMBER 1768, VIENNA, TO 26 NOVEMBER 1822, VIENNA). Austrian composer and organist. He followed in his father’s footsteps as organist at the Schottenstift before joining the company of Emanuel Schickaneder about 1790. By 1797 he had become codirector of the Theater auf der Weiden. In 1804 he moved to Eisenstadt, where he was organist at the Esterháza Kapelle, later becoming Kapellmeister in 1811. Following his retirement he returned to Vienna to become a court organist. He is best known for his collaborative music for Schickaneder’s pasticcio operas, eventually contributing to five of them. He also wrote nine hymns, two graduals, two offertories, nine sacred songs, and several insertion arias or ensembles. HERBST, JOHANNES (23 JULY 1735, KEMPTEN, SCHWABEN, GERMANY, TO 15 JANUARY 1812, SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES). German-American composer and organist. Herbst joined the Moravian Church in 1748, serving local congregations as a bookkeeper and organist until 1785, when he immigrated to the United States to become pastor in Lancaster and Lititz, Pennsylvania. In 1811 he was ordained a bishop prior to moving to the Moravian community in Salem (WinstonSalem), North Carolina. His music consists mainly of sacred works, including about 100 anthems and over 200 sacred songs. HERNÁNDEZ LLANA, FRANCISCO (1700, VALENCIA, SPAIN, TO 1780, BURGOS, SPAIN). Spanish composer and organist. His earliest post was as maestro di capilla at the Astorga Cathedral in Léon, and then in 1729 he moved to a similar post at Burgos, where he remained the rest of his life. He was considered an excellent teacher, but his actual compositions, including two Lamentations and numerous villancicos, have remained largely unstudied. HERSCHEL, JACOB (20 NOVEMBER 1734, HANNOVER, TO 1792, HANNOVER). German composer and oboist. The brother of William Herschel, he followed his father’s footsteps as a musician in a military band in Hannover. He immigrated to England along with his brother in 1757, but he returned to Hannover two years later after failing to find permanent employment. There he was appointed as an oboist in the orchestra of the Duke of Hannover-Kassel (George II of England). His musical compositions are few and largely unstudied. These include two symphonies, two violin concertos, six trio sonatas, six string quartets, and six keyboard quartets.
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HERSCHEL, SIR FREDERICK WILLIAM [FRIEDRICH WILHELM] (15 NOVEMBER 1738, HANNOVER, TO 25 AUGUST 1822, SLOUGH, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, ENGLAND). German-English composer, astronomer, biologist, organist, and conductor. The son of an oboist in a military band, Isaac Herschel (1707–1767), he was trained by his father, later joining his elder brother Jacob Herschel in the band. In 1755 a tour to England convinced him that his future lay in the country. In 1757 he immigrated permanently, eventually becoming a violinist in the Newcastle orchestra under Charles Avison. After similar positions in Halifax and Leeds, he succeeded in 1767 in becoming the organist at the Octagon Chapel in Bath, where he remained the rest of his life. In 1780 he became the conductor of the Bath orchestra, overseeing the public concerts. Herschel is best known for his work as an astronomer, including discoveries of the planet Uranus and being a founding member of what became the Royal Astronomical Society. He was also a biologist who published on the cellular construction of coral. As a composer, he was well regarded during his lifetime for his progressive and inventive works, particularly his symphonies. Stylistically these are similar to Joseph Haydn in style. The works include 24 symphonies, 12 concertos (for viola, violin, oboe, and organ), 45 voluntaries, 24 caprices and a sonata for solo violin, six trio sonatas, three keyboard sonatas, a complete Anglican service, and numerous Psalms and anthems. HERTEL, JOHANN CHRISTIAN (25 JUNE 1697, OETTINGEN, GERMANY, TO OCTOBER 1754, NEUSTRELITZ, GERMANY). German composer and violinist. Son of a court musician, he studied music from his father but attended the University of Halle in theology in 1716. In 1718, however, he chose to pursue a path in music, becoming principal violinist at the court of Eisenach. When this court was dissolved in 1741, he obtained the post of Kapellmeister at the court of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He was known as a proficient viol player, and his compositions generally conform to Baroque practice, with the exception of 22 symphonies, all written during the last decade of his life, which show he was aware of and employed the galant style. See also HERTEL, JOHANN WILHELM. HERTEL, JOHANN WILHELM (9 OCTOBER 1727, EISENACH, GERMANY, TO 14 JUNE 1789, SCHWERIN, GERMANY). German composer and violinist. Son of Johann Christian Hertel, he received his musical training from his father and members of the Bach family. He also came to the attention of Franz Benda, who heard him perform in 1742 in Strelitz, where his father had moved. Upon Benda’s recommendation Hertel was trained in Berlin and at the court of Zerbst before obtaining a position
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as Kapellmeister with Duke Christian Ludwig of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. In 1770 he was appointed as court counselor, a more administrative position. As a theorist, Hertel wrote four volumes on musical compositions, which were published in Leipzig between 1757 and 1758. As a composer, he is best known for his craftsmanship that blends a progressive harmonic language with technical display. His music includes a Mass, five Passions, 12 secular cantatas (and seven with nontraditional sacred texts), 11 Lutheran cantatas, numerous chorales, 40 concert arias, 60 Lieder, three motets, three Psalms (in German), two sets of incidental music for Shakespeare plays, 63 symphonies, 15 keyboard concertos (and 31 other concertos), three partitas, five trios, 19 violin sonatas, and 30 keyboard sonatas. See also WESTENHOLZ, CARL AUGUST FRIEDRICH. HESPELIN, PATER OSWALD (30 NOVEMBER 1733, MARKTDORF, GERMANY, TO 3 OCTOBER 1803, KLOSTER WEINGARTEN). German monastic composer. Following education in Konstanz and at the Benedictine monastery in Weingarten, he joined the order, eventually becoming professor of philosophy and theology at the monastic school. By 1785 he was also sub-prior, eventually obtaining the post of abbot before the dissolution shortly before his death. As a composer, he wrote Masses and smaller sacred works, of which a Marian antiphon Alma redemptoris mater is the best known. HEWITT, JAMES (4 JUNE 1770, DARTMOOR, ENGLAND, TO 1 AUGUST 1827, BOSTON, UNITED STATES). English-American composer, conductor, publisher, and vocalist. Hewitt received his musical training in London, later becoming a member of the Astley Amphitheatre orchestra. He also claimed to have performed as a violinist under Joseph Haydn. In 1792 he arrived in Philadelphia, but shortly thereafter he moved to New York where he became a popular conductor of the Old American Company at the Park Street Theatre. In 1805 he also began periodic visits to Boston, moving there in 1811, where he became active as an organist at the Trinity Church. He also toured in the southern states late in his career. Hewitt’s style of music draws heavily from his English roots, being reminiscent of Samuel Arnold and Michael Kelly. He produced no fewer than 12 operas on popular subjects for New York, in addition to a pantomime and about 75 songs and vocal works, many of which he published himself. He also composed about 75 instrumental works, including three medley overtures between 1794 and 1802, as well as “battle” music such as The Battle of Trenton and An Overture in 9 Parts Expressive of a Battle (1792) and several sonatas for the pianoforte. See also MEDLEY OVERTURE.
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HIEBSCH, JOHANN NEPOMUK MARQUAND (18 MAY 1766, BIRKHAUSEN, NEAR WALLERSTEIN, GERMANY, TO 31 JULY 1820, WALLERSTEIN). German musician and composer, brother of Joseph Hiebsch. The son of a court pheasant hunter of Bohemian origins, he probably studied composition under Antonio Rosetti, as well as cello, horn, and keyboard under members of the Kapelle. He was appointed as a court musician and in 1788 functioned as a composer at court as well as keyboard teacher to the prince’s children. In 1807 he was named regens chori at the St. Albans Church at Wallerstein. His surviving music consists of four symphonies, six wind partitas, a horn concerto, and a sinfonia concertante for two horns. HIEBSCH, JOSEPH CALAZAN CASPAR (10 NOVEMBER 1768, BIRKHAUSEN, NEAR WALLERSTEIN, GERMANY, TO 19 OCTOBER 1805, WALLERSTEIN). German musician. A performer on the contrabass, he also played horn, violin, and cello. Although initially he followed his father’s footsteps as a pheasant hunter, he became a musician in the court orchestra in 1794; later in 1800 he was promoted to court musician (Hofmusikus) like his brother Johann Hiebsch. It is unknown how many compositions he might have written as his life and career are almost completely unstudied. HIERREZUELO, FRANCISCO JOSÉ (1763, SANTIAGO DE CUBA, TO 1824, SANTIAGO DE CUBA). Cuban organist and composer. Most likely he was educated at the local cathedral school, becoming assistant organist to Esteban Salas y Castro in 1779. Following Salas’s death in 1803, he applied for the post as his successor, but a fracas between him and the church’s Archbishop over a German singer, Padre Johann Nepomuk Goetz, resulted in his being passed over in favor of Juan París. Thereafter he was relegated to minor musical posts. His music has never been fully explored, but a number of villancicos have survived. HILLER, FRIEDRICH ADAM (1767, LEIPZIG, TO 23 NOVEMBER 1812, KÖNIGSBERG, EAST PRUSSIA [NOW KALININGRAD, RUSSIA]). German composer and tenor. The son of Johann Adam Hiller, he received his training from his father, probably at his father’s own School for Singing. After a few local performances in Leipzig, he debuted in Rostock as a tenor with a local troupe. In 1788 he was in Schwerin, where he became the director of a musical society. In 1796 he was appointed music director at a new theatre in Hamburg Altona, and three years later he left to become Kapellmeister at the theatre in Königsberg. A well-educated and erudite man, he was known for his administrative acumen. His musical compositions reflect the style of his father, although his larger odes show influences of Carl
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Philipp Emanuel Bach. His music, much of which has been lost, includes eight Singspiels, two large odes or hymns with orchestra, a large cantata (with others lost), 12 Lieder, six string quartets (particularly praised by Gerber), and several pieces for quartet or piano. HILLER, JOHANN ADAM (25 DECEMBER 1728, WENDISCHOSSIG, SILESIA [NOW OSIEK-ŁUŻYEKI, POLAND], TO 16 JUNE 1804, LEIPZIG). German composer. After early studies at the Gymnasium in nearby Görlitz, he attended the Kreuzschule in Dresden, where he was a pupil of Gottfried August Homilius. In 1751 he enrolled in Leipzig University to study law, eventually obtaining a post with Count Heinrich von Brühl as a steward. In 1760 he resigned due to depression and returned to Leipzig to run the Grosses Concert, establishing both a School for Singing (eventually focusing on the Singspiel), among whose students was Daniel Gottlob Türk. In 1766 he established his reputation by reviving the Singspiel with his revision of Der Teufel ist los. In 1778 he was cantor at the Paulinerkirche and director of the Lenten concert series; later in 1781 he became conductor of the Gewandshausorchester. A chance encounter led to his being named Kapellmeister of the Duke of Courland in Mittau (now Jelgava, Latvia) in 1785, a post he held for only four years before returning to Leipzig as the cantor of the Thomaskirche. Hiller can be seen as one of the most active figures in 18th-century music history, particularly with respect to his pedagogical and theoretical writings. He published a journal, Wöchentliche Nachrichten und Anmerkungen die Musik betreffend (1766–1770), which provided commentary and criticism on the music of the time; he also published a historical discourse, Über Alt und Neu in der Musik (1787)—which offered anecdotes on composers of the period—and a well-regarded treatise on singing, Anweisung zum musikalischrichtige Gesang (1774/1798). His own compositional efforts were focused upon the Singspiel, of which he composed 15 works, all characterized by simple, often strophic songs, memorable melodies, and accessible harmony. He also wrote 126 sacred songs/chorale hymns, over 100 Lieder, two large odes or hymns with orchestra, two piano sonatas, and three string quartets. See also HAEFFNER, JOHANN CHRISTIAN FRIEDRICH; HILLER, FRIEDRICH ADAM; LÖHLEIN, GEORG SIMON; MARA, GERTRUD ELISABETH; NEEFE, CHRISTIAN GOTTLOB; SCHROETER, CORONA ELISABETH WILHELMINE; SCHROETER, JOHANN SAMUEL. HILVERDING, FRANZ ANTON CHRISTOPH (17 NOVEMBER 1710, VIENNA, TO 29 MAY 1768, VIENNA). Austrian dancer and choreographer. He received his earliest training in Brno and then in Paris with Michel
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Blondy. By 1735 he was a dancer at the Imperial court in Vienna, where he became balletmaster in 1749. There he created some 30 ballets for the court, many, such as the 1740 Don Quixote, in the style later known as the ballet d’action. In 1758 he was appointed as balletmaster in St. Petersburg, but returned to Vienna in 1764. His students include Gasparo Angiolini, who eventually succeeded him. HIMMEL, FRIEDRICH HEINRICH (20 NOVEMBER 1765, TREUENBRIETZEN, GERMANY, TO 8 JUNE 1814, BERLIN). German composer and keyboardist. After early education as an organist, Himmel entered the University of Halle in theology in 1785. He obtained a post as army chaplain, from which he attracted the attention of Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, who sent him to study with Johann Gottlieb Naumann in Dresden. In 1792 he was named chamber composer to the Prussian court and in 1795 succeeded Johann Friedrich Reichardt as Kapellmeister. His tenure was characterized by operatic success and a reputation for debauchery and drinking, even though he managed to avoid political scandal. As a composer, his music is often colorful and he can be considered, along with Carl Friedrich Zelter, as one of the leading figures in the composition of the German Lied during the last years of the 18th century. His music includes two Masses, eight operas, six sacred and six secular cantatas, three other large sacred works, over 100 Lieder, two symphonies, three concertos, a sextet, two quartets, 14 violin sonatas, 64 sets of variations, five piano sonatas, and a host of smaller dances and keyboard works. HÖCKH, CARL (22 JANUARY 1707, EBERSDORF, GERMANY, TO 25 NOVEMBER 1773, ZERBST, GERMANY). German instrumentalist and composer. Following training from local musicians, he joined the regiment of Count Franz Paul Weilli at Prock in 1732 as an oboist. After being demobilized, he joined a group of touring musicians including Franz Benda as a horn player, eventually finding employment with the governor of Warsaw, Sukascheffski, for several months. On Benda’s recommendation he was appointed as violinist and music instructor at Zerbst in 1734. Here his students included Johann Wilhelm Hertel and others. His own music reflects the Empfindsamkeit style and includes 11 symphonies, 17 violin concertos, seven partitas, 27 violin sonatas, and 34 “capricetti.” His life and works have been little studied. See also FASCH, CARL FRIEDRICH CHRISTIAN. HODERMANN, GEORG CASPAR (ca. 1740, SAXONY, GERMANY, TO 1802, AMSTERDAM). German pianist and composer. A pupil of Joseph Schlicht, he arrived in Amsterdam in 1787, where he became a well-
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known teacher of keyboard. He performed regularly at the Felix Meritis concerts and instructed students such as Johan Wilms. His own works include an opera, an oratorio, a large cantata, an “allegory” for two orchestras titled Der Jagd, two symphonies, two keyboard concertos, a septet, two quintets, and 12 sonatas. HOFFMEISTER, FRANZ ANTON (12 MAY 1754, ROTTENBURG AM NECKAR, LOWER AUSTRIA [NOW BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG, GERMANY], TO 9 February 1812, VIENNA). Austro-German composer and music publisher. He attended the University of Vienna in law beginning in 1768, but shortly thereafter he decided to pursue a career in music. In 1783 he began to publish his own music, and by 1785 he had established a firm in Vienna to compete with Artaria. Well educated, erudite, and congenial, he was a welcomed guest in intellectual circles in the Austrian capital for the next several decades, while his publishing business thrived with a branch in Linz and collaborations with others such as Bösseler in Speyer. After 1790 he began to devote himself more to his music, and in 1799 he undertook a concert tour as a keyboardist to Germany and France. In Leipzig he formed a partnership with Ambrosius Kühnel, which became one of the early progenitors of the firm of C. F. Peters. The international success of particularly his Singspiel Der Königssohn aus Ithaka made it possible for him to divest himself from his businesses by 1805. As a composer, he concentrated mostly upon instrumental works, since these were the most publishable and salable music. His style is reflective of the sonata principle and well composed, if not overly dramatic. His works include nine Singspiels, two cantatas/oratorios, an offertory, 66 symphonies, 11 serenades, 54 sets of dances, 59 concertos (25 for fortepiano, 14 for flute, and 20 for other instruments, including five sinfonia concertantes), 30 quintets (string, flute, and other), 57 string quartets, 46 flute quartets, nine piano quartets, 18 string trios, 12 flute trios, 76 string duets, 130 flute duets, 50 violin sonatas, five flute and viola sonatas, 26 piano sonatas, and numerous other pieces for winds and keyboard. His music is in need of further exploration. See also GRILL, FRANZ. HOFFSTETTER, JOHANN URBAN ALOIS (1735/36 [?], LAUDENBACH BEI BAD MERGENTHEIM, GERMANY, TO 26 JANUARY 1810, ELLINGEN, GERMANY). German composer. Probably the brother of Pater Romanus Hoffstetter, Johann Urban Alois earned his living as a state assessor in Ellingen for the Franconian Province of the Teutonic Order. His musical training must have been equal to that of his better-known brother, but he was to remain a musical amateur throughout his life. He composed
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at least 13 symphonies, of which six were published in Nürnberg in around 1772, as well as a set of 12 German songs in Cologne toward the end of the century. His style is derivative of central German composers such as Ernst Eichner or Carl Stamitz. His works along with those by his brother have been cataloged by Hubert Unverricht. HOFFSTETTER, PATER ROMANUS (24 APRIL 1742, PROBABLY LAUDENBACH BEI BAD MERGENTHEIM, GERMANY, TO 21 MAY 1815, MILTENBERG AM MAIN, GERMANY). German monastic composer, and possibly the brother of Johann Urban Hoffstetter. Nothing is known about his early education. Hoffstetter entered the Benedictine monastery in Amorbach in 1763 as a novice, taking Holy Orders three years later. Around 1773 he functioned as regens chori there. Shortly before, he published a set of six string quartets (Op. 1), with a further set, Op. 2, appearing around a decade later. He has also been credited with a third set, Op. 3, which was published in 1777 in Paris under Joseph Haydn’s name. Active within the Benedictine monastic circles as a composer, he wrote a substantial amount of sacred music, including at least 10 Masses, four vespers/litanies, a Te Deum, and several other smaller works; three large viola concertos credited to him are by Joseph Martin Kraus, who was a close friend. In 1803 when the Amorbach monastery was dissolved by Napoleonic troops, he moved with his abbot, Benedikt Kühlsheimer, to nearby Miltenberg. During the last two decades or so of his life, he was afflicted by deafness; when he could no longer function at the monastic Kapelle, he became master of the kitchens. His style is greatly influenced by Haydn, who he idolized. His works along with those by his brother have been cataloged by Hubert Unverricht. HOFMANN, LEOPOLD (14 AUGUST 1738, VIENNA, TO 17 MARCH 1793, VIENNA). Austrian organist and composer. Hofmann received his earliest musical education as a chorister in the Kapelle of Dowager Empress Elisabeth beginning at the age of 7. His teachers over the next several years included Georg Christoph Wagenseil and Giuseppe Trani. By 1758 he was employed at St. Michael’s Church, following which he served at St. Peter’s Church, eventually becoming Kapellmeister in 1766, the year after he was appointed hofKapellmeister to the Imperial court. There he taught the royal family and participated throughout Vienna as an organist and composer. In 1772 he became Georg von Reutter Jr.’s assistant at St. Stephen’s Cathedral, eventually taking over all functions at the church. He seems never to have been officially appointed to the post of chief Kapellmeister, possibly due to the necessity of denying the position of his assistant to violinist Tobias Gsur, who was unfit for the task. In 1786 he settled into retirement at
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his home in Oberdöbling. Hofmann was one of the major figures in Vienna of the period. His compositions for both the church and court were popular, and his music was well crafted. Although mainly homophonic in style, his church music was seen as an advance on the often antiquated style of his predecessor Reutter, with its absorption of Neapolitan musical devices. As a symphonist, he often used a slow introduction and clear-cut forms. His music includes 43 Masses, a Requiem, 29 antiphons, seven sacred arias, 16 litanies, 38 motets or offertories, two oratorios, 16 Psalms, 14 tracts, a responsory, three sequences, three vespers, 10 Lieder, 47 symphonies, 59 concertos (for violin, cello, flute, oboe, and keyboard), 19 concertinos, 22 divertimentos, 54 trios, 27 duets, six violin sonatas, 13 keyboard works, and three works for solo flute. His music is known by Badley numbers. HOLDEN, OLIVER (18 SEPTEMBER 1765, SHIRLEY, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES, TO 1844, CHARLESTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS). American psalmodist. He was apprenticed as a cabinetmaker in 1776, and after serving in the American Revolutionary war he moved to Pepperill to farm. In 1783 he served as a marine at sea, but he later returned to farming and to establish a singing school at Charlestown. His music includes dirges and tune books. HOLLAND, JOHANN DAVID [JAN DAWID] (17 MARCH 1746, ST. ANDREASBERG, GERMANY, TO 26 DECEMBER 1827, VILNIUS [NOW LITHUANIA]). German-Polish composer. Little is known about his early life or training, save that he was appointed as Kapellmeister at the St. Catherine Church in Hamburg, where he was a friend of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. After a brief sojourn at the court of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, he moved to Warsaw as Kapellmeister to the Radziwiłł family in 1782. There he composed the Singspiel Agatika two years later at the request of Polish king Stanislaus II. In 1795 he moved to Vilnius, where he taught music at the university. His music reflects the galant style, although he was instrumental in the development of Polish-language opera by using a generous amount of folk music. His works include two operas, four ballets, four oratorios, numerous Lieder, two symphonies, two serenades, two divertimentos, and numerous pieces for keyboard. He also published a theoretical treatise, Traktat akademicki o prawdziwej sztuce muzyki oraz dodatek o używaniu harmonii. HOLYOKE, SAMUEL (15 OCTOBER 1762, BOXFORD, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES, TO 7 FEBRUARY 1820, CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE). American psalmodist. After receiving his education at Harvard College, from which he graduated with a master’s degree in 1792,
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he taught in various New England singing schools. A prolific composer, he wrote almost 850 works (mainly psalmody), many of which were published in The Columbian Repertory of Sacred Harmony around 1803. HOLZBAUER, IGNAZ JAKOB (18 SEPTEMBER 1711, VIENNA, TO 7 APRIL 1783, MANNHEIM). Austro-German composer. His earliest musical education was under Johann Joseph Fux, following which he served as choirmaster at the St. Stephen’s Cathedral, as well as studied theology at the University of Vienna. In 1730 he was persuaded to pursue further musical education in Venice by Fux. Positions in Laibach (now Ljubljana) and Holešov followed, during which he successfully produced in 1737 an opera, Luciano Papiro. By 1746 he was musical director at the Burgtheater, and in 1750 he traveled to Stuttgart as hofKapellmeister. By 1753 he was hired by Elector Carl Theodor as Kapellmeister in Mannheim, where he composed works such as Günther von Schwarzburg in 1777, one of the first Classical German operas based upon a historical subject. When the court moved to Munich in 1778, he accepted a post in Monaco but returned to Mannheim to retire in 1781. Holzbauer was one of the most prolific composers of the 18th century, particularly in the realm of the symphony. His music is noted for its powerful dramatic style, particularly in the use of the orchestra as well as progressive harmony. He composed around 200 symphonies, 13 concertos (mainly for strings), 18 string quartets, 24 orchestral minuets, two piano quintets, around 15 trios, 18 operas, several ballets, four oratorios, 32 Masses, two Requiems, and 44 other sacred works including cantatas, Te Deums, hymns, and such. His music had a significant influence on Viennese composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. See also STAMITZ, CARL PHILIPP. HOLZBOGEN, JOHANN GEORG (bap. 15 AUGUST 1727, SCHWANDORF, GERMANY, TO 7 SEPTEMBER 1775, MUNICH). German violinist and composer. After local training he became a violinist in the Bavarian court orchestra in 1751. In 1759 Duke Clemens sent him to Padua to be trained by Giuseppe Tartini. He soon won acclaim for his technical ability, although contemporary critics decried his lack of “taste.” He concertized throughout Germany for the next decade, formally retiring in 1770, although he continued to perform until his death. His music reflects the style of Empfindsamkeit, though it has been little studied. Works include a Mass, three Meditations, four sacred arias, 15 symphonies, four concertos, a divertimento, 14 trios, and six bassoon sonatas. HOLZER, JOHANN BAPTIST (17 MAY 1753, KORNEUBURG, LOWER AUSTRIA, TO 7 SEPTEMBER 1818, VIENNA). Austrian composer. Born in a small town north of Vienna, he spent his entire career
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in the Holy Roman capital. He was the in-house composer for the Masonic Lodge Zum wahren Eintracht, for whom he wrote a considerable amount of music. He was also the composer of popular Singspiels. His surviving works, however, include two Masses, several trios (some published as Op. 7), and several songs, one of which, Land der Berge, Land am Strom, was made the Austrian national anthem in 1947. HOLZMANN, JOSEPH ALOIS (22 OCTOBER 1762, HALL, TIROL, AUSTRIA, TO 17 APRIL 1815, HALL). Austrian organist and composer. The son of an organist, he was trained by Johann Prohaska after his father’s early death. He received further musical education at the Benedictine monastery in Fiecht, after which he and Prohaska toured southern Germany. Following this he returned and became second organist at the parish church in Hall, where he remained his entire life. His music reflects the influence of Michael Haydn. Holzmann was a prolific composer, though his works were intended for smaller churches throughout his region. These comprise about 45 Masses, a Requiem, about 50 offertories, three concertos for organ, and around 75 other sacred works, in addition to various pieces for the organ. His music has, however, received little attention. HOMILIUS, GOTTFRIED AUGUST (2 FEBRUARY 1714, ROSENTHAL NEAR KÖNIGSTEIN, SAXONY, TO 2 JUNE 1785, DRESDEN). German composer, organist, and cantor. The son of a Lutheran pastor, Homilius enrolled at the Annenschule in Dresden, later moving to Leipzig to study under Johann Sebastian Bach. He was appointed as organist at the Frauenkirche in Dresden in 1742, and in 1755 he became cantor at the Kreuzkirche. He remained in Dresden his entire life, serving no fewer than three churches. His most famous students were Johann Gottlieb Naumann and Daniel Gottlob Türk. Homilius was regarded as one of the principal figures in Lutheran church music of the 18th century, a successor to Bach, even though his musical style tends to be more homophonic and rely less upon counterpoint. His orchestration conforms completely to Classical models, often without the florid virtuoso style of his teacher. He composed two oratorios (for Christmas and Easter), 10 Passions, 60 motets, 180 cantatas, six German arias, and four Magnificats, as well as around 50 preludes and fugues and Masonic songs. In addition he published the Generalbasschule and a Choralbuch with 167 chorales. See also STEGMANN, CARL DAVID. HONAUER, LEONTZI (ca. 1730, STRASBOURG, TO ca. 1790, STRASBOURG). French-Alsatian composer, teacher, and keyboardist. Son of a musician at the Strasbourg cathedral, he was trained by his father and brother. By 1761 he was a member of the court of Prince Louis de Rohan in Paris, in
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whose service he attained a considerable reputation as a teacher. His pupils included Peter von Hagen II. In 1771 he visited Vienna, returning to Paris after three years. By 1788 he had returned to Strasbourg with a pension, which was paid until 1790, the presumed year of his death. As a teacher, he was noted for his skill and ability to impart knowledge to his students. His three books of keyboard sonatas demonstrate a penchant for lyrical style and thematic contrast. Apart from the 18 sonatas in these books, he also published a set of four keyboard quartets and other smaller keyboard works; a pair of suites remain in manuscript. HOOK, JAMES (3 JUNE 1746, NORWICH, ENGLAND, TO 1827, BOULOGNE, FRANCE). English composer and organist. Born with a club foot (later corrected somewhat by surgery), he succeeded in becoming an assistant to Thomas Garland. By 1763 he had moved to London, where his prowess on the instrument led to employment as a soloist in the Marylebone Gardens public concerts. From 1774–1806 he also performed regularly at the Vauxhall Gardens and participated in the English opera at Covent Garden. His musical style was at once progressive and reflective of European continental trends. He wrote over 2000 songs (including catches and glees), as well as 52 operas/stage works, 21 concertos, 40 odes (and an oratorio), and a large number of sonatas. HÖPKIN, ARVID NICLAS FRIHERR VON (7 JULY 1710, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, TO 1778, STRALSUND, SWEDISH POMERANIA [GERMANY]). Swedish military commander and composer. Born into Swedish nobility, Höpkin showed signs of musical talent at an early age, even though he was destined for a career in the military. From 1730 to 1735 he served in Kassel, where he received musical training from Fortunato Chelleri. Although he held no musical post, he was active in the formation of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in 1772. His compositions, performed frequently in Stockholm, include three operas, a Swedish oratorio to a text by his wife, several concert arias, two symphonies, and several autonomous choruses. His musical style imitates North German galant models. HOPKINSON, FRANCIS (21 SEPTEMBER 1737, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES, TO 9 MAY 1791, PHILADELPHIA). American politician, merchant, judge, and composer. Best known for his signing the Declaration of Independence, as well as his work designing the new flag of the United States, Hopkinson was born and raised in Philadelphia. In 1751 he attended the College of Philadelphia, graduating in 1757 and obtaining a master’s degree there in 1760 (with an honorary doctorate in
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1790). In 1761 he was a member of the provincial council and customs office, but in 1768 he resigned to open a dry goods store. In 1774 he moved to Bordentown, New Jersey, where he was an assemblyman and member of the Continental Congress. After the War for Independence he was appointed a judge, eventually being elevated by President George Washington in 1789 to the court of appeals. He is best known for his songs, of which one, “My Days Have Been So Wondrous Fine,” was considered the first written in the United States by a native-born composer. Between the years 1763 and 1767 he published three collections of Psalm tunes, as well as chamber music mainly for keyboard. His works include a large anthem and several Psalm settings. He also invented an instrument, the Bellarmonic, similar to the glass harmonica, which uses metal balls. See also GUALDO, GIOVANNI. HORNSTEIN, PATER HIERONYMUS (12 APRIL 1721, OCHSENHAUSEN, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 21 JULY 1758, OTTOBEUREN, BAVARIA). German monastic composer and organist. He entered the monastery in Ottobeuren around 1739, and by 1740 he was acting as organist in the chapel there. He also taught natural sciences at the monastic school. His music has largely been lost, but a Miserere was popular enough to have been sung at most major festivals through the beginning of the 19th century. HÜLLMANDEL, NICOLAS-JOSEPH (23 MAY 1758, STRASBOURG, FRANCE, TO 19 DECEMBER 1823, LONDON). Alsatian keyboardist, glass harmonica player, and composer. Trained locally in Strasbourg, in 1771 he appeared in the ensemble maintained by the Duke de Guines in London. In 1773 he began two years of touring as a virtuoso in France and Italy, settling in Paris where he became a much-sought-after teacher. During the French Revolution, his royalist sympathies forced him to flee to London, where he remained as a teacher for the rest of his life. His music reflects an easy French style, with predictable harmony and voice leading. His works include a sextet, 14 violin sonatas (and nine keyboard), and numerous smaller works for glass harmonica and other chamber instruments. See also JADIN, HYACINTHE; MONTGEROULT, HÉLÈNE. HUMMEL, JOHANN JULIUS (17 DECEMBER 1728, WALTERSHAUSEN, LOWER FRANCONIA, GERMANY, TO 27 FEBRUARY 1798, BERLIN). German music publisher and horn player. He and his brother Burchard Hummel arrived in The Hague around 1745, where they were listed as performers in the Dutch court orchestra. By 1755 Burchard Hummel had obtained a privilege to establish a music-selling business, and in 1754 both had settled in Amsterdam, where they began careers as music
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publishers and sellers of music. In 1770 he opened a branch in Berlin and moved there permanently in 1774, and a few years later Johann Julius Hummel broke with his brother. Until his death he was one of the leading publishers of music in northern Europe, whose clients included Joseph Haydn, Joseph Martin Kraus, Johann Christian Bach, and Franz Xaver Richter, among many others. HUMMEL, JOHANN NEPOMUK (14 NOVEMBER 1778, PRESSBURG [NOW BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA], TO 17 OCTOBER 1837, WEIMAR). Slovakian-Austrian composer and keyboardist; no relation to Johann Julius Hummel. Recognized as a child prodigy, he began musical instruction from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1786 when his family moved to Vienna. Making his debut a year later, he was so proficient that in 1788 Mozart recommended that he be taken on tour of Germany and Denmark. By 1790 he and his family were in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he took on pupils for a short time, and in 1792 he made his debut at the Hannover Square Rooms in London. He returned to Vienna in 1795, where he studied organ under Joseph Haydn, composition under Antonio Salieri, and counterpoint under Johann Georg Albrechtsberger. During this period he began a long and often stormy friendship with Ludwig van Beethoven, whom Hummel considered a superior performer and composer, often lending him an inferiority complex. In 1804, Hummel became Konzertmeister at the Esterházy estate in Eisenstadt, a position that was problematic enough that in 1811 he resigned and turned to private teaching. In 1816 he obtained the position as court Kapellmeister in Stuttgart but left after only a year to take up a similar post in Weimar. Although his music displays redolent Classical form and structure, the advanced harmonies and expanded forms more properly belong to the Romantic period, with the bulk of his music being written after 1800. Prior to that time, his music is more precocious and includes three short operas, several Lieder, an orchestral set of variations on a theme by Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler, a piano trio, three viola sonatas (and a violin sonata), and several sets of variations for the keyboard. His music is known by Op and WoO numbers in the Zimmerschied catalog. HUPFELD, BERNHARD (24 FEBRUARY 1717, KASSEL, GERMANY, TO 22 JANUARY 1796, MARBURG, GERMANY). German composer and violinist. His earliest musical training was as a chorister at the court in Kassel, where he studied under Johan Agrell. In 1737 he was Kapellmeister at the court of Sayn-Wittgenstein in Berleburg but resigned the post in 1740 to lead a regimental oboe band in Waldeck. In 1749 he traveled to Italy to
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study violin, returning to Waldeck to serve Count Arolsen two years later. After a brief sojourn at Berleburg, he obtained the post of professor of music at Marburg University in 1775. His surviving music, relatively little studied, includes a cantata, seven symphonies, a flute concerto, six trios, six duos, and a large number of Lieder. HŮRKA, FRANTIŠEK VÁCLAV [HURKA, FRIEDRICH FRANZ] (19 FEBRUARY 1762, MERKLIN, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 10 DECEMBER 1805, BERLIN). Bohemian-German composer and singer. After early musical education at the Crusader’s Church in Prague, he became a singer at the court of Duke Friedrich Heinrich von BrandenburgSchwedt in 1788. He spent most of his time in both Dresden and Berlin, where he performed frequently in the opera houses. In 1791 he became a teacher at the Singakademie in Berlin. His music reflects the colorful harmonies and lyrical lines of Bohemian music of the period. It includes 37 Lieder, two large choral works, a Te Deum, a divertimento, and six string quartets.
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I INGALLS, JEREMIAH (1 MARCH 1764, ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES, TO 6 APRIL 1838, HANCOCK, VERMONT, UNITED STATES). American psalmodist. Little is known of his life, though he achieved a reputation as a singing teacher and played the bass viol. His most important publication was The Christian Harmony of 1805. He is attributed with 135 works, mainly psalmody. INSANGUINE, GIACOMO ANTONIO FRANCESCO PAOLO MICHELE (22 MARCH 1728, MONOPOLI, NEAR NAPLES, TO 1 FEBRUARY 1795, NAPLES). Italian composer and organist. Born in a small town near Naples, he was sent to the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo in 1737 to obtain a musical education. In 1743 he transferred to the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana to continue his studies under Francesco Durante and Girolamo Abos. In 1756 he made his debut with an opera buffa titled Lo funnacco revotato at the Teatro dei Fiorentini, thereby launching his career as an opera composer. In 1767 he joined his former school as a teacher, later becoming organist and maestro di cappella in 1781 at the main cathedral in Naples. In 1785 he was made the headmaster of the Sant’Onofrio conservatory, writing two treatises that were used as main texts: Regole con moti di basso, partimenti e fughe and Scale, salti e solfeggio. His operas were performed throughout Italy, but he did not seek success outside his own country. His works include 31 operas (mostly buffa in the style of Giovanni Paisiello), four large sacred cantatas, six Masses, nine Psalm settings, and several other smaller sacred works. See also NICOLINI, GIUSEPPE. INTERMÈDE. A French subgenre related to the intermezzo, performed often between the acts of plays. These include a series of miniature scenes with choruses, ballet, and arias, as well as a divertissement. The subject matter is often an honorific for a patron or esteemed personage. An example would be Joseph Martin Kraus’s Quatre intermèdes pour Amphitryon.
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INTERMEZZO. In the 18th century, initially a two-act comedy inserted in between the acts of the seria. Usually involving stock characters derived from the commedia dell’arte, the early Classical period intermezzo consisted of simple comic plots that featured not infrequently dialect, burlesque, and sometimes slapstick. In keeping with their function, there was generally no opening sinfonia, and the music was devoid of the coloratura (save at satirical moments), tuneful, and with restricted vocal ranges. The most famous of these were by Domenico Sarro and Giovanni Pergolesi, whose La serva padrona was a seminal work in the genre achieving international fame and, in the case of Paris, notoriety as the epitome of the new style of Italian opera that launched the Querelle des bouffons. It was also a significant model for expanded comic operas that developed in Italy later in the century and known as the opera buffa. As the opera seria began to decline and the opera buffa replaced it internationally, the intermezzo morphed into a singleact work that often satirized the theatre of the day. This adaptation can be seen in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor, Antonio Salieri’s Prima la musica e poi le parole, and Domenico Cimarosa’s Il maestro di capella. IRIARTE, TOMÁS DE (18 SEPTEMBER 1750, PUERTO DE LA CRUZ DE OROTARA, CANARY ISLANDS, TO 17 SEPTEMBER 1791, MADRID). Spanish composer. Little is known of his youth, save that he arrived in Madrid about 1770 and began to study music under Antonio Rodríguez de Hita. His main occupation was as a theorist, whose lengthy poem La Música offers a concise description of the elements of music. His own works have been little studied but consist of 10 versos, though sets of sonatas and string quartets have been lost. His style reflects his adoration of the music of Joseph Haydn. ISOLA [ISSOLA], GAETANO (ca. 1761, GENOA, ITALY, TO ca. 1820, GENOA). Italian composer. Little is known of his life, and his music has remained largely unstudied. He attended the music conservatory in Palermo, after which he spent about 30 years in Bologna and Modena, where he was known as a composer of opera. In 1812 he retired back to Genoa, where he was employed as an accompanist at the city’s theatre. His music has never been studied but consists of four operas, two antiphons, three motets, a sequence, three Tantum ergos, a symphony, and an oratorio that was premiered in Lisbon in 1791, indicating that he might have worked there for a period. His most important work, premiered in Turin the same year, was La conquista del Vello d’oro.
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ISOUARD, NICOLÒ (18 MAY 1773, VALLETTA, MALTA, TO 23 MARCH 1818, PARIS). Maltese-French composer. At the age of 12 he was sent to Paris to be educated in the military school Pensionnat Berthaud, but in 1789 at the outbreak of the Revolution he returned to Malta, where his father employed him as a merchant. There he studied under Michel’Angelo Vella and Francesco Azzopardi, with further musical training from Giuseppe Amendola in Palermo and Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi in Naples. Upon his return to Malta in 1794 after a successful premiere of his opera L’avviso al maritati in Florence, he was appointed as music director of the St. John CoCathedral in Valletta. After the occupation of Malta, he followed the French governor back to France, where in 1800 he began a long and successful career as a composer of opéra comique at the Théâtre Feydeau with Le petit page. Although Isouard was a key figure in the development of French comic opera during the first part of the 19th century, his compositions from before 1800 reflect his Italian Neapolitan training. Works from this period include nine operas (many performed in Malta), as well as several hymns, Psalms, and other smaller sacred works. ISTVÁNFFY, BENEDEK (1733, SZENMÁRTON, HUNGARY, TO 25 OCTOBER 1778, GYŐR, HUNGARY). Hungarian composer. Born into a family of the minor nobility, he sought out the Kapellmeister of the Esterházy court, Gregor Joseph Werner, as his teacher. In 1757 he was a musician with the Széchényi family, but in 1766 he was appointed as choirmaster at the church in Győr. He composed in the style of Werner, his teacher, but few of his works have survived. These include two Masses (and a Mass movement), three offertories, two antiphons, and two hymns. ITTEN, PATER WOLFGANG [VITAL] (18 DECEMBER 1712, UNTERÄGERI, NEAR ZUG, SWITZERLAND, TO 2 JANUARY 1769, AUW, SWITZERLAND). Swiss monastic composer. His earliest education was in the Benedictine monastery in Engelberg, Switzerland, where he became a novice in 1725. By 1737 he had become the Kapellmeister at the monastery. In 1754 he also became parish priest at the town of Auw. His music shows affinities with the galant. Works include at least three Masses, an oratorio, 10 motets, a pastorella, six Marian antiphons, 15 offertories, around 40 sacred arias, and a host of smaller sacred works. IVANSCHIZ [IVANČIČ], PATER AMANDUS (bap. 24 DECEMBER 1727, WIENER NEUSTADT, AUSTRIA, TO 1758, GRAZ, AUSTRIA). Austro-Croatian clerical composer. Little is known of his training, save that
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it was probably in the city of Vienna, where in 1744 he was ordained as a member of the Pauline Order. In 1755 he was resident in the Maria Trost monastery in Graz, where he composed works for the local Jesuit college. As a composer, he was progressive stylistically with four-movement symphonies and a modern approach to form, which made his works popular throughout central Europe. These include 21 Masses, 19 litanies, seven oratorios, a Te Deum, a motet, a sacred cantata, and 23 symphonies, as well as smaller chamber works. IVERSEN, JOHAN ERASMUS (1713, COPENHAGEN, TO 1755, COPENHAGEN). Danish violinist and composer. After studies at the University of Copenhagen, he formed Det musikalske Selskab in 1744. When this dissolved in 1749, he created a collegium musicum to continue public concerts. At the same time, he was appointed as Precentor at the Vor Frue Kirke. His style derives from early Empfindsamkeit in the few compositions of his that survive. These include a symphony and several smaller pieces, but he is known to have written several large cantatas, including funeral music for his friend, playwright Ludvig Holberg.
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J JÁCARA. See VILLANCICO. JADIN, FRANÇOIS (7 AUGUST 1731, GRAY, FRANCE, TO 11 JUNE 1790, VERSAILLES, FRANCE). French bassoonist and composer. Following early education in Namur at the St. Aubain Church, he became an oboist in a military regiment in 1731. By 1760 he had obtained a position as bassoonist at the Royal Chapel in Versailles. He performed regularly at the Concerts spirituels beginning in 1768 and retired in 1786. Only a few pieces of music were known to have been written by him, most of them sonatas for his instrument. JADIN, HYACINTHE (27 APRIL 1776, VERSAILLES, FRANCE, TO 27 SEPTEMBER 1800, VERSAILLES). French composer and keyboardist. Son of François Jadin, he was trained by his father and Nicolas-Joseph Hüllmandel. He made his debut at the Concerts spirituels in 1789 and wrote for the Théâtre Feydeau during the French Revolution. In 1795 he was made professor of piano at the new Conservatoire. His works include three operas, two Revolutionary hymns, three romances, four piano concertos, 24 string quartets, three trios, and several violin sonatas. JADIN, JEAN-BAPTISTE (9 SEPTEMBER 1744, GRAY, FRANCE, TO 1790, PARIS). French composer and violinist. The brother of François Jadin, he was trained at Namur and entered the service of the Duke of Lorraine in Brussels in 1768. He then traveled to Paris, where his music was published. His works, little studied, include six string quartets, six symphonies, and six trios. JADIN, LOUIS-EMANUEL (21 SEPTEMBER 1768, VERSAILLES, FRANCE, TO 11 APRIL 1853, PARIS). French composer and theorist. Son of bassoonist François Jadin, he received his early training under Niccolò Piccinni in Paris and became a member of the Montansieur theatre company in 1783, performing at the various fair theatres throughout France. During the French Revolution he was a member of the Garde Nationale, and in 1796 he 291
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was appointed as teacher of Solfège at the Conservatoire. While he held this post off and on over the years, he also functioned as a theatre director during Napoleonic times. His music has been little studied but includes 27 operas, three sinfonia concertantes, two symphonies for wind band, two Revolutionary odes, and numerous songs. JAESCHKE, CHRISTIAN DAVID (7 JULY 1755, HERRNHUT, SAXONY, GERMANY, TO 22 OCTOBER 1827, HERRNHUT). German organist, educator, and composer. A member of one of the early Moravian Church families from Bohemia, he became a music teacher and organist at Ebersdorf early in his career. Jaeschke subsequently moved to Barby where he worked as a journalist at the Gemein-Nachrichten, and from 1786 he was appointed as organist at Herrnhut. His music consists of a large number of anthems, cantatas, arias, and sacred songs. Of special importance is a set of six large fugal motets. JANEIWICZ, FELIKS (1762, VILNIUS, POLAND [NOW LITHUANIA], TO 21 MAY 1848, EDINBURGH). Polish violinist and composer. Janeiwicz probably received his initial training in Warsaw, becoming a musician in the court orchestra of King Stanisław August in 1777. In 1784 he decided to move to Vienna, where he performed at various concerts for several years, and in 1787 he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels in Paris. There he was also employed in the orchestra of the duc d’Orléans. After the Revolution in 1792 he moved permanently to London, where he appeared in the Salomon concerts and toured frequently throughout the British Isles as a soloist. In 1800 he settled in Liverpool as a music seller, later moving permanently to Edinburgh in 1815. He was known for his adept and facile performances, characterized by a good technique particularly in the faster passages. His music is largely for his own instrument and consists of five violin concertos and six trios for two violins and cello. The style is reminiscent of Giovanni Battista Viotti. JANITSCH, JOHANN GOTTLIEB (19 JUNE 1708, SCHWEIDNITZ, SILESIA, GERMANY [NOW SWIDNICA, POLAND], TO ca. 1763, BERLIN). German composer. Trained in law at the University of Frankfurt an der Oder, he became personal secretary to Minister Franz von Happe in 1733. This brought him into contact with Crown Prince Frederick II, whose court he joined at Ruppin in 1736. When Frederick ascended the Prussian throne, Janitsch was made his personal chamber musician, and from 1740 on he often performed on the violin in the soirées held in Potsdam. As a composer, his style reflects the Empfindsamkeit of colleagues such as Carl
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Philipp Emanuel Bach and Carl Heinrich Graun. His works include six cantatas/funeral pieces, a Te Deum, three serenatas, eight symphonies, four concertos, 16 quartets, seven trio sonatas, and four keyboard sonatas. His 25 church and chamber sonatas, however, reflect Baroque practice. JANNACCONI, GIUSEPPE (1740, ROME, TO 16 MARCH 1816, ROME). Italian composer. A student of Gaetano Carpani, he was instructed in the stile antico, orchestrating numerous works of Giovanni Palestrina. In 1779 he became maestro di cappella at the Milan cathedral, and in 1811 he was appointed to the same post at St. Peter’s in Rome. His music includes 60 Masses, a Requiem, 35 Psalms, nine Magnificats, two litanies, two string quartets, and numerous other smaller sacred works. See also BASILI, FRANCESCO. JANSON, JEAN-BAPTISTE-AIMÉ JOSEPH (bap. 9 MARCH 1742, VALENCIENNES, FRANCE, TO 2 SEPTEMBER 1803, PARIS). French cellist and composer. Trained locally, he traveled to Paris where he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels in 1755. By 1764 he was employed in the orchestra of the Prince de Conti, and in the years that followed he toured Europe frequently. In 1777 he was made maître de musique to the French court, and in 1788 he became surintendant de musique to Louis XVI’s brother. In 1795 he was appointed to the Conservatoire, though he was released in 1803 due to political issues. His music includes a Mass, a Te Deum, a motet, 12 cello concertos, three symphonies, nine string quartets, six trios, and seven cello sonatas. See also JANSON, LOUIS-AUGUSTE-JOSEPH. JANSON, LOUIS-AUGUSTE-JOSEPH (8 JULY 1749, VALENCIENNES, FRANCE, TO ca. 1815, PARIS). French cellist and composer. The brother of Jean-Baptiste-Aimé Joseph Janson, he followed him to Paris, where he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels in 1773. By 1789 he was a regular cellist at the Opéra, from whose lists he disappears in 1815. His surviving music includes nine trios and 12 sonatas. JARNOVIĆ, IVAN MANE (26 OCTOBER 1747, MEDITERRANEAN SEA, TO 23 NOVEMBER 1804, ST. PETERSBURG). Also known as Giovanni Mani Giornovichi and John Jarnowick. Croatian violinist and composer. Born on board a ship bound for Italy from Dubrovnik, [now Croatia], he was baptized two days later in Palermo, Italy. At an early age he may have been sent to study with Antonio Lolli, and in 1773 he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels in Paris after having arrived there in 1770. His performance was successful enough to launch a career as a traveling virtuoso
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throughout Europe. In 1779 he obtained a post with Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia, but he left in 1783 due to a dispute with the cellist JeanPierre Duport, accepting an invitation by Catherine II to come to Russia. By 1790, however, he had moved to London, where he performed frequently in various concerts in the city. In 1802, however, he returned to St. Petersburg as a member of the court orchestra. Known as a facile and progressive violinist, a rival of Giovanni Battista Viotti, with whom he was close friends, he helped to create the French school of violin playing, even though his own personality was described as difficult. His own works largely reflect this focus and include 22 violin concertos, seven symphonies, six string quartets, 10 duos, and seven sonatas. JARNOWICK, JOHN. See JARNOVIĆ, IVAN MANE. JAUME DI ANDREU [JAUNANDREU], PADRE FELIP (1727, GRANELLES, VALLÈS ORIENTAL, CATALONIA, TO 1770, MONTSERRAT, CATALONIA). Catalan composer and organist. Little is known of his origins, save that he entered the Escolania de Montserrat and studied music under Padre Benet Julià i Ros. In 1743 he was ordained as a Benedictine monk and spent the rest of his life in the monastery there. He functioned as a substitute organist. His surviving works, both of which demonstrate a knowledge of the galant style, include a lengthy Lamentation and a motet. Other music has been lost. JÉLYOTTE, PIERRE DE (13 APRIL 1713, LASSEULE, PROVENCE, FRANCE, TO 12 OCTOBER 1793, PARIS). French singer and composer. Born in a small provincial town, he received his earliest education in Toulouse before moving to Paris in 1733. There he obtained a post at the Opéra, and in 1745 he became guitar teacher to the king. Over the next decade he presented concerts at the Concerts spirituels and by 1765 was active in the musical soirées of the Prince de Conti. His voice was noted for its high range in the countertenor. His music, little of which survives, includes motets for the Concerts, as well as smaller chamber works for keyboard and voice. He also wrote a novel titled Écoutez l’histoire. JENKS, STEPHEN (17 MARCH 1772, GLOUCESTER, RHODE ISLAND, UNITED STATES, TO 5 JUNE 1856, THOMPSON, OHIO). American psalmodist. After training in singing schools in Rhode Island and Connecticut, he taught music in New England and New York before moving to Ohio in 1829. His music consists of 127 works of psalmody.
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JERUSALEM Y STELLA [GERUSALEMME], IGNACIO DE (3 JUNE 1707, LECCE, ITALY, TO 15 DECEMBER 1769, MEXICO CITY). Italian-Mexican composer. Son of a violinist, he probably received his musical training from his father. He was subsequently employed as a theatre musician in Cádiz when, in 1742, he was persuaded to travel to Mexico City in New Spain to perform in the Teatro Coliseo. By 1750 he had become the maestro di capilla at the main cathedral. This led to difficulties with his secular position, causing significant problems with his health and economy for several years. This was complicated by a rocky relationship with Matheo Tollis de la Roca beginning in 1756. By the last years of his life, he had attained a reputation for brilliant performances at the cathedral. His music is firmly based in the galant or Empfindsamkeit styles, with a fine sense of rhythm and often bright orchestration. His music includes seven Masses, two Requiems, 42 motets drawn from vespers, 18 other motets, 11 Matins, three pastorals, four loas, and 84 villancicos. He also wrote Italian opera buffa for the Coliseo, though the several works have not survived. JOHANN, PATER ALEXIUS [JOHANN NIKOLAUS] (1 NOVEMBER 1753, MÜNNENSTADT, GERMANY, TO 28 JULY 1826, MAINZ, GERMANY). German monastic composer and organist. His earliest education was at the Augustinian Gymnasium in his hometown, from which in 1774 he entered the local monastery. He was then transferred to Freiburg am Breisgau, where he functioned as an organist, being ordained in 1778. In 1783 he left for the Augustinian monastery in Mainz. His music has been little explored, though it shows the influences of Michael Haydn. Works include numerous Masses and vespers, as well as smaller church works, a Requiem, a musical drama, and several Singspiels. JOHNSEN, HINRICH PHILIP (1717, GOTTORP, HOLSTEIN, [GERMANY], TO 19 FEBRUARY 1779, STOCKHOLM). German-Swedish composer. Though his birthplace and actual date of birth remain unknown, he probably received his musical training in Hamburg, possibly under Georg Philipp Telemann, and entered the service of Duke Adolph Frederick in Eutin, Holstein, in 1735 as a cembalo player. A performance of his opera Die verkaufte Braut in 1742 elevated him to the position of Kapellmeister, and when the duke was called to Sweden the following year, Johnsen moved along with him to Stockholm. In 1745 he was appointed as organist at the St. Clara Church and in 1753 keyboard instructor to the Queen of Sweden. Active in the public concert series, he also functioned as Kapelmästare to the resident French troupe as well as creating several early Gustavian op-
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eras, including a revision of Handel’s Acis and Galatea. His works include two symphonies; nine works for the stage, including the operas Neptun och Amphitrite and Aeglé; a book of chorales; 27 songs, including a set 24 Oder af våra bästa Poëter Arbeten (Stockholm, 1753); several autonomous sacred cantatas; a concerto for cembalo, horn, and two bassoons; and a number of duo and trio sonatas. His works have been cataloged by Nordenfelt-Åberg. No editions of his music have been published, but his style is similar to North German Empfindsamkeit. JOMMELLI, NICCOLÒ (10 SEPTEMBER 1714, AVERSA, NEAR NAPLES, TO 25 AUGUST 1774, NAPLES). Italian composer. Following early musical training as a chorister at the Aversa church, he entered the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana in 1725 to study under Ignazio Prota and Francesco Feo. Three years later he transferred to the Conservatorio di Santa Maria della Pietà dei Turchini, where he studied voice and keyboard. During this time he became friends with Johann Adolph Hasse, and in 1737 he had his first opera, L’errore amorosa, premiered at the Teatro novo with considerable success. In 1740 a commissioned work for Rome, Ricinero di Goti, was performed at the Teatro Argentina, leading to further commissions throughout Italy. In 1741 he arrived in Bologna to produce one of these, and in the process he began sporadic study with Padre Giovanni Battista Martini, eventually being admitted to the prestigious Accademia filarmonica. In 1745 Hasse recommended him for the post of maestro di capella at the Ospedale degli Incurabili in Venice, but despite the advantages of the position, a year later he was in Rome preparing for the production of one of his most important works, the opera seria Didone abbandonata. A short joint-appointment to the Vatican along with Davide Perez followed, but by 1753 he journeyed north to Vienna and then Stuttgart, where he became Kapellmeister to Duke Karl-Eugen of Württemberg. In 1768 he returned to Naples in retirement, working almost until his death and despite a stroke that debilitated him in 1771. Jommelli was regarded as one of the most significant composers of the entire period by his contemporaries; Christian Daniel Friedrich Schubart indeed called him one of the leading musical geniuses of the time. His approach to both comic and serious was highly progressive, reducing the dominance of the voice by increasing the function and texture of the orchestral accompaniment. He was one of the first to introduce expanded finales, and his colorful orchestration, innovative use of dynamics and harmony, as well as his use of obbligato recitative, were all hallmarks that inspired and influenced others throughout Europe. He was an internationally recognized figure. His music consists of 80 operas, 12 serenatas, 15 oratorios, 20 Masses, and almost 200
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sacred works ranging from Lamentations to Psalm settings. His instrumental music is less prolific but includes four concertos (one flute, three keyboard), six sonatas for flute/violin, five trio sonatas, nine string quartets (and one flute quartet), two divertimentos, and numerous smaller keyboard works. See also APRILE, GIUSEPPE; CANNABICH, CHRISTIAN INNOCENZ BONAVENTURA; DELLER, FLORIAN JOHANN; RIGEL, HENRI-JOSEPH; SALOMONI, GIUSEPPE, SR.; SCHACHT, FREIHERR THEODOR VON; TERRADELLAS, DOMINGO MIGUEL BERNABE. JUANAS, [JUAN] ANTONIO DE (ca. 1755, SPAIN, TO AFTER 1819, SPAIN). Spanish-Novohispanic composer. Little is known of his youth or education, but in 1780 he was appointed as maestro de capilla at the cathedral in Alcalá de Henares. About 1790 he immigrated to New Spain, arriving in Mexico and a year later being appointed at the main cathedral in Mexico City. During the Napoleonic times, however, he was censured for his Republican sympathies, eventually resigning and returning to Spain in 1819. A competent if conservative composer, he left over 250 works, including three villancicos, 24 Masses, five Requiems, 12 Matins, 37 vesper portions, 42 motets, four Passions, 11 Te Deums, a set of Lamentations, and numerous other smaller works. JUGUETAS. A genre popular particularly in New Spain that comprises part songs in the vernacular. JUHAN, [STEPHEN] ALEXANDER (1765, FALMOUTH, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA, TO 12 AUGUST 1845, PHILADELPHIA). CanadianAmerican composer and violinist. Son of a music teacher who moved to Boston in 1768, he was trained in Charleston, South Carolina, by his father and by 1783 had moved to Philadelphia to perform as a violinist and as manager of the city concerts. In 1787 he quarreled with Andrew Adgate and returned to Charleston, where he was active in the St. Cecilia Society. Upon his return to Philadelphia in 1791 he once more became part of the concert life. He apparently also served in the military during the War of 1812. As a composer, his music consists of a set of six violin sonatas, a number of songs, and several solos for violin. JULIÀ I ROS, PADRE BENET (FEBRUARY 1727, TORROELLA DE MONTGRÍ, CATALONIA, TO 5 DECEMBER 1787, MONTSERRAT, CATALONIA). Catalan monastic composer and organist. A student at the Escolania de Montserrat while still a child, he entered the monastery as a Benedictine monk in 1745, being ordained in 1754, the same year he was
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appointed organist and teacher at the Escolania. He remained there his entire life, teaching future composers such as Narcís Casanoves. His compositions include several sonatas for organ, two Requiems, a Miserere, several responsories, and a sonata for two trumpets (probably organ stops). His style is conservative but shows traces of the galant. See also JAUME DI ANDREU, PADRE FELIP. JUNCÀ FERRÉ, MELCIOR (5 JANUARY 1757, SANT JOAN DE LES ABADESSES, SPAIN, TO 28 DECEMBER 1828, TARRAGONA, SPAIN). Spanish-Catalonian composer. Born in a small town in the Pyrenees that contains a large monastery, he was sent to Barcelona to study music at the Vic cathedral with Antoni Jordi. In 1789 he moved to Tarragona, where he obtained the post of maestro di capilla and teacher at the school of Sant Bernat. In 1809 he resigned from his post and served at the San Augustín church for the remainder of his life. He wrote one theoretical treatise, La Melopea desconoscida, and was active as a composer of sacred music, including 26 Lamentations, as well as numerous Masses, Psalms, motets, antiphons, and sacred songs. His music has remained little studied. JUNCÀ I CAROL, FRANCESC (28 NOVEMBER 1742, SABADELL, CATALONIA, TO 19 JUNE 1833, GIRONA, CATALONIA). Catalan composer. Following training in music at the Escolania de Montserrat, he obtained a position as organist at the basilica of Sant Maria del Mar in Barcelona. In 1769 he served the convent Descalzas Reales in Madrid, and in 1774 he was mestre de capella at the Girona cathedral. In 1780 he left for a similar post at the Toledo cathedral but returned to Girona after 1810. His music has remained unstudied, and only a few sacred works have survived. JUNGBAUER, PATER COELESTIN [FRANZ FERDINAND] (6 JULY 1747, GRATTERSDORF, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 25 MARCH 1823, INGOLSTADT, GERMANY). German monastic composer and teacher. Following studies in music at the monastery school in Niederaltaich, Bavaria, he entered the universities in Freising and Salzburg to study literature and philosophy. In 1769 he joined the Benedictine order in Niederaltaich, being ordained in 1772. Following service as a priest in Straubing and Amberg, in 1788 he became parish priest in Grossmehring near Ingolstadt, later serving at the Ingolstadt Liebfraumünster. His music is homophonic and reflects religious sentimentality, being often compared with that of Michael Haydn. His surviving works include six Masses, several Mass movements, three litanies, four vespers, a Te Deum, a Miserere, a Stabat mater, and eight volumes of Lieder published in 1782.
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JUST, JOHANN AUGUST (1750, GRONINGEN, NETHERLANDS, TO DECEMBER, 1791, THE HAGUE). Dutch composer, keyboardist, and violinist. Little or nothing is known of his origins or training, although early lexicographers suggested he studied with Johann Kirnberger in Berlin and Friedrich Schwindl in The Hague. He did achieve an excellent reputation as a violinist and keyboard player, but he spent his entire career as a music master at the court of Orange in The Hague, where he instructed Princess Wilhelmina. He may also have been a frequent visitor to London, where a number of works were published, including a set of symphonies (titled Overtures) as his Op. 8. He was one of the earliest composers of Singspiels in the Netherlands, and his Koopman van Smyrna was even performed (in German) in northern Germany. His style is largely similar to Berlin composers such as Johann Reichardt, although his keyboard music has elements of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. A treatise on keyboard pedagogy attributed to him cannot be verified. His music includes three operas (Singspiels), six Lieder (Op. 3, published in London in 1772), two cantatas, six symphonies, nine keyboard concertos, a violin concerto, 20 keyboard sonatas (plus six for pianoforte four-hands), 36 violin sonatas, six sonatinas for two violins, 12 flute/violin duos, and a number of smaller keyboard works.
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K KAA, FRANZ IGNAZ (bap. 27 OCTOBER 1739, OFFENBURG, GERMANY, TO 8 MAY 1818, KÖLN [COLOGNE], GERMANY). German composer. He received his early education from Johann Adolph Hasse in Dresden before traveling to Italy to study for two years. In 1772 he was a musician, possibly kapelmeester at The Hague, but in 1777 he found employment as Kapellmeister at the cathedral in Cologne. In 1794 he was dismissed by the French governor after the invasion of the Rhineland by French troops. Thereafter he made a precarious living as a private teacher and by selling musical instruments. His music is contrapuntally rich but imitates the Mannheim School. His works include nine Masses, a responsory, two motets, two Psalms, 21 symphonies, 24 quartets, and 18 trios. KAFFKA [KAWKA], JOHANN CHRISTOPH (1754, REGENSBURG, TO ca. 1810, RIGA). German singer, composer, and violinist, also known under the name Johann Christoph Engelmann. Son of violinist Josef Kaffka, he was trained by his father and theorist Joseph Riepel at the Thurn und Taxis court in Regensburg. Thereafter he studied to become a priest, changing his name in preparation, though this apparently did not occur. In 1775 he joined the Brunian troupe in Prague as musical director, thereafter functioning as a singer, actor, and composer with various troupes throughout Germany and Austria until 1789, when he finally moved to Breslau. During this period he was well known for his Singspiels, although he was often accused of plagiarizing other composers. In 1783 he attempted to publish a periodical titled Musikalischer Beytrag für Liebhaber des deutschen Singspiels containing arrangements of popular Singspiel tunes for chamber ensemble. This lasted only two issues. In 1803 he could be found in Riga, where he became a bookseller and performed for the public concerts only rarely. His music is typical of the Singspiels of the time, performed with limited ranges and simple accompaniment. His most important work is a melodrama titled Rosamunde, although he also composed both sacred music and symphonies. His works include 14 Singspiels, two oratorios, a Mass, a Requiem, three arias, and four symphonies. See also KAFFKA, WILHELM.
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KAFFKA, JOSEF (ca. 1730, BOHEMIA, TO 1796, REGENSBURG). German-Bohemian violinist and composer. Nothing is known about his early life or training, but he arrived in Regensburg as a violinist around 1750, settling there for the remainder of his life in the service of the court of Thurn und Taxis. Although he was active as a composer, only a Missa solemnis has survived. He is the father of violinist Wilhelm Kaffka and composer Johann Christoph Kaffka. KAFFKA, WILHELM (11 JULY 1751, REGENSBURG, TO 1806, REGENSBURG). German violinist and composer. Son of Josef Kaffka and brother of Johann Christoph Kaffka, he was trained by his father and spent his entire life as a violinist in the service of the court of Thurn und Taxis in Regensburg. He eventually rose to become concertmaster of the court orchestra. His only surviving composition appears to be a divertimento for nine instruments, although he is said to have composed other works. KAMMEL, ANTONÍN (bap. 21 APRIL 1730, BĚLĚC, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 5 OCTOBER 1788, LONDON). Bohemian violinist. Born on the Wallenstein estate, he attended the Patris Piares College in Slaný before moving to Prague to attend university in law beginning in 1751. When he decided to dedicate his life to music, he was sent by Count Vincent of Waldstein to Padua to study with Giuseppe Tartini. By 1765 he had made London his residence, performing frequently as a musician in the royal chambers with colleagues Carl Friedrich Abel and Johann Christian Bach. He frequently toured England as a soloist, and he had a reputation for performing adagios in a fine, sensitive manner. His music includes 12 symphonies, 12 divertimentos, two violin concertos, 18 string quartets, 60 duos, and 24 violin sonatas; much of his music, especially for voice, appears to have been lost. Kapellmeister. Also Kapelmester, Kapelmeester, Kapellmästare, Kapellmaestare, Mestre de capella, Mestre da capila, Maestro di cappella, Maître de Chapelle, Maestro di Capilla, Chapelmaster. The musical director for courts or municipalities, whose duties were often to direct and coordinate the musical activities for their places of employment. They were almost always active as composers as well, whose works were written either on commission or as a requirement of their position, generally for special celebrations, occasions, and such. They also performed and directed from the keyboard as a continuo player. Nomination to the post could be either direct or honorary, and several people could retain the title simultaneously in larger courts or centers such as Vienna or Dresden.
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KAPELMESTER, KAPELMEESTER, KAPELLMÄSTARE, KAPELLMAESTARE. See KAPELLMEISTER. KAUCHLITZ, JOHANN. See COLIZZI, JOHANN ANDREAS. KAUER, FERDINAND (18 JANUARY 1751, KLEIN-THAYA, MORAVIA [NOW DYJÁKOVICE, CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 13 APRIL 1831, VIENNA). Moravian-Austrian composer. He received his early education in Znaim from the Jesuits, later continuing his studies at Tyrnau in medicine, theology, and philosophy. Around 1777 he moved to Vienna as a teacher of keyboard while also working as a local church organist and with Artaria as a proofreader. He studied composition with Anton Zimmermann and soon obtained additional work as a violinist at the Leopoldstadt Theatre. There he became assistant to Wenzel Müller, writing his first Singspiels. During the 1790s he met with considerable success with the Singspiels Das Faustrecht in Thüringen and Die Löwenritter, both of which were continued through several successful sequels. In 1810 he went to Graz as Kapellmeister, but returned to Vienna until 1818, when he was dismissed from his position. He lived the remainder of his life in extreme poverty, losing nearly everything in 1830 in the Danube flood. As a composer, Kauer has been all but forgotten, though he wrote popular music in the style of Carl von Dittersdorf. His works include 19 Singspiels, 10 oratorios, 14 Masses, three Requiems, 30 symphonies (including one on Wellington’s Victory), seven concertos, several small chamber works with strings, and numerous keyboard works. KAYSER, PATER AEMILIAN (1749, OBERNDORF AM NECKAR, GERMANY, TO 1831, PETERSHAUSEN, GERMANY). German monastic composer and organist. After entering the Benedictine order in Petershausen near Konstanz around 1770, he often traveled to the monastery at Weingarten. His surviving music includes a Magnificat, two vesper settings, a motet, a Marian antiphon, and a sacred aria. KAYSER, PATER ISTFRID (13 MARCH 1713, TÜRKHEIM AN DER WERTAUCH, NEAR AUGSBURG, GERMANY, TO 1 MARCH 1771, MARCHTAL MONASTERY, BAVARIA, GERMANY). German monastic composer. The son of a village organist, he was sent to Munich at an early age to be trained in music. There he was encouraged to enter the Premonstraterian order of the Benedictines, and by 1732 he had entered the order at Marchtal monastery. In 1741 he was named regens chori but subsequently spent several years ministering as a parish priest. He returned to Marchtal, becoming sub-prior in 1763. His music reflects the developing galant style
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prevalent in the Bavarian monastic communities of the time, including often larger forces. His works were published in a series of eight operas and include 18 sacred arias, six Masses, five sets of vespers, a series of keyboard suites or partitas, and 24 offertories. KAYSER, PHILIPP CHRISTOPH (10 MARCH 1755, FRANKFURT AM MAIN, TO 24 DECEMBER 1823, OBERSTFUSS, NEAR ZÜRICH). German-Swiss composer. The son of an organist, he received his early training from his father before moving to Zürich in 1775 as organist at the main church. A close friend of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, he followed the author to Rome in 1787, but after noting the advancements in musical composition in the German Singspiel, he abandoned his own attempts to set Goethe’s works to music and indeed composed no further works. He is best known for his over 100 Lieder, many to Goethe’s texts, but he also attempted to set two other of this author’s pieces to music, the opera List und Rache and incidental music for Egmont. Other pieces include a cantata and several choral sacred works. KEHL, JOHANN BALTHASAR (24 AUGUST 1724, COBURG, GERMANY, TO 7 APRIL 1778, BAYREUTH, GERMANY). German organist, cellist, and composer. He began his education at the Ratsschule in Coburg in 1733 and in 1742 moved to Bayreuth, where he studied under Johann Pfeiffer. Appointed as cellist in the court musical ensemble, he eventually decided on a career in church music, becoming organist at the Neustädter Kirche in Erlangen in 1762, where his students included Johann Paul Schulthesius and Johann Wilhelm Stadler. In 1774 he returned to Bayreuth as stadtkantor, becoming blind a year or so before his death. His music has been little studied, although Johann Adam Hiller considered his oratorios the epitome of good, large-scale choral composition. His surviving music includes two oratorios, some ballets, a harpsichord concerto, seven keyboard sonatas, a few miscellaneous keyboard works, and a collection of chorales published in 1764. KEISER [KAISER], PATER GEROLD [KARL] (17 JANUARY 1780, ZUG, SWITZERLAND, TO 1827, PIGUERA, SPAIN). Swiss Benedictine composer. Trained at the local schools in Zug, he entered the monastery in Einsiedeln in 1796. In 1798 he fled the advance of French troops to the Tirol in Austria, but returned in 1803 to Zug, where he became a secular priest. The following year he was appointed teacher at the local Gymnasium there, a post he held until his retirement in 1824. Thereafter he served as chaplain to the French army in Spain. His music consists of two Masses, an overture to August von Kotzebue’s Eremiten auf Fromentera, and a dedication song.
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KELLNER, JOHANN CHRISTOPH (5 AUGUST 1736, GRÄFENRODA, THURINGIA, GERMANY, TO 1803, KASSEL, GERMANY). German composer and organist. Son of Johann Peter Kellner, he received his earliest musical education from his father before moving in 1754 to Gotha, where he studied under Jiří Antonín Benda. By 1762 he obtained positions in Amsterdam and The Hague, but in 1764 he was hired as cantor and organist at the main Lutheran church in Kassel. There he published his treatise Grundriß der Generalbasses in 1783. His music reflects the style of his teacher Benda. Works include seven cantatas, 11 keyboard concertos, a Singspiel, a serenata (chamber group), two violin sonatas, a trio sonata, numerous songs, and a host of keyboard (mainly organ) works. KELLNER, JOHANN PETER (28 SEPTEMBER 1705, GRÄFENRODA, THURINGIA, GERMANY, TO 19 APRIL 1772, GRÄFENRODA). German organist and composer. Following early studies under both Johann Peter and Johann Heinrich Nagel, he moved in 1720 to Zella to study organ under Johann Schmidt and the following year under Hieronymous Quehl in Suhl. In 1725 he was appointed as cantor at Frankenrein, but in 1727 he returned to his hometown to become assistant to Johann Peter Nagel, whose post he took over in 1732. Best known for his promotion of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, his own compositional efforts largely reflect those of his idol. However, beginning in the 1740s he began to change his style to reflect galant practice. Works in this new style include the five keyboard sonatas published in 1752, as well as the compendium Manipulus musices (1752–1759). He also composed a complete cycle of Lutheran church cantatas in 1753, which have been lost. His surviving 36 cantatas demonstrate a growing use of the new stylistic idiom. See also KELLNER, JOHANN CHRISTOPH; KIRNBERGER, JOHANN PHILIPP; REMBT, JOHANN ERNST. KELLY, MICHAEL WILLIAM (25 DECEMBER 1762, DUBLIN, IRELAND, TO 9 OCTOBER 1826, MARGATE, ENGLAND). Irish singer, composer, and music publisher. The son of an Irish official, he was trained by Matteo Rauzzini in Dublin, making his debut as a tenor in 1777. In 1779 he went to Naples to study voice, eventually performing in numerous Italian cities. In 1783 he was recruited by Count Giacomo Durazzo for the Italian opera in Vienna, where he became a friend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and excelled in comic roles. In 1787 he returned to London, where he sang at Drury Lane Theatre and composed operas for the stage. In 1801 he set up a music publishing house, which went bankrupt in 1811. Kelly is known primarily for his Musical Reminiscences; published in 1825, it contains an entertaining account of his activities and friends in the musical and theatrical
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world. As a businessman he was less successful, and his music was often regarded as being plagiarized. Thomas Sheridan noted that he was a “composer of wine and importer of music,” adding to a reputation wherein he left much of the work for harmonization and orchestration of his works to others, even when the works were not paraphrases. Only three complete operas can be attributed to him, although he contributed music to as many as 60 others, in addition to numerous arias or duets, a ballet, and six trio sonatas. See also STORACE, NANCY; STORACE, STEPHEN. KENNIS, WILLEM-GOMMAAR [GUILLAUME-GOMMAIRE] (30 APRIL 1717, LIER, NEAR ANTWERP, BELGIUM, TO 10 MAY 1789, LEUVEN, BELGIUM). Flemish composer and organist. He received his earliest musical education from his father, Pieter Kennis. In 1728 he was a violinist at the St. Gommarus Church in Lier, and by 1742 he had become Kapelmeester. In 1750 he obtained the same post at the Pieterskerk in Leuven, where he remained his entire life. His music, little studied, reflects the galant style, and Charles Burney remarked upon his technical virtuosity as a performer. His music includes 10 sacred works (including a Te Deum and two Requiems), 24 trio sonatas, 24 sonatas for string duet, six symphonies, and 12 violin sonatas, as well as six string quartets. His music has been cataloged by Huybens and van Buyten. KERZELLI, FRANTS IOSIFOVICH (ca. 1730, MOSCOW[?], TO AFTER 1794, MOSCOW). Russian composer and cellist. Nothing is known about the composer, other than he was the son of Iosif Kerzelli, brother of Ivan Iosifovich Kerzelli, and that his two sons, Mikhail Frantsevich Kerzelli and Ivan Frantsevich Kerzelli both became composers of popular opera. Among the works most likely to have been composed by him are several folk operas and a cello concerto. He taught at the Musical College in Moscow for the greater part of his career. KERZELLI, IOSIF (ca. 1710, VIENNA[?], TO AFTER 1775, MOSCOW). Russian music journalist and composer. He was probably the first generation of a prominent family in Moscow of Italian origins who immigrated there during the reign of Empress Elisabeth. He was one of the main editors of a journal, Muzykalye useveniya [Musical Amusements], for which he wrote a number of works (trios, arias, choruses, etc.). He also established a College of Music in Moscow, employing his sons and grandsons as teachers. KERZELLI, IVAN FRANTSEVICH (1760, MOSCOW, TO 14 MAY 1820, MOSCOW). Russian composer. Like his brother Mikhail Kerzelli, he probably received his musical training from his father or his uncle. He
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is listed as a violinist in the Znemenka orchestra but later became musical director of the Petrovsky theatre. He is known to have composed seven folk operas, most of which were between 1790 and 1800. KERZELLI, IVAN IOSIFOVICH (ca. 1735, VIENNA[?], TO AFTER 1780, MOSCOW). Russian composer and impresario. He probably received his musical education from his father. He first appears in 1773 as the musical director of the Znemenka troupe in Moscow, where his opera Derevenskoy vorozheya [The Village Soothsayer], a gloss on Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Le devin du village, achieved a solid success, becoming the first opera printed in Russia. Thereafter he wrote a further six folk operas, all of which were performed by his troupe in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but he appears to have resigned in 1780 at the height of his success. His later life is unknown. It is difficult to ascertain what other works were written by him, given that many sources only list the last name as author. But his operas are noted for their folk elements and instrumental color. KERZELLI, MIKHAIL FRANTSEVICH (PROBABLY 1755, VIENNA, TO DECEMBER 1818, MOSCOW). Russian composer. Son of Frants Kerzelli, he probably received his musical training from his father or his uncle. He became known as a violinist in Moscow, composing six string quartets, violin duets, and many works for Russian horn band. He also composed four operas, including Derevensky prazdnik [The Village Feast], his first success in 1777. KHAN, NIYAMAT. See SADARANG. KHANDOSHKIN, IVAN YEVSTAFYEVICH (1747, TO 29 MARCH 1804, ST. PETERSBURG). Russian violinist and composer. The son of a serf, Khandoshkin studied violin with Giovanni Porta, and by 1765 he was appointed as a violinist in the court Kapelle, later instructing at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1783 he was concertmaster with the Karl Kniper Free Theatre (Gorodskoy Derevyanny Theatre), but in 1785 he was engaged by Potoymkin for the staff of a new academy of music at Yekaterinoslav. When this enterprise failed, he returned to St. Petersburg, where he was eventually awarded the title of Kapellmeister. Khandoshkin had a reputation as Russia’s best violinist of the 18th century. Like other composers, he drew his musical sources from folk tunes. The number of compositions he wrote and published is sparse, only six violin sonatas, three sonatas for unaccompanied violin, six variations for violin and viola, and several variations on Russian folk songs. A viola concerto said to be by him is a falsification.
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KHAYAL. A style of music developed by Sadarang in India during the 18th century consisting of a single line modal (raga) melodic line and no harmony. It is sung in a special historical tradition (Dhrupal) that uses glissandos (meend) and has a text taken from Hindi love poetry. KIMBALL, JACOB (15 FEBRUARY 1761, TOPSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES, TO 24 JULY 1826, TOPSFIELD). American psalmodist. He served in the Revolutionary War as a fifer, and by 1780 he had graduated from Harvard College in law. He later became a schoolmaster and singing teacher in his hometown. He published many of his 124 works in The Rural Harmony in 1793 and The Essex Harmony of 1800. KIRMAIR, FRIEDRICH JOSEPH (1770, MUNICH, TO 1814, GOTHA, GERMANY). German pianist and composer. He studied keyboard with his father, Wolfgang Kirmair, after which he embarked upon a career as a touring concert pianist. In 1795 he was appointed as music teacher to the Prussian court in Berlin, following which in 1803 he became Konzertmeister in Gotha. His fame rests upon a fortepiano sonata based upon the themes from Die Zauberflöte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. His music includes several piano concertos and a concerto for bassoon, at least 20 fortepiano sonatas, and numerous smaller pieces. KIRNBERGER, JOHANN PHILIPP (bap. 24 APRIL 1721, SAALFELD, GERMANY, TO 27 JULY 1783, BERLIN). German theorist and composer. He received his earliest education in Coburg before becoming a student of Johann Peter Kellner and Heinrich Nikolas Gerber, the latter of whom introduced him to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Kirnberger subsequently went to Leipzig to study under Bach for several years prior to a period as a freelance musician working in various churches and courts in eastern Prussia and Poland in 1741. Several years later he arrived in Dresden to study violin, and in 1751 he joined the Kapelle in Berlin as a violinist. Never part of the Berlin School, he focused on theoretical works, beginning with the 1757 Der allzeit fertige Polonoisen- und Menuettencomponist, a compilation drawn from his early career. This was followed in 1760 by the Construction der gleichschwebenden Temperatur on keyboard tuning. In 1758 he was appointed as composition teacher of Princess Anna Amalia, a post that allowed him to concentrate on theoretical projects, including the dissemination and publication of Bach’s organ music and chorales. He was known during his career as extremely precise but irascible. His compositions include two symphonies in the galant style; 10 flute sonatas; 10 trio sonatas; sonatas for the violin, oboe, and keyboard; as well as a motet and
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numerous chorale preludes and fugues for organ. He is better known for his theoretical treatises, Die Kunst des reinen Satzes in der Musik (four volumes, 1771–1779), which explains Bach’s counterpoint; the Clavier-übungen (four volumes, 1761–1766); and the Grundsätze des Generalbasses (1781). In all, he published nine treatises on music theory, as well as 112 articles for Sulzer’s Allgemeine Theorie der schönen Kunste. See also STEIBELT, DANIEL GOTTLIEB. KITTEL, JOHANN CHRISTIAN (18 FEBRUARY 1732, ERFURT, GERMANY, TO 17 APRIL 1809, ERFURT). German composer and organist. Following early training under Jacob Adlung in Erfurt, he moved in 1748 to Leipzig, where he became a favorite student of Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1756 he was appointed as organist at the Barfüßerkirche in Erfurt, and in 1762 he obtained the same post at the Predigerkirche. He remained in Erfurt the rest of his life, save for a concert tour to Hamburg in 1800. His most important work is his three-volume Der angehende praktische Organist published between 1801 and 1808, in which he provided examples of good albeit conservative counterpoint in readable form. Other published works include several volumes of chorales/chorale-preludes in four parts, as well as 62 other chorale preludes, and six keyboard sonatas. His students include Johann Christian Rinck and probably Joseph Martin Kraus. See also ADLUNG, JAKOB. KLAUSEK [CLAUSEK], JOHANN IGNAZ [JAN IGNÁC] (ca. 1720, RAKOVNÍC, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO ca. 1775, MAINZ). German composer and woodwind player. Trained at the Collegium in Braunau, he was appointed a teacher at the Ritterakademie in Ettal in 1737. A few years later Duke Carl Thomas von Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort made him his court musical director, and in 1747 he performed in the orchestra at the court of Oettingen-Wallerstein as a flautist/oboist. In 1755 he obtained a similar position with the Kurfürst of Mainz, where he vanishes from history. His surviving music includes a symphony, two trio sonatas, and 12 minuets, but much has probably been lost. KLEINKNECHT, CHRISTIAN LUDWIG (12 AUGUST 1765, BAYREUTH, GERMANY, TO 11 MARCH 1794, ANSBACH, GERMANY). German composer and violinist. Son of Jacob Friedrich Kleinknecht, he studied with his father before moving to Leipzig in 1788 to attend university. By 1789, however, he had returned to Ansbach, where the court had moved from Bayreuth in 1769, as a violinist. Of his compositions, only a flute concerto and a violin sonata have survived.
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KLEINKNECHT, JACOB FRIEDRICH (bap. 8 JUNE 1722, ULM, GERMANY, TO 11 AUGUST 1794, ANSBACH, GERMANY). German flautist, violinist, and composer. Son of Johannes Kleinknecht (1676–1751) and brother of Johann Wolfgang Kleinknecht, he studied music under his father, joining his brother in Bayreuth in 1743 as a flautist. Four years later he changed instruments to the violin, and subsequently became first deputy Kapellmeister in 1748 and full Kapellmeister in 1761. In 1769 the court moved to Ansbach, where he served out the remainder of his career. Mainly a composer of chamber works, he wrote two symphonies, seven concertos, two flute sonatas, a keyboard sonata, and 34 trios for various instrumentation. KLEINKNECHT, JOHANN STEPHAN (17 SEPTEMBER 1731, ULM, GERMANY, TO 1796, ANSBACH, GERMANY). German flautist and composer. Although he received musical education under his father, he studied philosophy at the Gymnasium in Ulm, before joining his brothers Jacob Friedrich and Johann Wolfgang Kleinknecht at the Electoral court in Bayreuth in 1750. Although he briefly served with the Archbishop of Breslau, by 1754 he settled into life in Bayreuth and later 1769 in Ansbach, the new home of the Kapelle. His surviving music consists of a series of flute sonatas. KLEINKNECHT, JOHANN WOLFGANG (17 APRIL 1715, ULM, GERMANY, TO 20 FEBRUARY 1786, ANSBACH, GERMANY). German violinist and composer. The son of organist Johannes Kleinknecht (1676–1751), he studied with his father and at the Gymnasium in Ulm. In 1733 he was active at the Kapelle in Stuttgart, subsequently moving to Eisenach as first violinist. In 1738 he obtained a post at Bayreuth, later moving with the Kapelle to Ansbach in 1769. As a composer he was an early proponent of the galant style. His works include a symphony, nine concertos, 28 trio sonatas, six violin sonatas, two partitas, eight duets, and a substantial amount of other works that have been lost. KNECHT, HEINRICH JUSTINIUS (30 SEPTEMBER 1752, BIBERACH, WÜRTTEMBERG, GERMANY, TO 1 DECEMBER 1817, BIBERACH). German composer, theorist, and organist. After initial studies in music at Biberach, he moved a short distance to Eßlingen to study organ in 1768. He returned to his hometown in 1771 as Lutheran preceptor and music director, a post he held until 1792. He then resigned to become organist at St. Martin’s Church, where he remained the rest of his life, save for a year spent in nearby Stuttgart as “orchestra director” in 1807. Knecht was best known during his lifetime for his organ performance, writing in 1795 a tutorial, the Orgelschule. In 1784 he also wrote a theoretical treatise correcting harmonic
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issues in the method of Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler. His music includes 15 operas (many of them Singspiels), five Psalms, 10 cantatas, a Te Deum, an ode, four symphonies (all of which bear titles), a trio sonata, three duets, and a large amount of music for organ. KNĔŽEK [KNISCHEK], JAN VÁCLAV [JOHANN WENCESLAUS] (1745, PRAGUE, TO 1806, REGENSBURG, GERMANY). German clarinetist and composer. Little is known of his youth or training, save that he was closely associated with the family of Jan Ladislav Dussek. Early in his career he formed a friendship with Jan Václav Stich (Giovanni Punto), with whom he traveled illegally as a virtuoso clarinetist. In 1791 he was appointed to the Kapelle in Regensburg, where he remained for the rest of his life. His music has been all but forgotten, save for those works associated with his own instrument. Surviving music includes three clarinet concertos, 12 partitas, a Mass, three graduals, and a vesper setting. KNÖFERLE [KNEVERLE], FRANZ HEINRICH WENDELIN (11 OCTOBER 1746, EICHSTÄTT, GERMANY, TO 1811, EICHSTÄTT). German bassoonist, organist, tenor, and composer. As a composer, little is known about his training or career, save that in 1783 he was appointed organist at the court of the Prince Archbishop of Eichstätt, apparently his hometown. He also functioned as a tenor in the local theatre, as well as a bassoonist in the court orchestra. His surviving music includes an ode, two concertos for two bassoons, a concert aria, and two sacred hymns. KOBRICH, JOHANN ANTON (30 MAY 1714, LANDSBERG, GERMANY, TO 9 AUGUST 1791, LANDSBERG). German organist and composer. The son of a local organist, he received his earliest training from his father. Upon his father’s death, he succeeded to the position, remaining there his entire life. His music includes 72 Masses, six Requiems, 12 published sets of keyboard works, and much other sacred music, all of which has remained all but unknown. KOCH, HEINRICH CHRISTOPH (10 OCTOBER 1749, RUDOLSTADT, THURINGIA, GERMANY, TO 17 MARCH 1816, RUDOLSTADT). German violinist, composer, and theorist. At an early age Koch began his studies with local Kapellmeister Christian Gotthelf Scheinpflug, entering the Rudolstadt Kapelle as a violinist at an early age. Following further training in Weimar, Dresden, and Berlin, he returned to his hometown for the remainder of his life. Although appointed Kapellmeister in 1792, he resigned after only one year to remain concertmaster. As a composer, he
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wrote chamber works as well as cantatas, most of which have been lost. There is also a Singspiel, Die Stimme der Freude in Hygeens Haine, of 1790, and seven symphonies. What has survived has generally been quoted in his eight theoretical works, of which the three-volume Versuch einer Anleitung zur Composition (1782–1793), containing an early description of the sonata principle, and the Musikalisches Lexikon of 1802 received widespread distribution. KOČVARA [KOTZWARA], FRANTIŠEK [FRANZ, FRANCIS] (1730, PRAGUE, TO 2 FEBRUARY 1791, LONDON). Bohemian contrabassist and composer. Little is known about his early life or education. He first appeared in 1775 in London, where he had arrived as an itinerant musician. There he became involved in the cultural life of the city, performing and publishing his music, mainly sonatas. His most famous composition, The Battle for Prague, appears to have been written here in commemoration of an event from 1758. He died from erotic asphyxiation under rather lurid circumstances. His music is imitative of major European composers of the period, principally Joseph Haydn. His surviving works include three serenades, a symphony, some 26 sonatas, 12 trio sonatas, six quartets, and several songs. KOHAUT, [WENZEL] JOSEF [THOMAS] (14 MAY 1733, SAAZ, BOHEMIA [NOW ŽATEC, CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 16 JULY 1777, PARIS). German-Bohemian composer and violinist. The son of a local organist, he joined the military as a trumpeter. After a short time, he deserted and fled to Paris, where he obtained a post with the Prince de Condé as a violinist. His work was successfully premiered at the Concerts spirituels and includes five operas, three motets, six symphonies, 10 ariettes, and 14 trio sonatas. He is often confused with Karl Kohaut, who is not related. KOHAUT, KARL (26 AUGUST 1726, VIENNA, TO 6 AUGUST 1784, VIENNA). Austrian composer and lutenist. He received his earliest musical instruction from his father, a servant in the household of Prince Adam von Schwarzberg. In 1756 he entered the civil service, rising to the rank of court secretary in 1778. As a titular member of the court, he had access to and participated in much of the Viennese musical life of the period. Like his colleague Karl von Ordonez, he composed frequently in a style that reflects Georg Christoph Wagenseil. His works include a cantata, 12 symphonies, eight Masses, seven lute concertos, seven partitas, a quartet, seven divertimentos (many with lute), and seven trios.
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KÖNIGSPERGER, PATER MARIANUS [JOHANN ERHARD] (4 DECEMBER 1708, RÖDING, NEAR REGENSBURG, GERMANY, TO 9 OCTOBER 1769, PRÜFENING, GERMANY). German monastic composer and organist. Although he was the son of a music instrument maker, he intended to enter the priesthood as a teacher of theology. In 1734 he entered the Benedictine monastery at Prüfening, becoming regens chori and eventually Kapellmeister. His main musical focus was on the development of suitable church music for smaller churches in Bavaria, and he partnered with the firm of Lotter in Augsburg to publish sets of works that could be performed with limited musical forces. His music thus gained tremendous popularity throughout the region. His works include a number of sacred Singspiels (now lost), 59 Masses, five Requiems, 33 sacred odes, six Stabat maters, over 30 offertories, 12 litanies, numerous Marian antiphons, several Te Deums, and other sacred music, almost all of which was published. KONZERTMEISTER. Also concertmaster, concertmeester, chef d’attaque, violino primo. Generally considered the leader of the orchestra in the 18thcentury ensemble and first chair violinist. Duties included conducting the group as Anführer using the bow, as noted by Johann Friedrich Reichardt in 1776. KOSPOTH, BARON OTTO CARL ERDMANN VON (25 NOVEMBER 1753, MÜHLTROFF, VOGTLAND, GERMANY, TO 23 JUNE 1817, MÜHLTROFF). German nobleman and composer. Following attendance at the Ritterakademie in Liegnitz, he attended Leipzig University before being appointed as an officer of the Royal Guard in Pirna, Saxony. Noticed by Frederick II, he was invited to become part of the court at Potsdam, where he functioned as maître des plaisirs, performing on violin and cello in the soirées in Berlin. In 1783 he traveled to Italy, returning to Berlin in 1787. By 1790 he retired to his estate at Mühltroff, expending huge sums of money on its improvement. As his fortunes declined, he was reduced to selling off furniture and effects. He died when the castle burned to the ground, apparently feeling that he was impervious to fire. As a composer, his music reflects a close adherence to that of his colleague and friend, Johann Friedrich Reichardt. Works include 10 Singspiels, an oratorio, two cantatas, a Miserere, several Lieder, 10 symphonies, nine serenades, 14 quintets, 23 quartets, six trios, and six violin sonatas. KOSSOVITS, JÓSZEF (ca. 1750, PROBABLY PRESSBURG, AUSTRIA [NOW BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA], TO 1819, KOŠICE, SLOVAKIA). Hungarian cellist and composer. Little is known of his training or early career, save that in 1794 he appeared as a musician in the orchestra of
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Menyhért Szolgovsky. By 1804 he began to serve in the ensemble of Countess Andrássy in the provincial city of Košice. His most important work was the publication of 12 Hungarian dances in 1803, the tunes of which were later used by Franz Liszt. He also wrote variations on Hungarian Cossack melodies. KOŽELUH, JAN ANTONÍN (14 DECEMBER 1734, VELVARY, MORAVIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 3 FEBRUARY 1814, PRAGUE). Bohemian composer and organist, cousin to Leopold Koželuh. He studied under the Jesuits at Brenitz, as well as Josef Seger in Prague. Moving to Vienna, he became a pupil of Christoph Willibald von Gluck and Florian Gassmann. By 1784 he had returned to Prague to accept a position at the St. Vitus Cathedral as well as the Strahov Monastery, positions he retained for 30 years. His music has been little explored but corresponds to the grand-eloquent church style of the time; his operas show the influence of Niccolò Jommelli. The 439 works include 45 Masses, a Requiem, an oratorio, two operas, 98 offertories, 60 sacred arias, 10 Te Deums, two litanies, four symphonies, and at least three woodwind concertos. See also SEYFRIED, IGNAZ XAVIER RITTER VON. KOŽELUH [KOZELUCH], [JAN ANTONÍN] LEOPOLD (26 JUNE 1747, VELVARY, MORAVIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 7 MAY 1818, VIENNA). Austro-Bohemian composer and organist. His earliest musical education was under Antonín Kubík and his cousin Jan Antonín Koželuh in his hometown. By 1771 he had moved to Prague, where he studied briefly under František Xaver Dusˇek and wrote ballets for the National Theatre. By 1774 he had Germanized his name to prevent confusion with his cousin, arriving in Vienna in 1778 to study under Johann Georg Albrechtsberger. In 1781 he was given the post as teacher of Archduchess Elisabeth, Georg Christoph Wagenseil’s old position. He remained active in Viennese musical and social circles the remainder of his life, although in 1792 he was named as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s successor as Kapellmeister in Prague, a position that did not require residence. Although he is best known for his disparaging remarks on the music of Mozart, Joseph Haydn, and Ludwig van Beethoven, as a composer he had a reputation for works that demonstrated good orchestration and solid formal structures. His 400 or so compositions include six operas, 25 ballets, five Masses, numerous smaller church works, two oratorios, 30 symphonies, 22 piano concertos (plus others for clarinet and bassoon), two sinfonia concertantes, 24 violin sonatas, six string quartets, 63 keyboard trios, 10 parthies, two serenades, eight divertimentos, 61 dances, 87 keyboard sonatas, nine secular cantatas,
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and six vocal notturnos. His music is known by Poštolka numbers. See also NOVOTNÝ, FRANZ ANTON. KRAFFT, FRANÇOIS [FRANS] (bap. 3 OCTOBER 1733, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, TO ca. 1783, PROBABLY LIÈGE, BELGIUM). Belgian keyboardist and composer. The cousin of Frans Joseph Krafft, he trained in Liège and was appointed as a conductor at the chapel of the Duke of Lorraine around 1760. After 1770 he moved back to Liège, where he taught music there and in Germany (probably across the border in Aachen) until about 1783, when he disappears from history. His music has been all but unknown, but it includes two Masses, a Te Deum, 10 motets, six symphonies, six trio sonatas, 12 violin sonatas (or divertimentos), and 13 organ works. KRAFFT, FRANS JOSEPH [FRANÇOIS-JOSEPH] (bap. 22 JULY 1721, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, TO 13 JANUARY 1795, GHENT, BELGIUM). Belgian organist and composer. The son of a musician, Jean-Laurent [or Johan Laurentius] Krafft (1694–1768), he was probably trained by his father and during his youth as a chorister at the Ghent cathedral. He may also have attended one of the Naples conservatories, where his teachers included Francesco Durante. He probably served as organist in Brussels at one of the churches until he was appointed the director of music at Ghent. He retired about a year before his death. His music has been little studied but includes five Masses, a Requiem, 14 Psalms, a Magnificat, and 11 motets. KRAFT, ANTONÍN [ANTON] (30 DECEMBER 1749, ROKYCANY, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 28 AUGUST 1820, VIENNA). Austro-Bohemian cellist and composer. After early instruction from his father, he was sent to Eisenstadt to study under Gregor Joseph Werner. In 1770 he was hired as a cellist in the Esterháza Kapelle, and after 1790 also served with the orchestras of Count Anton Grassalkovich and Prince Lobkowitz. A fine and energetic cellist, he won the admiration and friendship of Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven, both of whom wrote music for him. His own compositions include a cello concerto, six cello sonatas, seven duos for strings, a notturno, and a number of trios featuring the baryton. KRANZ [KRANTZ], JOHANN FRIEDRICH (6 APRIL 1752, WEIMAR, TO 20 FEBRUARY 1810, STUTTGART). German composer, conductor, and violinist. Although little is known about his early education, it is likely that Kranz studied composition under Ernst Wilhelm Wolf. Earliest records of his activity date from 1766, and by 1778 he had obtained the position of Hofmusikus in Weimar. Between the years 1780 and 1787 he
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undertook a number of tours throughout Europe, and was a frequent guest at the home of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. In 1789 he was appointed Konzertmeister, and a decade later was appointed as court Kapellmeister. A disagreement with the court opera administration in 1802 led to his removal, and in 1803 he left Weimar for a similar post in Stuttgart as the successor to Johann Zumsteeg. Although he was successful there as a conductor, his final years were plagued with ill health. During his lifetime he was one of Goethe’s favorite composers, who provided a number of his and Friedrich von Schiller’s plays with incidental music. He also composed several Singspiels, two violin concertos, a viola concerto, five symphonies, Lieder, and various smaller chamber works. His reputation during the period was as a conductor, principally, with the Weimar Hofkapelle achieving a reputation as one of the best orchestras in Germany. KRAUS, BENEDIKT (ca. 1730, NEAR SALZBURG, TO AFTER 1791, WILHERING MONASTERY, BAVARIA[?]). German monastic composer. One of the most enigmatic figures in the Classical period, he was born near Salzburg and probably received his training there in music. Early in his career he took Holy Orders, probably with the Benedictines, although it is not known if he was ordained. In the 1760s he was a Kapellmeister at the court of Duke Clement Franz of Bavaria in Munich, probably remaining in the position until 1778. His whereabouts up to 1785 are unknown, although he may have traveled to Italy (Venice or Trieste). That year he was briefly mentioned as music director in Weimar, but this may have been in association with the Seyler theatre troupe, since about the same time he appears to have composed for Braunschweig. He seems not to have stayed long there, and in 1789 he appears at the court of Saxe-Coburg in Alsace (now France). His final dated autograph is 1791 on a sacred work for the Cistercian monastery in Wilhering, the dedication of which indicates he may have spent his last years there. His music includes several Singspiels, such as Amors Zufälle and Der Töpfer, the last of which may have been written for Braunschweig. In addition, there exists a piano concerto, a symphony, three oratorios, two Requiems, 19 concert arias, 11 offertories, 10 Masses, five secular cantatas, five vespers, and four trios. His most important work is a large oratorio titled Die Schöpfung from 1789. See also SCHNITZER, PATER FRANCISCUS. KRAUS, JOSEPH MARTIN (20 JUNE 1756, MILTENBERG AM MAIN, GERMANY, TO 15 DECEMBER 1792, STOCKHOLM). German-Swedish composer. Born in the Electorate of Mainz to a local assessor, Kraus exhibited precocious talent for both literature and music at an early age. Trained at the local school in Buchen, he was sent to the Jesuit Gymnasium
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und Musikschule in Mannheim, where he received education in music from members of the Mannheim Kapelle and literature under Pater Anton Klein. In 1773 he published a volume of poetry under Versuch von Schäfersgedichte while in attendance at Mainz University. The following year he moved to Erfurt to continue his studies in law, receiving further musical training from Georg Peter Weimar and Johann Christian Kittel. The indictment of his father on charges of bribery forced him to return home, where he published a tragedy, Tolon, and devoted his energies toward writing music for the Buchen church, including oratorios Die Geburt Jesu and Der Tod Jesu. Resuming his study of law at Göttingen University in 1776, he was persuaded to seek his fortune in Sweden at the court of Gustav III by a fellow student. He also published an aesthetical treatise, Etwas von und über Musik fürs Jahr 1776, which applies the emotional philosophy of the literary Sturm und Drang to music. After several years of trying to obtain a position, he was finally appointed assistant kapellmästare in 1781 after the successful trial performance of his opera Proserpin. From 1782 to 1786 he undertook a grand tour of Germany, Austria, Italy, England, and France to observe the latest musical and theatrical trends. Upon his return to Stockholm, he was appointed as the educational director of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and in 1788 as full kapellmästare. An active participant in all aspects of music, he helped to form Gustavian cultural policy. He died of tuberculosis shortly after the assassination of his patron in 1792. As a composer he was lauded by Joseh Haydn and Christoph Willibald von Gluck as one of the most original geniuses of the period, a sentiment that was echoed by Johann Baptist Cramer (who ranked him among the five most important composers of the age) and Johann Friedrich Reichardt. His compositions include five operas (including a titanic six-act work, Aeneas i Cartago), three ballets, 18 symphonies, five violin sonatas, at least eight concertos (violin, viola, flute, and cello), two piano sonatas, and over 100 songs and piano cantatas. His music has been cataloged by VB (van Boer) numbers. See also FRIGEL, PEHR; HOFFSTETTER, PATER ROMANUS. KRAUS, PATER LAMBERT [PHILIPP JOSEF ANTON] (17 SEPTEMBER 1728, PFREIMD, UPPER PALATINATE, GERMANY, TO 27 NOVEMBER 1790, KLOSTER METTEN, BAVARIA). German Benedictine composer. Little is known of his musical education, but Kraus, who took the name of Pater Lambert upon entering the Benedictine monastery at Metten in 1747, must have had a broad background. His first compositions, eight Masses published in Augsburg as his Op. 1 in 1760, were performed at most monastic venues of the order throughout Germany. His next publication two years later was a set of 12 symphonies that reveal an awareness of
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Classical form and structure, being advanced works for their time. He also composed serenades, four operas (mostly on sacred subjects, such as Höchst belohnter kindlicher Gehorsam and Die gestrafte Trunkenheit of 1759), a set of eight litanies and Tantum ergos (published 1765), a Requiem (1780), and numerous other smaller sacred works, sources for which can be found in most Benedictine monastery libraries throughout southern Germany. In 1770 he became the abbot of the monastery, a position he held until his death. His other nonmusical interests include Latin poetry and physics; he also conducted experiments with electricity. KRAUSE, CHRISTIAN GOTTFRIED (17 APRIL 1719, WINZIG, SILESIA [NOW WIŃSKO, POLAND], TO 4 MAY 1770, BERLIN). German author and composer. The son of a town musician, he matriculated at the University of Frankfurt an der Oder in law. In 1745 he became legal secretary to Count Rotheburg in Berlin, and later in 1753 a lawyer for the Prussian High Court. During this period, he was able to purchase a large estate in Potsdam, where he became famous for his salon society, members of whom were associated with the Berlin School. In 1762 he was councilor of the court. As an author he is best known for his Von der musikalischen Poesie of 1752, as well as many articles in journals of the time. As a composer, he wrote 62 Lieder (most published in collections), as well as six cantatas, four symphonies, four trio sonatas, and six keyboard sonatas. KREBS, JOHANN LUDWIG (bap. 12 OCTOBER 1713, BUTTELSTÄDT, SAXONY, TO 1 JANUARY 1780, ALTENBURG, SAXONY). German musician, primarily organist, and composer. Son of organist Johann Tobias Krebs, he seemed destined to follow in his father’s footsteps as a church musician. In 1730 he was sent to Leipzig to study under Johann Sebastian Bach, becoming a much beloved student, about whom the older composer said that “there was but one crayfish in his brook (Es gibt nur ein Krebs im Bach),” a pun on both their names. In 1735 he attended Leipzig University and in 1737 obtained the post as organist at the Marienkirche in Zwickau. In 1745 he moved to Zeitz, where he remained for a decade before moving to Gotha. He was regarded as one of the most faithful composers in the older Baroque contrapuntal style, although his instrumental works display gallant tendencies in their use of contrasting rhythmic motives and themes. In 1744 he published the Clavier-Übung bestehend in verschiedenen Vorspielen und Veränderungen einiger Kirchengesänge in three volumes, one of the seminal works for prospective organists of the period. His works also include 47 chorale preludes, nine toccatas and fugues, seven other preludes, 11 fugues (including one on B-A-C-H), five fantasies, and 17 trios that include the
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organ. He also wrote five fantasies and 15 chorales that include a solo wind instrument and organ, along with two cantatas, a Mass, two Magnificats, a celebratory oratorio (1757), two symphonies for strings, six trio sonatas, 18 sonatas for flute or violin and basso, and six concertos (three for lute, one for violin, one for harpsichord and oboe, and one for keyboard), as well as a number of miscellaneous sacred motets, arias, and keyboard works. KREITH, KARL (ca. 1746, PROBABLY NEAR VIENNA, TO 22 DECEMBER 1803, VIENNA). Austrian flautist and composer. Nothing is known about his early life or education. He first appears in 1782 as a member of the Gallician guard in Vienna, where he remained as a member of the Harmoniemusik. In 1791 he transferred to the Hofkapelle, where he performed as a timpanist. His music became popular during the end of the century, known for its accessible style. His works include a flute concerto, four wind partitas, four quartets (three including flageolet), three trios, 18 duos (and other Hungarian dances for two flutes), and two clarinet sonatas. KREUSSER, ADAM (bap. 28 NOVEMBER 1732, HEIDINGSFELD, NEAR WÜRZBURG, GERMANY, TO 1791, AMSTERDAM). German composer and horn player. Following early training in Würzburg, he was appointed as conductor and musician at the Amsterdam Theatre in 1752, remaining there the rest of his life. His works and music have never been studied, although he taught his younger brother Georg Anton Kreusser musical composition. KREUSSER, GEORG ANTON (27 OCTOBER 1746, HEIDINGSFELD NEAR WÜRZBURG, GERMANY, TO 1 NOVEMBER 1810, ASCHAFFENBURG, GERMANY). German composer. He received his early training both in his hometown and in the city of Würzburg from his brother Adam Kreusser before moving to Amsterdam in 1759 to study with his brother. In 1770 he was sent on a grand tour of France and Italy, after which he was appointed at the court of Mainz. In 1774 he became Konzertmeister, but when Vincenzo Righini was appointed Kapellmeister in 1787 he seemed to lose his creative spark. When the court was dissolved in 1798, he moved along with the other musicians to the provincial town of Aschaffenburg. Known as an original and creative composer, Kreusser paid special attention to the development of symphonic form in his works. These include 54 symphonies, a harpsichord concerto, a serenade, 18 flute quartets, 18 string quartets (known for their melodic invention), 12 string trios, eight Masses, seven Lieder, and six duos for two violins. His music is known by P (Peters) numbers.
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KREUTZER, RODOLPHE (16 NOVEMBER 1766, VERSAILLES, FRANCE, TO 6 JANUARY 1831, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND). French violinist and composer. As a youth, he studied composition with Anton Stamitz in Paris, before making his debut at the Concerts spirituels in 1780. Thereafter he was taken under the patronage of Marie Antoinette, moving to Paris permanently in 1789, where he appeared frequently at the public concerts and in 1790 began to produce operas at the Comédie-Italienne (later Opéra-Comique). In 1795 he was appointed as professor at the Conservatoire, a post he held until 1826. Kreutzer must be seen as one of the most significant violinists of the late 18th century and a colleague of Giovanni Battista Viotti, whose musical style he imitated. Although best known for his pedagogical works, such as the 1803 Méthode du violon or the set of 42 caprices published in 1796, he wrote 40 operas, 19 violin concertos, four sinfonia concertantes, a quintet, 17 string quartets, five trios, 16 duos, 13 violin sonatas, and another 18 caprices for solo violin. KRUMPHOLTZ, ANNE-MARIE. See STECKLER, ANNE-MARIE. KRUMPHOLTZ, JAN KŘTITEL [JEAN-BAPTISTE] (8 MAY 1742, BUDENICE, NEAR ZLONICE, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 19 FEBRUARY 1790, PARIS). Bohemian harpist and composer, brother of Václav Krumpholtz. Born on the estate of Count Kinský, he received his earliest education in Prague as a horn player before embarking on travels through Belgium (Flanders) and France with his uncle. By 1771 he had returned to Prague, where his playing on the harp attracted the attention of Václav Pichl and František Dušek. Both recommended him to Joseph Haydn in Vienna, and Krumpholtz became Haydn’s student while serving Prince Esterházy as a harpist. In 1776 he undertook a tour of Europe, eventually settling in Paris. There he and his wife, Anne-Marie Steckler, the daughter of a harp maker from Metz, were frequent performers at the Concerts spirituels. In 1788 she took on a lover, possibly Jan Ladislav Dussek, eloping to London. Krumpholtz reacted by becoming despondent and committed suicide by drowning himself in the Seine. Almost all of his compositional efforts were devoted to his instrument, for which he also worked with Parisian makers Naderman and Erard to improve the mechanisms and quality. As a composer, his style is light and tuneful in the French manner of the time, with special exploitation of the new possibilities for the harp. He wrote 29 sonatas for harp with various accompaniments, six harp concertos (plus another for keyboard), two symphonies, a number of songs, and numerous Recueils d’airs, one of which was arranged as a sinfonia concertante. Many of the sonatas have some sort of programmatic function, recalling character
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pieces by French predecessors such as Jean-Philippe Rameau or François Couperin. See also DELAVAL, MADAME. KRUMPHOLTZ, VÁCLAV [WENZEL] (ca. 1750, BUDENICE, NEAR ZLONICE, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 2 MAY 1817, VIENNA). Bohemian-Austrian violinist and composer. Like his brother, Jan Krumpholtz, he received his education in Prague, probably studying violin under Václav Pichl. This composer probably likewise recommended him to Joseph Haydn, and beginning in 1776 he was employed as a violinist at the Esterházy court in Vienna. When the ensemble was dissolved in 1790, he performed in Vienna, eventually obtaining a position in the orchestra of the Hofoper. He was active in Viennese musical society, where he became a close friend of Ludwig van Beethoven, until his death. Little of his music has survived (only a couple of programmatic works for solo violin and several songs), but they show that he was an early salon composer who was particularly adept at a popular style. KUCHAŘ, JAN KŘTITEL [KUCHARZ, JOHANN BAPTIST] (5 MARCH 1751, CHOTEČ U JIČÍNA, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 18 FEBRUARY 1829, PRAGUE). Bohemian composer, conductor, and organist. Following initial musical studies in Vrchlabí under Antonín Tham, he continued under Josef Seger in Prague. In 1772 he was appointed as organist at the church of St. Jindřich, and in 1790 he obtained a similar post at the Premonstratarian monastery of Strahov. The following year he became musical director of the Italian opera in Prague, a post he maintained until his death. Known as a teacher and arranger of keyboard reductions of operas, particularly those by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, he was a popular figure in Prague musical circles. His surviving works include the aforementioned arrangements, as well as 10 pieces for organ, three concertos, three large secular cantatas, three motets, and several smaller chamber works. KÜCHLER, JOHANN (14 JULY 1738, QUEDLINBURG, GERMANY, TO 16 JANUARY 1790, MAINZ, GERMANY). German composer and bassoonist. His early life and training is unknown, but he spent several years in the Rheinland and in France, probably as a military musician. In 1781 he was appointed a musician in the Kapelle of the Elector-Bishop of Bonn, from which he was released in 1786 to undertake concert tours. During these he performed at the Concerts spirituels in Paris, and in 1788 he was able to obtain the post of musician at the court in Mainz. His music has been little studied, although his works were popular and published during his lifetime.
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These consist of two symphonies, two sinfonia concertantes, two concertos, an opera, 12 clarinet quartets, 12 string quartets, 12 duos, and a number of trios and sonatas. KÜFFNER [KIEFNER], JOHANN JAKOB PAUL (18 MAY 1727, NUREMBERG, GERMANY, TO 7 MARCH 1786, REGENSBURG). German theorist and composer. Nothing is known about his early training, although it can be suggested that he was a student of Johan Agrell. His first position was as an organist at the Walpurgiskirche in Nuremberg, but in 1750 he became cembalist at the court of Thurn und Taxis in Regensburg. His music has been little studied but consists of two concertos, two sonatas for keyboard, and a serenade that includes guitar. He also collaborated with Joseph Riepel in defining modern concepts of harmony. See also SCHACHT, FREIHERR THEODOR VON. KUNZEN, ADOLPH CARL (22 SEPTEMBER 1720, WITTENBERG, GERMANY, TO 10 JULY 1781, LÜBECK, GERMANY). German organist and composer. The son of Johann Paul Kunzen, he received his earliest musical education from his father, later studying in Hamburg under Georg Philipp Telemann and serving as his father’s assistant in Lübeck. In 1745 he published a treatise, Unterricht im Generalbass, which attracted some attention, before becoming concertmaster at the court of the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. In 1754 he moved briefly to London as a teacher, but in 1757 he returned to Lübeck as his father’s successor as organist in the Marienkirche. Kunzen’s style is closely related to the Empfindsamkeit of Telemann, Carl Heinrich Graun, and others. He is known for adding drama through the use of accompanied recitative in his oratorios. His works, little studied, include 21 oratorios, five Passions, seven large cantatas, around 30 Lieder, 21 symphonies, 41 concertos (mostly violin), four divertimentos, and 18 sonatas for keyboard. His son, Friedrich Ludwig Aemilius Kunzen, also became a composer. KUNZEN, FRIEDRICH LUDWIG AEMILIUS (24 SEPTEMBER 1761, LÜBECK, GERMANY, TO 28 JUNE 1817, COPENHAGEN). GermanDanish composer. Son of Adolph Carl Kunzen, he was trained by his father in music, making his debut as a performer in London in 1768 during a family visit there. In 1781, however, he attended Kiel University in law, but a recommendation by Johann Abraham Peter Schulz caused him to return to a musical career. In 1784 he was active in the public concerts in Copenhagen. In 1789, his opera Holger Danske became embroiled in controversy, its failure causing him to leave Denmark for Berlin, where he was a copublisher of
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the Musikalisch Wochenblatt along with Johann Friedrich Reichardt. By 1792 he was conductor of the main theatre in Frankfurt am Main, and after a short sojourn in Prague, he returned to Copenhagen as kapelmestere, a position he retained for the rest of his life. His music is characterized by a strong dramatic impulse, which, particularly in his Lieder, create a close musical underlay for his texts. His works include 20 operas or incidental music, five oratorios, three symphonies, a fortepiano concerto, over 100 Lieder, and a host of smaller chamber works. KUNZEN, JOHANN PAUL (31 AUGUST 1696, LEISNIG, SAXONY, GERMANY, TO 20 MARCH 1757, LÜBECK, GERMANY). German organist and composer. Following early studies at Torgau, he moved to Leipzig to attend the Thomasschule. By 1718 he had been appointed at the court of Zerbst as Kapellmeister, but by 1723 he had moved to Hamburg as an accompanist at the opera. In 1732 he was appointed as organist at the Marienkirche in Lübeck, where he was known for his innovative oratorio-like works titled Abendmusik. Although much of his music conforms to the Baroque style, his later works, particularly the Abendmusik or oratorios, contain elements of Empfindsamkeit, marking him as a transitional figure. His works include four operas, 22 oratorios (including Abendmusik), four Passions, six serenades or large cantatas, two symphonies (in a style similar to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach), and eight concertos, as well as a large number of works for organ. See also KUNZEN, FRIEDRICH LUDWIG AEMILIUS.
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L LA BORDE, JEAN-BENJAMIN FRANÇOIS DE (5 SEPTEMBER 1734, PARIS, TO 22 JULY 1794, PARIS). French theorist and composer. An aristocrat, he studied composition with Jean-Philippe Rameau and violin with Antoine Dauvergne. He made his debut as an opera composer in 1748, and in 1762 he became part of the staff of Louis XV, functioning mainly as a court composer even though he eventually obtained the title of personal valet. His operas were performed frequently on Parisian stages but without much public success, as Baron Melchior Grimm noted. In 1774 he was dismissed from his court post, after which he married the sister of the director of the Opéra and concentrated upon writing treatises on music. His most important treatise, written in collaboration with Antoine Légat de Furey in 1780, was the Essai sur la musique ancienne et moderne. His own works have suffered in comparison with his colleagues André Ernest Modeste Grétry and Nicolas-Marie Dalayrac, with whom he was often compared. These include 31 operas, six trios, and a host of Recueils of popular songs for stringed instruments. LA FEILLÉE, FRANÇOIS DE (ca. 1698, ANGERS, FRANCE, TO 1763, POITIERS, FRANCE). French clerical composer and choir director. All that seems to be known about his life is that he was active at Poitiers up to 1745, after which he was associated with the cathedral at Chartres. His main claim to fame, apart from several motets, is a book titled Méthode du PlainChant, which demonstrates how Gregorian chant is to be performed within a liturgical context. It was considered as an important textbook for composers throughout Europe during this period. LACHNITH, LUDWIG WENZEL (7 JULY 1746, PRAGUE, TO 3 OCTOBER 1820, PARIS). French-Bohemian horn player and composer. Following early instruction by his father, he was employed at the court of Zweibrücken in 1768, but by 1773 he had moved to Paris where he studied under François-André Danican Philidor. At the outbreak of the French Revolution, he fled Paris, but he returned during the Directorate to teach privately. In 1801 he became director of the Opéra; after a year he was fired but 325
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returned in 1803. He was best known for his pasticcios, but on his own he wrote three operas, two oratorios, 24 symphonies, three horn concertos, 12 string quartets, six piano trios, 30 violin sonatas, and a number of smaller chamber works. He is best known, however, for his treatise, Méthode ou principe general du doigté pour le forte piano, of 1798. LADRÓN DE GUEVARA, ANTONIO (ca. 1700, PROBABLY ALICANTE, SPAIN, TO 1740, ALMEIRA, SPAIN). Spanish composer. Nothing is known about his life or education, save that he appeared as maestro di capilla at the cathedral of Santa María de’Elche in Alicante in 1733. In 1738 he obtained a similar post in Almeira but disappears from the records a couple of years later. Much of his music, save for a couple of Lamentations, has been lost. LADURNER, AUGUSTIN (28 AUGUST 1773, ALGUND, TYROL [NOW ITALY], TO 14 SEPTEMBER 1794, MUNICH). German-Austrian composer. Like his brother Ignaz Anton Ladurner, he was trained by his father, Franz Xaver Ladurner, and in 1783 moved to France to become his brother’s successor at the estate of Countess Heimhausen at Longueville, near Bar-le-Duc, France. By 1790 he moved to Munich to escape the French Revolution. Few if any works by him survive, and he has remained all but unknown in the music of the period. LADURNER, FRANZ XAVER (13 NOVEMBER 1735, ALGUND, TYROL [NOW ITALY], TO 20 FEBRUARY 1782, ALGUND). Brother of Innocenz Ladurner and father of composer Ignaz Ladurner, he remained his entire life as an organist in two local towns in the Tyrolean Alps. His music is all but unknown but consists of Masses and other smaller sacred works. He also wrote a treatise on figured bass. LADURNER, IGNAZ ANTON [FRANZ XAVER] (1 AUGUST 1766, ALDEIN, TYROL [NOW ITALY], TO 4 MARCH 1839, VILLAIN, FRANCE). Austrian composer and organist. Son of Franz Xaver Ladurner, he came from a musical family, receiving his earliest education from his uncle, Innocenz Ladurner, at the monastery at Benediktbeuern. He functioned briefly in 1782 as his father’s successor at Algund, but in 1784 he moved to Munich to attend the Jesuit Lyceum in music and philosophy. Following a brief position in Bar-le-Duc, he moved to Paris in 1788 where he became a well-respected teacher. In 1797 he was appointed as a professor at the Conservatoire and at the École Royale, where his students included Daniel François Esprit Auber. His own works reflect the late-century style
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and include two operas, 15 piano sonatas, 20 trio sonatas, a violin concerto, and 10 violin sonatas, as well as smaller keyboard works. LADURNER, JOSEPH ALOIS (7 MARCH 1769, ALGUND, TYROL [NOW ITALY], TO 20 FEBRUARY 1851, BRIXEN, GERMANY). German monastic composer and organist. Son of Franz Xaver Ladurner and brother of Ignaz Ladurner, he followed both as organist in the southern Tyrolean town of Algund in 1784. In 1798 he studied philosophy, being ordained the following year. The bulk of his music reflects the late Classical period sacred musical style and includes nine responsories, five offertories, a cantata, a serenade, two litanies, two motets, eight sacred songs, and eight graduals, as well as a large number of pieces for organ. He apparently ceased composition around 1800 to concentrate upon teaching. LADURNER, PATER INNOCENZ [MICHAEL] (29 SEPTEMBER 1745, ALGUND, TYROL [NOW ITALY], TO 31 JANUARY 1807, BENEDIKTBEUERN, BAVARIA, GERMANY). Austrian-German monastic composer. Brother of Franz Xaver Ladurner, he entered the Benedictine monastery in Benediktbeuern in 1770, becoming ordained in 1774. He remained there his entire life, devoting his talents to composing for the monastery and teaching in the school. He also functioned as the kitchenmaster and prior of the monastery, as well as studying philosophy and theology at the University of Salzburg. His music consists of sacred works and has been little studied. LAMAS, JOSÉ ÁNGEL (2 AUGUST 1775, CARACAS, VENEZUELA, TO 10 DECEMBER 1810, CARACAS). Venezuelan composer and woodwind player. One of the first of the second generation of the Chacao School, he studied under Padre Pedro Palacios y Sojo and Juan Manuel Olivares. By 1789 he was playing the tiple and bajón Chirimía, a folk instrument similar to an oboe that is found in Medieval Spain. In 1796 he was appointed as first bassoon of the Caracas cathedral orchestra. His music, which is similar to Joseph Haydn, includes a Mass and around 30 motets, as well as a large Miserere and a set of Lessons for the Dead. LAMBERT, PIERRE JOSEPH (ca. 1745, BRABANT, BELGIUM, TO 28 JUNE 1807, STOCKHOLM). Swedish-Belgian violinist and composer. Little is known about his youth or education, but in 1782 he arrived in Stockholm as the concertmaster of Monvel’s theatre troupe. Although he continued to function in this post, he was contracted as a violinist for the Hovkapell in 1785, where he also was hired to compose music for the corps de ballet. His
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first work, dances for Gustav III’s drama Drottning Christina in 1785, was considered lively and idiomatic, leading to other commissions for the operas Frigga and Gustaf dolph och Ebba Brahe. In 1793 his Le rendezvous comique was a tremendous success, though his music for the comedies Fiskaren and Gyckelmakaren, from 1798 and 1803, respectively, received little approbation. In total he composed music for around 10 ballets, two Singspiels, and a church service with wind band. His style is simple and homophonic, with often colorful orchestration in the woodwinds. LAMPE, CHARLES JOHN FREDERICK (1739, LONDON, TO 10 SEPTEMBER 1767, LONDON). English composer and organist. Son of John Frederick Lampe, he took his first name from his grandfather, Charles Young. Trained by his father and other members of his extended family, he succeeded his grandfather as organist at the All Hallow’s Church in Barkingby-the-Tower in London in 1758. He also performed as a member of the Covent Garden orchestra beginning two years later. He was cousins with a number of composers such as Michael Arne and Polly Young. His own compositional efforts, however, are modest, consisting of only a few patriotic songs and both catches and glees. LAMPE, JOHANN FRIEDRICH, SR. (1744, WÖLFENBÜTTEL, GERMANY, TO ca. 1790, SCHWENDT, POMERANIA, GERMANY [THEN SWEDEN]). German composer and singer, father of John Frederick Lampe. Little is known of his life prior to 1773 when he appeared as director of the public theatre in Hamburg. He remained there after he was dismissed in 1777 as a singer, but in 1788 he moved to a small court in Schwendt, where he vanished from history. Almost all of his music has been lost but once included numerous symphonies, Lieder, and Singspiels. LAMPE, JOHN FREDERICK [JOHANN FRIEDRICH JR.] (ca. 1703, BRAUNSCHWEIG, GERMANY, TO 25 JULY 1751, EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND). German-English composer and bassoonist, son of Johann Friedrich Lampe. After early education at the Katerinenschule in Braunschweig, he attended the University of Helmstedt. By 1724 he had moved to England where he performed as a bassoonist in opera orchestras of the city. In 1730 he began a career as a composer of English opera, with his most successful work, The Dragon of Wantley, appearing in 1737. He married into the Young family, and this extended group formed one of the largest collections of familial performers of the time. In 1748 he moved to Dublin, but two years later he was in Edinburgh, where he died from a fever. As a composer, his style is often simple, direct, and reflects the early galant style. His works
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include 17 stage pieces, 24 hymns, over 100 songs, six flute sonatas, two odes, and two concertos. LAMPUGNANI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (ca. 1708, MILAN, TO 2 JUNE 1788, MILAN). Italian composer. Little is known of his musical education up to the successful premiere of his first opera, Candace, in Milan in 1732, though he may well have studied under Milanese church composers. Following this date, he was a much-sought-after composer of mainly opera seria throughout Italy, even working with the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice. In 1743 he traveled to London as the successor of Baldassare Galuppi, performing his works at the King’s Theatre there for two years. He returned to Italy to resume a career as an opera composer, traveling to London a second time in 1751. After a brief sojourn in Germany, he was appointed as keyboardist at the Teatro Regio in Milan in 1758, being the first harpsichordist at the inauguration of the Teatro La Scala in 1788. Lampugnani has been largely neglected as a composer, though he wrote works from some of the earliest symphonies to opera seria late in life. His surviving music includes 31 operas, 10 symphonies (most with brass and woodwinds), four keyboard concertos (and two for flute), and 18 trio sonatas. LANDAETA, JUAN JOSÉ (10 MARCH 1780, CARACAS, VENEZUELA, TO 16 OCTOBER 1814, CUMANÁ, VENEZUELA). Venezuelan composer and conductor. As an African-Venezuelan, he was born into secondclass citizenry but nonetheless probably studied at the Academia de Música of the Chacao School. He founded a school for black musicians in 1805 and was active as an opera conductor for the 1808 season, but was arrested and executed during the massacre at Cumaná. His surviving music in the Classical style includes five motets, a tonos in Spanish, two songs, and a Salve Regina. LANDWING, PATER MARKUS [PETER JOHANN OSWALD] (14 JULY 1759, ZUG, SWITZERLAND, TO 13 MARCH 1814, FEUSISBERG, SWITZERLAND). Swiss monastic composer. In 1777 he became a novice at the Benedictine monastery in Einsiedeln, being ordained a priest five years later. In 1783 he became a teacher of rhetoric at the school there, later also teaching philosophy and theology. In 1790 he became preceptor, as well as assistant musical director. In 1799 he traveled to several Bavarian monasteries to instruct students, eventually becoming chaplain at Zug. When the monastery was dissolved, he became a parish priest at the small church in Feusisberg. As a composer, he is best known for his a cappella hymn known today as the “Einsiedelner Salve,” which is performed daily. He was, however, a prolific composer, whose works include 13 Magnificats, two Te
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Deums, several Mass movements, six Lamentations, a vesper, and several Marian antiphons, as well as offertories and hymns. LANG, JOHANN GEORG (ca. 1722, SCHWEISSING, SILESIA [NOW SVOJŠÍN, CZECH REPUBLIC, TO 17 JULY 1798, EHRENBREITSTEIN, GERMANY). German composer, keyboardist, and violinist. His first training was in Prague, where he studied keyboard and violin. In 1746 he was hired by the Prince-Archbishop of Augsburg as a musician, and in 1749 he was sent to Italy, where he studied under Francesco Durante and Girolamo Abos in Naples. Returning three years later, he was appointed Konzertmeister in 1758, and in 1768 the new ruler, Archbishop Clemens Wenzeslaus, Elector of Trier, moved his court to the summer palace at Ehrenbreitstein. Even toward the end of his life when the court abandoned their residences, Lang remained in Ehrenbreitstein near Trier. Known mainly for his instrumental works, Lang’s compositions are characterized by good periodic structure and broad melodies. These include five Masses, a litany, a Te Deum, several Lieder, 38 symphonies, 29 keyboard concertos, 25 horn concertos (and eight other concertos), nine mixed quartets with keyboard, 25 sonatas, 21 works for keyboard, three trios, and duos for violin and cello. LANGDON, RICHARD (ca. 1729, EXETER, ENGLAND, TO 8 SEPTEMBER 1803, EXETER). English composer and organist. Coming from a family connected to the Exeter cathedral, he probably received his training at that church, becoming an organist and vicar in 1753. In 1762 he was appointed choirmaster, but left in 1777 for posts in Ely, Bristol, and Armagh. He retired back to Exeter in 1794. His music reflects the English style of colleagues such as Thomas Arne. His works include four cantatas, six keyboard sonatas, 12 glees, and over 30 songs, as well as smaller organ works. LANGLÉ, HONORÉ [FRANÇOIS MARIE] (1741, MONACO, TO 20 SEPTEMBER 1807, VILLERS-DE-BEL, NEAR PARIS). MonacesqueFrench composer, singer, and teacher. Sent by his ruler, Prince Honoré III, to study in Naples at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini, he found a position as theatre director in Genoa in 1764. Four years later he moved to Paris to begin a career as a teacher and composer. His music was frequently performed at the Concerts spirituels, where it was known for its dramatic content. In 1784 he was appointed as professor of singing at the École royale de chant et de déclamation, a position he held throughout the Revolution and when the school was reformed into the Conservatoire in 1795. He also functioned as librarian up to his retirement in 1802. Langlé was lauded in the Parisian press for his intensely dramatic style of composition, which often
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included large orchestras. His works consist of nine operas, five motets, six “military” wind symphonies, six Revolutionary hymns, six vocal duets, six romances, six vocal notturnos, and a host of smaller vocal works, much of which is pedagogical in nature. LAPIS [LAPPI], SANTO (ca. 1700, BOLOGNA, TO AFTER 1764, PROBABLY DUBLIN). Italian composer and teacher. The earliest reference to Lapis is his admission as a member of the prestigious Accademia filarmonica in 1720 following study at the Conservatorio Sant’Onofrio in Bologna. In 1729 he moved to Venice, where he composed two acts of an opera, La generosità di Tiberio, for the Teatro San Cassiano. Thereafter he wrote opera seria and cantatas for Venetian venues until 1739, when he traveled to Prague to stage his opera Ginerva. By 1752 he was a resident of the Netherlands, and in 1758 he moved to London, eventually settling in Edinburgh. There he composed mainly instrumental music, taught resident composers at the local school of music, and performed as a violinist. Although information is lacking beyond 1758, he probably left to tour York, apparently winding up in Dublin in 1764 as a performer. Little of his music has survived, although the dozen or so operas he wrote have portions extant. These are Baroque in style, but his instrumental music tends toward the newer lyrical Neapolitan style. His music has been little explored. LARRAÑEGA, JOSÉ DE (1728, AZCUITIA, SPAIN, TO 1806, ARÁNZAZU, SPAIN). Spanish-Basque composer. Following studies under Francisco Ibuzabal at the Aránzazu cathedral, he was appointed as maestro di capilla there in 1747. In 1758 he obtained a similar post at Irún, where he became a Franciscan monk. In 1766 he was one of the founders of the Real Sociedad Bascongada de los Amigos des País, one of the earliest music societies that catered to musicians in Basque country. His music, little studied, includes three Lamentations, three antiphons, two Magnificats, two Psalms, two responsories, 13 villancicos, a Mass, and four sonatas for organ. LARRAÑETA DE HARINA, SEBASTIÁN DE (1752, SANGÜESA, NAVARRA, SPAIN, TO ca. 1810, TORTOSA, SPAIN). Spanish composer and organist. His earliest training was as a chorister at the Seo de Zaragoza, and in 1780 he was ordained, the same year as he obtained the post of maestro di capilla at the cathedral in Alfaro in the Rioja valley. In 1786 he returned to Tortosa, where he remained until he disappears from history in 1810, possibly as the victim of the Spanish revolution. His music has largely been lost or unrecovered; surviving works include a Mass, a Magnificat, a Lamentation, as well as duos for violins and a number of smaller sacred works.
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LARUETTE, JEAN-LOUIS (7 MARCH 1731, PARIS, TO 10 JANUARY 1792, PARIS). French singer and composer. He made his debut as a high countertenor at the Théâtre de la Foire St-Laurent in 1752, specializing in roles such as magicians and older nobility. By 1762, when he joined the Comédie-Italienne, he had become one of the most popular singers in Paris, and in 1787 he performed with success at the Théâtre des Beaujolais. As a composer, he was known for a light, accessible style favored by the opéra comique. His own works include eight comic operas in the vein of PierreAlexandre Monsigny. LASCEUX, GUILLAUME (3 FEBUARY 1740, POISSY, FRANCE, TO 1831, PARIS). French composer and organist. In 1762 he studied under Charles Noblet in Paris, at the same time performing at the Opéra as an accompanist. He subsequently obtained a position at St. Marton Church, and later in 1774 at St. Etienne-du-mont. Although relieved of the post during the Revolution, he returned in 1803, retiring in 1819. He is best known for his volumes of the Journal des pièces d’orgue published from 1771 to 1810, in which can be found exemplars of various sacred music. He also published a treatise on organ playing in 1809. In addition, he composed four operas, a Mass, and two motets. LASSER, JOHANN BAPTIST (12 AUGUST 1751, STEINKIRCHEN, AUSTRIA, TO 21 OCTOBER 1805, MUNICH). Austrian singer, violinist, and composer. Trained in Linz and Vienna, he embarked upon a career with a traveling opera company in the 1770s. By 1783 he was a resident in Brno and subsequently had brief posts at Esterháza and Linz before moving to Graz in 1788. In 1791 he and his wife obtained a post as court singer and violinist in Munich. Lasser had a flexible voice with a range of almost four octaves (including falsetto). He was also known as a versatile actor. As a composer, his music was briefly popular in the style of the day, including nine Masses and nine operas, mostly Singspiels. LATILLA, GAETANO (12 JANUARY 1711, BARI, ITALY, TO 8 JANUARY 1788, NAPLES). Italian composer of opera. His earliest education was as a chorister at the San Sabino Church in Bari, but by 1725 he was enrolled as a student in the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana in Naples. In 1732 he made his debut at the Teatro dei Fiorentini with a comic opera, Li mariti a forza. He continued to compose popular works for this theatre until 1738, when he premiered another opera at the Teatro Argentina in Rome. Thereafter followed commissions from throughout Italy, but he preferred to remain in Rome as the assistant maestro di cappella at the church
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of Santa Maria maggiore. In 1741, however, a dispute caused him to begin an itinerant life, eventually winding up in Venice in 1751, where he was appointed chorusmaster at the Ospedale della Pietà. Although this led to an appointment as assistant maestro di cappella at St. Mark’s in 1762, he decided to abandon Venice and return to Naples in 1768. As a prominent and wellrespected member of the Neapolitan school of opera composition, he wrote in a style of colleagues such as Antonio Sacchini and Niccolò Piccinni. His music includes 49 operas. See also FERRARI, GIACOMO GOTIFREDO. LATROBE, CHRISTIAN IGNATIUS (12 FEBRUARY 1758, FULNECK, YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND, TO 6 MAY 1836, FAIRFIELD, NEAR MANCHESTER, ENGLAND). English composer. The child of a minister and the brother of composer John Antes, LaTrobe was educated in music in Germany beginning in 1771. His first position was as a music teacher at the Moravian Church school in Niesky in 1779, and in 1784 he returned to London as an administrator in the Moravian mission office. There he was acquainted with numerous musical figures, including Joseph Haydn. He also undertook several missionary journeys, including one to South Africa in 1815. His most important work was the Selection of Sacred Music (London, 1806–1826) as well as a set of hymns published in 1790. LAUBE, ANTON (13 NOVEMBER 1718, BRÜX [NOW MOST], BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 24 FEBRUARY 1784, PRAGUE). Bohemian-German composer. It is assumed that he received his musical education at the Jesuit school in Prague, where he worked from 1769 as an organist at the St. Gall church. In 1771 he sought the post of Kapellmeister at the Prague cathedral as František Brixi’s successor. His music is generally provided with a good sense of lyrical melody and, in the instrumental works dating from around 1750 on, contrasting themes that adhere to the sonata principle. His music includes six operas (Singspiels), nine Masses, five Te Deums, a Requiem, numerous smaller sacred works, 12 Lieder, 16 symphonies, three concertos (two for bassoon and one concertino for English horn), 11 wind serenades, and four trios. His music has been little explored. LAUCHER, JOSEF ANTON (JANUARY 1737, EBERSHAUSEN, NEAR KRUMBACH, GERMANY, TO 11 OCTOBER 1813, DILLINGEN, GERMANY). German composer. He attended the Jesuit Gymnasium in Mindelheim and then the University of Innsbruck, where he was trained in music. After a short stay as a local schoolmaster in the town of Weissenhorn, he was appointed to a post in Dillingen as teacher of music and chorusmaster at St. Peter’s Church. His most important publication was the
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Dillinger Gesangbuch of 1787, but he also composed frequently for his own church, including two Requiems and numerous smaller sacred works. LAUCHERY, ÉTIENNE (SEPTEMBER 1732, LYONS, FRANCE, TO 5 JUNE 1820, BERLIN). French choreographer and balletmaster. The son of dancer Laurentius Lauchery (1713–1783), who was employed at the court theatre in Mannheim, he received his training in Paris, probably under JeanGeorges Noverre. There he was taught the principles of the ballet d’action, which he began to use in his own choreography beginning with a position at Mannheim in 1756. In 1763 he served as choreographer at the court of Hesse-Kassel, where he published a series of 50 scenarios in 1768. By 1772 he had returned to Mannheim, where he collaborated with composers such as Christian Cannabich and Carl Toeschi in producing works that gained the court theatre additional acclaim for its progressive ballet styles. Although he followed Elector Carl Theodor to Munich in 1778, he soon sought opportunities elsewhere, including a return to Kassel in 1781, and in 1788 he became chief choreographer in Berlin, a position he held for the remainder of his life. He produced over 100 ballets, many of which were set to music by some of the leading composers of the period. Since many are based upon opéra comique plots, it can be surmised that, unlike his more dramatically or classically oriented colleagues Gasparo Angiolini or Noverre, he focused on the popular idioms of the time. LAVOTTA, JÁNOS (5 JULY 1764, POSZTAFÖDÉMES, NEAR POSZONY, HUNGARY, TO 11 AUGUST 1820, TÁLLYA, HUNGARY). Hungarian violinist and composer. Of noble birth, following early training in Poszony [Bratislava, Slovakia] he moved to Budapest in 1794 to become director of the Hungarian theatre. After a few years he moved to Miskolc, from which he began to tour as a virtuoso violinist following his dismissal in the aftermath of the Jacobin uprising in Hungary in 1797. In 1802 he spent a few years in Cluj (now Romania), but retired subsequently to Debrecen, where he opened a music shop. He died on a visit to his doctor in a small town in the Tokay wine region of Hungary. He was known for his verbunkos, but his most important work is an 18-movement instrumental suite titled Nobilium hungariae insurgentium nota insurrectionalis hungarica. LAW, ANDREW (21 MARCH 1749, MILFORD, CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES, TO 13 JULY 1821, CHESHIRE, CONNECTICUT). American psalmodist. Law graduated from Rhode Island College in 1775, and by 1787 he had become a minister in the Congregational Church, for whom he wrote much of his music. His works were published in 1779 as the
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Select Harmony using shaped notes. In 1803 he developed a staffless music notation system. LÁZARO, JOAQUÍN (1746, ALIAGA, SPAIN, TO 1786, MONDOÑEDO, SPAIN). Spanish composer. Trained as a chorister at the Seo de Zaragoza beginning in 1755, he became maestro di capilla at the church of Nuestra Señora del Pila in 1771, and in 1777 he held the same post at Mondoñedo. In 1781 he succeeded Pedro Furió in Oviedo but returned to Mondoñedo shortly before his death. His music has been virtually unknown, but consists of several Masses, villancicos, and at least eight Lamentations. LAZO DE LA VEGA, PADRE FRANCISCO MARIA (ca. 1730, SPAIN, TO 6 JULY 1800, HAVANA, CUBA). Spanish-Cuban monastic composer. Probably related to the Archbishop of Havana, nothing is known regarding his ordination or arrival in Cuba, save that in 1769 he was appointed as choirmaster at the Havana cathedral. A Franciscan monk, he served in that capacity until the 1790s, when he also participated in the introduction of public concerts and theatre in the city. In 1796 he was named maestro di capilla, but he retired only a few years later due to old age infirmness. As a composer his music has been little studied, but he was a popular composer of villancicos, particularly during the last years of his life. LE SUEUR, JEAN-FRANÇOIS (15 FEBRUARY 1760, PRUCATPLESSIEL, FRANCE, TO 6 OCTOBER 1837, PARIS). French composer. Following training at Abbeville and Amiens, he obtained appointments as a choral director in Dijon and Tours, where he came into conflict with the city authorities on his novel methods of music. In 1782 he debuted as a composer at the Concerts spirituels, where his motets were particularly well regarded. In 1793 he began a career as a composer of opera at the Théâtre Feydeau, later teaching for a few years at the Conservatoire. In 1802 he was appointed as director of the Imperial Chapel, and in 1818 he returned as composition teacher to the Conservatoire, where his students included Hector Berlioz. He was highly regarded for his dramatic musical style, particularly in the sacred works. He wrote seven operas, over 60 sacred works (oratorios, motets, Psalms, etc.), 10 Revolutionary hymns, and a host of smaller works such as songs. LEAUMONT, [MARIE] ROBERT [LE CHEVALIER] DE (15 MAY 1762, TORBECK, SANT DOMINGUE, WEST INDIES, TO 5 AUGUST 1814, CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES). French-American military man and musician. A member of the landed
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aristocracy, he arrived in the United States in 1780 as the commander of the Regiment d’Agenois, which helped to defeat English General Cornwallis at Yorktown. Settling in Boston, he began to have his compositions performed at the public concerts beginning in 1796, eventually writing for several other cities, including Providence, Rhode Island. In 1801 he moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where he became a prominent member of the St. Cecilia Society, organizing and performing in public concerts there. Although he wrote much music, only a set of three duets for flutes has survived, but a Federal Overture and at least one opera were received by the public successfully during his years in Boston. LEBRUN, FRANCESCA. See DANZI, FRANCESCA DOROTHEA. LEBRUN, JEAN (6 APRIL 1759, LYONS, FRANCE, TO 1809, PARIS). French composer and horn player. Following studies with Jan Václav Stich (Giovanni Punto) and Jean-Joseph Rudolphe, he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels in 1781. By 1786 he had become first horn at the Opéra, and in 1792 he was called to Berlin to perform in the National Theater there. Early in the 19th century he returned to Paris, but he found it difficult to obtain further employment, resulting in his committing suicide in 1809. His surviving music is almost entirely for his own instrument, including concertos for horn in all keys. LEBRUN, LOUIS-SÉBASTIAN (10 DECEMBER 1764, PARIS, TO 27 JUNE 1829, PARIS). French singer and composer. Trained as a chorister, he received his training from teachers at the school at Nôtre Dame. In 1783 he became the musical director at the church of St. Germain-l’Auxerrois, but in 1787, following his debut at the Concerts spirituels, he obtained employment as a tenor at the Opéra. In 1791 he was active at the Théâtre Feydeau, and during Napoleonic times he once again devoted his efforts toward improving the quality of sacred music. He is best known for his opera Le rossignol, at a performance of which in 1820 the duc de Berry was assassinated. His music consists of 10 operas, three oratorios, two Masses, and a Te Deum. LEBRUN, LUDWIG AUGUST (bap. 2 MAY 1752, MANNHEIM, TO 16 DECEMBER 1790, BERLIN). German composer and oboist. Son of oboist Alexander Lebrun, he studied with the composers of the Mannheim orchestra. In 1767 he was made a member, and in 1778 he married Francesca Danzi. By 1789 he had a lucrative career as a touring virtuoso, eventually settling in Berlin. He was best known for his technical ability on the oboe, but he composed works in the Mannheim style. These include 14 concertos (for
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flute or oboe), 12 trios, a quartet, and six duos (violin and viola), as well as a ballet, a flute sonata, and six keyboard sonatas. LECLAIR, JEAN-BENOÎT (25 SEPTEMBER 1714, LYONS, FRANCE, TO AFTER 1759, PROBABLY LIÈGE, BELGIUM). French composer and impresario. Along with his brothers, he was trained as a violinist, first appearing in Lyons in concert around 1735. In 1736 he was appointed as director of the Académie de musique in Moulins but returned only a couple of years later to his hometown. In 1748 he formed a traveling troupe, which performed in Lorraine (today’s Belgium) over the next decade. His last appearance was in 1759 in the city of Liège, where he presumably died shortly thereafter. Although he is certain to have composed music for his instrument, the violin, the only work that can be attributed to him is the ballet héroïque Le retour de la paix dans les pays-bas. LECLAIR, JEAN-MARIE [L’AÎNE] (10 MAY 1697, LYONS, FRANCE, TO 22 OCTOBER 1764, PARIS). French composer and violinist. Early in his career, he traveled to Turin to study violin and dance, returning to Paris in 1723. In 1733 he was named as Ordinaire de la musique but resigned four years later due to an administrative dispute. During this period he frequently concertized at the Concerts spirituels, where he achieved a reputation as a brilliant violinist performing his own works. In 1738 he was engaged at The Hague as kapelmeester at the court of Orange, although his official duties were only required three months out of the year. In 1743 he returned to Paris, where he was employed by the duc de Gramont. In 1764 he was murdered at his home and found two months later clutching his favorite violin, a red Stradivarius. Although the bulk of his works reflect Baroque compositional methods, his sole opera, Scylla et Glaucis, performed in 1746, reflects the newer style of French opera developed by Rameau, among others, and his later works for violin incorporate galant stylistic elements, such as contrasting themes and harmonies, that are part of the emerging Classical style. His works include 49 violin sonatas, 12 violin concertos, 10 trio sonatas, 12 duets for two violins, three overtures/suites for strings, two “Récréations” de musique, and the aforementioned opera. LECLAIR, JEAN-MARIE [LE CADET] (23 SEPTEMBER 1703, LYONS, FRANCE, TO 20 NOVEMBER 1777, LYONS). French composer and violinist. Like his other brothers, he was trained by his father and first appeared in concerts held in Lyons. In 1732 he was approached by the city fathers of Besançons to direct their Académie de musique but left only a couple of years later to return to Lyons as director of the Académie des beaux
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arts, a position he retained the remainder of his life. He had a considerable reputation as a violinist that spread beyond his hometown, reinforced by the publication of 12 violin sonatas (Op. 1) and a set of six violin duets (Op. 2) in Paris. The remainder of his music, including the opera Le Rhône et la Saône, at least one symphony, and various arias and motets, has mostly been lost. See also BERTON, PIERRE MONTAN. LECLAIR, PIERRE (19 NOVEMBER 1709, LYONS, FRANCE, TO 2 APRIL 1784, LYONS). French violinist and composer. Trained in his instrument by his father, he probably remained as a local musician in Lyons until around 1750, when he may have joined his brother as a member of a traveling troupe. In 1750 he was probably in Ghent, where he worked as a music engraver, and by 1764 he was active in Versailles, where he published six chamber sonatas (Op. 1). He apparently returned to Lyons around 1770. His music has largely been forgotten; only a few duets for violins remain. LEDUC, PIERRE (17 OCTOBER 1758, PARIS, TO 18 OCTOBER 1826, BORDEAUX, FRANCE). French violinist, composer, and publisher. He received his earliest musical instruction from his brother, Simon LeDuc, with whom he frequently appeared in concert. LeDuc made his debut at the Concerts spirituels in 1770, but by 1775 he had decided on a career as a music publisher. Over the next decade he merged with or purchased rival publishers such as Le Chevardière and Boyer. In 1804 he turned his business over to his son after a disastrous attempt to imitate Ignaz Pleyel as a builder of keyboard instruments, retiring to Bordeaux. He was one of the most significant publishers of music of the 18th century, though his own compositions appear to have been limited to arrangements. LEDUC, SIMON (15 JANUARY 1742, PARIS, TO JANUARY 1777, PARIS). French violinist and composer, also called l’aîné. After receiving his training in Paris, he was a second violin at the Concerts spirituels in 1759, and four years later he was appointed first chair. In 1773 LeDuc, Pierre Gaviniés, and François-Joseph Gossec became directors of the Concerts; LeDuc held the position until his death. He was a close friend with Joseph Boulogne, le Chevalier de Saint-Georges and taught his brother Pierre LeDuc. His music style is characterized by a sense of drama in the abrupt contrasts between sections of each movement. His music consists of three violin concertos, three sinfonia concertantes, three symphonies, eight trios, 12 duos, seven sonatas, five divertimentos, and a solo violin sonata.
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LEEMANS, HÉBERT PHILIPPE ADRIEN (ca. 1720, BRUGES, BELGIUM, TO 10 JUNE 1771, PARIS). French-Belgian composer and cellist. Nothing is known of his early life or training, save that he was the son of a church organist in Bruges. He arrived in Paris around 1750, where he became a popular performer in salons, particularly at the court of the Countess of Polignac. By 1767 he was listed as a teacher of singing and cello but held no other occupation. His music, little studied, includes four symphonies, 12 quartets, a cantatille, and 21 airs or ariettas. LEFEBVRE, LOUIS-ANTOINE (ca. 1700, PERONNE, FRANCE, TO 20 JULY 1763, LE FERTÉ-SOUS-JOUARRE, FRANCE). French composer and organist. Little is known of his origins or training, but he appears as a royal organist at the chapel of St. Louis-en-l’Isle in Paris around 1745. In 1756 he added the same post at Blancs-Manteaux. His music, almost entirely vocal, displays galant tendencies and consists of 12 Masses, a Te Deum, two divertissements, and 23 cantatilles. LEFÉVRE, JEAN-XAVIER (6 MARCH 1763, LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND, TO 9 NOVEMBER 1829, PARIS). Swiss-French composer and clarinetist. Although he grew up in Switzerland, he went to Paris while still young to study with Michel Yost, enlisting in the Gardes Françaises in 1778 and making his debut at the Concerts spirituels in 1783. He also performed in the Opéra orchestra, and when the French Revolution broke out, he was given a ranking position in the Garde Nationale. In 1795 he became clarinet professor at the Conservatoire, publishing in 1802 his Méthode de clarinette. As a composer, he was known for light and facile music, including three songs, seven concertos for the clarinet, two sinfonia concertantes, 12 clarinet sonatas, six quartets, six trios, and 54 duos for two clarinets, as well as 80 airs and a number of marches for wind band. LÉGAT DE FUREY, ANTOINE (ca. 1740, MAUBEUGE, FRANCE, TO ca. 1792, PARIS). French keyboardist, organist, and composer. Although he began his studies in philosophy at the University of Paris, he also studied keyboard under Charles Noblet. In 1759 he obtained the post of organist at the church of St. Germain-le-Vieil. In 1770 he functioned as musical director at the Carmelite monastery, and in 1787 he was organist at the church of SainteCroix-de-Bretonnerie. He was active as a teacher, as well as writing a treatise, Essai sur la musique, in collaboration with Jean-Benjamin de la Borde. His own works include five operas, three volumes of chansons and a volume of ariettas, 13 cantatilles, six keyboard sonatas, and several sets of Solfèges.
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LEITÃO, LUÍS ANTÓNIO BARBOSA (1759 TO 1821). Portuguese composer of modhinas, about whom nothing is known, save that he was active in or around Lisbon. LEITE, ANTÓNIO JOAQUIM DA SILVA (23 MAY 1759, PORTO, PORTUGAL, TO 10 JUNE 1833, PORTO). Portuguese composer and organist. Following studies with Girolamo Sartori, he was appointed as organist at the Santa Clara and São Bento da Avé Maria convents. In 1787 he published a treatise, Rezumo de Todas as regras, e preceitos da cantoria, for the Real Colégio dos Meninos Orfãos in Portor, making it one of the leading schools of singing in the country. This was followed in 1796 by a second treatise, Estudio de guitarra. In 1808 he was appointed as mestre di capella at the Porto cathedral. His music includes two operas, 6 Masses, 33 smaller sacred Psalms and motets, 6 sonatas for guitar and chamber ensemble (published in 1792), one symphony, six modhinas, and a “Hymno patriotico” for King João VI. He can be considered the most important Classical period composer in that city; his style is Italianate, with lyrical melodies and diatonic harmony, but he is also known for his idiomatic writing for the guitar. LEMOYNE, GABRIEL (14 OCTOBER 1772, BERLIN, TO 2 JULY 1815, PARIS). French composer. Son of Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, he was sent to study with Jean-Frédéric Edelmann. By 1800 he had toured France before settling in Paris as a well-respected teacher. His music has been little studied but consists of three operas, two concertos, several works for solo piano, and smaller chamber works. He was regarded as a tasteful composer of light salon music. LEMOYNE, JEAN-BAPTISTE (3 APRIL 1751, EYMET, DORDOGNE, FRANCE, TO 30 DECEMBER 1796, PARIS). French composer. His earliest musical education was under the maître de chapelle at the nearby town of Périgueux. In 1770 he moved to Berlin, where he studied under Johann Gottlieb Graun and Johann Philipp Kirnberger. By 1775 he had obtained a position in Warsaw, but in 1780 he moved to Paris, where he became known as an imitator of both Christoph Willibald von Gluck and Niccolò Piccinni. His music has been little studied, although it was known during his lifetime as being repetitious and lacking inventive spark. Surviving works include 17 operas, a number of pieces of incidental music, and a large ode. See also LEMOYNE, GABRIEL. LENNING, CARL PETTER (ca. 1711, STOCKHOLM, TO 1788, TURKU, FINLAND). Finnish organist and composer. Lenning received musical training from Johan Helmich Roman in Stockholm while acting
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as organist at the Strängnäs church. In 1741 he was appointed as organist at the main cathedral in Turku in the Swedish province of Finland. The following year he was appointed to the university as instructor in music, where his pupils included Erik Tulindberg. He managed to create one of the first music departments at a university, funding both a permanent orchestra, as well as creating scholarships for students and obtaining a large instrumentarium. He owned a large music collection as well. As a musician, Lenning was a proficient player on organ, violin, and other keyboard instruments; he was so familiar with their function that he was often called upon to repair organs throughout the province. As a composer, none of his music survives, but at one time he was an active composer of cantatas and smaller works for university celebrations. These include cantatas on the death of Queen Ulrika Eleonora and a coronation cantata for Gustav III. LENTZ, JOHANNES NICOLAAS (ca. 1719, GAU-BICKELHEIM, NEAR BAD KREUZENACH, LORRAINE, GERMANY, TO 31 JANUARY 1782, ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS). Lothringian-Dutch composer. Nothing is known about his early life or training. He first appears in 1749 as a wine merchant in Rotterdam, where he was well regarded in musical-cultural circles for his compositions. His surviving works, little studied, include two concertos, both in the style of Empfindsamkeit. LENZI, CARLO (11 JULY 1735, AZZONE, ITALY, TO 23 MARCH 1805, BERGAMO, ITALY). Italian composer and organist. He was sent in 1755 to Naples to study under Nicola Sala. In 1760 he returned to Bergamo and was appointed as maestro di cappella at the cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore, a position he retained his entire life. His musical style reflects his Neapolitan training, is always lyrical, and shows a good sense of vocal writing. His music encompasses over 400 compositions, including 18 Masses (and many Mass movements), 19 secular cantatas, 34 Lamentations, 22 Misereres, 10 hymns, 10 canticles, 84 motets, four Stabat maters, a Te Deum, eight motets, five symphonies, and 10 epistle sonatas. LEO, LEONARDO ORTENSIO SALVATORE DE (5 AUGUST 1694, SAN VITO DEGLI SCHIAVONI [NOW SAN VITO DEI NORMANNI], ITALY, TO 31 OCTOBER 1744, NAPLES). Italian composer and teacher. He attended the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini, where his teachers included Francesco Provenzale and Nicola Fago. In 1712 he had his first work, an oratorio, performed, and by 1714 he was active as a composer of operas, mostly seria. In 1716 he began a lifelong career as a teacher in Neapolitan conservatories, beginning with the Pietà, where his students
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included Niccolò Jommelli and Niccolò Piccinni. Although a conservative composer whose music often reflects the Baroque style, beginning with the comic intermezzo La zingara of 1731 Leo’s works reflect the new harmonic and melodic language of the early Classical galant style. His sacred works, however, remained Baroque in their contrapuntal textures. Of his 42 operas, over half are in the new emerging Neapolitan musical style. See also CIAMPI, VINCENZO LEGRENZO; FIORILLO, IGNAZIO; FIORONI, GIOVANNI ANDREA; LOGROSCINO, NICOLA BONIFACIO; SALA, NICOLA; SCIROLI, GREGORIO; VELLA, MICHEL’ANGELO. LHOYER, ANTOINE DE (6 SEPTEMBER, 1768, CLERMONTFERRAND, FRANCE, TO 15 MARCH 1852, PARIS). French soldier, composer, and guitarist. Following early education at the Royal Military School in his hometown, he moved to Paris in 1774, and by 1788 he was employed in the Royal Guards at Versailles. Fleeing France as the Revolution began, he enlisted in the Austrian army in 1792 in Koblenz, fighting against Napoleon for several years. His earliest published works (Op. 12–18) appeared in Hamburg in 1800, and up through 1820 he gained a reputation for both his printed music and virtuoso performance in Russia and Germany. His later works are written in the prevailing style of early Romanticism, but his first printed compositions—a guitar concerto, a solo guitar sonata, and three sonatas for guitar and violin, as well as a romance for soprano and guitar—all clearly demonstrate solid Classical styles and structures. His earliest works, including his first 11 published sets, have not survived. LICKL, JOHANN GEORG (11 APRIL 1769, KORNEUBURG, LOWER AUSTRIA, TO 12 MAY 1843, PÉCS, HUNGARY). German-Hungarian composer. Orphaned as a child, he was taken under the wing of a local organist in Korneuburg, with whom he had his earliest musical training. In 1785 he moved to Vienna, where his teachers included Joseph Haydn and Johann Georg Albrechtsberger. Toward the end of the decade he functioned as director of the Carmelite Church in the city, but in 1789 he became associated with Emanuel Schickaneder, for whom he wrote no fewer than 11 Singspiels over the next decade and a half. In 1805 he was appointed as regens chori at the cathedral in Pécs, where he remained for the rest of his life. The bulk of his sacred music is written in a style reflective of early 19th-century Romanticism. LIDARTE, CRISTIANO GIUSEPPE [CHRISTIAN JOSEPH] (23 FEBRUARY 1730, VIENNA, TO 1795, PISA, ITALY). Austrian-Italian composer. Following musical education in the Cistercian monastery in Viktring,
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he received his musical education from the Jesuits in Leoben. His earliest teacher was Giuseppe Bonno, from whom he received an introduction to further training in Italy in 1751. In 1761 he was elected as a member of the Accademia filharmonia, later serving as maestro di cappella in Pisa. He was a prolific composer in the prevailing homophonic Italian style, with lyrical melodies and a good sense of harmony. His works include an oratorio in Hebrew (Ester), as well as two operas, a Mass, eight smaller church works, two fugues, several pieces for the Jewish synagogue in Amsterdam, seven symphonies, five concertos, six notturnos, 18 quintets, six string quartets, 67 trio sonatas, 42 duets, four duo sonatas, and a treatise entitled Anedotti musicale. LIDÓN BLÁSQUEZ, JOSÉ (2 JUNE 1748, BÉJAR, NEAR SALAMANCA, SPAIN, TO 11 FEBRUARY 1827, MADRID). Spanish composer and organist. Following training as a chorister, he became organist at the church of Santa María in Béjar before moving to Madrid to take up a post at the Real Colegio de Niños Cantores. In 1768 he obtained the post of fourth organist at the royal chapel, eventually rising in the rank to first organist by 1787, the same time as he served the Osuna household. In 1805 he became the director of the Colegio. His music has been little studied, but it comprises three operas, five Masses, 32 cantadas, 31 Lamentations, 32 other sacred works, two sonatas, and around 40 miscellaneous keyboard works. See also LÓPEZ, FÉLIX MAXIMO. LIENDO, JUAN GABRIEL (ca. 1740, VENEZUELA, TO AFTER 1789, CARACAS, VENEZUELA). Venezuelan composer. Little is known of his life or music, save that he may have been a student of Jacobo de Miranda and taught members of the Chacao School. He was appointed maestro de capilla of the Caracas cathedral in 1774 after serving several years in apprenticeship. He resigned in 1789 and disappeared from history. His surviving music consists of a few sacred works. LIGUORI, SAINT ALPHONSUS DE’ (27 SEPTEMBER 1696, MARINELLA, NEAR NAPLES, TO 1 AUGUST 1787, PAGANI, ITALY). Italian bishop, poet, and composer. Born Alphonsus Maria Antonio Giovanni Cosmas Damian Michael Gaspard de’ Liguori, he came from a noble family and was trained in law at the University of Naples. In 1723 he abandoned his profession and entered the priesthood at San Felipe Neri in 1726. For the remainder of his life he published works on theology and founded congregations, being consecrated a bishop in 1762. In 1771 he was allowed to retire to a contemplative life. As a theologian he was considered one of the masters
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of the age, and in 1839 he was canonized by Pope Gregory XVI. Although well-versed in music, he wrote only a series of hymns, of which Tu scendi alle stelli is considered iconic. LIMA, JERÓNIMO FRANCISCO DE (30 SEPTEMBER 1743, LISBON, TO 19 FEBRUARY 1822, LISBON). Portuguese composer and organist. After early studies at the Seminário da Patriarchal in Lisbon, he traveled to Naples to enroll at the Conservatorio di San Onofrio along with his Portuguese colleague and friend João Sousa de Carvalho. Upon completing his course of study, he returned to Lisbon as organist at the Patriarchal and as court chamber composer. His most important work was the opera Le nozze d’Ercole e d’Ebe composed in 1785 for the marriage ceremony uniting the Portuguese and Spanish royal houses. After a brief sojourn as chamber composer to resident merchant William Beckford in Sintra, he returned to the Patriarchal as mestre de capela, succeeding Carvalho. Lima’s music style demonstrates a competent composer well versed in the Neapolitan idioms. His works have been compared with Niccolò Jommelli. These include seven operas, a national hymn, two cantatas, a Dixit, a Magnificat, and a large number of sacred works. LIMONDIJIAN, HAMPARTSOUM (1768, ÇUKUR SOKUK, ISTANBUL, TURKEY, TO 29 JUNE 1839, ISTANBUL). Turkish-Armenian composer and theorist. A student of Dede Efendi Limondijian, he was educated by the Düzyan family, serving as the chief singer in the Armenian church. While there he came to the attention of Sultan Selim III, who was interested in developing a standard notation system. He learned Turkish music from the Mevlevi Dervish sect, but he was best known for his development of a unique musical notation known as the Hampartsoum notation used for Turkish Classical music, as well as Armenian sacred works. His music includes six books of pieces, as well as 31 Armenian hymns using modal scales. He is one of the first to develop a microtonal symbol. LINLEY, FRANCIS (1771, DONCASTER, ENGLAND, TO 13 SEPTEMBER 1800, DONCASTER). English composer and organist. Blind from birth, he was trained by Doncaster organist Edward Miller before obtaining the post of organist at St. James Church in London. In 1790 he began a music business in London, but after his wife abandoned him, he moved to the United States in 1796, where he became an important figure in the musical life of Boston. Here he composed music for the public concerts and engaged in a music-selling business. His financial affairs came unraveled, and in 1799 he returned to his hometown in England. Little of his music survives; only a
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series of three tutorials, Assistant for the Pianoforte (in two volumes), and an organ tutor. He did, however, compose three sonatas for keyboard, a series of duets for flutes, and an orchestral overture. He is not related to the family of Thomas Linley Sr. LINLEY, OZIAS THURSTON (bap. 22 AUGUST 1765, BATH, ENGLAND, TO 6 MARCH 1831, LONDON). English cleric and organist. Trained initially under his father, Thomas Linley Sr., he decided on a career in the clergy. In 1789 he received a degree from Oxford University, becoming a canon at Norwich. In 1816 he was appointed organist at Dolwich College, a position he retained the remainder of his life. His musical compositions include anthems and hymns for the organ. LINLEY, THOMAS, JR. (7 MAY 1756, BATH, ENGLAND, TO 5 AUGUST 1778, GRIMSTHORPE, LINCOLNSHIRE, ENGLAND). English composer and violinist. Son of Thomas Linley Sr., he was known as a child prodigy, performing a concerto on the violin at the Bath concerts in 1763 at age 7. Thereafter he was sent to London to study under William Boyce, and in 1768 he went to Italy to study under Pietro Nardini. There he became a close friend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with whom he shared a common background. In 1773 he was a violinist at the Drury Lane Theatre, achieving success as a composer. Unfortunately, he drowned while rowing a boat at a lake owned by one of the theatre’s patrons. His music includes three operas, three anthems/odes (including one on Shakespeare), 20 songs, 20 violin concertos (most lost), and several smaller works. LINLEY, THOMAS, SR. (17 JANUARY 1733, BADMINTON, GLOUSTERSHIRE, ENGLAND, TO 19 NOVEMBER 1795, LONDON). English composer. His earliest studies in music occurred in Bath around 1740, and by 1746 he had moved to London to study with William Boyce. The success of his first opera, The Royal Merchant, in 1767 led to a lifelong association with Drury Lane Theatre as its manager. In 1777 he was elected as a member of the Royal Society of Musicians. Charles Burney noted that his music was not extraordinarily original but was marked by sound composition and good taste. His music includes 21 operas or pantomimes, 10 insertion arias, six elegies, 12 ballads, 19 other smaller works, in addition to glees and catches. LINLEY, WILLIAM (27 JANUARY 1771, BATH, ENGLAND, TO 8 MAY 1835, LONDON). English composer, singer, and civil servant. Trained by his father, Thomas Linley Sr., in music, he also attended the
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Harrow and St. Paul’s School in Bath. He later studied music under Carl Friedrich Abel in London. In 1787 he published several songs, but in 1790 he was sent on a six-year mission as a civil servant to India. Upon his return in 1796, he took over his father’s position at Drury Lane Theatre, producing his most successful opera, Vortigern. By 1801 he had returned to India for a second tour of duty. Upon his return he worked in several London theatres. Although his music does not achieve the same standard as that of his father, he was active enough, particularly during the early part of the 19th century. His works written before 1800 include two operas, six canzonetts, numerous songs, and a series of “fairy” glees. LINWOOD, MARY (1755, BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, TO 2 MARCH 1845, LEICESTER, ENGLAND). English painter and composer. Although she began her career as an artist, for which she received a medal from the Academy of Arts, she also composed music at times throughout her life, including two operas, an oratorio, and numerous songs. Only the last seem to date partially from the 18th century. LIPP, FRANZ IGNAZ (1 FEBRUARY 1718, EGGENFELDEN, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 15 AUGUST 1798, SALZBURG, AUSTRIA). German-Austrian organist and composer. He arrived in Salzburg as a chorister in 1732, being educated in music in the cathedral school. After a brief position as organist in Laufen, he was appointed second organist at the cathedral in 1754. His tenure was less than successful, and in 1779 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart took over many of his duties at the church, although Lipp continued to compose and perform for the Salzburg court. He was also known as a singer (tenor) and played the violin. His greatest claim to fame, however, is that his daughter Magdalena married composer Michael Haydn. His own music consists of five Masses, nine offertories, three vespers, four litanies, 16 Marian antiphons, a Passion, 10 Stella coelis, five Tantum ergos, two Misereres, 13 sacred arias, and two string trios. LITHANDER, CARL LUDVIG (6 FEBRUARY 1773, NOAROOTSI [RÖICKS], ESTONIA, TO 17 DECEMBER 1848, GREIFSWALD, GERMANY). Finnish-Swedish composer and brother of Ernst Gabriel Lithander and Fredrik Immanuel Lithander. Son of a Lutheran pastor ministering to a Swedish-speaking congregation in what was then a Russian province, Lithander was part of a musical family. Upon the death of his father, he settled in Sweden, where he continued his musical education at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. By 1795 he was teaching mathematics at military schools in Stockholm, while publishing his first works for fortepiano, including sets of
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variations. Although the bulk of his music, including two operas, dates from after 1800, he was considered one of the most progressive of the early Romantic composers that expanded Classical period forms and structures, setting the stage for Romantic period composers such as Franz Berwald. LITHANDER, ERNST GABRIEL (1774, NOAROOTSI [RÖICKS], ESTONIA, TO 1803, PORVOO, FINLAND). Finnish-Swedish conductor and composer. Like his brothers Carl Ludvig Lithander and Fredrik Immanuel Lithander, he received his early musical education at home, but on the death of his father moved to Turku, where in 1790 he entered Turku University on a music scholarship. In 1793 he was appointed as music teacher at the secondary school in Porvoo and a few years later became the organist at the cathedral there. His music has never been fully explored, and little of it has survived, save for a set of Polonaises for keyboard that show affinities with composers such as Joseph Martin Kraus. LITHANDER, FREDRIK IMMANUEL (1777, NOAROOTSI [RÖICKS], ESTONIA, TO 1823, ST. PETERSBURG). Finnish-Swedish composer and teacher. Along with his brothers Ernst Gabriel Lithander and Carl Ludvig Lithander, he settled in Turku around 1790, having received his training from his father. He was a bookkeeper and administrator of the Turku Musical Society, often performing for public concerts on the fortepiano and as a singer. In 1811 he moved to St. Petersburg, where he remained the rest of his life as a much-esteemed teacher. His earliest works include variations on a theme by Joseph Haydn (1799), as well as a Polonaise for orchestra, several concert arias, Lieder, and sonatas for fortepiano. His style is similar to that of his brothers, and like them, his music has not been researched in any depth. LOBO DE MESQUITA, JOSÉ JOAQUIM EMERICO (12 OCTOBER 1746, VILA DO PRÍNCIPE, BRAZIL, TO APRIL 1805, RIO DE JANEIRO). Brazilian composer. The son of a Portuguese adventurer and a slave, he studied music in Vila do Príncipe from the mestre da capila at the Nossa Senhora da Conçeicão Church. In 1776 he had become organist in Arraial do Tijuco (now Diamantina) in Minas Gerais province, a position he juggled with teaching and military service. He retired in 1798. His music includes five Masses, two Magnificats, three motets, four antiphons, a Stabat mater, a Te Deum, and a number of Portuguese sacred works. LOCATELLI, PIETRO ANTONIO (13 SEPTEMBER 1695, BERGAMO, ITALY, TO 30 MARCH 1764, AMSTERDAM). Italian violinist and composer. A student of Archangelo Corelli, Locatelli gained fame for
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his performance on the violin, becoming recognized as one of the foremost players of the 18th century. Although the bulk of his music, mostly published, reflects a Baroque style, galant elements do begin to appear in the 12 sonatas (Op. 6), the six concertos (Op. 7), and the Op. 8 trio sonatas. See also ZOPPIS, FRANCESCO. LOGROSCINO, NICOLA BONIFACIO (bap. 22 OCTOBER 1698, BITONTO, APULIA, ITALY, TO DECEMBER 1764, PALERMO, SICILY). Italian composer. He was sent to Naples to study at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto in 1714, but in 1727 he was expelled for bad behavior. He found a temporary position as organist for the Bishop of Conza, but in 1735 his opera Lo creduto fedele was performed successfully in Naples at the Teatro della Pace. Thereafter followed numerous other successes, mostly comic operas, which made him one of the most popular composers of comic opera after the death of his mentor, Leonardo Leo. In 1758, however, he was appointed director of the theatre in Palermo by Prince Corsini, where he remained his entire life. His operas reflect the emerging galant style characterized by Giovanni Pergolesi, and he was known for his extended finales, much like Leo and others in Neapolitan opera of the time. His works include 40 operas (almost all comic), six oratorios, three Stabat maters, and several smaller church works. A string quartet, symphony, and flute concerto found at the Lund University Library may or may not be authentic. LÖHLEIN, GEORG SIMON (16 JULY 1725, NEUSTADT AN DER HEIDE, GERMANY, TO 16 DECEMBER 1781, DANZIG [NOW GDAŃSK, POLAND]). German keyboardist and composer. He studied initially under his father before being drafted into the Prussian army in 1741. By 1760 he began studies at Jena University, later transferring to Leipzig, where he was educated in music by Johann Adam Hiller. He was an active keyboardist and teacher in Leipzig, publishing his Clavierschule in 1765. In 1781, a few months before his death, he was appointed as Kapellmeister in Danzig. His music consists of a Singspiel, an oratorio, several cantatas, nine keyboard concertos, 12 keyboard sonatas, six fortepiano trios, a piano quartet, six partitas with keyboard, and six Lieder. LOLLI, ANTONIO (ca. 1725, BERGAMO, ITALY, TO 10 AUGUST 1805, PALERMO, ITALY). Italian violinist and composer. He was probably trained in the city of Milan, and by 1758 he had obtained a position in Stuttgart as a violinist. In 1764 he performed several times at the Concerts spirituels, and as a result of his fame on tour in Germany and France, he was offered a generous stipend by Catherine II to come to Russia in 1774. The
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climate did not apparently agree with him, and in 1783 he left, touring northern Europe on his way south to Italy. In 1794 he was engaged as maestro di cappella to the court of Naples. As a performer, he was known for his firey technique, but as a composer critics such as Charles Burney found his music bizarre. His main claim to fame is a treatise, L’école du violon en quatuor, published in 1784. His music consists of 12 violin concertos, 28 violin sonatas, six duos, and 36 solo violin capriccios. His most important student was Andreas Romberg. See also SAINT-GEORGES, JOSEPH BOULOGNE, LE CHEVALIER DE. LÓPEZ, FÉLIX MAXIMO (10 NOVEMBER 1742, MADRID, TO 9 APRIL 1821, MADRID). Spanish composer and organist. López studied at the Real Colegio and in 1775 became fourth organist at the royal chapel. In 1805 he succeeded José Lidón Blásquez as director of the royal chapel, a post he held his entire life. He is best known for his treatise Reglas generals on organ playing. His own music, however, has mostly been lost, including numerous Psalms and motets, but 15 keyboard sonatas and a number of organ works have survived. LÓPEZ GONZÁLEZ, JOAQUÍN (1759, BOLLIGA, SPAIN, TO 1815, ORIHUELA, SPAIN). Spanish composer. Little is known of his early education, and he first appears as the maestro di capilla at the cathedral in Segorbe, near Valencia. In 1783 he was ordained a Franciscan priest and offered the same post in Orihuela in Alicante province, where he remained the rest of his life. His music has been largely unresearched but consists almost exclusively of sacred music. LÓPEZ JIMÉNEZ, MELCHOR (19 JANUARY 1760, HUEVA, NEAR GUADALAJARA, SPAIN, TO 19 AUGUST 1822, SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, SPAIN). Spanish composer and organist. Little is known about his life, other than he attended the Collegio Real in Madrid. In 1784 he was appointed as maestro di capilla at the main cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. His music reflects the homophonic style of late classicism, with thick instrumental and vocal textures. His works, never studied in full, consist of 550 pieces, most of which are Masses and villancicos, although he also wrote motets, a Requiem, and a number of Lamentations. LOÜET, ALEXANDRE (1753, MARSEILLES, FRANCE, TO 1817, PARIS). French composer and keyboardist. Born into a wealthy family, Loüet was trained as a musical amateur in Marseilles. In 1786 he made his debut as an opera composer at the Comédie-Italienne in Paris with La double
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clef, a work that caused an uproar among Parisian audiences. During the French Revolution, he lost his family fortune, forcing him to seek employment as a composer and teacher. From 1797 on he had works performed with moderate success at the Théâtre Feydeau, but he made his living tuning keyboard instruments. His treatise Instructions théoretiques et pratiques sur l’accord du piano-forte from 1798 was an important work on the subject. Although he subsequently sought his fortune in Russia in 1804, he returned to Paris to an old age of infirmity and bitterness. His music includes three operas, six piano sonatas, four violin sonatas, six Romances, and several smaller arrangements. LUCHESI, ANDREA LUCA (13 MAY 1741, MOTTA DI LIVENZA NEAR TREVISO, ITALY, TO 21 MARCH 1801, BONN). Italian-German composer and organist. Born into a family with noble ancestry, he received his earliest musical education from his brother Matteo, a local organist. In 1757 he moved to Venice, where patronage allowed him to study formally with a number of composers, including Baldassare Galuppi. By 1761 he was well known as a virtuoso on the organ, often performing publicly in addition to a post as organist at the church of San Salvatore. In 1765 his opera L’isola della fortuna was performed with some success at the Hoftheater in Vienna, and by 1771 he had become important enough that the Elector of Cologne, Archbishop Maximilian Ferdinand, brought him to his court in Bonn as the successor to Lodewijk van Beethoven. Apart from a sabbatical spent in Venice from 1783 to 1784, he remained there until his death. He was known as a fine teacher during his years in Bonn, and his pupils included Antonín Reicha, as well as both Andreas Romberg and Bernhard Romberg (Ludwig van Beethoven seems to be missing from this number, although he did perform under Luchesi’s direction in the Kapelle). Luchesi’s style is relatively straightforward, with good themes and solid formal structures that characterize the Austro-Italian music of the time. He wrote 12 operas, two oratorios, a Requiem and a Stabat mater, nine vespers, seven Masses, 16 hymns, seven antiphons, numerous other smaller sacred works, two concertos for keyboard, 12 symphonies, eight violin sonatas, a piano trio, and 34 smaller pieces for keyboard. Charles Burney labeled his music as “pleasing.” LUSTIG, JACOB WILHELM (21 SEPTEMBER 1706, HAMBURG, TO MAY 1791, GRONINGEN, NETHERLANDS). German-Dutch organist and composer, who wrote music under the pseudonym Conrad Wohlgemuth. His early life is unknown, although he claimed to have been a student of both Johann Mattheson and Georg Philipp Telemann. By 1723 he served as organist assistant at the Lutheran church in Hamburg, and in 1728 he was
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appointed as organist at the Martinikerk in Groningen. His musical style is difficult to determine, since virtually all of his music has been lost. A set of six keyboard sonatas published in 1732 are thoroughly Baroque, while 30 Lieder for voice and continuo seem to include Empfindsamkeit elements. As a musician, he must have written a considerable number of works, though most have been lost. LUSTRINI, ABBÉ BARTOLOMEO (ca. 1720, MODENA, ITALY, TO ca. 1780, ROME). Italian composer. Nothing is known about his early life or training, although he allegedly came to Rome from Modena. In 1753 he composed his first oratorio in Rome, and by 1762 he had been elected as maestro di cappella at St. John’s Lateran. In 1766 he was active in the Vatican, but little is known about his activities, other than he was a teacher and composed at least two oratorios as well as a set of keyboard sonatas, which were published around 1753. See also MOREAU, HENRI. LYON, JAMES (1 JULY 1735, NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, AMERICAN COLONIES, TO 12 OCTOBER 1794, MACHIAS, MAINE, UNITED STATES). American minister, author, and composer. He graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1759, receiving the privilege of preaching to Presbyterian congregations. In 1761 he published the Urania, a collection of Psalm settings some of which he composed. He made his living as a musician and singing teacher in Philadelphia before moving to New Brunswick in Canada as a minister in 1762. Following work in Nova Scotia, he returned to the new United States, where he published a number of songs and odes.
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M MACCARI, GIACOMO (ca. 1700, ROME, TO ca. 1744, VENICE). Italian composer and singer. Nothing is known of his life or works, save that he appeared around 1720 as a tenor in Venice. In 1727 his first opera was performed during Carnival, and over the course of the next decade and a half he produced several works with Carlo Goldoni in the new comedic style of opera buffa. His music has been little studied but consists of 13 operas and a cantata. MACDONALD, JOSEPH (26 FEBRUARY 1739, DURNESS, SUTHERLANDSHIRE, SCOTLAND, TO 1762, INDIA). Scottish composer, musician, and theoretician. Born the son of a clergyman, he became a student of Kenneth Sutherland in Cnorcbreac, from whom he learned the violin. By the age of 8 he was already leading the singing at the local church. During his schooling at Haddington, he composed numerous airs to texts by local poets, gaining a reputation as a skillful composer. In 1760 he was appointed to the British colonial government in India. Along his journey he collected musical instruments, and when he arrived he wrote A Treatise on the Theory of the Scots Highland Bagpipe, published in 1803 after his death. His compositions comprise 86 “Highland Ayres.” MACDONALD [M’DONALD], MALCOLM (ca. 1730, DUNKELD, SCOTLAND[?], TO ca. 1780, INVER, SCOTLAND). Scottish fiddler and composer. Though nothing is known of his life or upbringing, he was said to have come from Dunkeld, where he remained his entire life. He published four collections of Strathspeys and reels “of his own composition,” though several of the tunes were written by others, such as Daniel Dow. According to a note on one collection, he performed on the cello as well as the fiddle. MACDONALD, PATRICK (22 APRIL 1729, DURNESS, SUTHERLANDSHIRE, SCOTLAND, TO 25 SEPTEMBER 1824, KILMORE, SCOTLAND). Scottish musician and minister. In 1737 he was sent to his grandfather at Pittenweem, and in 1747 he attended the University of Aberdeen, where he was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. His first and only 353
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post was at the town of Kilmore, where he gained a reputation as one of the finest violinists in Scotland, frequently performing in Edinburgh. MACKINTOSH, ABRAHAM (15 JUNE 1769, EDINBURGH, TO 1807, NEWCASTLE, ENGLAND). Scottish composer. Following in the footsteps of his father, Robert Mackintosh, he began composing native Scottish dance tunes, arranging and publishing 30 of them in 1792. Several, such as “Buckingham House” and “Athole Brose,” became well known. In 1797 he moved to Newcastle, where he taught music and dancing. Two other collections of tunes were published around 1805. MACKINTOSH, ROBERT (1745, TULLIEMET, PERTHSHIRE, SCOTLAND, TO FEBRUARY, 1807, LONDON). Scottish composer and violinist. Early in his life he moved to Edinburgh where he studied under Baroque violinist William McGibbon (1696–1756) and performed for the Edinburgh Music Society. In 1772 he published his first works in the compendium A Collection of Favorite Scots Tunes. In 1785 he moved to Aberdeen, where he led the local orchestra in a series of public concerts for three years, often performing works by his colleagues such as Thomas Erskine. In 1788 he returned to Edinburgh where he continued to publish dances and tunes, eventually settling in London in 1803. As a composer, he bridges the gap between Scots popular dance music and more conventional genres. His G minor Sonata of 1783, published in his collection Airs, Minuets, Gavotts and Reels (Op. 1), contrasts with the remaining works in its adherence to Classical forms and structures equivalent to other works in the genre found in London and elsewhere. He also composed two violin concertos and a solo “Rondeau with harmonic tones,” probably meaning modal harmonies prevalent in Scottish music. These have been lost. But 68 Scottish dances were published in three volumes beginning in 1788. His son, Abraham Mackintosh, also became a composer. MADLSEDER, PATER NONNOSUS (20 JUNE 1730, MERAN, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 3 APRIL 1797, KLOSTER ANDECHS, GERMANY). German monastic composer. He received his early musical education from local schools in Hall, and both Augustinian and Benedictine schools at Polling and Freising. In 1749 he entered the Benedictine monastery in Andechs, succeeding Pater Gregor Schreyer as regens chori in 1767. He remained there, serving toward the end of his life as sub-prior. His music has been little studied but consists of five Misereres, a Mass, a Te Deum, a Stabat mater, a Requiem, and several smaller church works. MAESTRO DI CAPILA, MAESTRO DI CAPILLA, MAESTRO DI CAPPELLA. See KAPELLMEISTER.
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MAHAUT, ANTOINE (4 MAY 1719, NAMUR, BELGIUM, TO ca. 1785, NAMUR). French-Belgian flautist and composer. Mahaut studied music with his father, also a flautist, before moving to London as part of the entourage of the Bishop of Strickland in 1734. By 1737 he had returned to Namur, but two years later he moved to Amsterdam, where he performed frequently and toured Germany. By 1760 he had settled in Paris but probably returned to his hometown to retire. He wrote one of the first treatises on flute performance in Dutch. His music consists of 31 flute concertos, 20 symphonies, 26 trios, 29 flute sonatas, and around 50 Lieder, mostly in Dutch. MAHON, JOHN (ca. 1749, OXFORD, ENGLAND, TO JANUARY 1834, DUBLIN, IRELAND). English-Irish clarinetist and composer. He made his debut at the Hollywell Music Rooms in Oxford in 1772 and served in the Oxford Volunteers Band. By 1777 he had moved to London, where he performed frequently in public concerts held at Covent Garden and elsewhere, as well as festivals there and in Birmingham. In 1783 he was elected to the Royal Society of Musicians, and in 1825 he retired to Dublin. His most important work is a tutorial for his instrument, A New and Complete Preceptor for the Clarinet, published in 1803. His works include two clarinet concertos, four clarinet duos, and a number of marches. His brother William Mahon (ca. 1751–1816), was also a clarinetist and conducted the orchestra in Salisbury, England, for over 30 years. MAICHELBECK, FRANZ ANTON (6 JULY 1702, KONSTANZ, GERMANY, TO 14 JUNE 1750, FREIBURG IM BREISGAU, GERMANY). German composer and keyboardist. In 1721 he was a student of theology at the University of Freiburg, but in 1725 he went to Rome to study sacred music. Two years later he returned to Freiburg, where he became an organist at a local church and in 1730 professor of Italian at the university. He was reputed to have been a learned humanist. His own musical achievement is a three-volume set of keyboard works intended for amateurs titled Die auf dem Clavier lehrende [or spielende] Caecilia, published in the late 1730s. He also composed sacred music in the early Neapolitan style, including several motets. MAÎTRE DE CHAPELLE. See KAPELLMEISTER. MAJO, GIAN FRANCESCO DE (1732, NAPLES, TO 1770, ROME). Neapolitan composer. Born into a family of musicians, Majo received his first education with his father, Giuseppe de Majo, the maestro di cappella at the royal court. In 1750 he was offered a salaried position at the Teatro San Carlo, though his health forced him to abandon a number of commissions for operas.
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In February 1759 he received his first opera commission from Rome. The successful production led to a national and subsequently international reputation. In 1761 while writing in northern Italy, he studied with Padre Giovanni Battista Martini, though this was sporadic due to his “amorous” adventures. In 1764 he wrote and in 1766 he was commissioned by the Palatine court of Carl Theodor to write two operas for Mannheim. While his first, Ifigenia in Tauride, was a stunning success, the second, an opera seria titled Alessandro, failed and Majo returned to Italy, where he died of tuberculosis. Majo’s style is vivacious and dramatic, characterized by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as “bellissima.” He was one of the major reformers of serious opera, along with Christoph Willibald von Gluck and Niccolò Jommelli. His music consists of 17 operas (mostly seria), eight oratorios, four Masses, a litany, 20 motets, 10 Salve Reginas, eight Psalms, and several other Lessons and Lamentations, as well as a sonata for keyboard and another for mandolin. MAJO, GIUSEPPE DE (5 DECEMBER 1697, NAPLES, TO 18 NOVEMBER 1771, NAPLES). Italian composer and organist, father of Gian Francesco de Majo. Following study at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini under Nicola Fago, Majo became associated with the Teatro Fiorentini beginning in 1725 as a composer of operas. By 1736, however, he was appointed as organist at the Cappella Reale, later in 1744 attaining the post of maestro di cappella there. Although his early works reflect Baroque stylistic idioms, particularly his sacred music is firmly planted in the early Classical Neapolitan homophonic style. These include 10 operas, an oratorio, six cantatas, and four sacred works, though many others remain undiscovered. MALTERRE [MALTER], EBERHARD FRIEDRICH (10 AUGUST 1728, STUTTGART, GERMANY, TO 27 JULY 1787, STUTTGART). German violoncellist and composer. The son of a dancing master hired by the court in Stuttgart, Peter Heinrich Malterre (1700–1784), he was trained by members of the local Kapelle before being hired as a musician in the orchestra in 1746. Thereafter he was sent to Italy to complete his training and traveled frequently for the next several decades as a soloist. In 1775 he was also employed in the Karlsschule as a dancing master alongside his father. His music, mostly for his own instrument and a few ballet numbers, has been completely forgotten, but his foremost student on the cello was Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg. MALZAT, IGNACE [ADAMUS IGNATIUS FRANCISCUS DE PAULA JOEPHUS] (4 MARCH 1757, VIENNA, TO 20 MARCH 1804, PASSAU, GERMANY). Austrian oboist and composer. Like his brother Johann Michael Malzat, he received his earliest education from his father, Josef
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Malzat. In 1774 he obtained a position as oboist in the court orchestra in Salzburg, becoming a student of Michael Haydn. In 1778 he toured central Europe before settling in Bolzano, but in 1788 he obtained the post of principal oboe at the court of the Prince-Archbishop of Passau. His music reflects the style of his teacher, but it has been little studied. What survives are six concertos, a wind partita, a sextet, a quintet, and a cassation. MALZAT, JOHANN MICHAEL (21 APRIL 1749, VIENNA, TO 13 MAY 1787, INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA). Austrian cellist and composer. Following early education from his father, Josef Malzat, he was trained as a chorister at the monastery in Kremsmünster and found a position as a teacher at Stams in 1778. For the next eight years he had positions throughout the Tirol until in 1786 he was appointed chorusmaster in Innsbruck. His music has been little studied but consists of five Masses, a Requiem, an oratorio, a Singspiel, a cantata, two smaller sacred works, five symphonies, five concertos (several lost), a sinfonia concertante, 10 quartets, three string trios, and five sonatas. See also MALZAT, IGNACE. MALZAT, JOSEF (1723, PIRNITZ, MORAVIA [NOW BRTNICE, CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 25 NOVEMBER 1760, VIENNA). AustroMoravian composer and violinist. Nothing is known of his early life or education, save that around 1745 he entered the service of Count Haugewitz as a violinist. In 1747 he was leader of the orchestra at the Dominican church in Vienna, and 10 years later he held the same post at St. Stephen’s. Very little of his music has survived, but works include four symphonies, a concerto, a quartet, and a wind partita. His sons, Johann Michael Malzat and Ignace Malzat also became composers. MANCINELLI, DOMENICO (1724, FLORENCE, ITALY, TO 16 OCTOBER 1804, BOLOGNA). Italian composer and oboist. Presumably trained locally, he was appointed as oboist at the Basilica di San Petronio in Florence in 1760. In 1772 he moved to London, where he spent several years as a musician and teacher of aristocratic families before returning to Italy. He was known for writing elegant but playable music for flute or oboe and a second instrument, publishing 113 duets over several years. MANFREDINI, FRANCESCO (22 JUNE 1684, PISTOIA, ITALY, TO 6 OCTOBER 1762, PISTOIA). Italian violinist and composer. Trained under Giuseppe Torelli, he had a career during the early part of the 18th century as a soloist and as a composer for the Grimaldi court in Monaco. By 1727, however, he returned to his birthplace to become maestro di cappella at the
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church of San Filippo. His children, Giuseppe Manfredini and Vincenzo Manfredini, became composers and musicians. Manfredini’s published works mostly reflect Baroque styles, as do the majority of his sacred music. However, a set of violin sonatas published in 1764 posthumously demonstrate galant style traits, as does his oratorio from 1734 titled Golia ucciso da Davidde. MANFREDINI, GIUSEPPE (ca. 1710, PISTOIA, ITALY, TO ca. 1780, BOLOGNA). Italian composer and castrato. Son of Francesco Manfredini and brother of Vincenzo Manfredini, he studied music under his father. His vocal talent led to his being trained as a castrato, and in 1750 he moved to London where he performed with the troupe of Pietro Locatelli. By 1758 he arrived in St. Petersburg with his brother, eventually establishing a reputation as a teacher of music in Moscow. In 1766 he left Russia and retired to Italy, settling in Bologna. Little of his music has survived, save for a set of six concert arias published in London in 1771. MANFREDINI, VINCENZO (22 OCTOBER 1737, PISTOIA, ITALY, TO 16 AUGUST 1799, ST. PETERSBURG). Italian theorist, keyboardist, and composer. Trained under his father, Francesco Manfredini, and Giacomo Perti (1691–1756), he finished his training under Giovanni Andrea Fioroni in Milan. In 1758 he traveled with his brother Giuseppe Manfredini to St. Petersburg, where he was appointed as maestro di cappella of the Italian opera company. When he was displaced by Catherine II in favor of Baldassare Galuppi in 1765, he wrote for the ballet company before returning to Italy in 1769. By 1772 he was a resident composer in Venice, writing works for the Teatro San Benedetto. Russian Czar Paul I recalled him to St. Petersburg in 1796 as a teacher. His music reflects the good sense of lyricism of the Italian style of the day. It includes eight operas, five ballets, three cantatas, two Requiems, an oratorio, six symphonies, a keyboard concerto, six string quartets, six keyboard sonatas, and 14 keyboard preludes. He also wrote no fewer than seven treatises, of which his Regole Armoniche of 1775 was the most popular. MANGO, HIERONYMUS (ca. 1740, ROME, TO 1794, ROME). Italian composer. Nothing is known of his musical education, although his musical style seems to indicate that he may have attended one of the conservatories in Naples. In 1764 he was appointed Kapellmeister at the court of PrinceArchbishop Strassoldo in Eichstätt. In 1771, however, he returned to Rome due to his poor wages, but rumors kept him traveling back and forth until 1773, when he settled there permanently. There he made a living as a com-
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poser of opera. His works have been little studied but consist of six Masses, 14 operas, a litany, and several smaller sacred works. MANKELL, JOHANN HERMANN (19 SEPTEMBER 1763, NIEDERASPHE, HESSE, GERMANY, TO 11 NOVEMBER 1835, KARLSKRONA, SWEDEN). German-Swedish composer. The son of an organist, he was trained by his father. His earliest position was for the Moravian Church in Christianfeld, Denmark, and subsequently Zeist. In 1823 he moved to Sweden, where he remained the rest of his life. His compositions include a woodwind sextet and other chamber works. MANN, ELIAS (8 MAY 1750, STOUGHTON, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES, TO 12 MAY 1825, NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS). American psalmodist. Following military service in 1775 he moved to Brookfield, where he established a reputation as a carpenter and musician. In 1793 he was resident in Northampton, though he spent some time about 1803 in Boston. His 45 works were published in the 1797 Northampton Collection and in the 1798 American Miscellany. MANN, JOHANN CHRISTOPH (1726, VIENNA, TO 24 JUNE 1782, VIENNA). Austrian composer and brother of Georg Matthias Monn. Although he has been little studied, his musical education must have been similar to that of his brother. He first appears as Kapellmeister to Count Kinsky in Prague in 1750, but by 1766 he had established himself as a keyboard teacher in Vienna. His music was relatively popular during his lifetime, though unlike his brother (with whom there exist issues of attribution), he apparently concentrated upon instrumental genres. At least one symphony by him survives, but his other works include 15 piano sonatas, 20 minuets/trios, and several smaller works for keyboard. His success waned during the final days of his life, and he died impoverished. MANNA, CRISTOFORO (ca. 1704, NAPLES, TO ca. 1750, NAPLES). Italian musician and composer. After training at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto in Naples, he became associated with the private musical ensemble of the Marchese di Fuscaldo. The only work that has achieved some recognition is a comic opera performed at the Teatro Fiorentini in 1729 that is similar to Giovanni Pergolesi in style. Nothing else is known about his life or works. MANNA, GAETANO (12 MAY 1751, NAPLES, TO 1804, NAPLES). Italian composer. Nephew of Gennaro Manna, he studied at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto before being appointed maestro di cappella at
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the Santa Anunzziata Church in Naples in 1778. A few years later he became assistant at the Naples cathedral and in 1793 director of the Oratorio di San Felipe. Unlike his uncle, he preferred to remain an active musician with few ambitions as a composer and thus has been little studied. His works include an oratorio, a cantata, two Masses, and several other smaller sacred works. MANNA, GENNARO (12 DECEMBER 1715, NAPLES, TO 28 DECEMBER 1779, NAPLES). Italian composer. Cousin of Cristoforo Manna, he was trained at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana under Francesco Feo and Ignazio Prota. In 1742 his first opera was presented in Rome, leading to commissions throughout Italy. By 1744 he had succeeded Domenico Sarro as maestro di cappella in Naples, and in 1755 he became a teacher at the Conservatorio Santa Maria di Loreto. Unlike his colleagues, he focused on seria and sacred music. His musical style, though, reflects the Italian Neapolitan galant idiom of the period. His works include 18 operas, a cantata, 20 arias, nine oratorios, 12 Masses, three Te Deums, 14 Lamentations, and over 100 smaller church works. MANNHEIM ORCHESTRA. An important 18th-century court orchestra that achieved a reputation for dynamic performances and for spreading specific orchestral devices. The ensemble was developed and expanded under Elector Carl Theodor, beginning in 1745 with the hiring of concertmaster Johann Stamitz. It was the first orchestra to incorporate clarinets as a regular part of the woodwind section (rather than as alternative or substitute instruments). The effects or devices, all derived from Italian opera forerunners, include the so-called Mannheim crescendo or “steamroller,” an extended textural crescendo created by layering instruments through increasing dynamic levels and above an ostinato bass; the Mannheim rocket, a swift ascent using the arpeggiated triad; the Mannheim sigh, a sequential stepwise-resolving appoggiatura figuration; the Mannheim hammerstroke, a series of three initial tonic chords struck in sequence loudly; and the coup d’archet, or striking of the bow, a definitive chordal or unison statement at the beginning of a fast movement, sometimes followed thereafter by a scale upward or downward. Christian Daniel Friedrich Schubart noted these devices as the reason why the orchestra achieved fame throughout Europe: “Its forte is like thunder, its crescendo a cataract, its diminuendo a crystal stream burbling into the distance, its piano a breath of spring.” Although historians consider the members of the Mannheim orchestra to have been a cohesive and interdependent group, as Charles Burney put it “an army of generals equally fit to plan a battle as to fight it,” the popular notion of a formal Mannheim School consisting of three generations of
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composer-performers is not entirely accurate. Many of the second generation (Carl Stamitz and Anton Stamitz, Carl Theodor Toeschi, Ignaz Fränzl, Christian Cannabich, Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler, and others) embarked upon their own careers as traveling soloists once the majority of the members moved with the Electoral court to Munich in 1778. The third generation (Franz Danzi, Peter von Winter, et al.) were more properly associated with that city than with Mannheim. Although they are commonly referred to as the Mannheim School, they formed no cohesive group apart from their duties as members of the orchestra, although there was an intimate connection between the orchestra and the Jesuit Gymnasium and Music Seminar, whose talented pupils, such as Christian Cannabich or Joseph Martin Kraus, were often appointed as scholars as a sort of apprenticeship. The only actual pedagogical “Mannheim School” was a provisional one established by Abbé Vogler in 1776, which was dissolved with the embarkation of that composer on tour in 1780. MANSO DA MOTA, ANTÔNIO (1732, VILA DO SABARA, MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL, TO 1812, SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL). Brazilian composer. Born into a mulatto family, he was trained in Bahia before moving to São Paulo in 1763 as mestre da capila for the Sé (main cathedral) of the city. In 1773 he was appointed as director of the Caza da Ópera, for which he apparently composed several stage works in Portuguese. He was a member of the Irmandade na Matríz and was highly regarded as an organizer. His music has been little studied, consisting mostly of sacred works, but his most important work was to harmonize Gregorian chant for the services. His successor was André da Silva Gomes. MARA, GERTRUD ELISABETH [SCHMELING] (23 FEBRUARY 1749, KASSEL, GERMANY, TO 20 JANUARY 1833, REVAL, RUSSIA [NOW TALLINN, ESTONIA]). German soprano and composer. In 1755 she became known as a child prodigy on the violin, eventually touring Europe to perform, with special success in Vienna and London. In 1765 she was hired as the principal singer in Leipzig by Johann Adam Hiller, making her debut as an opera performer two years later in Dresden. In 1771 she was employed by Frederick II, who allowed her to instruct singing but was unhappy at her marriage to a dissolute cellist. After her release in 1779, she toured Europe, performing at the Concerts spirituels in 1783 and at the King’s Theatre in London in 1786, whereupon she was offered a permanent engagement. In 1802 she left London on tour, but a domestic situation with her lover in Moscow left her destitute and she ended her life in poverty. She was well regarded for her flexible soprano, and she had considerable skill as a teacher. Her
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appearance, however, worked against her on stage, with a stunted and awkward posture (due to rickets) and a stiff acting ability. She was also a composer, though her works include only a few arias and songs. MARCADET, JEAN-RÉMY (1755, PARIS, TO AFTER 1795, PARIS). French dancer and choreographer. A student of Jean-Baptiste Dehesse, he came to the attention of Madame Pompadour while still a child and was considered a child prodigy. His first position was with the Théâtre de l’AmbiguComique in Paris, but in 1778 he was persuaded by the Swedish ambassador to come north to Stockholm as principal dancer. There he achieved a substantial reputation for his graceful and dramatic movement. He married Marie Louis Baptiste (1759–1804). Following a political fracas with the Royal Theatres in 1795, the pair returned to Paris in November 1795 after the Reign of Terror had subsided. It is presumed that he passed away there sometime around 1800, as his widow petitioned for a pension in 1804. MARCELLO, BENEDETTO (31 JULY 1680, VENICE, TO 24 JULY 1739, BRESCIA, ITALY). Italian composer and politician. Brother of composer Alessandro Marcello (1669–1747), he spent much of his career as a civil servant, being a member of the Venetian high council as early as 1711 and later governor of the city of Pola in Istria [now Croatia]. Like his brother, he was a prolific composer and aesthetician, with his most famous work being the satire Il teatro alla moda from 1720. While the bulk of his compositions reflect Baroque style and genres, his marriage to Rosanna Scalfi in 1728 was an important impetus for a series of cantatas, beginning with Cassandra, which reflect an attention to a new style of composition where emotion and drama are to be imbued into the music. As such he can be considered one of the immediate forerunners of the Classical period. See also MARCELLO, ROSANNA SCALFI. MARCELLO, ROSANNA SCALFI (ca. 1710, PROBABLY VENICE, TO AFTER 1742, VENICE). Italian singer and composer. Although nothing is known about her family or birth, she apparently attracted the attention of nobleman composer Benedetto Marcello, allegedly by enchanting him with her singing outside his window a Venetian boatman’s song. In 1728 they entered into a morganatic marriage, which left her destitute upon his death in 1739. A lawsuit for support from his brother, Alessandro Marcello, in 1742, was unsuccessful, and she vanished from history after performing a minor role in Artaserse by Giuseppe Antonio Paganelli the same year. Her compositions, principally a set of 12 cantatas for alto and basso, show the homophonic Italian lyrical style that was beginning to emerge in the 1730s.
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MARCHAND, MARIA MARGARETHE [DANZI] (1768, FRANKFURT AM MAIN, TO 16 JUNE 1800, MUNICH). German keyboardist, singer, and composer. Daughter of Bavarian Electoral theatre director Theobold Hilarius Marchand, she demonstrated a precocious talent as a keyboardist at an early age, and her father sent her to study with Leopold Mozart in 1781. In 1787 she made her singing debut in Munich, and thereafter began to tour Europe as a soprano soloist. This continued after her marriage to composer Franz Danzi in 1790. Ill health forced her retirement in 1797, and she died shortly thereafter of tuberculosis. Her musical compositions include three sonatas and a march for keyboard. MARCORI, ADAMO (1768, AREZZO, ITALY, TO 25 APRIL 1808, MONTENERO, ITALY). Italian composer. Following studies at probably one of the conservatories in Naples, he made his debut as a composer of opera buffa in 1791 at the Teatro Fiorentini with La dispettosa in amore. In 1796 he obtained the post as maestro di cappella at the church of Santa Maria della Prieve in Arezzo. In 1799 he found a position with the cathedral in Pisa. His music, little studied, reflects the late homophonic Italian church style. It includes numerous Masses, motets, and Psalms, as well as five Lamentations, four responsories, two Salve Reginas, a Stabat mater and a Te Deum, a number of vespers, and five antiphons. MARESCALCHI, LUIGI (1 FEBRUARY 1745, BOLOGNA, ITALY, TO 1812, MARSEILLES, FRANCE). Italian publisher and composer. Trained by Padre Giovanni Battista Martini, he decided to become a music publisher, entering into a partnership with Carlo Cannobio in 1770. In 1775 he traveled to Lisbon to premiere his opera Il tutore ingannato, and its success contributed to his being commissioned to write ballets for Venice, where his music was performed by his colleague Onorato Viganò. In 1785 he obtained a privilege to publish in Naples, and his firm became well known for a broad range of compositions by major figures of the period, including Johann Gottlieb Naumann. Marescalchi was, however, known for his unscrupulous piracy of music, which caused him to move between cities in the last years of the 18th century. His own works include six operas, 30 ballets, 43 orchestral dances, a violin concerto, a serenade, six trios, and six notturnos. MARIA ANTONIA WALPURGIS, PRINCESS OF SAXONY (18 JULY 1724, MUNICH, TO 23 APRIL 1780, DRESDEN). German noblewoman and composer. Born as the first child of the Elector of Bavaria, Princess Maria Antonia grew up in a court that sponsored the arts. At an early age she evidenced a talent for music, art, and poetry (speaking fluently some five
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languages), and her earliest musical education was under the court Kapellmeister Giovanni Porta and chamber composer Giovanni Battista Ferradini. In 1747 she married Frederick Christian, Prince of Saxony, and at once became a participant in the musical life of Dresden. She wrote librettos for Johann Adolph Hasse, as well as operas such as Il trionfo della fedeltà and Talestri. She was also the principal patron of court Kapellmeister Johann Gottlieb Naumann, who also became her teacher. In 1763 her husband, Elector August II, died only a couple of months after his father, and she became a dowager princess. Her support for the arts was largely responsible for the high reputation that Dresden maintained throughout the middle of the century. Her works include the aforementioned operas and a large secular cantata, Giove fulminator, as well as six symphonies published in London in 1773. Her style is close to Hasse, her favorite composer. MARIANI, GIOVANNI (bap. 17 OCTOBER 1722, LUCCA, ITALY, TO 20 MARCH 1793, GENOA, ITALY). Italian composer. In 1746 he was sent to Bologna to study with Padre Giovanni Battista Martini, under whose direction he was admitted to the Accademia filarmonica in 1751. A year later he was appointed as maestro di cappella at the cathedral at Savona, but his tenure was marked with dissatisfaction with his colleagues. After several unsuccessful attempts to find a new position, he was finally awarded the post of organist in Genoa in 1792. A literate and extremely erudite man, Mariani was well known as a poet, being elected to the local Arcadian academy in Savona under the name of Mirtindo acrejo. His music, however, has been little studied; it consists of Masses, smaller sacred works, and secular cantatas. MARINELLI, GAETANO (3 JUNE 1754, NAPLES, TO ca. 1820, PROBABLY PORTO, PORTUGAL). Italian composer. His earliest musical education was at both the Santa Maria di Loreto and Pietà degli Turchini conservatories. Although his first attempt at an opera buffa dates from 1776, his earliest success was during the carnival of 1784 in Rome, when I tre rivali, ossia Il matrimonio impensato premiered at the Teatro Pace. By 1789 he had obtained a post as opera director in Madrid but returned to Italy shortly thereafter to resume a career as an opera composer. A brief sojourn in Munich was followed in 1817 by an appointment in Porto, Portugal, as opera director to Duke Carlo. His music was considered by contemporaries as extraordinarily expressive. It consists of 28 operas (mainly buffa), as well as two cantatas and a Stabat mater. MARPURG, FRIEDRICH WILHELM (21 NOVEMBER 1718, SEEHOF, NEAR WENDEMARK, BRANDENBURG, GERMANY, TO 22 MAY 1795, BERLIN). German critic, writer, and composer. Although little
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is known about his musical training, he was resident in Paris in 1746, where he became friends with Voltaire, among others. Shortly after his return to Germany, he published his first work, Der critische Musicus an der Spree, which was followed in 1754 by his most famous and widely distributed journal, Historisch-kritische Beyträge zur Aufnahme der Musik. In 1752 he wrote an extended preface for Johann Sebastian Bach’s Kunst der Fuge under the auspices of publisher Breitkopf. Economic difficulties were overcome in 1763 when he was given a post at the Prussian Lottery, three years later becoming its director. His final major work, the Kritische Briefe über die Tonkunst, published between 1760 and 1764, was equally significant in establishing his reputation as a critic and theorist. His own compositions show that he was one of the significant figures in the Berlin School. He composed 185 Lieder (many of which were published in anthologies he edited), as well as six sonatas and numerous smaller works. MARSH, JOHN (31 MAY 1752, DORKING, NEAR LONDON, TO 31 OCTOBER 1828, CHICHESTER, ENGLAND). English composer and violinist. Son of a naval officer, his early training was at the British Naval Academy at Greenwich. In 1768, however, he persuaded his father to allow him to pursue law, eventually becoming a solicitor in Gosport. There he studied organ and violin at the Gosport Chapel under William Wafer, the local organist. After practicing law for several years, during which time he was a member of the local Catch Club, he moved to Canterbury in 1783, giving up his practice and devoting himself to music. He reorganized the local concert series, and in 1787 he became an impresario in Chichester. Marsh was a prolific composer who was cognizant of the main styles and trends of the time, though his sacred music shows tendencies toward a more homophonic conservatism. His music consists of over 350 works, including 45 symphonies; 15 orchestral concertos (a holdover from the concerto grosso); other concertos for two horns, violins, and organ; 10 string quartets; two string quintets; six string trios; eight trio sonatas; five anthems; over 200 organ works; and numerous anthems, glees, and other vocal compositions. MARSHALL, WILLIAM (27 DECEMBER 1748, FOCHABERS, SCOTLAND, TO 29 MAY 1833, DANDALEITH, SCOTLAND). Scottish violinist and composer. Born into a farming family, Marshall rose to become factor of the Duke of Gordon, as well as a clock maker. He performed frequently on the violin in Scottish cities and is best known for composing 257 fiddler’s tunes, many of which were published in arrangements he made for violin and harpsichord in 1781. Robert Burns noted that he was the “first composer of Strathspeys of the age.”
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MARTÍ, PADRE JOSEP [JOAN ANTONI MARTÍ I ROSELLÓ, JOSEP-ANTON FORÉS I MARTÍ] (1719, TORTOSA, SPAIN, TO 3 JANUARY 1763, MONTSERRAT). Catalan monastic composer and organist. Nothing is known about his youth or education, save that he served as an organist at the Real Sociedad in Madrid, where he came into contact with Domenico Scarlatti. In 1749 he was ordained and entered the Benedictine monastery at Montserrat, where he became mestre de capella in 1753 and a well-respected teacher in the Escolania de Montserrat. His musical style evokes Italians such as Giovanni Pergolesi in its good sense of lyrical line and careful counterpoint. His works include a Te Deum, three Magnificats, six villancicos, six sonatas for organ, a Requiem, four Lamentations, two Psalms, a Christmas cantata, and nine responsories. See also VIOLA, PATER ANSELM. MARTIN, FRANÇOIS (ca. 1727, PARIS, TO 1757, PARIS). French cellist and composer. Nothing is known about his youth or training. He first appears in a review in the Mercure de France in 1745, where his playing was noted as “très excellent.” The following year he was appointed as an ordinary musician in the Académie royale de musique, and in 1747 he began a fruitful career as a soloist and composer for the Concerts spirituels. Over the next decade he gained a reputation for innovative compositions, including Italianate-style motets. In 1751 he published his first set of symphonies (Op. 4), which demonstrate awareness of the three-movement format and emerging dramatic style through layered dynamics and crescendos. During this time, he was apparently also in the service of the duc de Gramont and may have lived at the duke’s estate in Puteaux. His music, characterized by the use of minor keys and considerable chromaticism, includes five cantatilles, eight motets, six trio sonatas, 12 cello sonatas (published as Op. 1/2, 1746–1748), a cello concerto (lost), 62 symphonies (all but one for strings only), and 20 Recueils. MARTIN, JOHANN PAUL AEGIDIUS (31 AUGUST 1741, FREYSTADT, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 10 FEBRUARY 1816, PARIS). Also known as Jean-Paul-Gilles Martini, Martini il Tedesco, and Schwarzendorf. German-French composer and organist. Son of an organist, he was trained at the local Jesuit seminary before moving to Nancy, France, in 1760. There he obtained the patronage of Stanislaus I, Duke of Lorraine, who encouraged him to move to Paris. In 1764 he established himself as a composer and teacher there, known as “Martini il Tedesco” in order to distinguish himself from others of similar last name. He functioned as the supervisor of music for the Prince de Condé, and in 1787 he was a violinist at the Théâtre de Monsieur. During the Revolution he stayed in Lyons, but in 1795 he returned to Paris where he became an inspector at the Conservatoire. His
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music is similar to François-Joseph Gossec and consists of 13 operas (and numerous additions to others), two Te Deums, nine Masses, a Requiem, six Psalms, eight symphonies, six flute quartets, six notturnos, six trios, and over 100 marches. MARTÍN RAMOS, JUAN (1709, SALAMANCA, SPAIN, TO 1789, SALAMANCA). Spanish composer and organist. He received his early training in Salamanca under Antonio Yanguas, succeeding him as maestro di capilla in 1754. He remained there until his retirement in 1781, when he was succeeded by his student Manuel José Doyagüe. His main compositional efforts were devoted to the villancico, of which he composed more than 700, but he also wrote a number of Masses and cantatas. His works, however, have been little studied. MARTÍN Y SOLER, [ATANASIO MARTÍN IGNACIO] VICENTE [TADEO FRANCISCO PELLEGRIN] (2 MAY 1754, VALENCIA, SPAIN, TO 30 JANUARY 1806, ST. PETERSBURG). Also known as Vincenzo Martini. Spanish-Italian composer. He was sent to Bologna to study under the famous Padre Giovanni Battista Martini, achieving his first success with an opera, Il tutore burlato, in 1775 (also adapted as a zarzuela). Thereafter followed numerous commissions from opera houses throughout Italy, and in 1775 he finally settled in Naples, where he composed works for the Teatro San Carlo, as well as becoming involved in the development of the ballet d’action with Charles le Picq. In 1785 he moved to Vienna, where an association with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte resulted in three successful operas, Una cosa rara, Il buerbo di buon cuore, and L’arbore di Diana. In 1788 he was appointed by Catherine II as director of the theatre in St. Petersburg, although he spent much of his time writing Russian opera, including Gore bogatyr Kosometovich, a thinly veiled satire of Swedish king Gustav III. In 1793 he traveled to London, remaining there for three years, before returning to St. Petersburg. Primarily known as a composer of opera (with his ballets still needing study), Martín wrote clear and flowing lyrical themes. Like his colleagues Giovanni Paisiello, Giuseppe Sarti, and Domenico Cimarosa, he can be considered one of the major figures of opera buffa of the Classical period. His music includes 22 operas, numerous insertion pieces to the works of others, 18 ballets, five cantatas, an oratorio, a violin concerto, and numerous smaller vocal works. MARTINEZ, [ANNA CATHERINA] MARIANNE VON (4 MAY 1744, VIENNA, TO 13 DECEMBER 1812, VIENNA). Austrian composer, singer, and keyboardist. Born into a family of means, she attracted the attention of poet Pietro Metastasio while still young. He oversaw her musical
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education, including lessons from Giuseppe Bonno and Johann Adolph Hasse. An extremely literate and intelligent woman, she was fluent in several languages and corresponded with leading literary and musical figures of the time. Upon his death, Metastasio’s entire estate was left to Martinez and her sister, and their home became a center for musical society of the period. Frequent visitors included Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Joseph Haydn. Her own musical talents were recognized as well; in 1773 she was elected a member of the Accademia filarmonica and she composed large-scale works for the Viennese Tonkünstlersozietät. Her music conforms to the Viennese Italian style of the period. Her works include four Masses, six motets, three litanies, numerous Psalms and other sacred works, two oratorios, three keyboard sonatas, a keyboard concerto, and a symphony, as well as songs. MARTÍNEZ, VINCENTE (1740, TERVEL, SPAIN, TO 1801, ALBARRACÍN, SPAIN). Spanish composer and organist. Following early training he became maestro di capilla at the cathedral in Albarracín in 1764, remaining there his entire life, where he became known as an outstanding educator. His own music consists of two Masses, numerous motets and Lamentations, 47 villancicos, and 44 cantadas. MARTÍNEZ VASCONCELOS, JUAN (1753, TLACOLULA, MEXICO, TO 1795, OAXACA, MEXICO). Mexican organist, teacher, and composer. Nothing is known of his musical education or youth, save that he was from a family of mixed indigenous blood. He functioned for several years as an itinerant organist in the small cities of Ocotepec and Teitipec before being appointed as organist at the Oaxaca cathedral in 1786, the same time he was employed as a teacher at the Colegio de Infantes. Both his brothers and son became musicians, and he composed a series of villancicos for the Oaxaca cathedral, although these have either been lost or remain unstudied. MARTINI, JEAN-PAUL-GILLES. See MARTIN, JOHANN PAUL AEGIDIUS. MARTINI, PADRE GIOVANNI BATTISTA (25 APRIL 1704, BOLOGNA, ITALY, TO 3 AUGUST 1784, BOLOGNA). Italian pedagogue, theorist, and composer, universally known during the 18th century simply as Padre Martini. The son of a violinist, he studied at the Oratorio di San Felipe with Giacomo Perti. In 1722 he was persuaded to enter the Franciscan monastery in Bologna as a novice, and by 1725 he had become maestro di cappella at the Basilica San Petronio there. In 1758 he became the leading instructor of composition at the Accademia filarmonica, eventually being seen as
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one of the most famous teachers in Europe whose students included André Ernest Modeste Grétry, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Christian Bach, and many others (see below). He was also famed for his collections of music and portraits of composers, many of whom were commissioned at his behest. As a theoretician, he wrote Compendio delle teoria, published in 1769, and a two-volume treatise, L’esemplare o sia saggio fondamento pratico di contrappunto, in 1774–1775. His most famous work, however, was the unfinished Storia della musica, which purported to begin with Adam and end with an overview of modern 18th-century composers and styles. Martini was considered the model by Charles Burney, who consulted the theorist on his own endeavors. As a composer, Martini was less well known, publishing little during his lifetime and writing mostly for local performances at his church and the Accademia. Works include 32 Masses, five operas, two oratorios, a Requiem, a litany, over 100 smaller sacred works, 24 symphonies, 94 keyboard sonatas, and a variety of smaller chamber works. See also ADLGASSER, ANTON CAJETAN; BRACCINI, PATER LUIGI; COLLA, GIUSEPPE; GASPARINI, QUIRINO; GASSMANN, FLORIAN LEOPOLD; GHERARDESCHI, FILIPPO MARIA; MAJO, GIAN FRANCESCO DE; MARIANI, GIOVANNI; MATTEI, PADRE CLEMENTE; MATTEI, STANISLAO; MORELLATI, PAOLO; PALLAVICINI, VINCENZO; PUCCINI, GIACOMO; RIGHINI, VINCENZO MARIA; SCHUSTER, JOSEPH; UTTINI, FRANCESCO ANTONIO BALDASSARE. MAŠEK, PAVEL LAMBERT (14 SEPTEMBER 1761, ZVÍKOVEC, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 22 NOVEMBER 1826, VIENNA). Bohemian composer and teacher. The son of a village cantor, Tomás Mašek, he received his musical instruction from his father. Unlike his brother, Vincenz Mašek, he remained in the Bohemian countryside, teaching music in various small towns beginning in 1776. In 1792, however, he moved to Vienna, where he continued to teach privately for the remainder of his life. His music has always remained in the shadow of his brother, but the surviving works show that he was equally as progressive and talented a composer. These include a Mass, two hymns, two operas, six symphonies, and six string quartets, three Piano trios, a solo piece for Janissary band, a solo piano work titled The Battle of Leipzig, three sonatas (one for pianoforte four hands), and several Lieder. MAŠEK, [VÁCLAV] VINCENZ (5 APRIL 1755, ZVÍKOVEC, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 15 NOVEMBER 1831, PRAGUE). Bohemian composer and keyboardist. Like his brother Lambert Mašek, he received his first musical education from his father, Tomás Mašek, a village cantor, before moving to Prague, where his teachers included
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Frantisˇek Xaver Dušek and Josef Seger. He obtained a position with Count Vtrba, who allowed him to tour central Europe as a performer. In 1791 he settled in Prague, where he taught privately and was chorusmaster at the German opera. In 1794 he was appointed as music director of the St. Mikuláš Church, but in 1802 he decided to devote his attentions to his music shop, one of the first in the city. His music reflects not only the predominant Viennese style, it also shows its Czech origins in the lyrical melodies. His works include two operas, several ballets, 30 Masses, 40 graduals, 70 offertories, 26 sacred arias, 16 hymns, 13 motets, five antiphons, 10 symphonies, seven concertos, 15 quartets (mostly for strings), eight sonatas, seven serenades, five partitas, four pastorellas, and a large number of smaller dances and individual works for keyboard. MASI, PADRE FELICE (ca. 1710, PISA, ITALY, TO 5 APRIL 1772, ROME). Italian clerical composer. Nothing is known of his early life or training, save that from his musical style he was probably trained in Naples at one of the conservatories. In 1735 he entered the Minorite order in Rome, and in 1753 he became a singer in the Sistine Chapel choir. By 1760 he was maestro di cappella at the Church of the Holy Apostles. He died of a stroke while celebrating Mass. His music, consisting almost exclusively of sacred works, has been almost completely ignored. Of his secular music, only a concert aria survives. MASI, GIOVANNI (ca. 1730, FLORENCE, ITALY, TO CA. 1772, PROBABLY ROME). Italian composer. Little is known of his early musical training or career. In 1754 he composed an oratorio on the Passion of Christ and premiered an opera buffa, Il gran conte di Cordanera. Although he composed for the stage on commission a number of times thereafter, he appears to have settled in to the post of maestro di cappella at the church of San Giacomo de’Spagnoli in 1766. His works, which have been little studied, include seven operas, an oratorio, and a number of smaller sacred compositions. MASQUE. An English court entertainment with origins in the 17th century, consisting of a variety of dances, airs, choruses, and dialogue. In the 18th century, few were written, indicating that the genre had been superseded by other stage genres, since court entertainments in Britain were more public events. The best known is Alfred with music by Thomas Arne. MASS. Roman Catholic celebration of the Eucharist, also used under similar names for Protestant, Orthodox, and Anglican services, consisting of a fixed text portion (the Ordinary) and a portion whose texts change according to
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the seasons (the Proper). The normal 18th-century setting of the Ordinary involves six movements: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus dei. In Lutheran practice, only the Kyrie and Gloria are used. Many composers of this period favored homophonic settings, often with substantial orchestral accompaniment, with some movements, notably the Gloria and Credo concluding with fugal or polyphonic sections. There exist three types of Catholic Masses during the period: the missa brevis, or short Mass, in which the Ordinary is generally brief, sometimes with texts being telescoped through providing different portions in the various voices simultaneously; the missa longa, sometimes called the missa solemnis (or solemn Mass), in which the Ordinary is subdivided into individual movements that include both arias and choral portions; and a hybrid type (sometimes called missa ordinarius), which is longer than the missa brevis but with each of the movements sometimes containing substantial sections in varied tempos. Settings of the Mass range from a cappella works in the strict contrapuntal style by Italian composers such as Leonardo Leo and Francesco Durante to elaborately orchestrated pieces by Joseph Haydn, Baldassare Galuppi, Johann Stamitz, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and others. Individual Mass movements, both singly and broken into subsections, were also commonly composed during the period, especially in Italy. The Mass Proper consists of the Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory, and Communion, all of which appear mostly during the 18th century to have been composed as separate works or movements, rather than as an integrated sequential group. One of the most prolific composers of these was Michael Haydn. In addition, it was not uncommon to add a purely instrumental Epistle Sonata for organ immediately before or after the reading of the Scriptures in Italy and Austria. MASSE, JEAN BAPTISTE (ca. 1700, POSSIBLY PARIS, TO ca. 1757, PARIS). French composer and cellist. Nothing is known about his life or musical education, save that he was employed as an Ordinaire de la chambre du Roi beginning around 1736, when he published the first of five books of sonatas, this one dedicated to “Messieurs les Comédiens Français,” which was followed three years later by the second dedicated to Pierre-Nicolas Gaudion, Royal Secretary to Louis XIV (and later Louis XV). His name appears first on the payroll of the Comédie Française in 1752 as a cello and contrabass player, but according to the list of musicians compiled by Jules Bonnaissies in 1774, it disappears after 1758, leading to the assumption that he died around this time. His musical heritage lies in the books of sonatas, all of which are for a pair of cellos with or without basso continuo. He also composed a set of minuets (Premier suite des menuets nouveaux) for two cellos. His style is
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highly virtuosic and can be seen as a harbinger of that of the soloistic style of Luigi Boccherini and others. MATIELLI [MATTIELLI], GIOVANNI ANTONIO (1733, VIENNA, TO 1805, VIENNA). Austrian pianist and composer. The son of famed artist Lorenzo Matielli, he became a student of Georg Christoph Wagenseil. During his lifetime, he lived off of giving private keyboard lessons in Vienna, never attempting to achieve any real fame as a soloist. Indeed, Johann Baptist Cramer noted that, while he was respected as a teacher, his performance ability was deemed mediocre. As a composer, he wrote almost exclusively for his own instrument, including 12 sonatas, seven divertimentos, a concerto, and numerous smaller works. MATTEI, PADRE CLEMENTE (1760, BOLOGNA, ITALY, TO 1783, BOLOGNA). Italian organist and composer. The brother of Stanislao Mattei, he also studied music under Padre Giovanni Battista Martini before joining the Franciscan order in 1780. He was appointed as organist at the monastery, though his early death prevented him from expanding his activities. His music is all but unknown, consisting of a number of sacred works. MATTEI, STANISLAO (10 FEBRUARY 1750, BOLOGNA, ITALY, TO 17 MAY 1825, BOLOGNA). Italian composer. A student of Padre Giovanni Battista Martini, he joined the Franciscan order in Bologna in 1770, and in 1784 he was chosen as his teacher’s successor at the monastery and functioned as maestro di cappella at the Basilica San Petronio. He became a member of the Accademia filarmonica in 1799 and in 1804 became a professor at the academy’s Liceo. His most famous pupils were Giaocchino Rossini and Gaetano Donizetti. While a treatise, Pratica d’accompagnamento sopra bassi numerate, achieved some success, it reflects early 19th-century figured bass treatment. His music has been almost totally ignored by history, though he was a prolific composer of about 500 sacred works, 28 symphonies, and a small number of secular vocal compositions. See also MATTEI, PADRE CLEMENTE. MATTHEWS, MARY ANN. See POWNALL, MARY ANN. MAYR, JOHANN SIMON [GIOVANNI SIMONE] (14 JUNE 1763, MENDORF, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 2 DECEMBER 1845, BERGAMO, ITALY). German-Italian composer. Trained at the local Jesuit Seminary, he attended the University of Ingolstadt in 1783 in theology and law, supporting himself by musical activities. His first important publication was
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a selection of Lieder titled Lieder bey dem Clavier zu singen from 1786. In 1789 he was taken to Bergamo by a patron to study with Carlo Lenzi, though he later took lessons from Ferdinando Bertoni. In 1794 he had his debut as an opera composer, eventually becoming the second most successful among the first generation of the 19th-century bel canto school. His students include Gaetano Donizetti, whom he mentored as a consultant for the publisher Casa Ricordi. Mayr also worked tirelessly to develop music schools in Bergamo. Although the bulk of his music properly belongs to early 19th-century Romanticism, he began his career with typical opera buffa works. He wrote 23 operas before 1801, as well as six oratorios, five secular cantatas, some 18 Masses, and most of his 57 symphonies. MAYR, PATER MARTIAL (13 NOVEMBER 1746, OTTOBEUREN, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 6 APRIL 1821, KLOSTER WEINGARTEN, GERMANY). German monastic composer. Mayr entered the Benedictine monastery in Weingarten in 1762, eventually rising to the position of sub-prior. He appears to have spent his entire life there, even after the monastery was dissolved. His music, much in the style of Michael Haydn, has never been studied. Works are exclusively sacred, including several Marian antiphons. MAYR, PATER PLACIDUS (1766, KAUFBEUREN, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 1891, WEINGARTEN, GERMANY). German monastic composer. Like his colleagues, he was probably educated at the local Benedictine schools, entering the monastery at Weingarten around 1786. Thereafter he served as regens chori up to its dissolution in 1803. He may also have spent considerable time at the Benedictine monastery in Engelberg in Switzerland. He remained in Weingarten as a secular priest and organist at St. Martin’s Church from 1807 onward. His music has been little studied, although he was prolific as a composer. His music comprises three Masses, a Singspiel, two Passions, five serenades, five sacred songs, a sextet, and a number of smaller sacred works. MAZZINGHI, JOSEPH (25 DECEMBER 1765, LONDON, TO 15 JANUARY 1844, DOWNSIDE, NEAR BATH, ENGLAND). English composer. The son of a Coriscan wine merchant and amateur musician, he grew up in a musical household. At an early age he took composition lessons from Johann Christian Bach before traveling to Portugal and Italy to finish his education. In 1779 he became a copyist at the King’s Theatre in London, a position he held until the fire of 1789, when he was appointed as house composer at the Pantheon opera house. He achieved a considerable reputation
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as a composer for the stage, but in 1810 he seems to have given up on musical composition, instead relying upon his work as an impresario. In 1834 he went to Corsica to claim a noble title. Although popular enough during his career, he has been all but ignored by history, despite the fact that he sought to develop an English style of opera similar to the French opéra comique. His works include 13 operas, 21 ballets, three quartets, a sinfonia concertante, three duets, 71 sonatas, 67 works for military band, 23 sets of variations, and numerous glees and songs. MAZZONI, ANTONIO MARIA (4 JANUARY 1717, BOLOGNA, ITALY, TO 8 DECEMBER 1785, BOLOGNA). Italian composer. His earliest musical education was at the Accademia filarmonica in 1736 under Luca Antonio Pedieri. In 1748 he became maestro di cappella at the Basilica San Giovanni in Monte. He traveled to Lisbon in 1753 to assist Davide Perez, but after a decade he returned to his birthplace, where he took on his old responsibilities and directed the orchestra at the Teatro Communale. His music has been little studied but consists of 19 operas, six oratorios, two Masses and numerous Mass movements, a Requiem, nine antiphons, 19 Psalms, two canticles, a symphony, and three Lamentations. MECHTLER, GUILLAUME-JOSEPH [WILLIAM] (24 JULY 1764, BRUSSELS, TO 13 FEBRUARY 1833, MONTRÉAL, CANADA). Belgian-Canadian keyboardist and composer. Little is known about his childhood or education, but he probably had considerable training as a musician in his native country and possibly worked in Paris, where he became a member of a theatrical troupe. In 1787 he arrived in Montréal, where he formed a friendship with Louis-Joseph Quesnel. Shortly thereafter, an imbroglio caused him to leave the theatre, and in 1789 he was appointed as organist at Nôtre Dame Cathedral. He was active in Montréal as a keyboardist, performing on both the fortepiano and harp, but he was also soloist at the public concerts south of the border as well. From 1815 to 1821 he served as an officer in the 2nd Battalion of the Canadian militia. The bulk of his musical compositions have been lost, but he had the distinction of being the first composer paid for his sacred music. In addition, he may have performed one of his own piano concertos in 1796. MEDLEY OVERTURE. Also called miscellaneous overture or Potpourri Overture. A work in one or more movements that is based upon a succession of popular tunes or dances, or, as an opening movement to an opera, to provide a series of sections drawn from music from within the main work. The various sections or movements are often linked by newly composed bridges
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and often feature a newly written musical introduction. The medley overture was English in origin. The earliest printed appearance was in 1763 when Six Medley or Comic Overtures composed by Richard Charke, Thomas Arne, and John Frederick Lampe were published in London. By 1770 these were common both in theatre productions of Charles Dibdin, as well as the London concert series (Vauxhalls) held in Vauxhall Gardens, among other places. Around this same time, the genre appeared at the Théâtre Italien in Paris, beginning with Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny’s Le déserteur (1769), and was especially useful for the equally popular comic pastiches. By 1779, humanist Tomás de Iriarte, in his La música (published in Madrid), criticized the genre as musically deficient, indicating by implication that it may have been used in the local operas (tonadillas and zarzuelas) there. In the United States, beginning in 1787 Alexander Reinagle used the medley overture both as an independent concert work and to preface ballad operas, incorporating Scots-Irish tunes. This became the most popular instrumental genre in the new country, with examples being written by Joseph Jean Géhot, James Hewitt, and others. A unique American derivative was the Federal Overture. See also PASTICCIO. MÉHUL, ETIENNE-NICOLAS (23 JUNE 1763, GIVET, ARDENNES, FRANCE, TO 18 OCTOBER 1817, PARIS). French composer. After study at a local Franciscan convent by a blind organist, he went to Pater Wilhelm Hanser at Lavaldieu for counterpoint before arriving in Paris in 1779 to study with Jean-Frédéric Edelmann. He came to the attention of the Académie royale de musique as early as 1787 and had works performed at the Concerts spirituels several years prior, but his first real success came in 1790 with his opera Euphronsine. By 1795 he had become a member of the Institute de France and an inspector at the Conservatoire. His opera career continued throughout Napoleonic times to the Bourbon restoration, but his last work in 1811 was considered a failure. Méhul was regarded as the quintessential composer of the French Revolution, writing music that was both popular and politically astute. His works include 32 operas, a Mass, five symphonies, four ballets, three complete incidental music sets, 13 Revolutionary hymns or odes, five secular cantatas, over 60 Revolutionary choruses and songs, and six keyboard sonatas. MEI, ORAZIO (26 MAY 1731, PISA, ITALY, TO 1 MARCH 1788, LIVORNO, ITALY). Italian composer and organist. The son of a violinist, he received music lessons from members of his family in Pisa before coming under the tutelage of Giovanni Clari. Through his teacher’s efforts he obtained the post of organist at the church of the Cavalieri di San Stefano in
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1748. In 1759 he held the same position at the main cathedral before becoming maestro di cappella in Livorno in 1763. Although an active composer, few of his works survive. These include an offertory and a Stabat mater, although his Masses, an oratorio, several Requiems, a Te Deum, and other sacred music have been lost. In addition, he composed a cantata, five keyboard concertos, and 11 sonatas. MEI, RAIMUNDO (1740, AULLA, ITALY, TO 1812, MARSEILLES, FRANCE). Italian composer. Little is known of his life or work, and there appears to be no relationship with Orazio Mei. He was probably trained in either Genoa or Lucca, and in 1778 he became maestro di cappella at the cathedral in Pavia. In 1796 he moved to Marseilles, where he functioned in the town theatre. Little is known of his music. What survives includes an opera, a Requiem, and a Tantum ergo. MEICHELBECK [MAICHELBECK], PATER NIKOLAUS [FRANZ ANTON] (30 JULY 1716, REICHENAU, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 26 APRIL 1756, OTTOBEUREN, BAVARIA). German monastic teacher and composer. Meichelback was ordained at the Benedictine monastery of Ottobeuren in 1734, although he had been in residence as a pupil at the monastic school. He became the professor of philosophy there, in addition to becoming regens chori around 1745. The bulk of his music, which included Latin dramas, has not survived; his remaining works, a responsory and a Mass, all show that he was well versed in the new homophonic musical style of the 1750s. MEISSNER, JOSEPH DOMINICK NIKOLAUS (1725, SALZBURG, AUSTRIA, TO 12 MARCH 1795, SALZBURG). German bass and composer. He was employed as court singer beginning in 1747. Four years later he married Maria Caecilia Eberlin, the daughter of the Kapellmeister. Meissner became known as one of the foremost performers at the Salzburg court, belonging to the close circle of friends surrounding Leopold Mozart and Michael Haydn. As a composer, little of his music has been studied, though it conforms in style to that of his colleagues in Salzburg. Works include five university dramas, several chamber works, and a symphony. MELE, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (ca. 1701, NAPLES, TO ca. 1752, NAPLES). Italian composer. His earliest musical training was at the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo under Gaetano Greco and Leonardo Vinci. In 1735 he obtained a position in Madrid, where he wrote operas for
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the Nuovo Real Teatro and the Teatro de la Cruz. In 1744 he was employed by Philip V, and several years later he was recommended by Carlo Broschi/ Farinelli as a court composer to Ferdinand VI. In 1750 he asked permission to return to Naples to perform his opera Armide. This was granted, but Mele seems to have passed away in Italy within a few years of his arrival, since no further information can be found of his whereabouts. His music has been little studied but consists of 10 operas, two serenades, and a flute concerto. His musical style often shows the use of Alberti bass, particularly in the inner string parts. MÊLÉE DES ARIETTES. In the 18th century, a potpourri or medley of various popular songs, largely drawn from opéra comique. These were usually published for performance in private salons or households. MELLO JESUS, CAETANO DE (ca. 1730, BAHIA, BRAZIL, TO ca. 1775, BAHIA). Brazilian composer and theorist. Nothing is known of his training or parentage, though he may have been sent to Lisbon for musical education. In 1760 he completed a treatise, Escola de Canto de Orgão, which argues for the inclusion of all keys, similar to Johann Sebastian Bach’s Wohltemperierte Clavier. He was a member of the Academia dos Renascidos, and may have composed the first Brazilian recitative and aria that has survived, though his authorship is doubtful. His sacred works have not survived. MELODRAMA OR DUODRAMA. In French, mélodrame. A combination of a play and incidental music often based upon a Classical subject, wherein the actors declaim their lines as spoken dialogue punctuated by short musical interjections. The genre could include choruses and dances, if necessary. Examples are Jiří Antonín Benda’s Ariadne auf Naxos and Christian Cannabich’s Electra. The same technique could also be used effectively as a scene within a regular Singspiel, such as in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Zaide. MELODRAMMA SERIA. See OPERA SERIA. MENCÍA TAJUECO, MANUEL (1731, BERLANGA DE DUERO, SPAIN, TO 1805, MADRID). Spanish composer and organist. He studied organ at his hometown and in 1755 was appointed as maestro di capilla in Léon. Shortly after, a dispute led to his dismissal, and although he was reinstated in 1768, he opted to take on the same post at the monastery of Descalzas Real in Madrid. His music has been all but ignored, but includes Masses, villancicos, and at least seven Lamentations.
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MENGOZZI, BERNARDO (1758, FLORENCE, ITALY, TO MARCH 1800, PARIS). Italian singer and composer. He received his musical education in both Florence and Venice before making his debut in his hometown in 1777 in an opera by Giuseppe Sarti. By 1787 he had moved to London, where he was employed at the Haymarket Theatre. Two years later he moved permanently to Paris, where he sang at the Théâtre de Monsieur. He fled to Bordeaux during the French Revolution but returned to Paris in 1797 to teach at the newly founded Conservatoire. As a composer, he was noted for his many insertion arias into extant comic operas. He also wrote 11 stage works, many of which were received with considerable acclaim. MERCHI, GIACOMO (1730, BRESCIA, TO 1789, LONDON). ItalianEnglish guitarist and composer. Along with his brother, Joseph Bernard Merchi, he toured France and Germany as a guitar duo. About 1760 he remained in England, where he became well known as a teacher of guitar. His most important works are 34 books of simple pieces for the guitar, as well as the development of a new notational system for the instrument. His other works include several sonatas for his instrument alone and with violin. MERCHI, JOSEPH BERNARD (ca. 1732, PROBABLY BRESCIA, TO 22 MAY 1793, PARIS). Italian-French guitarist and composer. Nothing is known about his youth or education, but he and his brother, Giacomo Merchi, began their careers as plucked instrument players in France in 1751. They made their debut at the Concerts spirituels two years later, also performing in London. By 1760 Merchi had settled in Paris, where he taught and published his music, as well as two treatises on how to play the guitar, Le guide des écoliers de guitarre (1761) and Traité des agréments (1777). Works include 64 duets (mainly for two guitars, but also including mandolin and violin), 12 trios, and at least 30 vocal works, mainly arias, as well as Recueils. MESA Y CARRIZO, MANUEL (ca. 1725, BOLIVIA, TO 10 MAY 1773, SUCRE, BOLIVIA). Bolivian composer and organist. Nothing is known of his origins or training, save that in his testament he states he was born in the provinces and trained by the Jesuits. He succeeded Juan de Arajo as maestro di capilla at the La Plata Cathedral in Sucre around 1746. Little of his music is known, although he was a composer of jácaras and jugetas, secularized songs with instrumental accompaniment. MESSI, FRANCESCO ANTONIO (ca. 1680, MILAN, TO JUNE 1753, MILAN). Italian organist and composer. Nothing is known of his early education. He first appears in history as a composer of oratorios in Milan in
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1703, and by 1705 he was functioning in Rome in the service of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni. In 1714 he returned to Milan where he competed for various posts at the main cathedral, finally obtaining a position at the Basilica di San Francesco. About 1740 he was given the post of maestro di cappella at several of the city churches. Although his oratorios reflect Baroque stylistic practice, a late Stabat mater and several keyboard sonatas display galant stylistic tendencies. MESTRE DI CAPELLA, MESTRE DE CAPELLA, MESTRE DE CAPELA, MESTRE DA CAPILA. See KAPELLMEISTER. METASTASIO, PIETRO ANTONIO DOMENICO BONAVENTURA (3 JUNE 1698, ROME, TO 12 APRIL, 1782, VIENNA). Iconic Italian librettist. Trained under the patronage of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, he wrote his first oratorio libretto in 1727 for the Cancellaria Apostolica. In 1730 he was offered the position of court poet in Vienna, which he retained until his death, though he often visited Italy and elsewhere. Metastasio can be considered the single most important librettist of primarily opera seria during the 18th century, writing 27 texts, in addition to 37 secular cantatas, eight oratorios, seven complimenti, seven canzonas, 33 “strofe per musica,” and 32 sonnets. His works were set multiple times by over 400 composers of this period, from Johann Adolph Hasse and Johann Gottlieb Naumann to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. His poetry was remarkable for its fluidity and musicality, though as with most opera seria plots, there is considerable liberty taken with historical personages, and the story is often formulaic. His texts were considered the standard for good Italian poetic texts. See also MARTINEZ, MARIANNE VON; SORKOČEVIĆ, LUKA. MEYER, PHILIPP JACQUES (1737, STRASBOURG, TO 1819, LONDON). French harpist and composer. After initial study in theology, he decided to become a musician. In 1761 he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels in Paris, thereafter becoming a teacher in the city. In 1763 he published his treatise Essai sur la vrai manière de jouer de la harpe. In 1784 he moved to London, where he remained for the remainder of his life. His works, almost all including his instruments, consist of 12 harp sonatas, 21 divertimentos/sonatas for harp and violin, seven duos for flute and harp, and two large orchestral sonatas for harp and strings. M’GLASHAN, ALEXANDER (13 SEPTEMBER 1720, MILL OF LOACK, SCOTLAND, TO MAY 1797, EDINBURGH). Scottish composer, violinist, and impresario. Son of a carpenter, he probably learned to play
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the fiddle from local musicians before moving to Edinburgh. By 1759 he was giving concerts regularly in the city in various venues, all arranged and managed by himself. These often included dances and more serious music; his last concert on record was done in conjunction with fellow Scotsman Alexander Reinagle in 1786. He was well known for his demeanor and bearing, earning him the nickname “King M’Glashan.” His earliest printed music includes collections of Strathspey reels arranged for trio sonata format, but by September of 1786 he had broadened his scope to include dances of all types, including “Scots measures, hornpipes, jigs, allemandes, cotillons,” and “other fashionable country dances.” His music was widely performed and distributed throughout Scotland and the nascent United States. His students include Nathaniel Gow. MIČA, [JAN] FRANTIŠEK ADAM (11 JANUARY 1746, JEROMĔŘICE NAD ROKYTNOU, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 9 MARCH 1811, LEMBERG [NOW L’VOV, UKRAINE]). Austro-Bohemian composer and bureaucrat. As a child he moved to Vienna with his family, where he attended local Jesuit schools, eventually studying law at the University of Vienna. In 1767 he was an official in the state chancellery there, and by 1785 he had been appointed secretary to the governor of Styria in Graz. His final official position was as a state counselor at Lemberg. Although he functioned as an amateur in Viennese musical circles, he was well trained in the field, probably by his father, Karel Antonín Miča (1699–1784). His music, consisting of 27 symphonies, four violin concertos (and another for keyboard), over 75 various dances (including several featuring Bohemian or Polish folk rhythms), 12 string quartets, six flute quartets, four sonatas for harp, a flute sextet, four notturnos, a divertimento, two Singspiels, an oratorio, and smaller sacred works, was admired by Viennese musical circles, including Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. MICHAEL, DAVID MORITZ (21 OCTOBER 1751, KÜHNHAUSEN NEAR ERFURT, THURINGIA, GERMANY, TO 26 FEBRUARY 1827, NEUWIED, GERMANY). German-American composer. In 1781 he was baptized into the Moravian Church, teaching at the church school in Niesky until 1795, when he immigrated to the United States. There he was a counselor to youth at Bethlehem and Nazareth, Pennsylvania, conducting the collegium musicum in the former. His works there include music for Harmoniemusik for excursions on the Lehigh River. In 1815 he returned to Germany, where he retired. His music is best known for the two sets of woodwind music, titled By a Spring, as well as 14 parthies. He also composed 17 anthems, a pair of soprano arias, two duets, and a large-scale setting of Psalm 103. He must be reckoned as one of the major figures of Moravian Church music in the United States during this period.
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MICHELESSI, ABBÉ DOMENICO (1735, ASIOLI, ITALY, TO 1 APRIL 1773, STOCKHOLM). Italian clerical writer. Known for his interaction with music reform movements in Italy, when he arrived in Stockholm in 1771 he wrote about the creation of the Gustavian Opera as a national institution. His early death prevented him from finishing a libretto for the Swedish king Gustav III. MICHL, FERDINAND JAKOB (1723, NEUMARKT, PALATINATE, GERMANY, TO 23 MARCH 1754, MUNICH). German organist and composer. Son of an organist, Jakob Michl, and brother of Johann Joseph Michl, he attended the Electoral Gymnasium in Munich before being appointed organist at St. Michael’s Church in 1740. By 1745 he was employed as a court organist and in 1748 became deputy Kapellmeister. His music has been little studied but includes 16 meditations, a sacred drama, 14 symphonies, an aria, and a number of organ preludes. MICHL, JOHANN ANTON LEONHARD (10 OCTOBER 1716, NEUMARKT, PALATINATE, GERMANY, TO 1781, NEUMARKT). German organist and composer. Son of an organist, Jakob Michl, he was sent to Graz and Vienna for his musical training, although he probably had some lessons from his two brothers Ferdinand Jakob Michl and Johann Joseph Michl. He found employment among the Jesuits in Leoben as an organist, though he stayed only five years, returning to Neumarkt as his father’s successor in the local church. His music has never been explored, although he appears to have written a number of Masses and other sacred works. MICHL, JOHANN JOSEPH ILDEFONS (26 AUGUST 1708, NEUMARKT, PALATINATE, GERMANY, TO 1770, REGENSBURG, GERMANY). German composer and organist. Son of organist Jakob Michl and brother of Ferdinand Michl, he was sent to Vienna to study under Georg Christoph Wagenseil. By 1732 he had become Kapellmeister at Sulzbach and the following year moved to Regensburg, where he served as music director for several embassies. In 1738 he was named as organist at the Regensburg cathedral. His music has been little studied, though it includes six Masses and several sacred dramas. MICHL, JOSEPH [CHRISTIAN] WILLIBALD (9 JULY 1745, NEUMARKT, PALATINATE, GERMANY, TO 1 AUGUST 1816, NEUMARKT). Son of Ferdinand Michl, he was trained at the Electoral Gymnasium in Munich before being sent to study under Placidus von Camerloher in 1767. He was appointed chamber composer to the Electoral court in 1772, and in 1784 he functioned as a teacher and monastic composer at the
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Benedictine monasteries of Weyarn and Tegernsee. His music includes 13 operas, four cantatas, 22 Masses, three Requiems, two oratorios, 34 Psalms, 32 vespers, 26 offertories, 24 hymns, eight litanies, 11 sacred songs, 21 symphonies, eight serenades, five divertimentos, five concertos, 13 quartets, and six sonatas. MICHL, MELCHIOR VIRGIL (1735, MUNICH, TO 8 SEPTEMBER 1795, MUNICH). German cellist and composer. Son of Ferdinand Michl, he received his training at the Electoral Gymnasium and from his father, joining the court orchestra in 1764. He lived an uneventful life, performing and occasionally composing music in a style similar to Haydn. One opera has been attributed to him, but it is uncertain what other music, if any, he composed. MILLER, EDWARD (30 OCTOBER 1735, NORWICH, ENGLAND, TO 12 SEPTEMBER 1807, DONCASTER, ENGLAND). English organist, composer, historian, and theorist. Miller was the son of a paver. At an early age he ran away to London, where he was befriended by Charles Burney, who taught him music. He played flute in one of George Frederick Handel’s orchestras, but in 1756 he was appointed as organist at St. George’s Minster in Doncaster, a post he held until his death. A brilliant and erudite man, he was friends with Frederick Herschel and himself obtained a doctorate degree from Cambridge University in 1786. He was active as a historian, publishing a history of the town of Doncaster in 1804. As a theorist, he wrote several treatises, among them Elements of Thorough-Bass and Composition in 1787 and Thoughts on the Present Performance of Psalmody in 1791. He was active as a writer of hymns and hymn tunes, composing over 350 of these. He also set the Psalms in 1774. His other works consist of 12 canzonetts, five anthems, a Te Deum, 12 sonatas, 12 Lessons for the keyboard, and 16 organ voluntaries. His students include Francis Linley. MILLICO, VITO GIUSEPPE (19 JANUARY 1737, TERLIZZI, NEAR BARI, ITALY, TO 2 OCTOBER 1802, NAPLES). Also known as Il Moscovita. Italian castrato and composer. Following vocal studies in Naples that began in 1754, he made his debut as a singer in Rome in 1757. The following year he traveled to Russia to sing in the Italian opera theatre, thus earning his nickname. By 1769 he had returned to Italy, where he toured extensively, eventually becoming one of the favorite singers of Christoph Willibald von Gluck. Following a brief time in Vienna, he moved to London with Antonio Sacchini, but by 1780 he had returned to Naples to become one of the most respected singing teachers of the city. As a vocalist, he was
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known for his sensitive expression, particularly as Orfeo, but he was also active as a composer in the Neapolitan style. His works, little studied, include eight operas, eight cantatas, 23 concert arias and 22 concert duets, 82 canzonetts, two keyboard sonatas, a Salve Regina, and a number of smaller keyboard works published in 1791 in London as Musical Trifles. MINGOTTI TROUPE. A traveling opera company that toured most extensively in northern Europe during the middle of the 18th century. It was founded by Pietro Mingotti (1702–1759), who sought to imitate one established by his brother Angelo in Prague in 1732. Initially consisting of eight singers (with orchestras from the cities visited), he was able to attract a series of important musical directors following successful performances in 1745 at the coronation of Holy Roman Emperor Franz I and August II of Saxony in Dresden in 1747. At that time his maestro di cappella was Christoph Willibald von Gluck, who wrote the opera Le nozze d’Ercole e d’Ebe for the latter. That year Mingotti made Copenhagen their base under the protection of Queen Lovisa. Gluck left the troupe in 1750, and in 1753 he was replaced by Giuseppe Sarti, who toured with him for two years in Hamburg and Denmark. When Sarti was appointed kapellmaestare in Copenhagen to Frederick V, he elevated his vice director Francesco Antonio Uttini to become maestro di cappella. Unfortunately, the troupe went bankrupt following a tour to Sweden that year, and while Uttini remained in Stockholm, Mingotti disbanded the troupe, eventually dying in poverty in Copenhagen. See also SCALABRINI, PAOLO; SCHÜRER, JOHANN GEORG; ZOPPIS, FRANCESCO. MINOJA, AMBROGIO (22 OCTOBER 1752, LODIGIANO NEAR PIACENZA, ITALY, TO 25 AUGUST 1825, MILAN). Italian composer and keyboardist. A student of Secondini Anselmi in Lodi and Nicola Sala in Naples, he became cembalist at La Scala in Milan in 1780, adding a similar post in Parma in 1795. In 1802 he was dismissed from his post but continued to participate in the musical life of Milan, eventually becoming a censor at the conservatory there in 1814. He was known during his lifetime as the composer of light salon music, but his works encompass a broader spectrum that still needs exploration. Included are a number of Mass movements, a Stabat mater, two divertimentos, a sinfonia concertante for violin and viola, five symphonies, and four other sacred works, as well as eight keyboard sonatas. MIR Y LLUSÁ, JOSÉ (ca. 1710, CATALONIA, TO 1765, MADRID). Spanish-Catalan composer and organist. Little is known of his origins or training, though he may have studied at the monastery of Montserrat. He first
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appears in 1755 as the maestro di capilla at the Real Convento de la Encarnación in Madrid, where he became a close associate of Antonio Soler. He was regarded as a well-educated and erudite man, whose music was known throughout the Spanish dominions. Surviving works include eight vespers, four Masses, a Magnificat, two litanies, six villancicos, several responsories, at least two oratorios, and a number of motets. MIRZA, KALI. (1750, GUPTIPARA, HUGHLI, BENGAL, TO 1820, KOLKATA, INDIA). Also known as Kalidas Chattopadhyay. Born Kali Das Muckerjee, he was educated in Delhi and Lucknow in the art of tappā, a Classical song form in either Persian or Urdu based on love poetry. He was a contemporary of Nidhu Babu and served at the court of the Grand Mogul of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). He composed over 400 songs. MISSA BREVIS. See MASS. MISSA LONGA. See MASS. MISSA SOLEMNIS. See MASS. MODHINAS. A Portuguese love song with sentimental text, possibly of Brazilian origin, that developed in the late 18th century. It is generally strophic, and the vocal parts are accompanied by a flute, guitar, or another local folk instrument, sometimes with continuo accompaniment. The genre is first mentioned by author Nicolau Tolentino de Almeida in 1779. MOLITOR, PATER ALEXIUS [MÜLLER, JOHANN ADAM] (19 NOVEMBER 1730, SIMMERSHAUSEN AM RHEIN, GERMANY, TO 16 JUNE 1773, MAINZ, GERMANY). German monastic composer and organist. A student of Georg Hahn, he received his education in Münnerstadt at the Augustinian Gymnasium, for whom he wrote numerous small liturgical musical plays. In 1749 he became a novice at the monastery at Oberndorf am Neckar, later being transferred to the Augustinian monastery in Mainz, where he was ordained in 1753. There he acted as director of choral music and oversaw the construction of a new organ. As a composer, he has been little studied. His works include two oratorios, 17 Masses, a Te Deum, two Requiems, and two antiphons. MOLLER, JOHN CHRISTOPHER [MÖLLER, JOHANN CHRISTOPH] (1755, GERMANY, TO 21 SEPTEMBER 1803, NEW YORK). German-American composer, publisher, and keyboardist. His place and exact
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date of birth remain unknown, but by 1775 he had moved to London, where he pursued the trade of music publisher. In 1785 he immigrated to Philadelphia, where he performed regularly at the city concerts and opened his own publishing company. His music, written in the popular style of the time, includes two symphonies (probably medley overtures), two keyboard concertos, six string quartets, 12 trio sonatas, a cantata, and numerous songs. MOLTER, JOHANN MELCHIOR (10 FEBRUARY 1696, TIEFENORT, THURINGIA, GERMANY, TO 12 JANUARY 1765, KARLSRUHE, GERMANY). German composer and violinist. After attending the Gymnasium in his hometown, he obtained a position in 1717 in Karlsruhe as a violinist. In 1719 he was sent to study music in Italy, returning two years later to become Kapellmeister at Karlsruhe. He held that position for 10 years until he accepted an appointment as Kapellmeister to Duke Wilhelm Heinrich of Saxe-Eisenach. A decade later he returned to Karlsruhe to teach in the local Gymnasium, eventually in 1747 resuming his former post with Margrave Carl Friedrich of Baden-Durlach. During his lifetime, Molter was highly respected for his progressive style of composition, being one of the earliest composers in Germany to write almost completely in the galant style. He was known for his exploitation of the solo instruments in numerous concertos and as being one of the main figures in the early symphony. His works include 170 symphonies, 47 concertos (including some of the earliest for clarinet), 17 pieces for Harmonie (titled concertinos or sinfonias), around 100 chamber works (trio sonatas, violin sonatas, etc.), numerous preludes for organ, an oratorio and a “drama per musica,” 11 church cantatas, seven secular cantatas in Italian, and a set of six violin sonatas. His music is known by MWV numbers. MOMIGNY, JÉRÔME-JOSEPH DE (20 JANUARY 1762, PHILIPPEVILLE, BELGIUM, TO 25 AUGUST 1842, SAINT-MAURICE, FRANCE). French theorist and composer. His earliest position was as organist at the Saint Pierre Abbey in Lyons, France, which he obtained in 1785. In 1792, the Abbey was dissolved and he made his living as a grocer and counterrevolutionary. In 1800 he opened his own music publishing business, which he maintained, despite mental health issues that led him to be incarcerated in an insane asylum at Charenton. He is best known for his four music theory treatises, one of which—Cours complet d’harmonie et de composition of 1803—uses an unusual harmonic and rhythmic construct that influenced Hugo Riemann. His music, however, has been little studied. It consists of three operas, five cantatas, 137 romances, nine violin sonatas, and three keyboard sonatas.
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MONDONVILLE, JEAN-JACQUES CASSANÉA DE (bap. 25 DECEMBER 1711, NARBONNE, FRANCE, TO 8 OCTOBER 1772, BELLEVILLE, FRANCE). French composer and violinist. Born into an aristocratic family, he received his training locally before moving to Paris in 1733. There he found patronage with Madame de Pompadour, making his debut as a violinist at the Concerts spirituels the following year. Active there and at the Chapelle Royale, he became director in 1744 and took over the public concerts in 1755. A popular composer, his opera Titon et l’Aurore played a significant role in the Querelle des bouffons, demonstrating the power of French opera. His music includes 17 motets, nine operas, three oratorios, 24 violin sonatas (sometimes ad lib in the Pièces de Clavecin), six trio sonatas, and at least three violin concertos with chorus (now lost). MONETA GIUSEPPE (1754, FLORENCE, ITALY, TO 17 SEPTEMBER 1806, FLORENCE). Italian composer. Almost nothing is known of his life or training. He first appears in 1779 as the composer of a farce, and over the next decade wrote a variety of operas for several cities in Tuscany. In 1791 he was awarded the title of maestro di cappella onorio for the region, though he appears to have functioned as the director of the orchestra in Parma. His music is all but unknown but consists of 18 operas (mostly buffa), three oratorios, six ariettas, two cantatas, five symphonies, six trios for two flutes and basso, and two violin sonatas. MONFERRINA. An 18th-century Italian dance from the Montferrat area of Piedmont characterized by march steps and rhythms and a 6/8 meter. Popular throughout northern Italy, examples include four dances by Vincenta da Ponte. MONN [MANN], [JOHANN] GEORG MATTHIAS (9 APRIL 1717, VIENNA, TO 3 OCTOBER 1750, VIENNA). Austrian organist and composer. Although born into a musical family, little is known about the details of his early life, save that he was a chorister at Klosterneuberg, where he no doubt learned enough about music to become an organist there around 1731. His other positions were at the monastery in Melk and subsequently around 1736 at the Karlskirche in the Viennese suburb of Wieden. He was also active at the Holy Roman court, where his instrumental music was extremely popular. His life was cut short prematurely by a lung ailment, probably pneumonia, although he suffered from ill health his entire life. His most important student was Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, probably for whom Monn created a treatise titled Theorie des Generalbasses in Beispielen ohne Erklärung, which remained unpublished. His works include 16 symphonies, eight
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concertos (six for keyboard, one for violin, one for cello, plus another arrangement of a harpsichord concerto for cello or contrabass), partitas, three fanfares, and three preludes and fugues for organ. His style represents the infusion of the homophonic texture, contrasting themes of the early sonata principle, and fundamental modulatory patterns that reflect the predominant style of the late 18th century. He was also one of the first to create the fourmovement symphony by adding a minuet in one of his works. MONSIGNY, PIERRE-ALEXANDRE (17 OCTOBER 1729, FAUQUEMBERGUES, ARTOIS, FRANCE, TO 14 JANUARY 1817, PARIS). French composer. Born into an impoverished aristocratic family, he attended the Jesuit College in nearby Saint-Omer for his elementary education, but in 1749 he traveled to Paris, where he obtained a position in the house of M. de Saint-Julien, head of the Clergé de France, with the intention of becoming a bureaucrat. In 1752, a performance of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s La serva padrona convinced him to become a composer of opera, leading to musical studies under Pietro Gianotti. Around 1755 he secretly wrote an opéra comique, Les aveux indiscrets, which launched his career as a composer when it was finally performed at the Théâtre de la Foire SaintGermain in 1759. Association with Michel-Jean Sedaine offered him opportunity to write further works, such as Le roi et le fermier, Rose et Colas, and On ne s’avise jamais de tout of 1761. In 1766 he had a single success with a larger-form ballet héroïque, titled Aline, at the Académie royale de musique, but he preferred to remain with the popular genre. His success was international, with operas such as Le déserteur being performed throughout Europe. His own finances were stabilized in 1768 by the position of maître d’Hôtel to the duc de l’Orléans. By 1777 he had ceased to compose music, and during the Revolution his precarious financial situation was alleviated by a pension granted him through the Opéra Comique. In 1797 he was appointed an instructor at the Conservatoire and in 1804 was awarded the rank of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. Monsigny’s music is known for its simple pathos and ability to write effectively for ensembles. He was a deliberate composer who left only 17 opéras comiques, a few exercises for violin and keyboard, and the aforementioned ballet. MONTE CARMELO, FREI JESUÍNO (25 MARCH 1764, SANTOS, BRAZIL, TO 1 JULY 1819, ITU, BRAZIL). Brazilian polymath, born Jesuíno Francisco de Paula Gusmão. Son of a mulatto slave, he first studied painting at the Carmelite monastery in Santos. There he achieved fame for his Baroque religious works, but due to his African ancestry his attempts to join the order were suppressed. It is not known if intercession was successful, but
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he did have a family; two of his children became priests. His musical efforts, often to his own poetry, include hymns, as well as several liturgical pieces. MONTERO, DIONISIO (ca. 1740, CARACAS, VENEZUELA, TO 1806, CARACAS). Venezuelan pianist and composer. Little is known about him, save that he married in 1763 and served as a teacher in Caracas during the 1780s in a private capacity (i.e., not part of the Chacao School). Only a single work for keyboard has survived, although he was well regarded as a composer for his instrument. MONTGEROULT, HÉLÈNE [HÉLÈNE ANTOINETTE MARIE DE NERVO, MARQUISE DE MONTGEROULT, COMTESSE DE CHARNAGE] (2 MARCH 1764, LYONS, FRANCE, TO 20 MAY 1836, FLORENCE). French keyboardist, music educator, and composer. Although born in Lyons, her family moved early during her life to Paris, where she received her musical education from Nicolas-Joseph Hüllmandel, Jan Ladislav Dussek, and Muzio Clementi. She married André-Marie Gaultier, seigneur de Clairval and marquis de Montgeroult in 1784 (the first of three marriages), and she directed a village choir at her country estate while at the same time hosting one of the most artistically brilliant salons in pre-Revolutionary Paris. Her performance skills on the keyboard were legendary for their expressiveness and improvisation. Denounced as a monarchist, she barely escaped the guillotine, and during the directorate she was appointed as keyboard teacher at the newly established Conservatoire in 1798. During Napoleonic times and after, she continued to host salons and teach. Her work as a pedagogue resulted in a manual, Cours complet pour l’enseignement du forte-piano, in 1795. Her compositions include nine sonatas for the fortepiano, as well as three fantasies and six nocturnes. In addition, she published transcriptions of violin concertos by Giovanni Battista Viotti for piano. MONTI, GAETANO (ca. 1750, NAPLES, TO ca. 1816, NAPLES). Italian composer and impresario. Nothing is known of his parentage, but he appeared as a choirboy in 1758 at the Naples cathedral. By 1775 he began to make a career as a composer of opera at the Teatro San Carlo, also functioning as organist at the cathedral and, a year later, as impresario for the theatre. His music has been little studied, though his 11 operas conform to the Neapolitan opera buffa style of the time. MONTÓN Y MALLÉN, JUAN (ca. 1730, ALBARRACÍN, SPAIN, TO 1781, SEGOVIA, SPAIN). Spanish composer. Probably trained locally, he was appointed as maestro di capilla in Albarracín around 1755, but in 1759
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he left to take a similar post at Segovia. His music consists of sacred works, including Masses, villancicos, and 15 Lamentations. MONZA, CARLO (1735, MILAN, TO 19 DECEMBER 1801, MILAN). Italian composer and organist. He received his training under Giovanni Battista Sammartini and in 1768 was named maestro di cappella, although he mainly functioned as an organist in several churches in the city. In 1771 he was named to the Accademia filarmonica and four years later succeeded his teacher as the musical director for Milan. In 1785 he apparently abandoned the composition of opera in favor of sacred music, being appointed in 1787 as maestro di cappella at the Milan cathedral. His works include 20 operas, 13 Masses, 50 Mass movements, 18 offertories, 14 antiphons, 39 Psalms, 22 Magnificats, 46 motets, 80 other smaller sacred works, 12 symphonies, six string trios, six string quartets, seven notturnos, six violin sonatas, and a host of smaller keyboard works. His music shows both the influence of the late works of his teacher, and it often contains a dramatic flair that characterizes the Sturm und Drang in music. MORATA GARCÍA, JUAN JOSÉ JOACHÍN (1769, GELDO, CASTILLE, SPAIN, TO 1840, VALENCIA, SPAIN). Spanish composer. Trained as a chorister in Segorbe, in 1786 his precocity led to him being named maestro di capilla there while still in his teens. In 1793 he obtained a similar post in Játiva and in 1815 returned to Segorbe for a few years before going on to Valencia in 1819. There he became professor of composition at the Corpus Christi college in 1829. Since little study has been done on his music, it is difficult to say how many of his conservative sacred works actually date from before 1800. Much, including his keyboard works, reflects 19th-century Romanticism, but his large orchestration at all levels makes a chronological determination difficult. MORAVIAN CHURCH. A Protestant sect that has its origins in the reforms of Bohemian Jan Hus, also known as the “Unity of Brethren (Unitas Fratrum).” In the 18th century, the most significant figure was Nicholas Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf, who became their patron. Their main city was Herrnhut in Germany, but they also had an active missionary calling to Africa, Asia, Russia, the Middle East, and the Americas. The main centers in North America were in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They developed a high musical culture, with composers such as John Antes, Johann Friedrich Peter, and David Michael Moritz producing often elaborate anthems, replete with extensive orchestration, as well as instrumental chamber music, such as wind partitas.
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MOREAU, HENRI (bap. 16 JULY 1728, LIÈGE, TO 3 NOVEMBER 1803, LIÈGE). Belgian composer. After early training as a chorister at the Collégiate St. Paul, he traveled to Rome to attend the College Darchis in 1752, studying under Bartolomeo Lustrini and Antonio Aurisicchio. In 1756 he returned to Liège, where he was appointed as maître de chant at the Liège cathedral. In 1783 he published his first treatise, L’harmonie mise en pratique, which combines the music theory of both Giuseppe Tartini and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. This was followed in 1798 by Noveaux principes d’harmonie selon le système d’Antoine Ximenès. He avoided involvement in the Revolution, thanks to his pupil André Ernest Modeste Grétry. Following the Reign of Terror he became a correspondent for the Institut National de France. His music reveals a fairly conservative streak, with limited counterpoint and homophony. The surviving works are five motets, a Te Deum, three Tantum ergos, six trios, and a cantata in Walloon dialect. MOREAU, JEAN-FRANÇOIS (ca. 1720, LIÈGE, TO 11 OCTOBER 1790, LIÈGE). Belgian violinist and composer. Little is known of his youth or training. His earliest appearance is as a violinist at the Collégiale St. Croix in 1742. In 1751 he was given a post as violinist at the Liège cathedral though without salary. Shortly thereafter he found a post at the Collégiale St. Cécile. His sole surviving compositions appear to be a set of six violin sonatas published as his Op. 1 in Liège around 1780. MOREIRA, ANTÓNIO LEAL (30 JUNE 1758, ABRANTES, PORTUGAL, TO 19 NOVEMBER 1819, LISBON). Portuguese composer. Moreira entered the royal seminary in Lisbon at the age of 8, receiving his earliest musical education there under João de Sousa Carvalho and Marcus Antonio Portugal. Appointed to the post of organist at the seminary, he was elevated to musical director in 1787. His works were performed frequently at the Royal Theatre, including Ascanio in Alba, Gl’Iminei dei Delfo, and Sofonisba. In 1793 he became musical director at the Sao Carlos Theatre, writing operatic works with Portuguese texts such as Os voluntários de Tejo and Remédio é Casar. In 1801 he retired from work in the theatre and spent his remaining years composing sacred music. He also served as a soldier in the artillery during the period 1808 to 1810. As a composer he wrote 14 operas, five villancicos, four Masses, a large amount of incidental sacred music, and four symphonies, one (1793) for two orchestras and another for six organs. His style is highly influenced by the Italian operas of Giovanni Paisiello and Domenico Cimarosa. MORELLATI, PAOLO (2 MAY 1740, VICENZA, ITALY, TO 17 FEBRUARY 1807, VICENZA). Italian keyboard maker and composer. Morellati came from a family of music instrument makers but received a thorough
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education from Padre Giovanni Battista Martini in Bologna. In 1763 he was admitted as a member of the Accademia filarmonica. Thereafter he began to focus on making harpsichords and fortepianos, although from 1768 onward he also served as organist for the Vicenza cathedral. His musical style is similar to that of his teacher Padre Martini, though the only works that survive are several pieces of sacred music and some organ works dating from his years of study. MORENO POLO, [PEDRO] JOSÉ (17 JULY 1708, LA HOZ DE LA VIEJA, TERUEL, SPAIN, TO 23 SEPTEMBER 1774, MADRID). Spanish organist and composer. Trained at the cathedral in Zaragoza, he was able to obtain the post of organist at La Seo Cathedral in 1729. By 1740 he served in several Spanish cities until he was appointed as maestro di capilla at the Albarracín cathedral, after which he was ordained a priest. By 1757 he had become one of the organists at the royal chapel in Madrid, serving alongside José de Nebra Blasco. Few of his works have survived; he allegedly wrote over 100 keyboard sonatas, but only a Mass, three villancicos, and three arias have survived alongside some smaller works for keyboard or organ. See also MORENO POLO, JUAN. MORENO POLO, JUAN [DOMINGO] (bap. 11 FEBRUARY 1711, LA HOZ DE LA VIEJA, TERUEL, SPAIN, TO 2 JUNE 1776, TORTOSA, SPAIN). Spanish organist and composer. After training as a chorister in the Zaragoza cathedral, he was appointed organist in Tortosa, a position he held until his death. His music, unlike that of his brother José Moreno Polo, has received little attention. It consists of a Requiem, three sacred works, 21 versos, five keyboard sonatas, and a number of Psalms. MORETTI, NICCOLÒ (1763, BREDI DI PIAVE, ITALY, TO 1821, TREVISO). Italian composer and organist. The son of an organist, he received his early training from his father and Girolamo Schievon. By 1783 he was appointed as organist at the Sant’Andrea Cathedral in Treviso, where he remained his entire life. Moretti can be considered one of the few composers of organ works from northern Italy. Little studied, he also wrote sacred music for the Treviso church, of which only seven Mass movements appear to have survived. MORGAN, JUSTIN (28 FEBRUARY 1747, WEST SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES, TO 22 MARCH 1798, RANDOLPH, VERMONT). American psalmodist. Morgan spent most of his life as a farmer and was the breeder of the famed Morgan horse. In 1788 he moved to Vermont, where he taught school and served as town clerk. Little of
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his music has survived; only nine works published in the 1809 Massachusetts Collection of Sacred Harmony. MORGUÍA AZCONOVIETA, JOAQUÍN TADEO DE (1759, AZCONOVIETA, NEAR IRÚN, SPAIN, TO 1836, MÁLAGA, SPAIN). Spanish-Basque composer. His early studies were in Madrid under Basilio Sessé, and in 1789 he obtained the post of maestro di capilla in Málaga, where he remained the rest of his life. His music has remained all but unknown, although he wrote Masses, motets, villancicos, and at least one Lamentation. MORIGI, ANGELO (1725, RIMINI, ITALY, TO 22 JANUARY 1801, PARMA, ITALY). Italian violinist and composer. A student of Giuseppe Tartini, he moved to London in 1751, where he performed regularly in the public concerts. By 1758, however, he had returned to Italy to a position with the Duke of Parma, where he taught students such as Bonifazio Asioli. His music is almost exclusively for his own instrument and includes six violin concertos, 15 violin sonatas, and six trio sonatas. Highly conservative as a composer, he complained to Padre Giovanni Battista Martini about the fecklessness of the modern style. MORTELLARI, MICHELE (ca. 1750, PALERMO, ITALY, TO 27 MARCH 1807, LONDON). Italian composer. Mortellari studied in Naples under Niccolò Piccinni before making his debut as an opera composer in Florence in 1772. Thereafter, he wrote operas for numerous Italian cities, though he mainly settled in Venice, where his comic operas were especially appreciated during the Carnival season. In 1785 he moved to London, where he was a teacher of singing and a composer at the King’s Theatre. Charles Burney considered his music spirited and extremely melodic, a trait of the Neapolitan style of his teacher Piccinni. His extant works consist of 22 operas (mainly buffa), 22 cantatas, an oratorio, and six string quartets. MOSCA, GIUSEPPE (1772, NAPLES, TO 14 SEPTEMBER 1839, MESSINA, ITALY). Italian composer. The brother of Luigi Mosca, he was trained at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto in his birthplace by Fedele Fenaroli. He had his first operatic success in Rome in 1791. Between then and 1803, when he moved to Paris, he had his works performed frequently in that city, Venice, and Milan. He returned to Italy in 1817. For the bulk of his career Mosca was seen as a rival to Giaocchino Rossini, and the bulk of his music, described as accessible and light, conforms to the early 19th-century Romantic Italian opera style of bel canto. His early works, however, conform to opera buffa models of Domenico Cimarosa and oth-
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ers. These include 11 operas written prior to 1801, as well as two ballets, a symphony, and a Salve Regina. MOSCA, LUIGI (1775, NAPLES, TO 30 NOVEMBER 1824, NAPLES). Italian composer. Brother of Giuseppe Mosca, he also studied at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto and the Pietà dei Turchini as a student of Fedele Fenaroli. While serving as a keyboard accompanist at the Teatro San Carlo, he was befriended by Giovanni Paisiello, who helped him arrange the premiere of his first opera in 1797 at the Teatro Nuovo. Thereafter followed a series of successful comic works. In 1813 he was vice maestro di cappella for the royal court and later taught at the Real Collegio di Musica. Although the bulk of his music reflects the emerging bel canto style of Giaocchino Rossini, and thus belongs to the 19th-century bel canto, his eight operas up to 1802 reflect the Neapolitan style of his friend Paisiello. MOSEL, GIOVANNI FELICE (1754, FLORENCE, ITALY, TO 1811, FLORENCE). Italian composer, possibly of German ancestry. A student of Pietro Nardini, he spent his entire life in his hometown, performing with the court orchestra and as concertmaster of the Teatro Pergola from 1793. His own music is all but unknown, consisting of 13 symphonies, six string quartets, a violin concerto, 12 duos, and a serenade. MOZART, JOHANN GEORG LEOPOLD (14 NOVEMBER 1719, AUGSBURG, GERMANY, TO 28 MAY 1787, SALZBURG). German composer and pedagogue. The son of a bookbinder, Mozart received his earliest education from the Jesuits at the St. Salvator Gymnasium and Lyceum. While at the latter, he distinguished himself as an actor and singer, although he also progressed as a violinist and organist. As a polymath with many varied interests in the sciences and philosophy, he enrolled at Salzburg University, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1738. Although he was expelled the following year for lack of attendance in the natural sciences, he attached himself to the court of Count Johann Baptist of Thurn-Valsassina und Taxis as a violinist and valet, publishing his first works, a set of six church trio sonatas, as his Op. 1. In 1743 he was appointed second violinist at the court of the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, Count Leopold Anton von Firmian, later serving under his successors, Sigismund von Schrattenbach and Heironymous Colloredo. In 1758 he was appointed as vice Kapellmeister, a position he retained for the remainder of his life. Although the main emphasis in studies of his life have focused on the training of his son, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, during which he was absent from his post for long periods of time as he toured with his two children throughout Europe, his own reputation as a teacher and composer was significant.
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The most important treatise was his Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule of 1756, a work that was translated into many languages during his lifetime and is still in print. Much information on his personality can be gleaned from biographical studies of his son, but it can be said that, although a disciplinarian, he had many interests beyond music; he was well read, and in later life he was a kind, generous individual, even though his relationship with his son can be seen as problematic. As a composer, Mozart was prolific and a worthy model for his son in the variety of works that he wrote. These include six university plays/oratorios; seven Masses; six litanies; numerous Psalms, Sequences, hymns, and such; 21 Lieder; 69 symphonies; four serenades; two divertimentos; six partitas; 12 concertos; much miscellaneous dance music; six trio sonatas; nine trios; three keyboard sonatas; and many smaller works. Mozart’s style is in the vein of Empfindsamkeit, although he has a descriptive flair in his music. For example, he frequently includes local everyday life in his musical portrayals of sleigh rides, hunts, peasant weddings, and so forth. His daughter, Maria Anna (or Nannerl), was the recipient of a pedagogical work, the Notenbuch, which contains practical small pieces (and a number of very early works by her brother). Mozart’s music has been cataloged according to LMV or Eisen numbers. See also RAINPRECHTER, JOHANN NEPOMUK. MOZART, [JOHANN CHRYSOSTOM] WOLFGANG AMADEUS (27 JANUARY 1756, SALZBURG, AUSTRIA, TO 5 DECEMBER 1791, VIENNA). Iconic Austrian composer and keyboardist. Probably the bestknown and most-studied composer of the Classical period, he was the son of Leopold Mozart. He received virtually all of his musical (and other) education from his father, beginning to compose music with short keyboard pieces in 1761 at the age of about 5. During this time he made his first public appearance as a dancer in a University of Salzburg student production. In 1762 he was taken on tour along with his sister, Maria Anna Mozart, to Munich and then to Vienna, where he performed before Empress Maria Theresia. The success of this journey provided an excuse for a grand tour that began a year later and was to last for almost two years, taking the family to Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, England, and Switzerland. In 1765 Mozart composed his first opera, a Latin play for the University of Salzburg titled Apollo et Hyacinthus. By 1767 he was taken again to Vienna in the hopes of producing his first opera buffa, La finta semplice, and upon his return he was given a largely honorary post of Konzertmeister at the Salzburg court. In 1770 his father took him on the first of three journeys to Italy, where he was elected a member of the Accademia filarmonica in Bologna and celebrated in Milan, Rome, and Naples. The result was several opera commissions that
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were fulfilled over the next three years; these include Mithridate and Lucio Silla. He also devoted considerable time to instrumental composition, writing his first string quartets. In 1774 he was commissioned by the Elector of Bavaria to compose La finta giardiniera, but his increasing duties in Salzburg became onerous. In 1777 he received his dismissal and permission to seek his fortune in Mannheim and Paris. The failure of this venture forced him to return to Salzburg, where he was given the position of court organist. In 1780 he wrote the first of his mature operas, Idomeneo, for Munich and a year later was set adrift from his official employment during a visit to the city of Vienna. For the remainder of his life he made his living as a teacher, composer, impresario (of his own subscription concerts or academies), and keyboardist in the Imperial capital. Although an abortive attempt by Emperor Joseph II to establish a German national theatre resulted in a Singspiel, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, he established himself with a trio of Italian works with texts by Lorenzo da Ponte: Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Cosí fan tutte. In 1787 he was appointed as the successor of Christoph Willibald von Gluck as chamber musician to the Imperial court, a position that was mostly without obligation. He also had a number of opportunities to tour abroad, such as a trip in 1788 to Germany and numerous trips to Prague to oversee performances of his own operas. Toward the end of his life, his economic circumstances were often troublesome, and although he received commissions such as the coronation opera for Leopold II in Prague (La clemenza di Tito) and a Singpiel (Die Zauberflöte) for the theatre run by Emanuel Schickaneder, he suffered from financial distress. His last application as the successor to Leopold Hofmann at St. Stephen’s Cathedral was approved but the news only arrived after Mozart’s death. No other composer of any era has had as broad an iconic reputation as Mozart. As a composer, he was equally at home in virtually every genre, and in the case of the piano concerto, he was certainly the first to write substantially for the instrument works that he himself, his sister, and his pupils performed. His music is characterized by extreme lyricism, with an excellent sense of rich harmonic texture and orchestration. Although he did not invent new genres—his music belonging to the traditional South German and Italian traditions of the Holy Roman Empire—he was adept at creating works that can be considered the exemplars of his time in many instances. His life, interest in freemasonry, and extensive documentation, not to mention the mythology that has developed over his own precociousness and untimely death, has been the subject of numerous literary and creative works, from anecdotal biographies by people such as Vincent Novello to stories by Eduard Mörike, to plays by Pushkin to films by Milos Forman (Amadeus). It has also transcended disciplines, so that, for instance, the field of psychology postulates a “Mozart Effect” on child rearing in works by Don Campbell.
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He is possibly the most recorded composer in history as well. He was a prolific composer, who wrote 18 Masses; a Requiem; four litanies; two vespers; eight offertories; five antiphons; numerous other smaller sacred works; three oratorios; six cantatas (mostly for the Freemasons); 20 operas (and a number of ballet works); 64 concert pieces with voice; 38 Lieder; numerous other secular vocal works (including canons); 53 symphonies; 23 serenades/divertimentos; over 100 dances; around 30 concertos for various instruments; and 27 piano concertos, eight quintets, 34 quartets, and a host of duo sonatas and solo sonatas for keyboard. His music is universally known by Köchel (KV) numbers; with a new eighth edition of the 1866 catalog by Ludwig Ritter von Köchel in preparation. Mozart has often become synonymous with the so-called Viennese Classical style. See also ATTWOOD, THOMAS; AUERNHAMMER, JOSEFA BARBARA VON; BEETHOVEN, LUDWIG VAN; CAVALIERI, CATERINA MAGDALENA JOSEPHA; EBERL, ANTON; FIALA, JOSEF; KELLY, MICHAEL WILLIAM; PARADIES, MARIA THERESIA VON; SEYFRIED, IGNAZ XAVIER RITTER VON; STADLER, ANTON; STORACE, NANCY; STORACE, STEPHEN; SÜßMAYER, FRANZ XAVER; VRANICKÝ, ANTONÍN; ZONCA, GIOVANNI BATTISTA. MÜLLER, AUGUST EBERHARD (13 DECEMBER 1767, NORTHEIM, GERMANY, TO 3 DECEMBER 1817, WEIMAR, GERMANY). German flautist, keyboardist, and composer. The son of an organist, he was sent to Bückeburg to study with Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach. In 1786 he went to Göttingen University to study law, but after a brief period touring as a flautist, he settled in Magdeburg in 1788 as organist at the Ulrikeskirche. In 1794, he accepted a post at the Nikolaikirche in Leipzig upon the recommendation of Johann Friedrich Reichardt, performing as principal flute in the Gewandshausorchester. In 1800 he took over as cantor at St. Thomas, which he held until 1810, when he moved to become court conductor at Weimar. As a pedagogue he wrote no fewer than four treatises on playing the keyboard, including the Anweisung zum genauen Vortrage der Mozartische Klavierkonzerte of 1797. His own music has been little studied but includes a Singspiel, a Te Deum, four cantatas, a Psalm setting, numerous Lieder, 11 flute concertos (and two other works for solo keyboard and orchestra), 20 keyboard sonatas, 29 flute duets, and numerous smaller pieces for keyboard. MÜLLER, CHRISTIAN FRIEDRICH (29 DECEMBER 1752, RHEINSBERG, PRUSSIA, TO 21 DECEMBER 1821, STOCKHOLM). GermanSwedish violinist and composer. A student of Johann Peter Salomon, he moved to Copenhagen in 1779 to accept a post as assistant Konzertmeister.
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Shortly thereafter he became involved with soprano Carolina Halle, who had just been divorced from composer Thomas Walter. Refused permission to marry, they eloped in 1780 to Sweden, where they were appointed by Gustav III to the Royal Opera, she as prima donna, he as assistant concertmaster. Although successful, their sybaritic lifestyle and mounting debts meant the pair had to flee Sweden in 1782, escaping to Norway and then to England. Their success was limited, and in 1783 they received a full pardon and payment of their debts, allowing them to return to Stockholm. In 1786 Müller succeeded Eric Ferling as concertmaster, a post he held until his retirement in 1807. As a performer, he was one of the most active violinists in the city, noted for his sensitive and lyrical playing particularly in slow movements (as opposed to virtuoso display where papers of the time noted that his technical ability was “not always successful”). As a composer, he wrote portions of music for at least five operas (including Epilog till Atys in 1784), two violin concertos, 18 violin sonatas, and other smaller chamber works, including a rondo for solo clarinet and wind band. MÜLLER, ERNST LOUIS (26 OCTOBER 1740, WARSAW, POLAND, TO 15 APRIL 1811, PARIS). Also known as Krasinsky. German-Polish flautist and composer. The son of a flautist, it is presumed that he was taught by his father, though nothing is known of him until 1760, when he first appears in Berlin as a soloist. In 1768 he obtained a position with the Chevalier des Salles in Dijon, France, moving to Paris in 1776. There he became known as a ballet composer, although his commissions were sporadic due to his alcoholism. During the French Revolution he spent several years in London, but in 1795 he returned to Paris. Although popular for his flute compositions, his music has been poorly studied. His works include eight ballets, three flute trios, 20 duets for flute and violin and 120 for two flutes, and 12 military marches. MÜLLER, GEORG GOTTFRIED (22 MAY 1762, GROß HENNERSDORF, SAXONY, GERMANY, TO 19 MARCH 1821, LITITZ, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES). German-American composer and teacher. He received his early education in the Moravian Church school at Barby, immigrating to the United States in 1784. His first position was as a teacher in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, where he was the director of the collegium musicum. In 1805 he moved to Bethlehem and subsequently to Ohio, where he served Moravian congregations. He was appointed as pastor in Philadelphia and Newport, Rhode Island, retiring back to Lititz, Pennsylvania, where he died of tuberculosis. As a composer he was known for his large anthems. MÜLLER, JOHANN ADAM. See MOLITOR, PATER ALEXIUS.
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MÜLLER, PATER MARIANUS [JOSEF LEODEGAR] (2 OCTOBER 1724, AESCH, SWITZERLAND, TO 17 NOVEMBER 1780, EINSIEDELN, SWITZERLAND). Swiss monastic composer. Following his initial education as a child in Sachsein, he moved to Einsiedeln at the age of 12, where he came under the tutelage of the Benedictine monks in the monastery school. In 1743 he became a novice; he was ordained in 1748. The year after, he moved to the monastery at Bellenz and in 1773 was elected abbot of the Einsiedeln monastery. For much of his monastic career he functioned as archivist and a teacher of moral philosophy in both places. He was, however, also a composer, whose works have received little attention. These include a Mass, seven Magnificats, a Te Deum, three Marian antiphons, six other sacred works, and six sonatas for multiple organs. MÜLLER, SILVERIUS A SANCTO LEOPOLDO [FRANZ] (27 FEBRUARY 1745, OBERHÖFLEIN NEAR GERAS, LOWER AUSTRIA, TO 21 AUGUST 1812, VIENNA). Austrian monastic composer. Following early education at a Priorist Gymnasium, he was initiated in 1764, becoming a priest in 1770. His first position was as regens chori at the Maria Treu Church in Josefstadt, but in 1773 he became regens chori and instructor at the school at Schwäbische Günzburg. By 1779 he had moved to the priory at Krems, and in 1783 he was named prefect at the Löwenberg College in Vienna, later becoming professor of literature and philosophy. Although known for his Lieder, the bulk of his surviving music is instrumental, including 14 string quartets, a string quintet, and six duos. In addition eight Masses survive. A Viennese diarist reported in 1794 that his music ought to be better known due to its progressive qualities. MÜLLER, WENZEL (26 SEPTEMBER 1767, TYRNAU (NOW MESTRECTO TRNÁVKAL), MORAVIA [CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 3 AUGUST 1825, BADEN, NEAR VIENNA). Austro-Moravian composer. His earliest education was with a local schoolmaster at Kornice, from whom he learned how to play all of the instruments of the orchestra with some proficiency. While still young he came under the tutelage of the Benedictines at Rajhrad monastery, and subsequently the court at Breslau, where he was placed under Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf. In 1782 he accepted a position with the Waishofer Theatre troupe in Breslau, moving to Vienna in 1786 to become Kapellmeister at the Leopoldstadt Theatre, which was devoted exclusively to performing Singspiels and German plays. He held this position for the remainder of his life, save for a brief time in Prague from 1807 to 1813 when he was the director of German opera there. During his lifetime, Müller was known as a popular composer whose works were direct, simple, and tuneful. He was on friendly terms with
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Emanuel Schickaneder and often composed insertion pieces for works for him. Although he suffered periods where inspiration abandoned him, Müller was nonetheless able to recover and compose music that was well received by audiences in Vienna. A full accounting of his works has yet to be done, but he wrote 91 Singspiels, 50 other stage works, 27 sacred songs, 22 offertories, 20 duets, and 19 arias (mostly insertions), as well as some 15 symphonies, 20 partitas for Harmoniemusik, and numerous smaller chamber works. MUNRO, ALEXANDER (19 SEPTEMBER 1697, EDINBURGH, TO 10 JULY 1767, EDINBURGH). Scottish composer and academician. Following training at Leiden, he was appointed as professor of anatomy at the University of Edinburgh in 1720. Although his musical training is difficult to determine, he began to publish works, such as a set of 12 pieces for violin and continuo in 1732, followed by Scots fiddle tunes that were widely circulated throughout the 18th century. He also wrote a variation sonata for violin and continuo that shows elements of the galant style in 1740. MUSSINI, NATALE (1765, BERGAMO, ITALY, TO 20 JUNE 1837, FLORENCE, ITALY). Italian composer. Mussini probably received his early education from his father, Andrea Mussini, in Bergamo. By 1790 he had moved to Paris, where a set of six sonatas for two violins were published, and a few years later he was named Kapellmeister at the Prussian court in Berlin. There he married the daughter of Giuseppe Sarti, returning to Florence around 1825 to retire at the convent of Santa Annunziata. As a composer, his music is all but unknown, though he did write an oratorio titled La Bethulia liberate and a Singspiel titled Dichterlaune for Berlin’s National Theatre. He is best known for a set of six voice and guitar songs. MÜTHEL, JOHANN GOTTFRIED (17 JANUARY 1728, MÖLLN BEI LAUENBURG, GERMANY, TO 14 JULY 1788, RIGA [NOW LATVIA]). German composer and organist. Born into a musical family, Müthel studied first under his father, Christian Caspar Müthel (1696–1764), before moving to Lübeck to study organ under Johan Paul Kuntzen (1696–1757). In 1747 he obtained a post as chamber musician and court organist with Duke Christian Ludwig II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and in 1750 he was given a year’s leave of absence to further his studies. His first teacher was Johann Sebastian Bach, who died only three months after Müthel arrived, but he continued subsequently with Bach’s son-in-law Johann Christoph Altnikol in Naumburg and Johann Adolph Hasse in nearby Dresden. Toward the end of the year he found himself in Berlin, where he formed a fast friendship with Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, who also gave him some lessons. After returning to Schwerin, he moved to Riga, then under Russian rule, with Duke
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Christian’s brother, Otto Hermann von Vietinghof, where he remained the rest of his life. His only other position came in 1767 when he was appointed as organist at the St. Peter’s Church there. His performance manner and compositions were praised highly by Charles Burney, who considered them on par with those of C. P. E. Bach. As a performer, he had some peculiar quirks, with it being said that he refused to perform other than in winter so that the sounds of the horses on the cobbles outside would not distract him. His compositions include 44 minuets/ marches, 45 Lieder, nine piano sonatas, six piano concertos, a concerto for two bassoons, four organ fantasies, three sets of variations, a flute sonata, and a number of polonaises for trio sonata settings. His style is similar to that of C. P. E. Bach, but he cannot be considered as part of the Sturm und Drang in any realistic sense. MYSLIVEČEK, JOSEF (9 MARCH 1737, PRAGUE, TO 4 FEBRUARY 1781, ROME). Bohemian-Italian composer. The son of a prosperous miller, he studied law and philosophy at Charles University in Prague. By 1761 he had become a master miller but gave it up to study music. His teachers were Franz Habermann and Josef Seger, but in 1763 he obtained the patronage of the Waldstein family that allowed him to travel to Venice to study with Giovanni Pescetti. His first opera was produced in 1766 in Bergamo, but it was not until the success of his Il Bellerofonte in Naples the following year that he was he commissioned by theatres throughout Italy. In 1771 he was elected a member of the Accademia filarmonica, by which time visits back to Prague in 1768 had resulted in the beginnings of an international reputation. In 1773 he was in Vienna, and in 1776 he journeyed to Munich to produce his opera Ezio. His fortunes began to decline thereafter; a potential post in Stockholm was rescinded after the failure of a concert aria there in 1779, and he died in poverty in Rome two years later. He was nicknamed “Il Boemo” during the heyday of his career, an appellation that was given him due to the popularity of his operas, almost all of which are serious works. He had a firm grasp of good lyrical melodies and progressive harmony. He was a versatile composer, whose music in numerous genres influenced a generation of composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. These include 26 operas, eight oratorios, 15 secular cantatas, 55 symphonies, 12 string quintets (with additional quintets for winds, and 12 oboe quintets), 18 string quartets, three wind octets, 16 concertos (for violin, cello, flute, keyboard, and three for wind quintet and orchestra), 17 violin sonatas, 20 string trios, and a host of smaller individual works, including three notturnos. He was not a prolific composer of sacred music, however.
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N NÄGELIN, JOHANN NEPOMUK (ca. 1730, RAPPERSWIL, SWITZERLAND, TO 1783, SOLOTHURN, SWITZERLAND). Swiss composer and organist. Nothing is known of his early life or training. He first appears in 1769 as a widower arriving in the city of Solothurn from Rapperswil. He was apparently appointed organist at St. Urs Church in the city, serving there until his death. His principal work was overseeing the installation of a new organ in the church, and he died in reduced circumstances, eventually being succeeded by his son Josef Anton Nägelin. His own music consists of works meant for general performance in smaller churches, including a Singspiel (lost), a symphony, 45 Marian antiphons, 26 hymns, 20 Magnificats, and an organ concerto. NÄGELIN, JOSEF ANTON (ca. 1755, RAPPERSWIL, SWITZERLAND, TO 1812, RAPPERSWIL). Swiss organist and composer. He arrived in Solothurn along with his father, Johann Nepomuk Nägelin, in 1769, and by 1779 he was appointed as second organist at St. Urs Church. He apparently became a Franciscan monk around this time. In 1797 he succeeded his father as first organist, and in 1806 he returned to Rapperswil to become organist at the local church there. His music is written in a simple, perhaps even trivial style. It consists of five Masses, two Te Deums, seven other sacred works, a symphony, and four sacred arias. NANI, ANGELO (16 MARCH 1751, VENICE, TO 27 FEBRUARY 1844, VALLETTA, MALTA). Italian violinist. The son of a Venetian official, Girolamo Nani, who authored an important criminal code and who was also treasurer to the Council of Ten, Nani studied violin with his father—an amateur violinist—and Antonio Nazari. After achieving much success there, he embarked on a concert tour, arriving in Malta in 1766. His performance, praised for “the graciousness of his bowing, [who] outshines perhaps even the famous Lully” according to Davolos, brought him to the attention of Grandmaster of the Knights of St. John, Manoel Pinto, who appointed him chamber musician and later leader of the orchestra at the Manoel Theatre in Valetta, a post he occupied from 1783 to 1787 and 1791 to 1793. Three of his children, 401
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Emmanuele (1769–1860), Agostino (1782–1846), and Vincenzo (1775–ca. 1840) became violinists and composers, although almost all of their music was written after 1800 and more closely resembles the style of the Italian bel canto of Giaocchino Rossini. NARDINI, PIETRO (12 APRIL 1722, FIBIANA, ITALY, TO 7 MAY 1793, FLORENCE). Italian violinist and composer. Following initial studies on the violin in Livorno, he became a student of Giuseppe Tartini. In 1770 he became maestro di cappella in Florence, where he achieved a reputation as a teacher and for his adroit playing, which featured a keen sense of ornamentation. His pupils include Bartolomeo Campagnoli and Gaetano Brunetti. He can be considered one of the best violinists of the period and a link between the galant style of Tartini and the more technically demanding style of Giovanni Battista Viotti. His own compositions, written mainly for his instrument, include 12 violin concertos, 20 violin sonatas, six string quartets, eight trio sonatas, six duets, and 14 minuets. NARES, JAMES (19 APRIL 1715, STANWELL, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND, TO 10 FEBRUARY 1783, LONDON). English theoretician, pedagogue, organist, and composer. A student of William Croft and Johann Pepusch, Nares obtained his first appointment as deputy organist at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor. In 1733 he was appointed as organist at York Minster, where he attained a reputation as a teacher on the keyboard. In 1756 he was awarded a doctorate in music by Cambridge University, the same year as he returned to London as organist of the Chapel Royal to George III. The following year he was appointed as Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal, a post he held until 1780. During his lifetime, he was known for his pedagogical studies for the keyboard, eventually publishing some 16 Lessons for the harpsichord, as well as six fugues for organ, 26 anthems, and two complete Anglican services (morning and evening). In 1778 he published in rapid succession two volumes titled A Treatise on Singing (the second with a series of vocal duets), as well as a harpsichord tutorial, Il Principio. Other music includes an Elegy for Mr. Handel (1759) and numerous catches and glees, for which he was awarded an honor in 1770 by the London Glee Society. His only stage work was The Royal Pastoral, written for his patron in 1778. Nares’s music is decidedly old-fashioned and simple, mainly homophonic without extensive counterpoint. NASOLINI, SEBASTIANO (ca. 1768, PIACENZA, ITALY, TO ca. 1799, VENICE). Italian composer. Little is known of his early life or training, but by 1790 he had begun to achieve a reputation for his light and lyrical
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comic operas, produced mainly in Venice. In 1789, however, he had become chief accompanist at the Teatro San Paolo in Trieste, and a few years later he was appointed maestro di cappella at the San Giusto theatre there. He apparently passed away while in Venice to oversee a production of his last opera, though a further six works attributed to him date from the first two decades of the 19th century, leaving the issue open. His music includes 28 operas (almost entirely buffa), two oratorios, a cantata, three sacred works (Psalms), a symphony, and a concerto for psaltery and orchestra. NAUMANN, JOHANN GOTTLIEB (17 APRIL 1741, BLASEWITZ, SAXONY, TO 23 OCTOBER 1801, DRESDEN). German composer and violinist. His earliest education was at a local town school, but he was soon sent to Dresden to the Kreuzschule, where his teacher was Gottfried August Homilius. In 1757 he undertook a study tour to Italy, where he received instruction from Giuseppe Tartini. Here his opera Il Tesoro insidiato received such acclaim that he began to receive attention as Johann Adolph Hasse’s successor as “Il caro sassone.” Hasse recommended him as his successor in Dresden in 1764, and his work soon began to achieve considerable success throughout central Europe. In 1777 he was commissioned by Swedish king Gustav III to write an opera, Amphion, that led to other commissions from the north, including Cora och Alonzo with which the new Royal Opera in Stockholm was inaugurated in 1782. Although his last Swedish work, the nationalist Gustaf Wasa, was ready for performance in 1786, he was lured to Denmark to write works for the Danish Opera; in 1792 he married the daughter of a Danish admiral. In 1789 he was active in Berlin, and by the time of his death he was probably one of the most respected and popular composers in Europe. His music incorporates a mixture of the various late 18th-century styles and forms, always well constructed and dramatically intense. His Vater unser was considered the epitome of German sacred music of the time, while his cantatas were more in the Italian style with fluid melodies and progressive harmony. He had an interest in the glass harmonica, writing a substantial amount of music for this instrument. His works include 21 Masses, 15 Kyries, 13 oratorios, 20 offertories, 19 Marian antiphons, at least three Te Deums, nine vespers, eight Psalm cantatas, over 130 songs, two concertos for keyboard, 25 operas (in Italian, Swedish, and Danish), 16 symphonies, 12 sonatas for glass harmonica, 15 chamber works, and a host of smaller compositions for the voice and chamber ensembles. Naumann can be considered one of the most significant composers of the last half of the 18th century. See also FRIGEL, PEHR; HIMMEL, FRIEDRICH HEINRICH; MARIA ANTONIA WALPURGIS, PRINCESS OF SAXONY; SCHUSTER, JOSEPH; SEYDELMANN, FRANZ.
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NAZARI, ANTONIO (ca. 1720, PROBABLY CREMONA, TO 1787, VENICE). Italian violinist. A student of Giuseppe Tartini, he was lauded by Charles Burney in 1770 as the premier violinist in Venice, who had a position as leader of the orchestra at the San Lorenzo Church and at St. Mark’s, where he was appointed concertmaster in 1786. His music has been little studied but consists of two violin concertos. His students include Angelo Nani. NEBRA BLASCO, JOSÉ MELCHOR DE (bap. 6 JUNE 1702, CATALAYUD, SPAIN, TO 11 JULY 1768, MADRID). Spanish organist and composer. He received his earliest training from his father, Antonio de Nebra Blasco (1672–1748) at Cuenca, and in 1719 he became organist at the convent of Descalzas. In 1722 he served in the Osuna household as a musician, and in 1724 he was appointed as one of the organists of the royal chapel in Madrid. By 1751 he had become vice-maestro and a teacher at the Colegio de niños cantores, later serving at the Jeronimos convent as organist. His students include Antonio Soler. Nebra’s focus as a composer was on native Spanish stage works, including the autos sacramentales, zarzuelas, and comedias. His music includes 21 autos sacramentales, 51 theatre works, 40 villancicos, 10 versos, 16 keyboard sonatas, two Masses, 18 Lamentations, four vespers, 16 Salve Reginas, a Requiem, 23 Psalms, 22 hymns, 21 responsories, toccatas, and a number of smaller sacred works. NEBRA BLASCO, MANUEL DE (2 MAY 1750, SEVILLE, SPAIN, TO 12 SEPTEMBER 1784, SEVILLE). Spanish composer and organist. Nephew of José de Nebra Blasco, he was trained by his father, José Blasco de Nebra Lacarra, the organist of the Seville cathedral. In 1768 he became his father’s assistant, obtaining the title of principal organist in 1778. He was known as an expressive performer. Although he was a prolific composer, only 30 of his 170 works have survived. These include 24 keyboard sonatas and six pastorellas; the remainder, which included larger-scale pieces such as autos sacramentales, have been lost. NEEFE, CHRISTIAN GOTTLOB (5 FEBRUARY 1748, CHEMNITZ, SAXONY, TO 28 JANUARY 1798, DESSAU, SAXONY). German composer and keyboardist. His earliest musical education was as a chorister at the Chemnitz cathedral, but in 1768 he arrived in Leipzig to study law at the university there. He passed his first examination with a work that argued whether a father had the right to disinherit his son if the latter became a musician. In 1771 he enrolled as a pupil in the Singspiel school of Johann Adam Hiller, eventually collaborating with his mentor on a one-act work,
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Der Dorfbarbier. In 1776 he became the musical director of the Abel Seyler troupe and toured Germany with considerable success, establishing a reputation as a composer of Singspiels. In 1779 he obtained a post in the national theatre in Bonn, being appointed court organist in 1781. There he undertook the musical education of Ludwig van Beethoven, even recommending him for further training in Vienna. In 1794, he was dismissed from his post during the French occupation and fruitlessly sought other employment. With the help of his daughter, he was able to become musical director of the Bosann Theatre in Dessau. As a composer Neefe was noted for his ability to write memorable melodies, though his songs and arias are often strophic. His music includes 10 Singspiels (of which one, Adelheit von Veltheim of 1780, achieved considerable success), 21 keyboard sonatas, 13 violin sonatas, a keyboard concerto, a Latin Vater unser (lost), several partitas, and a large number of Lieder. He also arranged Mozart’s operas for keyboard reduction during the last years of his life. NERI[-BONDI], MICHELE (16 OCTOBER 1750, FLORENCE, ITALY, TO ca. 1822, FLORENCE). Italian composer. Born Michele Neri, he added the hyphenated surname Bondi in 1773 to distinguish himself from another prominent figure with the same name. He was a student of Ferdinando Rutini and made his debut as an opera composer at the Teatro dell Pergola in Florence. By 1779 he was employed as the keyboardist at the Teatro degli Intrepidi in the same city, a post he retained his entire life. In 1796 he established a school of music in the nearby city of Fiesole. His music, little studied, includes 27 operas, a litany, and three sacred vocal works. NERUDA, JAN KŘTITEL JÍŘÍ [JOHANN BAPTIST GEORG] (ca. 1711, ROSICE, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 11 OCTOBER 1776, DRESDEN). Czech-German violinist and composer. Although he was born into a family of musicians, little is known about his youth or education, save that it must have been extensive (his brother Jan Chryzostomus was also a violinist). By 1735 he was active as a violinist and cellist in the theatre orchestra in Prague, and between 1741 and 1742 he was employed by Count Rutowski in his court Kapelle in Dresden. In 1750 he was appointed as Konzertmeister of the Electoral court orchestra in the same city, a post he held until around 1772. Neruda was an important composer in the development of the Classical style, writing no fewer than 36 symphonies, 14 concertos (including 10 for violin, one for bassoon, and one for horn), two sacred cantatas, 34 trio sonatas, an opera titled Les Troqueurs, and numerous small chamber works. His fame today rests upon a single work, the Horn Concerto in E-flat Major, which is almost always performed with
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a high trumpet due to its tessitura. His symphonies, however, demonstrate a thorough knowledge of Mannheim colleagues such as Johann Stamitz in their use of contrasting themes, musical devices such as layered crescendos, and lyrical writing in the slow movements. NEUBAUER, FRANZ CHRISTOPH (ca. 1760, HOŘÍN, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 11 OCTOBER 1795, BÜCKEBURG, GERMANY). German-Bohemian composer. Born in a small town in central Bohemia, he received his earliest musical education from local teachers before moving to Prague to continue his studies. After a brief sojourn in Vienna he embarked upon a career as an itinerant composer, first making a tour of numerous monasteries; in 1781 he composed his Stabat mater for the Benedictine monastery in Andrechs, and in 1783 he was in Ottobeuren teaching in the monastic school. In 1786 he obtained commissions for Zürich and Winterthur in Switzerland, and by 1789 his symphony “The Siege of Coburg” was performed with success in Heilbronn. The following year he obtained the post of Kapellmeister in Weilburg but fled first to Minden in Westfalia and subsequently to Bückeburg to avoid the approach of French forces. He was able to obtain a position in the former as Kapellmeister to the Prince von Fürstenberg and subsequently Countess Juliane von Schumburg-Lippe. There he became a rival to Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, becoming his successor in 1795, only to die nine months later of alcoholism. Neubauer was considered an original and daring composer by people such as Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler, although later criticism noted that his music contained “moments” of dramatic genius followed by long sections of the commonplace. His music, now rarely heard and little studied, includes an opera (based upon a New World subject), incidental music, an oratorio, 40 Masses, eight Requiems, four vespers, eight Te Deums, a host of smaller sacred works, three large-scale cantatas, 30 Lieder, 18 symphonies, five concertos, 22 quartets (with interesting instrumental combinations), 17 trios, 40 duos, two serenades, eight partitas, and several smaller keyboard works (as well as several sonatas for violin). NEUKOMM, SIGISMUND RITTER VON (10 JULY 1778, SALZBURG, AUSTRIA, TO 3 APRIL 1858, PARIS). Austrian composer. His earliest musical training was with Franz Xaver Weissauer (a Salzburg organist) and Michael Haydn. In 1790 he was a student at the Benedictine Gymnasium and a year later attended the University of Salzburg in mathematics and philosophy. At the same time he was appointed as honorary organist at the cathedral and in 1796 was director of the court theatre. In 1797 he moved to Vienna, where he studied with Joseph Haydn, eventually becoming one of
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his most important students. He was employed in St. Petersburg in 1804, but by 1809 he had made Paris his home, despite sojourns in Rio de Janeiro and elsewhere. Although the bulk of the 1300 works he composed were written after 1800, several Masses and sacred works predate this year. These all demonstrate the solid Classical stylistic foundations that characterized his later compositions. His music, however, is best considered as part of the Classical trends of the 19th century. NICHELMANN, CHRISTOPH (13 AUGUST 1717, TREUENBRIETZEN, GERMANY, TO 1762, BERLIN). German composer and keyboardist. His earliest musical education came when he enrolled in the Thomasschule in Leipzig in 1730, studying under Johann Sebastian Bach and J. S. Bach’s son Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. In 1733 he moved to Hamburg to seek work as an opera composer, but in 1739 he went to Berlin, where he became part of the Berlin School, studying under Johann Joachim Quantz and Carl Heinrich Graun. He obtained the position as harpsichordist at the Prussian court, and in 1755 he published his treatise Die Melodie, nach ihrem Wesen. A controversy with this work and its successor caused him to request release from the court, and he served the rest of his life as an independent teacher and composer. Although known for his theoretical treatise, Nichelmann was an innovative composer of keyboard works whose style is firmly implanted in Empfindsamkeit. His music consists of 17 concertos for harpsichord (and one for violin), four symphonies, two operas, a Requiem, a large cantata, 22 Lieder, 19 keyboard sonatas, and a number of smaller works for the keyboard. His music is known by L or Lee numbers. NICOLAI, DAVID TRAUGOTT (24 AUGUST 1733, GÖRLITZ, GERMANY, TO 20 DECEMBER 1799, GÖRLITZ). German organist and composer. The son of an organist who had been a pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach, Nicolai was trained by his father before going to Leipzig University in 1755 to study physics and mathematics. In 1758 he returned as his father’s assistant, eventually in 1764 succeeding him as organist at the main church in Görlitz. There he earned a reputation for his inventive improvisation, leading to a reputation as one of the period’s greatest organists. His own music, however, was of more limited circulation. It consists of a number of fantasies and fugues for organ, several keyboard sonatas, and several church cantatas. NICOLINI, GIUSEPPE (29 JANUARY 1762, PIACENZA, ITALY, TO 18 DECEMBER 1842, PIACENZA). Italian composer. Nicolini received his earliest education from his father, a local church organist, before completing his studies at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio in Naples under
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Giacomo Insanguine and Domenico Cimarosa. He served as an organist at the San Paolo Church in the city before his debut as an opera composer in 1793. In the next two and a half decades, he composed operas throughout Italy as one of the more popular post-Cimarosa composers, even becoming a rival to Giaocchino Rossini. Nicolini’s fame led him to cease composing operas and accept a post of maestro di cappella at the cathedral in Piacenza. His music has been little studied but includes 46 operas, seven oratorios, 40 Masses, two responsories, 13 cantatas, six litanies, and over 100 smaller sacred works. NITSCHMANN, IMMANUEL (1736, HERRNHUT, SAXONY, GERMANY, TO 1790, BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES). German-American composer and music copyist. He immigrated to the United States in 1761, where he served as a pastor and musical director of the Moravian Church at Bethlehem. Proficient on the violin and organ, he devoted much time to obtaining and copying works for the Moravian musical ensembles, including large numbers of pieces by Joseph Haydn. He also arranged operatic works for chamber ensembles. NOTTURNO. Used in the 18th century to indicate a type of suite similar to the divertimento in format and structure but meant to be performed as latenight entertainment. Instrumentation ranges from smaller chamber ensembles to orchestra. The vocal notturno using voices and special texts, usually of love poetry, is generally a single movement (and sometimes published in groups of three or six) meant for the same sorts of occasions. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart writes both types, as do Josef Mysliveček and Michael Haydn. NOVERRE, JEAN-GEORGES (29 APRIL 1727, PARIS, TO 19 OCTOBER 1810, SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE, FRANCE). French balletmaster and choreographer. Although he was the son of a military officer, by 1740 he had become a student of French balletmasters of the Opéra in Paris, including Louis Dupré, under whom he made his debut at the Foire Saint Laurent in a comic pantomime by Charles Simon Favart in 1743. After a brief visit to Berlin, he became balletmaster in Strasbourg in 1747, and by 1750 he was active in Lyons as a choreographer, where he produced his first ballet d’action. A position at Drury Lane Theatre in London in 1755 was abortive due to the anti-French sentiment and his extravagant productions, which resulted in riots. Although he returned to Lyons for a time, by 1760 he had obtained a position in Stuttgart, where he choreographed over 20 ballets. A similar post in Vienna was offered, but in 1774 he moved to Milan to become balletmaster at the Teatro Regio there. Two years later he obtained
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the post of balletmaster at the Opéra in Paris, a position that allowed him to accept seasonal posts in London and Vienna. During the French Revolution he escaped the terror by moving to a small town in the French countryside, Triel, but economic circumstances forced him to return to London, where he stayed until he retired in 1794. Noverre can be seen as one of the pivotal figures in the development of the ballet d’action during the 18th century, along with colleagues (and sometimes rivals) Étienne Lauchery, Gasparo Angiolini, and Franz Hilverding. His students include progressive choreographer Antoine Bournonville, whose son August Bournonville is recognized as the father of the Romantic ballet. His most important work was Lettres sur la danse, sur les ballets et les arts, first published in Lyons in 1760 (and later heavily revised and expanded in 1804 and 1807 in St. Petersburg). His choreography inspired generations of composers, from Niccolò Jommelli to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. See also DESHAYES, PROSPER-DIDIER. NOVOTNÝ, FRANZ ANTON (ca. 1748, PROBABLY BOHEMIA, TO 5 NOVEMBER 1806, PÉCS, HUNGARY). Austro-Bohemian composer. His earliest musical studies were under Leopold Koželuh in Vienna. In 1782 he was appointed as a musician at the court of Prince-Archbishop Pál László in the Hungarian city of Pécs, being elevated to Kapellmeister in 1800. His music corresponds to Viennese contemporaries in its clear formal and harmonic structures, as well as well-developed themes. Surviving works include 20 Masses; two symphonies; some chamber music; and a large number of hymns, vespers, motets, and other sacred works. NOVOTNÝ, FRANZ NIKOLAUS (6 DECEMBER 1743, EISENSTADT, AUSTRIA, TO 25 AUGUST 1773, EISENSTADT). Austrian composer and organist. Son of a Bohemian organist, Jan Novotný (1718–1765), he grew up in close association with the Esterházy court. By 1762 he functioned as an official in the court treasury, while he became a student of Joseph Haydn. In 1765 he was appointed as organist at the Eisenstadt church, succeeding his father, a position he held until his early death. Almost all of his compositions, many of which were highly regarded by Haydn, consist of church music, including Masses, motets, and other smaller pieces. The style is typical of the church music of the time.
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O ÖHLSCHLEGEL, PATER JOHANNES LOHELIUS [FRANZ JOSEPH] (31 DECEMBER 1724, LAHOŠT, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 22 FEBRUARY 1788, PRAGUE). Bohemian monastic composer and organ builder of German extraction. His earliest position was as a church organist at Bohusudov, but in 1741 he attended the University of Prague, eventually joining the Premonstaterian order in 1747. In 1757 he became regens chori and organist at Strahov monastery. His music reflects the lyrical and homophonic style of Bohemian music of the period. Surviving works include a large number of smaller sacred works, a Singspiel, eight oratorios, and two concertos. OLIN, ELISABETH (8 DECEMBER 1740, STOCKHOLM, TO 26 MARCH 1828, STOCKHOLM). Swedish singer and composer. The daughter of organist Peter Lillström (1714–1777), she displayed precocious vocal talent, making her stage debut in the first Swedish opera, Syrinx, in 1747. In 1773 she was prima donna of the Royal Opera, performing in the first production of Thetis och Pelée by Francesco Antonio Uttini. She retired from active singing around 1788, although she still sang in occasional concerts. Her compositional efforts are limited to several songs, which nonetheless show competence in harmony and setting. See also HALLE, CAROLINA FREDRIKA; STENBORG, CARL. OLIVARES, JUAN MANUEL [HERMENEGILDO DE LA LUZ] (4 APRIL 1760, CHACAO, VENEZUELA, TO 1 MARCH 1797, CARACAS, VENEZUELA). Venezuelan composer and organist. His early training was under Don Ambrosio de Carreño, and he began his career as an organist in the various confraternities in Caracas. By 1784 he was appointed as instructor at the Academia de Música of the Chacao School. At the same time, he became musical director of the Oratorio de San Felipe Neri, as well as later organist at the Santa Teresa Church. An active and well-liked musician, he wrote music much in the style of Joseph Haydn, who served as a model for the school. He is reputed to have composed one and possibly several other symphonies, making him one of the first in the New World. His surviving 411
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music includes 13 villancicos, two Masses, two Requiems, three Psalm settings, a Lamentation, a Stabat mater, and a duo for two violins. OLIVEIRA, MANUEL DIAS DE (ca. 1734, SÃO JOSÉ DEI REI [NOW TIRADENTES], BRAZIL, TO 1813, SÃO JOSÉ DEI REI). Brazilian composer. Trained in Minas Gerais, he began his career at the Irmandade de São Miguel e Almas, later teaching at other schools in the region. His music, virtually unexplored, consists mainly of sacred works. OLIVER Y ASTORGA, JUAN (1734, YECLA, MURCIA, SPAIN, TO 12 FEBRUARY 1830, MADRID). Spanish violinist and composer. Oliver’s teachers in violin are unknown, but by 1765 he had undertaken a concert tour of Germany, eventually settling in England under the patronage of Willoughby Bertie, Earl of Abingdon. He dedicated his first published works, a set of six violin sonatas, to his patron, thereafter publishing several other sets of works. By 1776 he had returned to Madrid, where he became a violinist in the Real Capilla and later chamber musician to the Spanish court. In 1789 he was offered the position as director of the Teatro de los Caños del Real but was not allowed to accept it because Carlos IV wanted to have Oliver remain as his personal musician. He remained attached to the Spanish court the remainder of his life. As a violinist, Oliver was noted for his brilliant technical playing, although his own compositions are modest in terms of difficulty. His music consists of three cantatas (lost), six violin sonatas (Op. 1), six songs with guitar (Op. 2), six trio sonatas (Op. 3), and 11 duets for violin or viola and cello. OLSTEAD, TIMOTHY (12 NOVEMBER 1759, EAST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES, TO 15 AUGUST 1848, PHOENIX, OSWEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK). American psalmodist. Like Jacob Kimball he served as a fifer in the Revolutionary War before returning to East Hartford in 1780. By 1800 he had moved westward to Whitestown, New York, where he taught and performed. Twenty-one tunes of his survive, published in the 1805 Musical Oleo. OPERA. Opera was the most common and widespread musical multimedia entertainment during the 18th century. It was based upon a long and welldeveloped tradition and performed in theatres around the entire globe, as well as in other venues ranging from churches and monasteries to universities and public outdoor stages. Generally, it consisted of a series of arias linked by sections of dialogue, most often prefaced by an overture or sinfonia. In certain types of opera, the main action occurred during the dialogue portions,
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which could be sung (recitative) or spoken (Singspiel). Topics ranged from moral or didactic stories (Jesuit operas, Schuldramen [school or university dramas]) to characters drawn from Greek or Roman mythology (opera seria, tragédie lyrique), to situation comedies often drawn from improvised street theatre (opera buffa, intermezzo), to plots taken from the Bible (Azione sacrale), to adaptations of popular plays with spoken dialogue (Singspiel, ballad opera), to mythological, fantasy, and local historical events (nationalist opera, Zauberoper). Opera texts could be found in virtually all languages, from Spanish (zarzeula) to Russian, from English to Czech, from Swedish to Hungarian, but the most common languages were Italian, French, and German. They could be highly formulaic (Pietro Metastasio) or patriotic (Swedish Gustavian or Russian opera); they could evoke the exotic (Turkish opera) or commonplace (ballad opera). The music could be set both by native and foreign composers in styles that ranged from the formulaic for opera seria to highly original in some of the peripheral theatres that were less traditional or conservative. Operas were used often as special ceremonial occasions such as court marriages or inaugurations (serenata). Large permanent opera establishments were maintained by the major courts, such as Paris, London, Stockholm, Vienna, Milan, Venice, Rome, and Naples, which had stages of significant size and stature. These also had the technical abilities to produce often elaborate stagings requiring a multitude of special effects, from ships at sea to earthquakes, from violent storms to complete battles. These employed a wide range of personnel, from costumers to set painters, from carpenters to wick-trimmers. In one example, the Royal Opera in Stockholm had a fire prevention system pressurized by the fast-flowing waters of the adjacent Nordström flowing from Lake Mälaren, which could also be used for effects such as rain or fountains on stage. Operas were performed by highly trained and often expansive orchestras in cities like Berlin, Naples, Rome, Venice, Paris, Vienna, Dresden, Stockholm, or Madrid, often led by the Kapellmeister/maestro di cappella, or they could be small affairs produced upon demand by small ensembles outdoors or in small private venues. Moreover, wandering troupes (such as the Mingotti troupe) toured various regions over the course of the century, often performing at whatever venue was available. The larger theatres in the major courts or cities often had elaborate stage machinery and incorporated extensive ballet or chorus, while the less well-endowed ones adapted their performances to fit the local circumstances, even to the point of rearranging the musical scores. Indeed, one type has no singing at all, and the only music backs spoken dialogue (melodrama). They employed both male and female singers ranging from the castrato to the basso buffo. These voice types were often associated directly with specific roles or functions. For example, the castratos were
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often principal serious roles in opera seria, generally nobility or gods. These were replaced over the course of the century by the tenor. In comic operas, lighter soubrette sopranos and baritone-basses were often featured, such as in the early intermezzo La serva padrona by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. All voice types and ranges, however, were used, with the music constructed generally according to the role and performer. Many of the singers were either employed full-time by the houses or courts, or were allowed to tour, making their reputations in various roles. Singers such as castrati Carlo Broschi/ Farinelli were not only famed for their vocal flexibility and beauty of tone, they also could function as diplomats, private entertainers, or celebrities whose reputations gained them access to many courts. Other singers, such as Franziska Dussek or Gertrude Mara, were able to inspire composers to write music tailored to their vocal abilities, while others, notably Ludwig Fischer or Caterina Cavalieri were given extraordinary works of great skill by composers such as Antonio Salieri, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and others, both for the stage and as particular vehicles for the concert hall. Other singers, such as Carolina Halle, had less than flexible voices, relying more on their dramatic acting abilities to achieve their reputations. While librettists were equally as important to the overall form and content of an 18th-century opera, some of the texts were meant to be set by a number of different composers in a more or less generic manner. For example, Metastasio’s librettos were set frequently, becoming the epitome of the opera seria due to the fluidity of the language and despite the often convoluted and improbable action or secondary characters. Carlo Goldoni made similar impressions on the opera buffa, and one work, Charles Coffey’s The Devil to Pay, although a generic ballad opera, was translated and reworked in most European languages, in effect becoming the second most successful single plot of the period. Imperial courts, such as Vienna, served as a Mecca for authors, with some, such as Lorenzo da Ponte, achieving fame for their direct collaboration with the leading composers of the day, even though their later careers were less than steady. Even the nobility ventured into the field of the libretto, with nationalist works being contributed by Catherine II and Gustav III, their efforts being fleshed out by local poets. In other arenas, the impresarios chose to write (and sometimes even set) texts they knew would contain popular appeal. Emanuel Schickaneder, for example, wrote over 50 German Singspiel texts mainly for his own company. Other librettists, such as Raniero Calzabigi, were crucial to the operatic reform movements of the time. Operas were composed by virtually every major composer of the period, often on commission, and success of a single work would often lead to further commissions, both at home and abroad. The most successful composers
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generally wrote for the major opera theatres throughout Europe, with Paris being a particular locus for such works. For example, a debut performance in Rome at the Teatro Argentina or in Naples at the Teatro San Carlo would most likely engender commissions from elsewhere in Italy, and composers would likely be offered new works for occasions such as the Carnival in Venice or Milan. Indeed, numerous composers and singers became international superstars, with both commissions and employment being offered outside their home country. These were often linked with attempts to revive or reform opera, with composers such as Niccolò Jommelli, Johann Adolph Hasse, Christoph Willibald von Gluck, Niccolò Piccinni, Antonio Sacchini, Luigi Cherubini, Gian Francesco de Majo, and others working in Dresden, Paris, and London to produce serious works of consequence. For comic opera, Giuseppe Sarti, Domenico Cimarosa, Giovanni Paisiello, and Pasquale Anfossi, among others, went far afield to write works, many for the court of Catherine II in Russia. The most popular international works, however, were Italian, with French operas having some success in Francophile courts in Berlin, Vienna, and Stockholm, while German opera seemed mostly limited to German-speaking areas. Other works had even more limited ranges, even though they may have been based upon more widespread continental models, since many were in local languages that had limited audiences. Danish operas of Johann Ernst Hartmann or Johann Abraham Peter Schulz were not performed outside of Denmark, nor were those of Russia, Sweden, or the Netherlands. Local variants, such as the zarzuela, for example, did have an intercontinental appeal given the extensive North American territories of New Spain, and English opera continued to be popular in colonies and the new United States with works composed by Raynor Taylor, Alexander Reinagle, James Hewitt, and Benjamin Carr. Operas in German and Polish were often taken by touring companies to the Baltic provinces (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), in deference to their German inhabitants for the former and because the music appealed more than the incomprehensible text for the latter. See also AZIONE TEATRALE; RESCUE OPERA; STORACE, NANCY; STORACE, STEPHEN. OPÉRA BOUFFON. French term for Italian opera buffa, which in France could be performed either in its original language or in French translation. OPERA BUFFA. Sometimes called drama comico, drama eroicomico, or farsa. Italian comic opera, generally in two acts, characterized by ordinary settings and characters (some drawn from the Commedia dell’arte), situation comedies, and vocal writing in a simple style without much coloratura or
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ornamentation. Developed in Naples at the beginning of the 18th century and derived from the intermezzo, it became the most popular form of Italian opera with international appeal by 1760. Popular writers of texts, such as Carlo Goldoni, were sought after by composers such as Giuseppe Sarti, Pasquale Anfossi, or Niccolò Piccinni to write entertaining works in the genre, which could be exported successfully outside Italy. The music often includes formulaic writing, homophonic textures, and the lieto fine or ensemble finale. See also OPÉRA BOUFFON; SINGSPIEL; TONADILLA; ZARZUELA. OPÉRA COMIQUE. A genre of French opera based upon less lofty subject matter or characters than the Opéra. It consists of arias and shorter ariettas, sometimes recitative, some spoken dialogue, choruses (often short and homophonic), dances (as opposed to more formal ballet in the Opéra), and concluding often with a vaudeville finale. It is not exclusively comic, despite the name. It developed as a popular genre at the Foire Saint Germain and Foire Saint Laurent (as well as the Comédie-Italienne) during the middle of the 18th century, maturing under the influence of Italian works such as La serva padrona by Giovanni Pergolesi. Early practitioners of the genre include Michel-Jean Sedaine and Charles Simon Favart. The initial success of Antoine Dauvergne’s Les troquers in 1753 led to a rapid development of the genre through the efforts of composers such as François-André Danican Philidor, Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny, and André Ernest Modeste Grétry. Initially located at the fairs, it merged with the Comédie-Italienne in 1762 and became the Théâtre Italien in 1783. In 1793 it was performed both at the Théâtre Feydeau and at the now-renamed Opéra comique. Developments include fairy-tale operas (opéra féerie), the rescue opera, comédie pastorale, and the comédie mêlée des ariettes. OPÉRA FÉERIE. French for fairy-tale opera, opéra féerie began to be popular around 1745, with subject matter featuring the supernatural and exotic or magical. The genre is musically identical with the opéra comique. An example is Zémire et Azor by André Ernest Modeste Grétry from 1771. OPERA SERIA. Also known as melodramma seria. A stylized Italian serious opera, with a prescribed format. Opera seria was one of the dominant forms of opera throughout Europe during the 18th century. The subject matter is generally taken from Classical history or mythology, with ancillary characters created to provide for dramatic action and to fill out the story. The texts are noted for their lyricism in the poetry, and the music is often calculated to provide display for the principal singers (usually arias in da capo form with extensive A sections created according to sonata principles), with ballet and
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choruses kept to a minimum. The opera seria was the main vehicle for castrati. The genre was most often heavily patronized (and subsidized) by the courts. It became moribund toward the end of the century as the opera buffa replaced it in popularity. The greatest author of texts was Pietro Metastasio, whose librettos were set numerous times by various composers. A good example of this is Johann Adolph Hasse’s Cleofide. OPÉRA-BALLET. Term drawn from the Baroque period consisting more of dance than singing; often performed with Prologue and a series of tableaux called entrées. An 18th-century example is Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Les fêtes d’Hébé. ORATORIO. A musical setting of a text based upon a religious subject, generally scored for soloists, chorus, and orchestra. Although developed in the 17th century from the Oratorio di San Felipe Neri in Rome, by the 18th century it had expanded to become a commonplace substitute for opera, especially during Lent, or as a work written for a special occasion and performed in a concert hall. During the Classical period, Italian oratorios generally followed the same format as the opera seria, with a succession of recitatives and arias, with only the occasional chorus. A good example of this is a text by Pietro Metastasio titled La Betulia liberata, which was set by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Florian Gassmann, Niccolò Jommelli, Ignaz Holzbauer, and a number of others. Oratorios could also be composed to texts in Latin in Italy, such as David poenitans by Ferdinando Bertoni or Machabaeorum mater by Antonio Sacchini. In Germany, oratorios, many of which are also connected with the Passion, include original texts, often highly descriptive, with reflections and discussions of sacred subjects. The most important work, said by Johann Adam Hiller to have been an absolute requirement for every German music library, was Der Tod Jesu by Carl Heinrich Graun. Other German oratorio composers of note are Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Johann Adolph Hasse, Georg Philipp Telemann, and Johann Heinrich Rolle. In France, Lenten and Christmas concerts at the Concerts spirituels often included French-language oratorios that featured extensive and often highly colorful orchestration, such as La sortie d’Egypte by Henri-Joseph Rigel or La nativité by François-Joseph Gossec. In England, the 1730s saw the focus shifted toward the oratorio by Baroque composer George Frederick Handel, whose works were considered by his contemporaries and successors as models throughout the century. These were sometimes performed in outdoor concerts during the spring and summer as well. Examples include Thomas Arne’s Judith and The Death of Abel. These were expanded by the later part of the century to include historical,
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nonbiblical subjects, such as Arne’s Alfred, which contains patriotic music, as well as The Creation (Die Schöpfung) and Die Jahreszeiten by Joseph Haydn, which, despite religious allusions or overtones, are highly secular in nature. Oratorios were also performed as symbols of nationalist musics on the periphery of Europe, often with texts in the local language. For example, Giuseppe Sarti wrote a Russian oratorio, Gospodi vozzvakh k tebe, based upon Russian Orthodox liturgy, while in Denmark Friedrich Ludwig Aemilius Kunzen composed Opstandelsen. In Spain, oratorios could be cobbled together from various biblical texts with more generic titles, such as the Oratorio armónico by José Mir y Llusá. See also SEPOLCRO. ORDONEZ, KARL VON (19 APRIL 1734, VIENNA, TO 16 SEPTEMBER 1786, VIENNA). Austrian nobleman, violinist, and composer. Little is known about his youth or early career, save that he must have been trained as a state functionary, probably at the Ritterakademie and subsequently the University of Vienna given his rank as a member of the minor nobility. His main duties were as an official in the Land Court of Lower Austria, although he was also employed as a musician in the Hof- und kammermusik. In 1771 he was one of the founding members of the Tonkünstlersozietät, which he supported for the majority of his life. In 1783 he was forced to resign his post due to complications from tuberculosis, which caused him to live in poverty for the remainder of his life. He was one of the most prolific of the early 18thcentury symphonists in Vienna, noted for his careful adherence to contrasting forms and progressive harmonies. He was also a composer of the early string quartet, based no doubt from his own chamber musical experiences. His works include 73 symphonies, 27 string quartets, 21 trio sonatas, two cassations, a wind octet, a sextet, two quintets, two violin sonatas, and four Singspiels (one for marionettes). His music is known by Brown numbers. OREFICI, ANTONIO (ca. 1700, PROBABLY NAPLES, TO ca. 1734, NAPLES). Italian composer. Almost nothing is known about his life, save that he received his musical training from Francesco Mancini and began writing operas for the Neapolitan stage around 1725. Although the bulk of these reflect Baroque opera seria practice, his final four works are comic operas similar to those of his colleague Giovanni Pergolesi. OREJÓN Y APARICIO, JOSÉ DE (1706, HUACHO, PERU, TO MAY 1765, LIMA, PERU). Peruvian composer and organist. Little is known of his origins, save that he was the son of a composer and may have studied under Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco. He appears in 1742 when he was hired as assistant organist at the Lima cathedral. Although he unsuccessfully sought
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other posts in provincial cities, he remained in Lima, eventually obtaining a licentiate degree from the university there in 1759 and becoming the successor to Roque Ceruti the following year. His musical style is somewhat oldfashioned, adhering to the Baroque use of walking bass, even though there are hints of the new homophonic styles. His villancico Mariposa de sus rayos was considered a popular masterpiece of the time. Works include Masses, a Passion, and around 22 villancicos. ORGITANO, PAOLO (ca. 1740, NAPLES, TO MAY 1796, NAPLES). Italian composer and organist. Brother of Vincenzo Orgitano, he probably received his initial studies with his father, an organist in Naples, before continuing at one of the conservatories in the city. By 1776 he was sub-organist at the royal chapel, and a year later was appointed maestro di cappella at the Naples cathedral. In 1779 he became royal chapel organist, a post he retained until his death. Little is known of his music, due to the confusion of sources between himself and his brothers. His extant works include a symphony and three cantatas (one secular and two sacred), as well as two sacred arias. ORGITANO, RAFFAELE (ca. 1770, NAPLES, TO 1812, PARIS). Italian composer. The son of Vincenzo Orgitano, he received his earliest education from his father before entering the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini. In 1790 he was appointed as ordinary maestro di cappella for the royal treasury chapel, and in 1800 he moved to Palermo to write operas. Thereafter he wrote on commission for both Naples and Rome, but when he attempted to establish himself in Paris, he was unsuccessful. His music has been little studied but includes five operas, two oratorios, and a large hymn. ORGITANO, VINCENZO (ca. 1738, NAPLES, TO ca. 1818, NAPLES). Italian composer and organist. Educated at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in Naples, he had some initial success as an opera composer in Rome and Naples before becoming a well-regarded keyboardist in 1760. Charles Burney thought him one of the best harpsichordists in Naples, and in 1771 he traveled to London, where he performed at the King’s Theatre. In 1779 he returned to Naples, where in 1782 he became assistant maestro di cappella, later in 1787 being appointed to the primary post. He was pensioned in 1805, but after the restoration of the Bourbons in 1815 he petitioned to be reinstated to his old post without success. His music consists of two operas, a Te Deum, a litany, a Requiem, four sacred arias, four other sacred works, nine symphonies, 12 piano and 12 string trios, 55 violin sonatas, 12 divertimentos, and three sonatas for fortepiano, and numerous other smaller keyboard works.
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ORTÍZ, JOSÉ ANTONIO [CRISTÓBAL PIRIOBY] (1764, MISIÓN SAN CARLOS, PARANÁ, ARGENTINA, TO 1794, BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA). Argentine composer and pianist. Possibly of native origin, he was raised at the mission and sent to Buenos Aires to complete his musical education. He became a popular figure in the salon societies of the provincial capital of New Spain, composing dances and songs. OSÍO [COSÍO], PADRE PEDRO JOSÉ DE (19 OCTOBER 1728, SANTA MARTA, VENEZUELA, TO ca. 1780, CARACAS, VENEZUELA). Venezuelan organist and keyboard instrument builder. He was active as a builder of harpsichords and organs after around 1750, the date that he was appointed as precentor and choirmaster at the cathedral in Caracas. Several of his instruments survive; he is alleged to have written smaller works for organ and chorus, but these no longer exist. OSWALD, JAMES (1711, SCOTLAND, TO 1769, HERTFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND). Scots-English composer and publisher. Nothing is known of his background or education, but in 1736 he appeared as a publisher and arranger in London of collections of his own minuets and Scots tunes under the pseudonym David Rizzio in 1736 and 1740. He published the Caledonian Pocket Companion in 1741, which, like Benjamin Franklin’s Farmer’s Almanac, contained a variety of materials, including music. A member of the Temple of Apollo Society, Oswald was appointed chamber composer to George III in 1761. His music appears to have been mostly dances, but he championed other English composers of the period by publishing their works. OTT, PATER LORENZ JUSTINIAN [JOSEPH MARZELLIN] (bap. 28 APRIL 1748, DIETFORT AN DER ALTMÜHL, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 6 APRIL 1805, WEYARN, BAVARIA). German monastic composer and organist. Following elementary education at the Jesuit seminary at Neuburg an der Donau, he was sent in 1759 to the Jesuit Gymnasium in Munich for his further education. He entered the Augustinian monastery in Weyarn as an initiate in 1767, being ordained in 1771. By 1777 he was a subdean and succeeded Bernhard Haltenberger as regens chori in 1780. He was noted for continuing to modernize the musical establishment of the monastery through his recruitment efforts and style of music. His works include five symphonies, 11 Masses, a Requiem, three Salve Reginas, 10 smaller sacred works in Latin and German, and 13 sacred songs. He also produced numerous contrafacta of operas for use in church services.
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OTTANI, BERNARDO (8 SEPTEMBER 1736, BOLOGNA, ITALY, TO 26 APRIL 1827, TURIN). Italian composer. A student of Padre Giovanni Battista Martini, he made his debut as a composer with an oratorio in 1765, the same year he was elected to the Accademia filarmonica. The following year he began to receive commissions from Turin, Venice, and Genoa, later touring Germany as a composer of opera. In 1769 he was appointed as maestro di cappella at the church of San Giovanni in Monte in Bologna, later becoming a keyboardist at the Teatro Publico. In 1779 the successful performance of an opera at the Teatro Regio in Turin led to him being appointed as maestro di cappella there, a position he retained his entire life. His music, little studied, includes 46 Masses, 14 operas, numerous arias and other insertions, an oratorio, three cantatas, 10 sacred works, and six keyboard sonatas. His brother, Gaetano Ottani (ca. 1734–1808), was a wellknown tenor and landscape painter. OVEREND, MARMADUKE (ca. 1730, WALES[?]; buried 25 JUNE 1790, ISLESWORTH, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND). English-Welsh composer, organist, and music theorist. Evidence is lacking for a laconic reference to Overend’s Welsh birth, but it is known that he was a student of William Boyce, with whom he maintained an active correspondence during Boyce’s lifetime. In 1760 he was appointed organist at the church in Islesworth, a position he retained for 30 years. In 1781 he presented a series of lectures in London on the science of music, later transcribing music for John Hawkins’s General History of Music. He also left a manuscript theoretical treatise on the mathematical sources of pitch. His own works include two cantatas (one written in 1761 for the marriage of George III), a set of 12 trio sonatas, and numerous songs and glees that were quite popular. OZI, ETIENNE (9 DECEMBER 1754, NÎMES, FRANCE, TO 5 OCTOBER 1813, PARIS). French bassoonist and composer. Born into the family of a silk worker, he was trained in music in a military band. In 1777 he arrived in Paris to further his studies with Mannheim bassoonist Georg Wenzel Ritter, appearing as a soloist at the Concerts spirituels two years later. Thereafter he was a frequent performer there, although he obtained positions with the duc d’Orléans in 1783 and the Chapelle Royale in 1786. During the Revolution he taught music in the school run by the Garde Nationale Parisienne, and in 1795 he became the first professor of bassoon at the Conservatoire. By 1798 he was a member of an elite orchestra at the Opéra, and in 1803 he published the Nouvelle méthode de bassoon, a text for the Conservatoire. As one might expect, his compositions were mostly focused upon his own
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instrument and include eight concertos, four sinfonia concertantes (one for two bassoons and three featuring clarinet and bassoon), 32 suites d’harmonies, 21 duos (mostly for either two bassoons or a pair of cellos), and several smaller chamber works. His treatise Méthode de serpent, one of the few manuals on this instrument, was published posthumously.
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P PAËR, FERDINANDO (1 JUNE 1771, PARMA, ITALY, TO 3 MAY 1839, PARIS). Italian composer. The son of a court trumpeter, Ferdinando Paër was sent to the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in Naples to study under Gian Francesco Fortunati. He made his debut as an opera composer in Venice in 1792 with Circe, and following a rising reputation due to opera commissions throughout Italy, he arrived in Vienna in 1797, where he became director of the Kärntnertor Theatre. In 1802 he was called to serve as Kapellmeister in Dresden, but in 1809 Napoleon expressed such an interest in his music that he moved to Paris. Although he held other posts in Germany and Italy, he returned and finally retired there. As a composer, Paër’s early operas are in the vein of Giovanni Paisiello and Domenico Cimarosa, filled with light tunes and colorful orchestral accompaniment. By the end of 1800 he had composed 32 of his 55 operas, in addition to 13 cantatas, a Tantum ergo, and five symphonies, but the bulk of his compositional efforts were written after that date and more properly belong to early 19th-century Romanticism. His music is known through their E or Enßlin numbers. PAGANELLI, GIUSEPPE ANTONIO (6 MARCH 1710, PADUA, ITALY, TO ca. 1763, MADRID). Italian composer and keyboardist. Following his early training under Giuseppe Tartini, he made his debut as a composer in 1731 at the Accademia dei Dilettanti with an oratorio, and the next year he premiered his first opera in Venice. In 1733 he was employed as a keyboard accompanist with the Peruzzi troupe in Germany, and in 1737 he was named chamber composer to Princess Wilhelmine in Bayreuth. He apparently drifted from court to court in Germany for the next two decades before obtaining a position as chamber composer to the king of Spain. It is assumed that he was resident in Madrid; a published set of trio sonatas in 1764 lists him as recently deceased. His music has been little studied but consists of two cantatas, an oratorio, six Odes of Horace, numerous arias, 13 operas, a concerto for soprano chalameau, a symphony, 31 trio sonatas, 30 duos, six flute sonatas, three keyboard sonatas, and 30 arias for organ or fortepiano.
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PAGEANT. An English staged entertainment dating from the Renaissance consisting of staged scenes with music and dance. Initially distinguished from the Masque as a public event, in the 18th century the few that were written had a participatory function for the audience in places. Exemplars were written by François-Hyppolite Barthélemon. PAISIELLO, GIOVANNI (19 MAY 1740, TARANTO, KINGDOM OF NAPLES, ITALY, TO 5 JUNE 1816, NAPLES). Italian composer. Following his earliest training at a local Jesuit school, he entered the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio in Naples in 1754, where he studied under Francesco Durante and Girolamo Abos. During this period he composed smaller sacred works and a few intermezzos, but in 1763 he was employed by Giuseppe Carafa through whom he began to obtain commissions from theatres throughout Italy. His first major successes in Bologna, La Pupilla and Il mondo al Rovescio, were followed by others in Pavia, Venice, Naples, and Rome. In 1776 his international reputation led Catherine II of Russia to offer him a contract to come to St. Petersburg, where he remained until 1784. Here he wrote his most famous work, Il barbiere di Siviglia. His constant jealousy of colleagues and his feeling of being restricted in his own work led him to return to Naples to accept a position at the court of Ferdinand IV; on his way he had another success in Vienna with Il re Teodoro. After 1787 he also began receiving numerous commissions for sacred music. In 1797 he was asked by Napoleon to come to Paris as maître de chapelle, but despite the emperor’s patronage he had little success apart from some reorganization of the court musical establishment. His 1803 opera Proserpine—the only one in French and written according to the reforms of Christoph Willibald von Gluck—was a failure, and he returned to Naples. With the Bourbon restoration in 1815 his own position was compromised, and the death of his wife undermined his health. Paisiello’s career was long and illustrious, for he was one of the most important composers along with Giuseppe Sarti and Domenico Cimarosa of opera buffa during the last half of the 18th century. His work was known for its pithy tunes and colorful orchestration, attributes that also spill over into his sacred music. He had a knack for creating popular pieces that flowed well dramatically and were imitated by numerous other composers of the period. His works include 94 operas (of which 80 are comic operas); 20 secular cantatas or notturnos; 28 Masses (some embedded in complete services); 68 other hymns, canticles, Psalms, and such; five motets; three oratorios; five Passions; three sacred cantatas; 16 wind divertimentos; 12 piano quartets (nine of which survived as string quartets); 13 symphonies; eight keyboard concertos; a violin sonata; and numerous miscellaneous keyboard and small
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ensemble works. His music is cataloged according to R numbers. See also FERRARI, GIACOMO GOTIFREDO. PALACIOS Y SOJO [PALACIOS GIL], PEDRO RAMÓN [PADRE SOJO] (17 JANUARY 1739, GUATIRE, VENEZUELA, TO 17 JUNE 1799, CARACAS, VENEZUELA). Venezuelan cleric and composer, founder of the Chacao School. Born on a hacienda in the provinces of New Spain, he was trained in music at the local churches. In 1761 he undertook a journey with his brother to Spain and Rome, where he took Holy Orders. By 1769 he had returned to Venezuela and founded two years later the Oratorio de San Felipe Neri, an association dedicated to musical performance and education in the country. In 1784 he founded an Academia de Música in Caracas, where he officiated at the main cathedral, eventually producing an entire generation of composers active in the city. He was elevated to prelate of the cathedral in 1798, but his position became vacant in June the following year at his death. His own music reflects the admiration he felt for Joseph Haydn, whose style he sought to imitate. What survives, however, are only a few sacred works. PALADINI [PALADINO], GIUSEPPE PIETRO (ca. 1700, PROBABLY MILAN, TO AUGUST, 1752, MILAN). Italian composer and organist. Little is known of his early career or training. He first shows up as maestro di cappella at the church of San Simpliciano in Milan in 1724, where his students included Giovanni Battista Sammartini and Felice Giardani. In 1747 he was appointed assistant to Giovanni Andrea Fioroni at the Duomo, although he also served as a teacher at the Collegio dei Nobili Longone. During this time he entered into a rivalry with his erstwhile pupil Sammartini. Paladini was one of the Milanese Lombardic composers who began developing the concept of binary form with the introduction of contrasting themes and internal development, an important step on the way to the sonata principle. His music has only received attention recently in several studies. It includes two symphonies, six sacred works, six sonatas, four minuets for strings, and 33 instrumental marches. PALELLA, ANTONIO (8 OCTOBER 1692, SAN GIOVANNI A TEDUCCIO, ITALY, TO 7 MARCH 1761, NAPLES). Italian composer and keyboardist. Little is known of his early training, other than he studied at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio in Naples, making his debut as an opera composer in 1721. Thereafter, he functioned his entire life as a teacher and harpsichordist at the Teatro San Carlo. Although his early works conform to Baroque stylistic idioms, he was one of the first composers to write comic
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operas in Neapolitan dialect. His music, little studied, includes six operas, an oratorio, a concerto, and a symphony, in addition to numerous small cantatas and insertion arias. PALLAVICINI, VINCENZO (ca. 1699, BRESCIA, ITALY, TO 1766, VENICE). Italian composer. The son of composer Carlo Pallavicino, he obtained his early training from his father and in Bologna, where in 1743 he was a student of Padre Giovanni Battista Martini and elected to the Accademia filarmonica. By 1751 he had obtained a permanent post as maestro di capella at the Osepdale degli Incurabili in Venice. Although the bulk of his music is Baroque in style, two operas written during the later part of his career to texts by Carlo Goldoni reflect early opera buffa practice. PALM, JOHAN FREDRIK (20 AUGUST 1754, STOCKHOLM, TO 15 MARCH 1821, EDSBERG NEAR SOLLENTUNA, SWEDEN). Swedish keyboard player and composer. Probably trained by Ferdinand Zellbell Jr., Palm was appointed as continuo player for the Royal Swedish Opera in 1778. A decade later, he changed positions as assistant singing teacher when a continuo was no longer used in productions. He retired to the countryside in 1808. He was known during his lifetime as a composer of successful songs, of which about 30 were published. They are simple and tuneful, with limited range, and thus suitable for amateur voices. A few keyboard works also survive, mainly theme and variations. PALMA, SILVESTRO [DI] (15 MARCH 1754, BARANO D’ISCHIA, ITALY, TO 8 AUGUST 1834, NAPLES). The son of the Prince of Sansevero, he was sent to Naples to be trained in music at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto under Giovanni Paisiello. In 1789 he made his debut as an opera composer, and although he received commissions from throughout Italy, he remained anchored in Naples. His works, little studied, include 15 operas, a Magnificat, two Marian antiphons, a Miserere, a litany, a symphony, and a fortepiano sonata. PALUSELLI, PATER STEFAN [JOHANN ANTON] (9 JANUARY 1748, KURTATSCH NEAR BOZEN, UPPER TYROL [NOW ITALY], TO 27 FEBRUARY 1805, STAMS, OBERINNTAL, AUSTRIA). Austrian monastic composer and teacher. In 1760 he was sent to Innsbruck for his education, studying at the St. Nikolaus school and functioning as a chorister at the university church. By 1768 he was a student at the University of Innsbruck in philosophy, and in 1770 his Singspiel Das alte deutsche Wörtlein tut was premiered. He entered the Cistercian abbey at Stams the same year,
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becoming ordained as a priest in 1774. He functioned as a teacher of violin at the abbey school, later being appointed as regens chori in 1791. Although his music adheres to the older stile antico, his instrumental works show awareness of the forms and structures found in the mainstream cities of Austria. His Singspiels, most in dialect, were particularly popular in the Tyrol; he composed 11 of these. He also composed several small occasional cantatas; six Masses; over 100 sacred works such as hymns, Psalms, motets, sacred Lieder, and antiphons; an oratorio; 10 divertimentos (partitas, cassations); a large serenade; a string quartet; a symphony; and a series of sogetti in 1790 as exercises for the voice. PAMPANI, ANTONIO GAETANO (ca. 1700, MODENA, ITALY, TO DECEMBER 1775, URBINO, ITALY). Italian composer. Although nothing is known of his training, he was appointed while still young as maestro di cappella at the cathedral in Fano in 1726. By 1730 he was director of the municipal theatre in Pesaro, and in 1737 he was active as an opera composer in Venice. Elected to the Accademia filarmonica in 1746, he spent the remainder of the next several years with posts at Fano and Urbino, finally settling in the latter city in 1767. His music, little studied, includes 19 operas (mostly seria), 14 oratorios, nine antiphons, 82 motets, three cantatas, a Mass, four hymns, eight Psalms, two symphonies, and three concertos. PAPAVOINE, [LOUIS-AUGUSTE] (ca. 1720, ROUEN, FRANCE, TO 1793, MARSEILLES). French composer and violinist. Although his birthplace and training are unknown, he appears first in 1752 as a violinist in Rouen in a request for a publication privilege for his Six Symphonies Op. 1. By then he was a resident in Paris, where he began a career as a violinist and composer; one of his symphonies was produced at the Concerts spirituels in 1757, remarkable as one of the first French works to be conceived in the Mannheim style made popular two years earlier by Johann Stamitz. In 1760 he was appointed leader of the second violins at the Comédie-Italienne, and in 1767 he began a career with the Théâtre de l’Ambigu-Comique, which featured marionettes and young boys as performers. By 1790 he was director of the Opera in Marseilles. He married the composer Mademoiselle Pellecier in 1755. He was one of the first French composers to write a sinfonia concertante, though he did not title it as such. His works include four opéras comiques, five marionette operas, 21 symphonies, two violin sonatas, two Recueils d’airs, and miscellaneous chamber works. His style was noted for its good formal structure in the symphonies, which were some of the most important works of the period and served as models.
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PAPAVOINE, MADAME. See PELLECIER, MADEMOISELLE. PARADIES, MARIA THERESIA VON (bap. 15 MAY 1759, VIENNA, TO 1 FEBRUARY 1824, VIENNA). Austrian pianist and composer. The daughter of an Imperial court secretary, she became blind around the age of three or four. Thereafter she underwent training in music from Leopold Koželuh, Vincenzo Righini, Antonio Salieri, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler, and Carl Friberth. By 1775 she was performing in various salons in the city, and in 1777 Anton Mesmer, through his medical efforts, was able to restore partial vision to her eyes temporarily, an attempt that lasted about a year. In 1783 she embarked upon a concert tour to Paris and London, performing at the Concerts spirituels. A year later she published her first compositions, a set of 12 Lieder. Although she attempted to become a composer for the stage, her work met with little success, and she remained focused upon her teaching for the remainder of her life. She was a facile pianist, for whom Mozart and Salieri both wrote concertos, and as a composer she developed a unique method of composition to compensate for her blindness. Her music includes five operas, three large cantatas, two piano concertos, a piano trio, 12 piano sonatas, 18 Lieder, and a number of other works that have been lost. The most popular piece attributed to her, a Siciliano with solo violin, is, however, a forgery and not to be associated with her. PARADIESER, CARL MARIANUS (11 OCTOBER 1747, RIEDENTHAL, LOWER AUSTRIA, TO 16 OCTOBER 1775, MELK, LOWER AUSTRIA). Austrian monastic composer. After schooling at the monastery of Melk as a chorister, Paradieser moved to Vienna to study philosophy at the University of Vienna, where he became friends with Johann Georg Albrechtsberger. In 1766 he took Holy Orders and became a monk at the monastery in Melk, where he continued to teach music and theology at the local Gymnasium. His music has been little studied, but he focused on instrumental genres. These include 32 string quartets, six violin concertos, and numerous divertimentos and trios. PARADISI [PARADIES], PIETRO [PIER] DOMENICO (1707, NAPLES, TO 25 AUGUST 1791, VENICE). Italian composer and keyboardist. A student of Nicola Porpora in Naples, he went to London in 1746, where he was acclaimed for his keyboard skills. By 1770 he had returned to Italy, where he went into retirement. He was well regarded as a teacher, whose works include six operas, two concertos for keyboard, several symphonies, and a set of 12 keyboard sonatas that were considered some of the best of the time when published in London.
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PARENTI, PAOLO FRANCESCO (15 SEPTEMBER 1764, NAPLES, TO 1821, PARIS). Italian composer. He studied at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in his hometown under Nicola Sala and Lorenzo Fago. In 1783 he made his debut as an opera composer with the comic work La vedemmia, and thereafter received commissions for music from throughout Italy. In 1790 he arrived in Paris, where he became a regular composer for the Théâtre Italien. His works are characterized by lightness and tunefulness but have been little studied. Music includes 11 operas, two litanies, a Magnificat, and a Credo. PARERA, BLAS (3 FEBUARY 1776, MURCIA, CATALONIA [SPAIN], TO 7 JANUARY 1840, MATERÓ, SPAIN). Novohispanic composer. Following his education as a church musician in Catalonia, he immigrated to the United States in 1793, but in 1797 he had moved on to Buenos Aires in New Spain, where he taught at the Colegio de Santa Anna. By 1802 he obtained a post as church musician in Montevideo, Uruguay, at the Metropolitan Cathderal. He retired back to Spain around 1820. He is best known for his composition of the Himno Nacional for Argentina, but his other works, including sacred music for both Novohispanic provinces, remains unstudied. PARIS, ANTON FERDINAND (19 FEBRUARY 1744, SALZBURG, AUSTRIA, TO 18 JUNE 1809, SALZBURG). Austrian composer and organist. The son of the Salzburg cathedral organist, he studied under his father and probably Ernst Eberlin. In 1762 he was appointed as a cathedral organist, often taking over duties from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with whom he was on friendly terms. His music includes two Masses, a Requiem, three offertories, several litanies, five Marian antiphons, numerous other Psalm and hymn settings, two symphonies, a concerto, and a number of smaller chamber works. PARÍS, JUAN (1759, CUBA, TO 10 JUNE 1845, SANTIAGO DE CUBA). Cuban composer and choirmaster. Nothing is known of his origins or training, but in 1805 he first appears as the successor to Francisco José Hierrezuelo as organist at the cathedral of Santiago de Cuba. He taught numerous early 19th-century musicians there. His music style reflects the 18thcentury New Spain villancico, of which he composed some 30 examples. PARK, MARY HESTER [M. H.]. See REYNOLDS, MARIA HESTER. PARREIRAS NEVE, INÁCIO (ca. 1730, VILA RICA DE ALBUQUERQUE [NOW OURO PRÊTA], BRAZIL, TO ca. 1793, VILA RICA). Brazilian composer. He began his career at the Irmandade de Nossa Senhora dos
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Perdões, moving in 1752 to the Irmandade de São José dos Homens Pardos. His music consists of an antiphon, an oratorio, and a Credo, all of which reflect a rich textured homophonic style. PARTHIE/PARTITA. During the 18th century the term was associated with a type of suite of several movements, particularly in the Austro-Bohemian regions, beginning around 1720. It was used as a sort of catch-all term for soloistic ensemble music. A Feldparthie was generally associated with an ensemble of woodwind instruments. Composers include Michael Haydn and Antonín Reicha. See also DIVERTIMENTO. PASHKEVICH, VASILY ALEXEYEVICH (ca. 1742, RUSSIA, TO 20 MARCH 1797, ST. PETERSBURG). Russian composer and violinist. Born into a serf family, he studied music under court Kapellmeister Vincenzo Manfredini, entering the court orchestra as a violinist in 1756. By 1773 he was teaching both violin and voice at the Academy of Arts, as well as performing in the court orchestra. In 1780 he left to become musical director of the Knipper Theatre following the success of his opera Naschastiy of karetï [Fortune in a Coach]. For three years he guided the private theatre, but in 1783 he returned to the Imperial Kapelle as a violinist and solo singer, probably at the behest of Catherine II following the success of his most popular opera, Sanktpetersburgkiy gostinnÿ dvor [The St. Petersburg Fair]. In 1786 his opera Fevey was staged at the Hermitage. Based upon a text by Catherine herself, it served as a model for other works, including collaborations with Giuseppe Sarti. Following Catherine’s death, however, Pashkevich fell from favor and died in poverty. His music demonstrates affinities with the simple tunes and orchestrations of the French opéra comique, but his use of local coloristic orchestration and folk tunes made his works both accessible and iconic. Eight of his Russian operas survive either whole or in part. PASTERWITZ, GEORG ROBERT VON (7 JUNE 1730, BIERHÜTTER PASSAU, BAVARIA, TO 26 JANUARY 1803, KREMSMÜNSTER, LOWER AUSTRIA). Austrian monastic composer. Son of a brewmaster, Pasterwitz received his earliest musical training from the monks at the Niederaltaich abbey. In 1747 he was sent to Kremsmünster abbey to complete his training, becoming ordained there in 1755. At the same time he attended Salzburg University in theology, following which he returned to Kremsmünster to become the regens chori and professor of theology at the monastic school. Like most monastic composers, Pasterwitz was active in Catholic Church circles but little known outside. His musical style is similar to Salzburg composers of the period, especially Michael Haydn. He com-
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posed over 300 works, including 12 Masses, 87 offertories, 70 graduals, 23 vespers, 45 antiphons, 14 Psalms, nine operas or other theatre music, seven arias, four motets, a host of smaller church works (sacred songs), and a few instrumental pieces. PASTICCIO. A musical work in the 18th century that consists of portions adapted or taken directly from a variety of other pieces. Most commonly used in opera, one of the earliest is George Frederick Handel’s Muzio Scevola, but by 1728 the inaugural ballad opera The Beggar’s Opera used tunes that originated in popular music of the time, from songs to well-known arias (only the overture by Johann Pepusch appears to have been original to the work). The style of combining music was to become a stock in trade for the early opéra comique of Michel-Jean Sedaine, as well as the first Singspiels produced by the Koch troupe in Germany. Examples include virtually all of the early settings of the Charles Coffey opera The Devil to Pay (Der Teufel ist los, Le diable a quatre). By 1760 composers such as Christoph Willibald von Gluck or Jean-Pierre Solié began to exercise more control over the elements included in pasticcios, even contributing numbers of original pieces or orchestrating the entire piece. By the 1780s the pasticcio developed further to include collaborative ventures, such as Emanuel Schickaneder’s Stein der Weisen, with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Baptist Henneberg, and others, or Johan Magnus Lannerstierna’s Äfventyraren, for which nine composers in Stockholm collaborated on the music, including Joseph Martin Kraus, Johan Wikmanson, and Johann Christian Friedrich Haeffner. In instrumental music the pasticcio could either refer to groups of movements drawn from works by other composers or popular tunes, called quodlibet, or adaptations. Both can be exemplified in two works by Mozart, the Galamathias musicum (KV 32) and the set of piano concertos KV 37, 39– 41, and 107 drawn from Johann Christian Bach and others but orchestrated by the young Mozart. The medley overture is by its very nature a pasticcio. See also COMÉDIE MÊLÉE DES ARIETTES. PASTORELLA. A sacred composition in the vernacular intended specifically for Christmas, found in Roman Catholic regions of central Europe, particularly Bohemia. It is generally similar to a small sacred but non-liturgical cantata with one or more movements set for chorus or soloists and small orchestra (although it can also be on rare occasions purely instrumental). The subject matter usually concerns the announcement of the angels but also includes shepherds and their gifts to the Christ child. Many include folk or folklike themes and simple diatonic harmony. It may also have a text in the local language. Composers include Jakub Jan Ryba and Josef Seger.
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PAUSCH, PATER EUGEN (22 MARCH 1758, NEUMARKT, PALATINATE, GERMANY, TO 22 FEBRUARY 1838, AMBERG, GERMANY). German monastic composer. After studies in his hometown, Ingolstadt, Eichstätt, and Amberg, he entered the Cistercian monastery in Walderbach in 1777. In 1783 he was ordained and led the monastic choir as regens chori, though he spent a decade as a teacher in Burgenhausen. When the monastery was dissolved in 1803 he was appointed teacher at the Amberg Seminary, and in 1808 he became pastor at Sülzburg. In 1811 he retired. Pausch was known as a fashionable composer for his time, with music based upon popular church composers such as Michael Haydn. His works include two Marian antiphons, 32 vesper Psalms, 17 Masses, two Requiems, and other smaller sacred works. PAWŁOWSKI, JAKUB (ca. 1750, POLAND, TO ca. 1800, POLAND). Polish composer. Nothing is known about him at all, save that he may have been from the region around Wrocław or Warsaw. His only surviving works are two symphonies, both of which show awareness of late 18th-century form and style, as well as the works of Joseph Haydn. PAZZAGLIA, SALVATORE (1723, PISTOIA, ITALY, TO 1807, FLORENCE, ITALY). Italian singer and composer. He demonstrated considerable talent in music at an early age, receiving his earliest musical education from Giovanni Clari. Moving to Volterra, he and his family came under suspicion by the Inquisition, forcing him to move on to Lucca, where he had his first success as both a singer and composer of opera. Although he obtained posts as both organist and maestro di cappella there, he was famed for his flexible and expressive tenor voice. After touring England and France, he returned to Tuscany around 1750 to become maestro di cappella to the Grand Duke Leopold in Florence, a position he retained throughout his lifetime. He also served as cantor at the church of Santa Trinità. In 1799 he was forced into retirement outside Florence. His music has received little attention. It consists of five Masses, three operas, two oratorios, two Requiems, around 30 graduals and offertories, eight vespers, two litanies, and 12 sonatas for keyboard. PELLECIER, MADEMOISELLE [MADAME PAPAVOINE] (ca. 1735, PARIS[?], TO ca. 1790, MARSEILLES). French composer. Nothing is known about her, even her first name, but she appears as a composer in the Mercure de France in 1755. The paper attributes six cantatilles to her under her maiden name, as well as two others when she married violinist LouisAugust Papavoine that year. Three other chansons were mentioned in the
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paper up through 1761, when she disappears from history. While her style imitates amateur composers of the period, her Le cabriolet is a larger work for voice and string orchestra that includes a Tempesta movement. PELOPONNESIOS, JAKOBOS (ca. 1740, PROBABLY SMYRNA, TURKEY, TO 23 APRIL 1800, CONSTANTINOPLE). Greek singer and composer. Brother of Petros Peloponnesios, he appears as a domestikos at the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1764. In 1776 he was one of the cofounders of the Second Patriarchal School along with his brother, serving there as a teacher and a cantor at the local cathedral. In 1791 he founded the Third Patriarchal School espousing conservative musical values opposed to those of Petros Byzantios. His best-known work is the set of chants known as the Doxastarion from 1794. PELOPONNESIOS, PETROS (ca. 1730, SMYRNA, TURKEY, TO 1778, CONSTANTINOPLE). Greek singer and composer. After training as a cantor in Constantinople, he was appointed to the choir at the Hagia Sophia in 1764. In 1776 he was one of the founders of the Second Patriarchal School but died two years later of the plague. His music, written in Byzantine notation, includes sets of Cherobic hymns and communion chants in all eight modes. See also PELOPONNESIOS, JAKOBOS. PEREZ, DAVIDE (ca. 1711, NAPLES, TO 30 OCTOBER 1778, LISBON). Italian-Portuguese composer. Perez received his earliest training at the age of 11 at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto in Naples. In 1734 his earliest-known works, a pair of cantatas in Latin, were performed in Palermo for the Società de Gesù, followed the next year by his first opera, La nemica amante, for the Teatro San Bartolomeo. Thereafter he embarked upon a dual career as a composer of opera and beginning in 1734 as vice maestro di cappella in Palermo at the Real Cappella Palatina. In 1752 he accepted an appointment in Lisbon as mestre di capela at the Portuguese court, but a proscription of opera meant a turn toward sacred music, for which he achieved some international success. Gerber reports that his church music was in demand as far away as Germany, and he appears to have written a Sinfonia al tempesta del mare on commission for a church school in Morelia, Mexico, then part of New Spain. Burney considered him an “original spirit,” noting his works were always elegant. By the time of his death, he was the most important figure in Portuguese music. A prolific composer, he wrote 52 operas, four oratorios, 15 Masses, 22 antiphons, one Requiem, 26 Psalms, three vespers, 18 responsories, seven sequences, 14 hymns, four Lamentations, 26 motets, six litanies, eight trio sonatas, two symphonies, a flute
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concerto, and a host of smaller chamber works. Although his early operas are distinctly Baroque in style, his sacred music combines the more lyrical mid-18th-century style derived from opera. He must be considered one of the more important composers of these genres during the period. See also SANTOS, JOSÉ JOAQUIM DOS. PÉREZ CAMRINO, DIEGO (ca. 1735, BURGOS, SPAIN, TO 1796, CALAHORRA, SPAIN). Spanish composer. Following studies under Francisco Hernández Llana in Burgos, he was appointed as maestro di capilla at the cathedral of Santo Domingo de la Calzada there in 1763. In 1771 he moved to Calahorra to accept a similar position. Little study has been done on his music, which includes several Masses, hymns, villancicos, and eight Lamentations. PÉREZ DE ALBÉNIZ, MATEO ANTONIO (21 NOVEMBER 1755, LOGROÑO, SPAIN, TO 23 JUNE 1831, SAN SEBASTIÁN, SPAIN). Spanish composer and organist. Born in the small town of Logroño, he was educated in nearby San Sebastián, where he entered the priesthood. By 1795 he had become maestro di capilla at the cathedral of Santa Maria la Redonda there. After the Napoleonic wars, he returned to a similar post at his hometown. He is best known for his treatise Instrucción metódica, which discusses Renaissance polyphony. He was a prolific composer of villancicos, Masses, and smaller sacred works, but almost nothing prior to 1820 survives, apparently having been burned as a consequence of the wars. PÉREZ GAYA, FRANCISCO (1766, SAN MARTÍN DE MALDÀ, CATALONIA, SPAIN, TO 1850, AVILA, SPAIN). Catalan composer. Following early training, probably at Barcelona, he succeeded Vincente Martínez as the maestro di capilla in Albarracín in 1793. The following year he obtained a similar post in Avila, but he was dismissed in 1823 for political reasons, only to be reinstated three years before his death. It is difficult to know how much of his sacred compositions were written prior to 1800, since his style is remarkably conservative. At least eight Lamentations probably date from his early career. PÉREZ GUTIÉRREZ, BERNARDO (1761, FUENTESPINA, SPAIN, TO 1827, EL BURGO DE OSMA, SPAIN). Spanish composer. Following training as a chorister in Valencia in 1778, he was nominated maestro di capilla at El Burgo de Osma, where he spent the remainder of his life. His works have been unstudied but consist of villancicos and at least four Lamentations.
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PERGOLESI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (4 JANUARY 1710, JESI, NEAR ANCONA, ITALY, TO 16 MARCH 1736, POZZUOLI, NEAR NAPLES). Italian composer and violinist. Following early training in Jesi under Francesco Santini, he enrolled in the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo in Naples, where his teachers were Gaetano Greco and Francesco Feo. He began his compositional career composing oratorios, such as the 1731 La conversion e morte di San Guglielmo. His first opera, Salustia, written for Naples in 1732, was a limited success, but he was appointed as maestro di capella to Prince Ferdinando Colonna Stigliano. Other operatic successes followed, but the most important was his 1733 Il prigionero superbo with its two-act intermezzo La serva padrona. This is considered a seminal work in the creation of the buffa. A second appointment at the court of the Duke of Maddaloni in 1734 led to further commissions, such as the opera L’Olimpiade, which premiered at the Teatro Tordinona in Rome in 1735. Although this work was initially not a success, Pergolesi’s career was meteoric. His health, however, deteriorated and in 1736 he was confined to the Capuchin monastery in Pozzuoli, where he died from tuberculosis. Although he was only 26, he completed 11 operas and oratorios, two Masses, five cantatas (including Orfeo in 1736), two Salve Reginas, one Magnificat, a set of Marian vespers, and his most famous work, the Stabat mater, which was commissioned by the Confraternità dei Cavalieri di San Luigi di Palazzo shortly before his death (although a later composer, Giovanni Paisiello, claimed it had actually been written around 1730). His instrumental works were few, including four violin sonatas and possibly a violin concerto. Following his untimely death, his reputation spread throughout Europe, and a number of works were falsely attributed to him, such as a set of six concerti grossi (now known to be by Uno van Wassenaer). His Stabat mater was performed widely (in various arrangements), and his Serva padrona was considered the epitome of the new Italian comic style, particularly in Paris, where it served as the center of the Querelle des bouffons. His style emphasizes diatonic melody and triadic harmony, often with good contrasting themes. PESCETTI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (ca. 1704, VENICE, TO 20 MARCH 1766, VENICE). Italian composer and keyboardist. A student of Antonio Lotti, Pescetti began composing operas for the various Venetian theatres in 1725 along with his colleague and friend, Baldassare Galuppi. In 1736 he traveled to London, where he attained a high reputation as a continuo player, later becoming the successor of Nicola Porpora as the musical director of the Opera of the Nobility. He was forced to leave England in 1747, returning to Venice as second organist at St. Mark’s Cathedral, where he remained until his death. His most famous pupil was Antonio Salieri, and he
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can be considered one of the most active composers of opera seria in Venice. His 24 operas include Demetrio (1732), written for the castrato Carlo Broschi/Farinelli, and Ezio, composed for the carnival season in 1747. During his London period, he was considered a rival of Handel, but Charles Burney found his music too simplistic. He also wrote 12 keyboard sonatas, 10 of which were published in London in 1739, as well as an oratorio, Gionata. PESCI, SANTE (ca. 1720, PROBABLY ROME, TO 3 SEPTEMBER 1786, ROME). Italian composer. Little is known of his early training. He first appears as chorusmaster at St. Peter’s in Rome in 1744, and thereafter he was known until his death as a solid teacher. His music has never been fully studied, though it consists of three Masses (and a Credo), two offertories, two motets, a gradual, and an Ave Maria. See also COCCIA, MARIA ROSA. PETER, JOHANN FRIEDRICH (19 MAY 1746, HEERENDIJK, NETHERLANDS, TO 13 JULY 1813, BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES). German-American composer. Born in Holland to a German family, he was educated in Germany at Moravian Church schools, with musical education by Johann Daniel Grimm, before immigrating to the United States in 1770. He composed his initial works as a musical director and teacher in Pennsylvania, but in 1780 he was sent to Salem, North Carolina, where he remained for a decade. His later career in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey was as a church clerk, secretary, and organist. He died at the organ bench moments before performing for a children’s service. Peter can be considered the most talented of the Moravian American composers. His works include six string quintets (1789), as well as numerous anthems. See also DENKE, JEREMIAS; PETER, SIMON. PETER, SIMON (2 APRIL 1743, HEERENDIJK, NETHERLANDS, TO 29 MAY 1819, SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES). German-American minister and composer. Like his brother, Johann Friedrich Peter, he was educated in music at the German Moravian Church school in Marieborn, arriving in the United States in 1770. He, however, decided to take up a calling as pastor, serving in Pennsylvania and, after 1784, in North Carolina. His compositional efforts were limited to several anthems, which nonetheless demonstrate considerable skill and talent. He had a few music students, among them Johann Christian Till. See also DENKE, JEREMIAS. PETRIE, ROBERT (FEBRUARY 1767, KIRKMICHAEL, SCOTLAND, TO AUGUST OR SEPTEMBER 1830, KIRKMICHAEL). Scottish violinist and composer. Though nothing is known of his training or edu-
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cation, he was considered one of the finest folk violinists with a penchant for improvising reels and Strathspeys. He was known as a “ne’er-dae-weel” and prone to irregular personal habits. His reel “The Ewie wi’ the Crookit Horn” won a competition in Aberdeen around 1822, thereafter being absorbed into the popular idiom. PFEIFFER, FRANZ ANTON (16 JUNE 1752, WINDISCHBUCH, NEAR BOXBERG, GERMANY, TO 22 OCTOBER 1787, LUDWIGSLUST, GERMANY). German bassoonist and composer. Following initial study at the Jesuit Gymnasium and Music Seminar in Mannheim, he moved to Munich to continue his education with Felix Rheinen on both contrabass and bassoon. By 1778 he had obtained a position with the Mainz court orchestra, and in 1783 he moved to Ludwigslust to enter the service of the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. A proficient performer and composer for his instrument, he was responsible for advancing its technique through his compositions. His performance style was considered close to the human voice in its precision and timbre. His music, little known, includes nine bassoon concertos, a sinfonia concertante for oboe and bassoon, 10 bassoon quartets, four duos for cello and bassoon, and an “Englois” symphonic movement for orchestra. PFEIFFER, TOBIAS FRIEDRICH (ca. 1751, WEIMAR, GERMANY, TO ca. 1805, DÜSSELDORF). German tenor and composer. After his early training in the city of Weimar, he was appointed as a singer at the court in Gotha and in 1779 spent a year in the city of Bonn, where he taught Ludwig van Beethoven briefly. The following year he embarked upon an itinerant life as a musician with various troupes throughout Germany, settling in Leipzig in 1789 as musical director of the troupe led by Joseph Seconda. By 1794 he had moved once more to Düsseldorf, where all trace of him was apparently lost. Pfeiffer was a proficient vocalist and keyboardist, whose compositions, mostly lost or unstudied, include a large cantata and an ode titled Die Freuden der Redlichen, which achieved some critical acclaim for its drama. PHILE (PFEIL), PHILIP (ca. 1734, GERMANY[?], TO 1793, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES). American composer and violinist. Phile began his career as the principal violinist of the Old American Company in Philadelphia, achieving some success for his occasional compositions. A violin concerto (now lost) was performed on 12 April 1787, and he is best remembered for his patriotic music, including a popular march written for the inauguration of George Washington as president of the United States in 1789, which was used in numerous medley overtures by Benjamin
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Carr, James Hewitt, and others; the march became the foundation for the song “Hail Columbia.” PHILIDOR, FRANÇOIS-ANDRÉ DANICAN (7 SEPTEMBER 1726, DREUX, NEAR PARIS, TO 31 AUGUST 1795, LONDON). French composer, chess player, and keyboardist. Born into a musical family, he studied in Paris and at Versailles under André Campra. His earliest work, a motet, was premiered in 1738, and by 1740 Philidor had both become a grand master chess player and part of the Parisian intellectual circle that included JeanJacques Rousseau and Jean d’Alembert. In 1745 he undertook a concert tour that was partially successful; in Eindhoven he came into contact with the Duke of Cumberland, who arranged for him to come to England. There he published a treatise, L’analyze des échecs, which is still one of the major works on chess. Although he returned to France in 1754, he made periodic visits back to England over the next 40 years. By 1759 he had begun a successful career as a composer of opéra comique, writing such works as Tom Jones (1765), which had an international success following an initial failure. In 1779 he was commissioned to write a large choral work titled Carmen saeculum for London, the first of several odes. By 1792 he had settled permanently in London to escape the French Revolution. His music is characterized by a good sense of tune and close attention to the text, although it is not as brilliantly conceived as works by his colleague André Ernest Modeste Grétry, under whose shadow he often fell. His music consists of 29 comic operas, five motets, a Requiem, a Te Deum, three odes, 30 ariettes, and six quartets. He also published widely as a theorist. PIANTANIDA, GAETANO (ca. 1752, BOLOGNA, ITALY, TO 1835, MILAN). Italian composer and pianist. The son of violinist Giovanni Piantanida, he received training from his father and Stanislao Mattei. Following his debut as a performer, he spent almost three decades in Germany and Denmark, mostly in the service to several courts and on tour as a performer. In 1810, however, he became a professor at the Milan Conservatory. The bulk of his music, including his sacred works and operas, as well as his instrumental pieces, seem to date after 1800 and thus belong to a more early 19th-century musical style. Prior to that time, however, he published six arias in Italian and six romances in French, which demonstrates his focus on fashionable salon music. PIANTANIDA, GIOVANNI (11 JULY 1706, LIVORNO, ITALY, TO 28 OCTOBER 1773, BOLOGNA, ITALY). Italian violinist and composer. A student of possibly Antonio Vivaldi, he made his debut in 1735 and imme-
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diately went on tour to St. Petersburg in Russia, where he was engaged for several years. In 1743 he performed at the Concerts spirituels in Paris, but shortly thereafter he returned to Italy to become first violinist at San Petronio Church in Bologna. He was elected to the Accademia filarmonica in 1758. As a performer, he was known for his excellent tone and skill, and theorists such as Johann Joachim Quantz thought him equal to Giuseppe Tartini. His compositions, most of which have been lost, however, were seen as derivative. These include six violin concertos (lost) and a sonata. PICCINNI, LUIGI [LODOVICO, LOUIS] (1766, NAPLES, TO 31 JULY 1827, PASSY, NEAR PARIS). Italian composer and singing teacher. Son of Niccolò Piccinni, he was trained by his father, making his debut in Paris at the Théâtre Beaujolais with the opéra comique Les amours de Chérubin in 1784. He returned to Naples in 1792, where he was invited to produce his first opera buffa, Gli accidente inaspettati. In 1793 his L’amante statua was performed in Stockholm by the Royal Opera School following a successful premiere in Venice, resulting in an invitation to travel north for a position in the Royal Opera. He became a popular secondary composer of works such as Förmyndaren and Somngången, though he never learned Swedish properly. In 1803 he returned to Paris, where his career as a singing teacher and composer of light opera flourished. He composed at least eight French and five Italian operas, in addition to 16 Lieder, two celebratory cantatas, several ballets, and nine concert arias. He never achieved the fame of his father, however. PICCINNI, [VITO] NICCOLÒ MARCELLO ANTONIO GIACOMO (11 JANUARY 1728, BARI, TO 7 MAY 1800, PASSY, NEAR PARIS). Italian composer of opera. Piccinni received his earliest musical education at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio in Naples under Francesco Durante beginning in 1742. In 1754 he began a career as an opera composer in the city with Le donne dispiatose at the Teatro Fiorentini, establishing a reputation as a facile and competent composer of opera buffa. Two years later, his Zenobia for the Teatro San Carlo solidified his stature in opera seria. Thereafter followed over two decades where his operas were performed throughout Italy, even though his official position in Naples was as second maestro di cappella at the main cathedral. In 1774 he was encouraged to immigrate to France at the behest of Neapolitan ambassador Caraccioli, where he was promoted as the Italian rival to Christoph Willibald von Gluck. The polemics of the Gluck-Piccinni feud, a continuation of the Querelle des bouffons regarding the supremacy of French or Italian operas, was largely carried out by the composers’ adherents; Piccinni publicly refuted the
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controversy in a newspaper article in 1781. In 1778 his Roland established him as a composer of French grand opera, and although he participated in productions by an Italian troupe of opera buffa at the Académie royale, he continued to write in the French style. His most famous works were Atys and Didone, both from 1783; both works achieved international fame over the next decade. By 1785, however, his fame began to be eclipsed by colleagues Antonio Sacchini and Antonio Salieri, and he retired with a state pension. In 1791 he returned to Naples to avoid the French Revolution, but his familial ties to the Jacobins meant four years of house arrest. In 1798 he returned to Paris in broken health. His pension was partially restored by Napoleon, and Piccinni spent the remainder of his life as an inspector for the Conservatoire. Piccinni was known for his gift of lyrical melody, his dramatic timing, and his colorful orchestration, which in his French works is close to Gluck. Although it was claimed he had composed over 300 operas, only 111 authentic works in this genre have survived; other compositions include four oratorios, two Masses, nine Psalm settings, 10 secular cantatas, a Magnificat, two symphonies, a flute concerto, and four keyboard sonatas. Piccinni can be considered one of the most important figures in late 18th-century opera, who achieved an international stature. See also ASTARITA, GENNARO; JADIN, LOUIS-EMANUEL; RIGADE, ANDRÉ-JEAN; SALARI, FRANCESCO. PICHL, VÁCLAV (25 SEPTEMBER 1741, BECHYNĔ, NEAR TÁBOR, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 23 JANUARY 1805, VIENNA). Austro-Bohemian composer and violinist. His earliest education was at the Jesuit school in his hometown, followed thereafter by study at St. Václav in Prague. In 1762 he was appointed first violin at the Týn Church, even as he studied law at Prague University. He was appointed concertmaster at the court of the Archbishop of Grosswardein (now Oradea, Romania), serving under Michael Haydn, and when that orchestra dissolved in 1769 he returned to Prague to serve as music director with Count Ludwig Hartig. At the same time he began regularly visiting Vienna, where he also performed at the court theatre there. In 1777 his reputation was such that he was appointed music director in Milan for Archduke Ferdinand, a position he retained until the French invasion in 1796. While there he became a member of the Accademia filarmonica, as well as serving occasionally in cities such as Monza and Padua. The remainder of his life was spent commuting between Prague and Vienna. As a composer, Pichl was extremely prolific, with over 900 compositions. His style was similar to colleagues in Vienna, such as Michael Haydn, Jan Křtitel Vanhal, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with clear contrasting themes, interesting harmonies, colorful orchestration, and solid formal struc-
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tures. He left over 14 operas or Singspiels; 30 Masses; 100 sacred works such as Psalms, motets, and offertories; 90 symphonies; 20 serenades; 30 concertos (for most instruments, but mainly violin); 18 string quartets; 45 string trios; 12 trios for flute and strings; two trio sonatas; over 200 exercises for solo violin; 15 duets for two violins; 18 duets for violin and viola; three flute and three clarinet quartets; and over 180 chamber pieces, including works for the baryton. He must be regarded as one of the major composers of the last half of the 18th century. PIETROWSKI, KAROL (ca. 1750, POLAND, TO AFTER 1800, PROBABLY GRODZISK, POLAND). Polish composer. Nothing is known about his life or education, save that he was a local composer, probably in the town of Grodzisk near Poznań, where the bulk of his works are found. His music consists of two symphonies in the style of Joseph Haydn, and two offertories. PINTO, LUIS ÁLVAREZ (1719, RECIFE, PERNAMBUCO, BRAZIL, TO 1789, RECIFE). Brazilian composer. At an early age he was sent to Lisbon to study musical composition in preparation for returning to his native country as an organist in the local cathedral. Upon his return he became the musical director of the Ingreja de Irmandade de Nostra Senhora do Livrámento, as well as a teacher at the São Pedro dos Clérigos school. His most important theoretical work is a manual, Lições de Solfejos. His surviving music includes a Te Deum, a Salve Regina, and five vocal divertimentos. PIOZZI, GABRIELE MARIA (8 JUNE 1740, QUINZANO D’OGLIA, ITALY, TO 26 MARCH 1809, TREMEIRCHION, NORTH WALES, GREAT BRITAIN). Italian keyboardist and composer. Trained in several instruments as a youth, he arrived in London in 1776, where he became known as a singer at the public concerts. Although his voice was not of sterling quality, he managed to insinuate himself into the circle of Samuel Johnson, becoming a well-respected teacher. By 1784 he had acquired a fortune and was able to retire, moving in 1795 to an estate in Wales. The music he wrote has been little studied, though the published works were popular for their good taste at the time. These include a serenata, a cantata, a canzonett, 12 quartets, and 18 violin sonatas. PIRK, WENZEL RAIMUND JOHANN (bap. 27 AUGUST 1718, LEOPOLDSTADT, VIENNA, AUSTRIA, TO 17 JULY 1763, LEOPOLDSTADT). Austrian organist and composer. His first musical education in organ and composition came in 1729 from Matteo Palotta. In 1739 he was
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appointed as the successor to Georg Reutter Sr. as court organist, a position he retained until his death. A conservative composer, his later works are in a galant style, particularly his string symphonies. He composed 27 of these, 12 string sonatas (all in a Baroque style), 16 string quartets (which may be orchestral quartets), and three wind partitas, as well as 17 miscellaneous instrumental pieces. His most important contribution, however, was the treatise Trettenimenti per clavicembalo, published in 1757. PIRKER, JOSEPH FRANZ (23 MARCH 1700, SALZBURG, AUSTRIA, TO 1 FEBRUARY 1786, HEILBRONN, GERMANY). AustrianGerman violinist and composer. He was probably trained in Italy, for in 1736 he became a member of the Mingotti troupe in Venice. He toured with them for almost a decade and a half before obtaining the post of Konzertmeister in Stuttgart in 1752. In 1756 he was dismissed due to intrigues against him at court, and in 1764 he became a music teacher in the nearby city of Heilbronn. Very little of his music has survived; only a concert aria for soprano and strings and a few sacred works. His musical style is little known. PISCATOR, ANDERS (1736, KARLSTAD, SWEDEN, TO 1804, KARLSTAD, SWEDEN). Swedish composer and organist. Nothing is known about his early life or training. He first appears in 1770 as the mathematics teacher at the Karlstad Gymnasium, and from this date forward he was active in the provincial town. In 1792 he was appointed organist and musical director at the local church, and in 1799 he was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. He was apparently active as a composer, but only two symphonies and a few small chamber works have survived. These reveal his style to have been influenced by Mannheim composers such as Johann Stamitz, though there are echoes of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach as well. PITICCHIO, FRANCESCO (ca. 1750, POSSIBLY ROME, TO AFTER 1800, PALERMO, ITALY). Italian composer. Nothing is known about his life or training, nor is his relationship with contemporaneous composer Pietro Paulo Piticchio clear. He first appears in 1778 in Rome, where he composed an intermezzo with Giuesppe Gazzaniga. In 1782 he embarked on tour throughout Germany as the resident composer of a traveling theatre troupe, eventually winding up in Prague in 1787 where he was briefly director of the National Theatre. Here he came into contact with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. By 1792 he had returned to Italy as director of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. He fled to Palermo with the royal court in 1799. His own music is little studied, but at least seven operas and a cantata have survived.
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PITICCHIO, PIETRO PAULO (ca. 1745, ROME, TO ca. 1800, ROME). Italian composer. Little is known of him, save for the fact that he worked in and around Rome during the latter part of the 18th century; his relationship with Francesco Piticchio cannot be determined. His music consists of a cantata, several canons, two duets, 15 woodwind quintets, and several pieces for Harmoniemusik. He may well have been an amateur composer from the nobility. PLA, JOAN BAPTISTA [JUAN BATTISTA] (ca. 1720, CATALONIA, TO 1773, PROBABLY PARIS). Catalan composer and woodwind player. Although nothing is known about his childhood or education, he came from a family of prominent musicians from the Catalan region of Spain, who were all educated and employed at the royal court in Madrid. He first appears as a member of the band of the Royal Guard there around 1740. Following a brief appointment at the court in Lisbon, in 1751 along with his brothers Josép Pla and Manuel Pla, he began touring as part of an oboe duo with his brother Josép. These included visits to Paris and London, but in 1754 he was appointed to the court orchestra of Duke Karl-Eugen of Württemberg in Stuttgart. In 1769, following the death of his brother, he moved back to Lisbon to become court bassoonist there, publishing a series of coauthored trios in London and Paris. He is said to have died while on a visit to Paris to arrange other publications. Over 30 trios for two melody instruments and basso in the galant style, as well as two concertos (one flute, one oboe) survive, although it is unknown which of the two brothers actually composed them. In addition, there exists an Italian aria that can with certainty be ascribed to Joan Pla. PLA, JOSÉP [JOSÉ] (ca. 1728, CATALONIA, TO 14 DECEMBER 1762, STUTTGART). Catalan composer and oboist. Like his brothers Joan Pla and Manuel Pla, he probably grew up in Madrid, where in 1744 he is listed as an oboist in several court theatre productions. In 1751 he teamed up with his brother Joan to tour Europe, the same year as he appeared in concert in Paris at the Concerts spirituels. He returned to Madrid in 1754, but five years later he joined his brother in Stuttgart, where he spent the remainder of his short life. It is uncertain how much music he composed, since attribution and collaboration with his brother seems to have been common. Only a Stabat mater from 1756 can be ascribed with any certainty. PLA, MANUEL (ca. 1725, CATALONIA, TO 13 SEPTEMBER 1766, MADRID). Catalan composer and oboist. Like his brothers Joan Pla and Josép Pla, he came from a musical family that moved to Madrid while still a child. In 1744 he appears as an oboist in the band of the Royal Halbadiers,
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and later on he performed at the Descalzas Reales. Well known as a keyboardist, he was considered in Spain as the superior musician of the family. He was also a prolific composer, who wrote opera, native Spanish genres such as the tonadilla, seguidilla, villancico, and zarzuela, in addition to sonatas, concertos, oratorios, sacred music of all sorts, symphonies, and chamber works. What has survived are a series of seguidillas as well as a flute concerto (formerly attributed to his brother Joan) and a symphony in C major. PLATTI, GIOVANNI BENEDETTO (9 JULY 1697, PADUA, ITALY, TO 11 JANUARY 1763, WÜRZBURG, GERMANY). Italian composer. Trained in Bologna and Venice, he was called to Würzburg in 1722 by Prince-Archbishop Johann Philipp Schönborn. He remained as Kapellmeister there for his entire life. He can be seen as a transitional figure whose works often display galant stylistic traits, even though he retains Baroque genres and his concertos resemble those of Antonio Vivaldi. His music consists of three Masses, a Requiem, a Stabat mater, three cantatas, an offertory, 48 concertos (many lost), 22 trio sonatas, and 20 keyboard sonatas. PLEYEL, IGNAZ JOSEPH (18 JUNE 1757, RUPPERSTHAL, AUSTRIA, TO 14 NOVEMBER 1831, PARIS). Austrian composer, music publisher, and music instrument manufacturer. As a child, Pleyel probably had a few lessons with Jan Křtitel Vanhal, but in 1772 he was sent to Eisenstadt to study under Joseph Haydn. He made such progress that in 1776 he not only successfully premiered his own opera Die Fee Urgele at Esterháza, but also composed an overture for Haydn’s Die Feuerbrunst as part of the same program. Around the same time he became Kapellmeister to his patron Count Erdődy in Fidich in Burgenland, but by around 1780 he traveled to Italy where an amateur composer and diplomat, Norbert Hardrava, became his patron in Naples. By 1784 he arrived in Strasbourg, where he was appointed as assistant to Franz Xaver Richter, eventually becoming Richter’s successor in 1789. When the religious centers were abolished during the Revolution, he was able to travel to London to participate in the Professional Concerts in 1791, but he soon returned to France, settling in Paris in 1795. At that time he opened a publishing house, which soon came to dominate music publishing in France. Among the innovations Pleyel introduced were miniature scores (1802). Further travels back to Austria resulted in a pan-European reach, and he expanded his activities to the development and construction of keyboard instruments. He retired in 1820 to a farm outside of Paris. As a composer, Pleyel was conscious of the need to balance pleasing music with progressive development. He had an innate sense of melody, often coupled with progressive harmonies and expanded formal structures.
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He did not, however, fulfill the oft-quoted reflection of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart that he might become Haydn’s successor in the world of music. His works include two operas, two Masses, a Requiem, four Revolutionary hymns, 32 Scottish songs, 40 symphonies, nine concertos (several with interchangeable alternative solo instruments), six sinfonia concertantes, nine serenades/divertimentos/notturnos, 95 quartets, 17 quintets, 70 trios, 85 duos, and around 65 works for fortepiano, as well as numerous smaller compositions. His music is known by Ben [Benton] numbers. See also FRÄNZL, FERDINAND. PÖGL, PATER PEREGRINUS [JOSEPH] (1 MARCH 1711, SANDAU, BOHEMIA, TO 15 NOVEMBER 1788, NEUSTADT MONASTERY, NEUSTADT AM MAIN, GERMANY). German composer and organist. Nothing is known about his musical education or background, save that his family moved from Bohemia to Schönborn when he was young. In 1735 he entered the Benedictine monastery in the town of Neustadt, where he remained his entire life. He was ordained a priest in 1738 and functioned as choir director, and later from 1764 to 1769 as prior, of the monastery. He published a variety of sacred music beginning in 1746, as well as a set of six keyboard sonatas the previous year. His surviving compositions include 22 Masses (six published as his Op. 6), six vesper settings (Op. 3), 19 offertories (Op. 5), and 32 antiphons (Op. 7), as well as two Requiems. He was considered by his colleagues to be a musicus eminentissimus and had the nickname “Neustadt Musical Magician.” POKORNÝ, FRANTIŠEK (ca. 1730, VLAŠIM, BOHEMIA, TO 13 AUGUST 1797, RONOV, BOHEMIA). Bohemian organist and composer. Trained in Prague beginning in 1750, he moved to the town of Ronov in the Pardubice region of Bohemia, where he was employed as an organist. His music, almost all sacred, shows the influences of Czech composers such as František Xaver Brixi. Surviving works include 10 Masses, three litanies, a Requiem, and an offertory. The music has been little explored. POKORNÝ, FRANTIŠEK XAVER [THOMAS] (20 DECEMBER 1729, MIES, LOWER BOHEMIA [NOW STŘIBO, CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 2 JULY 1794, REGENSBURG, BAVARIA). Bohemian-German composer and violinist. Son of a bureaucrat, he was sent to Regensburg as a youth to study under Joseph Riepel. In 1750 he obtained a post as violinist at the court of Oettingen-Wallerstein, and in 1753 he was given leave to further his studies in Mannheim, where his teachers included Johann Stamitz, Franz Xaver Richter, and Ignaz Holzbauer. Returning to Wallerstein he was also
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employed at the Thurn und Taxis court in Regensburg, commuting back and forth for several years before being offered a permanent position in the latter city in 1769. He was appointed as court chamber composer, though his relationship with the Kapellmeister, Baron Theodor von Schacht was not smooth, resulting in much of his music being deliberately misattributed to others after (and possibly before) his death in 1794. Pokorný was one of the most prolific symphonists of the period, noted for his particular use of the orchestra. His works in this genre are mostly four movement, and in his numerous concertos he was able to exploit the technical capabilities of the instrumental solos. His works include at least 145 symphonies (with as many as another 100 still of possible attribution), 65 concertos (including 45 for keyboard), numerous serenades/divertimentos, three quartets, a piano quintet, three string trios, and five trio sonatas. Much of his music remains to be explored, primarily due to von Schacht’s intervention. POKORNÝ, GOTTHARD (16 NOVEMBER 1733, ČESKY BROD, BOHEMIA, TO 4 AUGUST 1802, BRNO, MORAVIA [CZECH REPUBLIC]). Bohemian composer and violinist. Following studies in Prague, he was appointed in 1760 as the principal organist at the cathedral of St. Peter and Paul in Brno. His daughter, a soprano, won the praise of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but his own music, popular in its time, has been little explored. Several violin concertos and other smaller chamber works, as well as a Mass, a litany, and a set of vespers, survive. POKORNÝ, JAN (16 MAY 1689, MILEVSKO, BOHEMIA, TO 27 DECEMBER 1783, BECHYNĚ, BOHEMIA). Bohemian monastic composer. Trained at the St. Benedict monastery in Prague, he became a choral director in the small town of Bechyně near Tabor, a post he held for 40 years. His most famous pupil was Václav Pichl. His surviving music, little explored or known, includes 16 Masses, 17 graduals, eight offertories, and four litanies. The style indicates that most were written around 1750 and conform to the emerging galant. POKORNÝ, PATER BONIFAZ [FRANZ XAVER CARL] (24 JUNE 1757, WALLERSTEIN, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 5 AUGUST 1789, SCHEYERN ABBEY, BAVARIA). German-Bohemian monastic composer and organist. The son of František Xaver Pokorný, he was trained under his father. In 1780 he took his vows as a Cistercian monk, being ordained as a priest in 1783 at the Scheyern Abbey in Bavaria. He remained for the rest of his life there, functioning as regens chori. His music has not been explored, though several sacred works survive in the monastic archives.
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POKORNÝ, STEPHAN JOHANN (ca. 1740, CHRUDIM, BOHEMIA, TO 1792, VIENNA). Austro-Bohemian monastic composer and organist. He began his music studies in Německý Brod, before moving to Prague to study under Kajetan Mera. In 1760 he took Holy Orders as an Augustinian monk, moving to Vienna in 1780, where he became organist at the Augustinian priory there. His music was little known outside of his immediate surroundings, and little survives. What does, a Mass and a Requiem, demonstrates knowledge of the Viennese church style of the period. POLI, AGOSTINO MARIA BENEDETTO (10 DECEMBER 1739, VENICE, TO ca. 1793, STUTTGART, GERMANY). Italian-German violoncellist and composer. The son of Antonio Poli, a Venetian musician, he received training from his father before arriving in Stuttgart in 1762 as a cellist. In 1775 he was given the title of Konzertmeister, and in 1782 he became Kapellmeister. One of his most important students was Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg, who also became his successor. Very little of his music has survived, although he was active in his profession. The only works extant are apparently a set of five flute quintets. PONS, JOSÉ (ca. 1768, GERONA, SPAIN, TO 2 AUGUST 1818, VALENCIA, SPAIN). Catalan-Spanish composer. Though there is some debate about the date of his birth due to different information provided by various records, it is known that Pons served as a choirboy at the Gerona cathedral from around the age of 8. Here he received elementary musical education from Jaime Balius y Vila and Emmanuel Gonima. By 1789 he was serving as a musician in Madrid when he was appointed as assistant choirmaster at the cathedral in Córdoba under Balius. Although his earlier positions are not verified, it would seem that he served in a similar capacity at two churches in Madrid (Alcalá de Henares and Nuestra Señora de la Soledad) as well as in Salamanca. After only two years, he applied for and was appointed as choirmaster in Gerona, and two years later he was chosen for the same position in Valencia, where he remained the rest of his life. Pons was a prolific composer of the villancico, writing over 90 of them, in addition to three Masses, six Lamentations for Holy Week, 15 Psalms, eight responsories for Christmas, two Te Deums, and several other smaller sacred works. In addition he composed nine symphonies. The symphonies are all two-movement pieces of the sinfonia da chiesa variety and largely meant to be performed during church services. Although texturally rich, these show little thematic contrast or development beyond repetition and sequence, with occasionally innovative orchestration featuring obligato instruments. The church music conforms to the homophonic style prevalent in Spain of the time, although the villancicos do use dance rhythms.
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PONZO, GIUSEPPE (ca. 1735, NAPLES, TO ca. 1795, MILAN). Italian composer. Nothing is known about his life or training, although he was apparently trained in Naples at one of the conservatories. Beginning in 1759 he had a career as a composer of opera throughout Italy, finally winding up in Milan in 1791, when he disappears from history. His works include six operas, seven symphonies, a Credo, seven trio sonatas, and a number of insertion arias. PORPORA, NICOLA ANTONIO GIACINTO (17 AUGUST 1686, NAPLES, TO 3 MARCH 1768, NAPLES). Italian composer and pedagogue. Following education at the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo in Naples, he began a successful career as a composer of opera, as well as a teacher whose students included the castrato Carlo Broschi/Farinelli. International fame led to positions in London, Dresden, and Vienna, where he was living in 1752. By 1759 he returned to Naples to focus on his teaching. Although the bulk of his works reflect Baroque opera practice, particularly in the vocally challenging opera seria, he was able to adapt to the emerging Neapolitan comic style with his 1738 opera Il barone di Zampano. His late works all reflect a conscious decision to incorporate galant stylistic elements, and some of his late works, particularly a set of six symphonies and two oratorios from 1736, display a more modern style. His most famous pupil, among many, was Joseph Haydn, who served as his amanuensis while he lived in Vienna. See also DELLA PIETÀ, AGATA; DELLA PIETÀ, MICHIELINA; DELLA PIETÀ, SAMARITANA. PORTA, BERNARDO (1758, ROME, TO 11 JUNE 1829, PARIS). Italian-French composer. He received his early musical education under Magrini, the maestro di cappella at Tivoli before joining the musical establishment of the Prince of Salm, Prelate for Rome. A successful career as an opera buffa composer was enhanced by a debut at the Théâtre Italien in Paris in 1788 with Il diavolo, and during the French Revolution he continued to write works for the Opéra. A miscalculation with an opera Les Horaces caused him to be associated with conspirators to assassinate Napoleon, causing a furor and destroying his career as an opera composer. He died during a cholera epidemic. His music has been little studied. It consists of 17 operas, two oratorios, several Masses, 12 quintets, six quartets, 12 trios, and nine duos. PORTA, GIOVANNI (ca. 1675, VENICE, TO 21 JUNE 1755, MUNICH). Italian-German composer. A student of Francesco Gasparini, he spent much of his early career as a church composer in northern Italy. In 1733 he was appointed as maestro di cappella at the Ospedale della Pietà, where
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POWNALL, MARY ANN
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he served for five years. In 1737 he moved to Munich as Kapellmeister to the Bavarian court of Elector Karl Albrecht, following an unsuccessful application for the post of maestro di cappella of St. Mark’s Cathedral. While much of his music reflects Baroque stylistic practice, by the 1730s he had begun to incorporate the emerging galant stylistic idioms into his music, a trend he continued when he moved to Germany. His works from this period include seven operas and a large amount of sacred music. Since he has not received much study, an evaluation of his early contributions remains tenuous. See also MARIA ANTONIA WALPURGIS, PRINCESS OF SAXONY; DELLA PIETÀ, AGATA; DELLA PIETÀ, MICHIELINA; DELLA PIETÀ, SAMARITANA; KHANDOSHKIN, IVAN YEVSTAFYEVICH. PORTAMENTO. Primarily a vocal ornament from the 17th century meaning the connection of two notes by passing smoothly between both pitches. This was often used in the 18th century in legato singing, where it was known as the cercar della nota or porta de voce. According to Johann Rellstab, it was meant to be improvised without special notation. PORTER, SAMUEL (1733, NORWICH, ENGLAND, TO 11 DECEMBER 1810, CANTERBURY, ENGLAND). English organist and composer. After studies under Maurice Greene he became assistant organist at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London from 1757 to 1803. His own music consists of two services, a number of hymn tunes, and several songs. PORTUGAL DE FONSECA, MARCOS ANTÓNIO (24 MARCH 1762, LISBON, TO 7 FEBRUARY 1830, RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL). Portuguese composer. Following his early studies at the Séminario Patriarchal in Lisbon he was sent to study in Italy, where he made a name for himself writing opera buffa. By 1800 he had returned to Lisbon as mestre di capella to the royal court. In 1811 he fled to Rio de Janeiro, where he composed music for the Teatro São João. When the court returned to Portugal in 1817, he remained behind. A cantankerous individual, he conspired against colleagues Sigismund von Neukomm and Padre José Maurício Nunes Garcia. He was well known for his dramatic Italianate vocal music. His works include 50 operas, eight Masses, a Requiem, six Te Deums, 10 responsories, 30 vespers, five Magnificats, two litanies, 40 other sacred works, nine modhinas, three hymns, and two symphonies. POWNALL, MARY ANN (ca. 1751, LONDON, TO 12 AUGUST 1796, CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES). Also known as Mary Ann Matthews or Mary Ann Wrighten. Anglo-American singer
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and composer. She gained a reputation for her vocal talent in the Vauxhall Gardens concerts, later appearing with considerable success as a singer and actress at Drury Lane. In 1786 she immigrated to the United States as part of the Old American Company, forming a friendship with James Hewitt. Her musical compositions consist of several popular songs published by Hewitt. POYAGOS, STÉPHANOS (ca. 1760, CORFU, VENETIAN REPUBLIC [NOW GREECE], TO AFTER 1820, CORFU). Greek composer. Virtually nothing is known about Poyagos, save that he was a Greek musician from the island of Corfu, then under the control of the Republic of Venice. This suggests that he received his earliest musical training in either that city or in Naples, and he can be considered one of the Ionian School of music in the Western tradition. In 1791 he had his opera Gli amanti confuse performed at the Teatro San Giacomo in Corfu, the first known work by a Greek composer. He apparently remained on the island until around 1819, when his opera Faexin afixis tou Odysseos, the first opera in Greek, was performed. Neither work has apparently survived, and his other musical compositions are unknown. PRATI, ALESSIO (19 JULY 1750, FERRARA, ITALY, TO 17 JUNE 1788, FERRARA). Italian composer. He studied under Petro Marzola, the maestro di cappella of the Ferrara cathedral before being sent to Naples to receive further musical education. In 1775 he was employed as a keyboardist in Marseilles, and by 1782 he had been called to St. Petersburg in Russia to write operas for the court. In 1784 he toured Europe, but ill health forced his return to Ferrara, where he died prematurely. His music, considered promising for the time, has been little studied. It consists of seven operas, two oratorios, five concertos, 15 violin sonatas, and a number of sacred works and arias. PRE-CLASSICAL. German, Vorklassik. An outdated term that refers to the period 1730–1770 and includes composers who were considered “predecessors” of the so-called Viennese Classical period (also styled the First Viennese School by Arnold Schoenberg and other modern composers). Contextually inaccurate, it has been replaced by more stylistically definitive rubrics (Empfindsamkeit, galant, etc.). Historical research into the music of the period has demonstrated a broad international continuum into which the composers of the past have been subsumed, thus rendering the term’s meaning and use superfluous. Composers considered to belong to it include Georg Christoph Wagenseil, Georg Matthias Monn, and Georg Reutter Jr., as well as the composers resident in Mannheim (the so-called Mannheim School).
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PREDIERI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (ca. 1725, BOLOGNA, ITALY, TO ca. 1765, BOLOGNA). Italian composer and organist, son of Luca Antonio Predieri. Although he came from the musically active Predieri family, nothing is known about his musical training. He was elected to the Accademia filarmonica in 1749, whereupon he was appointed as maestro di cappella at the church of San Paolo. He held this post until 1753, when he disappears from history, though the manuscript of his last oratorio is dated 1764. Though much of his music reflects Baroque practice, some of his sonatas include binary forms and triadic structures that show galant influences. His music includes three oratorios, five sonatas, three harpsichord concertos, and two Epistle sonatas. PREDIERI, LUCA ANTONIO (13 SEPTEMBER 1688, BOLOGNA, ITALY, TO 3 JUNE 1767, BOLOGNA). Italian composer and violinist, father of Giovanni Battista Predieri. Coming from a musical family, he was trained in Bologna under Tommaso Vitali. In 1737 he moved to Vienna, where in 1739 he succeeded Antonio Caldara as first violinist at the Hofkapelle. In 1741 he was nominated as director of the ensemble and retired in 1751. In 1765 he returned to Bologna. While the bulk of his music reflects Baroque practice, beginning in 1735 with Il sogno di Scipione one can detect a more triadic, homophonic style of the galant beginning to emerge. Eight operas and two of his oratorios reflect this new stylistic transition, as does his only symphony composed around 1750. PRESÉPIO. A presentation of the Nativity in a theatrical manner through the use of figurines or statues, along with other stage elements during Christmas. Originally developed in or around Naples, it became common in Iberia during the Bourbon rule. The presentation was generally accompanied by newly composed pastoral music. Good examples of Portuguese presépios can be found in the music of Francisco de Almeida. PROTA, GABRIELE (19 MAY 1755, NAPLES, TO 22 JUNE 1843, NAPLES). Italian composer. The grandson of Ignazio Prota and son of Tommasso Prota, he was probably trained at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana, making his debut as an opera composer around 1780. He was primarily a teacher of music up through the revolution of 1799, until he was incarcerated when the rebellion was crushed. When Napoleon took over in 1806, he was appointed as maestro di cappella at the Collegio delle Donzelle. He was primarily a composer of opera buffa, but his music has been little studied.
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PROTA, IGNAZIO (15 SEPTEMBER 1690, NAPLES, TO JANUARY, 1748, NAPLES). Italian composer. Following his early training in Naples at one of the conservatories, he made his debut as an opera composer at the Teatro Bartolomeo in 1720. Two years later he was appointed as a teacher at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana, where he remained his entire life. Well regarded as a teacher, his students include Niccolò Jommelli and Gaetano Latilla, among others. His operas are largely in the Baroque style, but a flute concerto that displays a modern three-movement format and bithematic contrasts in the new Classical style exists. His music, however, has been little studied. His son, Tommasso Prota, and grandson, Gabriele Prota, both became important composers in the city. PROTA, TOMMASSO (ca. 1727, NAPLES, TO ca. 1768, MALTA). Italian-Maltese composer. Trained by his father, Ignazio Prota, he made his debut as an opera composer in 1748 at the Teatro Nuovo. Thereafter, he was known as a music teacher in his hometown until around 1760 when he apparently moved to Malta. He may also have worked in other cities in Italy, as well as Paris or London. Little of his music has survived—only three operas—but virtually no research has been done to ascertain the scope of his compositional efforts. His son, Gabriele Prota, remained in Naples as a composer. PSALMODY. Literally, the study of the Psalms or of the tunes used for metrical Psalms. In the 18th century, it refers to a tradition in the United States, both before and after independence, wherein local composers such as William Billings, Samuel Babcock, and others wrote a cappella vocal works as part of the singing-school movement, particularly in New England. These were usually harmonized homophonically in three or four parts, although some imitative counterpoint, known as “fuguing tunes” was practiced. Texts were drawn from biblical verse but could also be based upon secular works. PUCCINI, ANTONIO (30 JULY 1747, LUCCA, ITALY, TO 10 FEBRUARY 1832, LUCCA). Italian composer and organist. The son of Giacomo Puccini, he was sent to Bologna to train under Domenico Zanordi in 1768. In 1771 he was elected to the Accademia filarmonica and returned to Lucca the following year to become a musician at the Cappella di Palazzo di Republica. In 1782 he succeeded his uncle, Michele Puccini, as maestro di cappella at the Lucca cathedral. His music has been little studied, but it consists mostly of sacred works, including 15 Masses, two cantatas, seven motets, 14 operas, two Te Deums, six hymns, 10 Lamentations, and a number of smaller works.
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PULLI, PIETRO
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PUCCINI, GIACOMO (26 JANUARY 1712, CELLE DEI PUCCINI, NEAR LUCCA, ITALY, TO 16 MAY 1781, LUCCA). Italian composer, often called “Giacomo Puccini, Senior” to differentiate him from his more famous great grandson namesake from the late 19th century. His earliest studies were with local clerics before he was sent to Bologna where he came into contact with Padre Giovanni Battista Martini in 1732. After finishing his education, he returned to Lucca to become a member of the Cappella di Palazzo di Republica, and in 1740 he became maestro di cappella at the San Martin Cathedral in the city. Puccini was a prolific composer, whose works reflect the emerging galant style. They include 20 Masses (and numerous Mass movements), 12 Lamentations, 20 motets, a Requiem, 10 Te Deums, 58 Psalms, 20 versetti, 15 hymns, 10 Magnificats, and 18 oratorios, as well as vocal solfeggios. PUCCINI, MICHELE (bap. 26 DECEMBER 1714, CELLE DEI PUCCINI, NEAR LUCCA, ITALY, TO 22 SEPTEMBER 1782, LUCCA). Italian composer and organist. The brother of Giacomo Puccini, he was trained like his brother in Bologna, returning to Lucca to become an organist at the main church in the city. His music has never been studied, mainly due to name confusion with his 19th-century namesake, the father of the more famous Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924). PUGNANI, [GIULIO] GAETANO [GEROLAMO] (27 NOVEMBER 1731, TURIN, TO 15 JULY 1798, TURIN). Italian composer and violinist. Trained under Giovanni Battista Somis and Giuseppe Tartini, he was appointed as first violinist in the court orchestra in Turin in 1752. Two years later he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels in Paris, and in 1767 he functioned as director of the King’s Theatre in London. He returned to Turin in 1770 as maestro di cappella. His most famous pupil was Giovanni Battista Viotti, with whom he toured Europe as far as Russia in the 1780s and 1790s, thereby becoming the direct link between the early violin styles of Tartini and the later international style represented by Viotti. As a composer, he was known for his dramatic and harmonically adventurous works. These include eight operas, six concert arias, an oratorio, three cantatas, 19 symphonies, eight quintets, five violin concertos, six string quartets, 45 trios, 18 duets, 20 violin sonatas, numerous dances, and a melologue, Werther, drawn from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s celebrated novel. See also BORGHI, LUIGI. PULLI, PIETRO (ca. 1710, NAPLES, TO ca. 1759, MODENA, ITALY). Italian composer. Little is known about his youth or training, though he
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must have studied at one of the Neapolitan conservatories. In 1731 he made his debut as a composer with several insertion arias in Leonardo Vinci’s La mogliere fedele. By 1739 he had apparently moved to Modena, where he composed for the local opera house and for Venice. His works, which reflect the Neapolitan galant style, have been little studied but include 10 operas, numerous insertions, and four flute sonatas. PUNTO, GIOVANNI. See STICH, JAN VÁCLAV. PUSSALGUES, JOAN (ca. 1690, GOMBÈN NEAR RIPOLLÈS, CATALONIA, TO AFTER 1765, SANT JOAN DE LES ABADESSES, CATALONIA). Catalan organist and composer. His early years and training are unknown, but in 1714 he was appointed as the mestre de capella at the church of Sant Joan de les Abadesses. He also accepted the post of organist in 1760. His music shows affinities with the galant style, particularly a Magnificat composed around 1750. Two other works survive, a Credo and a responsory. PYRLAEUS, JOHANN CHRISTOPHER (25 APRIL 1713, PAUSA, SAXONY, GERMANY, TO 28 MAY 1785, HERRNHUT, SAXONY, GERMANY). German-American composer and musician. Following early training in music, he attended Leipzig University in theology, where he became acquainted with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. At this time he was baptized into the Moravian Church, choosing to serve as a missionary to the Native Americans in Pennsylvania. Pyrlaeus founded the collegium musicum on the Leipzig model in 1744 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he was known as a proficient and talented singer, organist, and violinist. His most famous pupil was John Antes. In 1751 he returned to Germany, where he continued to teach at Moravian schools until his death. Pyrlaeus is best known for his work translating and writing hymns in Mohican and other Algonquin languages.
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Q QUADRO. An instrumental genre during the early part of the Classical period that generally refers to an orchestral quartet consisting of two violins, viola, and basso, with more than a single person per stand. It seems to be the equivalent of a small chamber ensemble or orchestra similar to a four-part symphony. The genre was common among Mannheim composers such as Carl Stamitz. In some instances, it may also refer to a string quartet. QUAGLIA, AGOSTINO (1744, MILAN, TO 22 AUGUST 1823, MILAN). Italian organist and composer. A student of Giovanni Andrea Fioroni, he became keyboardist at La Scala opera house around 1787 after having served as organist at the Duomo since 1773. After the death of Carlo Monza he competed for the post of maestro di cappella at the cathedral, eventually winning it in 1802, a position he held until his death. Quaglia was well known for his opera seria and sacred works, though his music has never been fully cataloged. It includes at least two Masses, 17 motets, and a number of secular works. QUANTZ, JOHANN JOACHIM (30 JANUARY 1697, OBERSCHEDEN, GERMANY, TO 12 JULY 1773, POTSDAM, GERMANY). German flautist, instrument maker, and composer. Originally trained as a violinist and oboist by his uncle, Quantz obtained the post of principal oboe at the Saxon court of Frederick August II in Dresden in 1719. Thereafter he began to concentrate almost exclusively on the flute, eventually traveling to Italy, France, and England to broaden his education. Returning to Dresden, he was given leeway to tour, and in 1741 he became the principal teacher of Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia (later Frederick II). He remained in the employ of this patron for the remainder of his life, forming along with his patron a circle of musicians in Berlin that included Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Carl Heinrich Graun, Christian Gottfried Krause, Franz Benda, and others (also known as the Berlin School). In addition, he began adding keys to the flute beginning in 1726, and by 1739 he was active making the instruments, primarily for his patron. His most important theoretical work, Versuch einer Anweisung der Flöte traversiere zu spielen, was published in 1752 and 455
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became one of the most widely read tutors of the 18th century. It contains not only information on this instrument, but also a plethora of details on court music and performance practice as well. As a composer, Quantz wrote prolifically for his instrument, including around 300 concertos for one or two flutes and orchestra; around 220 sonatas for flute and basso; 48 trio sonatas, mainly for two flutes and continuo; solos for one to three flutes; six flute quartets; two arias; and around 30 songs. The style of his music is generally considered galant, but the flute quartets have innovative and independent inner lines that foreshadow a more homophonic texture of composers from a later period. The works were cataloged by Horst Augsbach and are known by the QV numbers. See also AGRICOLA, JOHANN FRIEDRICH. QUARTET. An instrumental genre for four instruments, most commonly four-part strings (two violins, viola, violoncello) during the Classical period. The origin of the genre itself is obscure, although it may have emerged in the 1740s or 1750s as the chamber counterpart of à 4 symphonies as part of what both Johann Mattheson and Johann Adolph Scheibe define as chamber music. Another possible origin is the quadro (itself a generic term), or orchestra quartet. Early works by composers such as Joseph Haydn (Op. 0, Op. 2) titled it “divertimento,” while others use other rubrics such as sonata or sinfonia. It was one of the most popular, and therefore marketable, genres for publishers, usually published in sets of four or six. The earliest published quartets by Franz Xaver Richter are generally in two movements, while those of Viennese composers have five, thus conforming to a common divertimento definition. Occasionally, the bass parts are figured, and there are instances (Pater Romanus Hoffstetter, Op. 1) where additional instruments such as flutes are added ad libitum. By the 1780s, however, the common nomenclature and generic identification had been standardized, as had the number of movements, either three or four, analogous to those found in the orchestral symphony. Undoubtedly, the most popular and imitated composer of the genre was Joseph Haydn. Further specification of instrumentation includes string quartet (generally as above), with quartets featuring a woodwind or horn substituting for one of the violins being called according to that instrument (e.g., horn quartet, flute quartet, etc.). Woodwind quartets are often composed of combinations of flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon, while piano quartets substitute the keyboard for one of the violins. Apart from the sonata, the quartet was the most common chamber genre of the Classical period. QUERALT, FRANCESC (1740, BORJAS BLANCAS, CATALONIA, TO 1825, BARCELONA). Catalan composer. Following schooling at the Escolania de Montserrat, he obtained the post of mestre de capella at the Bar-
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celona cathedral, working alongside Carles Baguer, in 1774. He retained this position until his retirement in 1815. His works show the influence of both Luigi Boccherini and Gaetano Brunetti in their colorful orchestrations and complex rhythmic structures. He is best known for his oratorios, of which five out of 42 survive, but he also wrote numerous smaller sacred works, including Psalms, a sacred aria, and two large Magnificats. QUERELLE DES BOUFFONS. Named for a resident Italian traveling troupe (I buffoni), it was a polemic that took place during the years 1752–1754 in Paris on the merits of the Italian and French opera. Although the work that began the debate, Pergolesi’s La Serva padrona, had been performed in Paris as early as 1746 at one of the fair theatres, it was its appearance on 1 August 1752 at the Académie royale de musique that triggered the controversy. Baron Friedrich Melchior Grimm wrote on the advantages of the Italian opera in his Lettres sur Omphale, claiming that the French tragédie lyrique of Jean-Baptiste Lully was moribund, a view that was supported by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in his Lettres sur la musique française the following year, as well as Paul Henri Thiry, Baron d’Holbach (ca. 1723–1789). This was opposed by articles written by mathematician Père Louis-Bertrand Castel (1688–1757), Jean-Baptiste Jourdan (1711–1793), and Jean Louis Aubert (1732–ca. 1811), and others, who championed French opera from a nationalist point of view. The polemics paralleled musical interpretations of each view, with Rousseau’s Le devin du village produced at Fontainbleu on 18 October 1752 and Jean-Philippe Rameau’s revised tragédie lyrique Castor et Pollux in 1754. The debate ended when the Italian troupe left but resulted in it being replaced at the Théâtre de la Foire (and subsequently the ComédieItalienne) by the French version under Michel-Jean Sedaine known as the opéra comique, with the French opera being retained at the main house in Paris following the success of Castor. QUERFURTH, FRANZ (ca. 1720, VIENNA, TO AFTER 1770, PROBABLY FRANKFURT AM MAIN). German violinist and composer. Virtually nothing is known of him, other than that he appeared as a soloist in a violin concerto of his own composition in a concert in Frankfurt in 1751, where he was most likely employed in the theatre or municipal orchestra. As a composer, he wrote in a style similar to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, but no work has been done on his music, of which only a symphony and a trumpet concerto survive. QUESNEL, LOUIS-JOSEPH (15 NOVEMBER, 1746, ST. MALO, FRANCE, TO 3 JULY 1809, MONTRÉAL, CANADA). French-Canadian composer, poet, and playwright. The son of a prominent merchant, Quesnel
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received his education at the Collège de Saint-Louis. Lured by the promise of adventure and following his father’s footsteps, he embarked upon a career as an adventurer, sailing to South Asia, Madagascar, Africa, the French Antilles, and South America, as well as setting up a mercantile company in Bordeaux. Commissioned as a privateer, he led the Espoir on a smuggling raid to North America when he was captured by the British in 1777. Interned initially in Nova Scotia, he chose to settle in Montréal in lieu of imprisonment, where he lived for the rest of his life, save for business ventures to London. During the years 1788 to 1793 he served with distinction in the local militia. In 1789 he organized along with Louis Dulongpré the first opera company in Canada, the Théâtre de Société, which produced his Colas et Colinette the following year. A second work, Lucas et Cecile from 1808, was suppressed due to questions regarding the finances and morality of the amateur company. Although he made his living as a businessman, he was a well-regarded poet, as well as a prolific composer of music. His earliest biographers noted that he wrote duos, sonatas, quartets, motets, and symphonies, all of which were performed at public concerts in Montréal. His works for the main cathedral in town were particularly popular, but little has survived save for a few songs and the vocal parts of the two operas. These show that his style was similar to French composers such as François-André Danican Philidor and Nicolas-Marie Dalayrac in the simple melodic contours and diatonic harmony. He has been rightly seen, however, as the first major Canadian composer of consequence. See also MECHTLER, GUILLAUME-JOSEPH. QUINTET. A chamber instrumental genre that consists of five instruments. The most common group is the string quintet, in the 18th century comprising two violins, two violas, and a violoncello. Woodwind quintets are generally made up of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and French horn. Quintets also feature a mixture of instruments, here most commonly a woodwind or keyboard along with a traditional string quartet, although there are many exceptions, such as the Horn Quintet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (KV 407), which uses a second viola instead of a second violin. QUODLIBET. Latin for “whatever pleases.” Generally a series of pre-extant tunes strung together as a sort of popular suite. A form of this is the medley overture, which uses popular songs. The Galamathias musicum by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is another type. See also PASTICCIO.
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R RAINPRECHTER, JOHANN NEPOMUK [FRANZ SERAPH] (17 MAY 1752, ALTENÖTTING, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO APRIL 1812, SALZBURG). Austrian composer and violinist. The son of a court musician, he received his earliest training in music from his father, as well as the Gymnasium in Burghausen. Subsequent education was at Ingolstadt in law, but in 1773 he arrived in Salzburg as a violinist. He obtained the post of choir director at the Benedictine monastery of St. Peter’s shortly thereafter, a post he held until his death. He is supposed to have studied under Leopold Mozart, but his music remains relatively unknown even though he had a high reputation for originality during his lifetime. His music consists mostly of sacred works, including three Masses, 20 Salve Reginas, numerous graduals and offertories, three vespers, numerous minuets and dances, and smaller sacred works. His most famous piece is a quodlibet with folk instruments from Berchtesgaden. RAMEAU, JEAN-PHILIPPE (bap. 25 SEPTEMBER 1683, DIJON, FRANCE, TO 12 SEPTEMBER 1764, PARIS). French theorist and composer. Although generally considered as having written in a Baroque style during his early years following his studies with his father and other local musicians, Rameau reinvented himself as a composer of opera at the age of 50, performing his works beginning in 1733 both in Paris and at Fontainebleau Palace under the protection of Madame de Pompadour. His work as a theorist is well documented and still forms one of the foundations of music theory today, but his work as an opera composer began in 1733 with Hippolyte et Aricie. This work was noted for its new attention to orchestral color, its development of formal structures, and its new harmony, engendering a controversy between the Rameauists and Lullyists, the latter of whom suspected Rameau of destroying the grand opera style. As the Querelle des bouffons developed almost two decades later, Rameau was regarded as a conservative, perhaps even anachronistically Baroque, composer, despite the fact that he had created interesting and modern harmony along with reviving the tragédie lyrique. His other works, such as La princesse de Navarre, show him as a thoroughly galant composer, one able to make a transition between 459
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the musical styles. As such, he and his 31 operas (as well as several works of incidental music) make him one of the first significant figures of the early Classical style. See also GOSSEC, FRANÇOIS-JOSEPH. RAULT, FÉLIX (1736, BORDEAUX, FRANCE, TO ca. 1800, PARIS). French flautist and composer. A student of Michel Blavet, he became his teacher’s successor at the Opéra in 1758. In 1765 he performed frequently at the Concerts spirituels and three years later became a musician in the Chapelle Royale. In 1780 he retired to teach, but during the Revolution was forced to return as an ordinary musician at the Théâtre de la Cité. After its dissolution in 1800 he was impoverished and died within the year. His music conforms to the galant style and includes two flute concertos, 36 flute duos (and six for flute and viola), six trios, and 13 flute sonatas. His students include François Devienne. See also WUNDERLICH, JOHANN GEORG. RAUPACH, HERMANN FRIEDRICH (21 DECEMBER 1728, STRALSUND, POMMERANIA, GERMANY [THEN SWEDEN], TO 23 DECEMBER 1778, ST. PETERSBURG). German keyboardist and composer. Educated in a musical family of a church organist, he moved to St. Petersburg in 1755 to become a keyboardist under Francesco Araja. When Araja left in 1758, he functioned as acting Kapellmeister, but in 1762 he traveled to Paris when he was replaced. He returned to Russia in 1770 as deputy Kapellmeister, and in 1777 he became director of the music section of the Imperial Academy of the Arts. Among his students was Yevstigny Fomin. His musical style imitates that of both Italian opera and the North German Empfindsamkeit. His works, little studied, include three operas (in Russian), 15 ballets, four trio sonatas, and 10 violin sonatas. RAUZZINI, MATTEO (1754, CAMERINO, NEAR ROME, ITALY, TO 1791, DUBLIN, IRELAND). Italian composer and singing teacher. Like his brother Venanzio Rauzzini, he was probably trained in Naples, following his brother to Munich in 1772, where he had his first opera performed. He returned to Venice to write music for the various theatres before moving to Dublin in 1783, where he taught singing. He still received commissions from his homeland, such as an oratorio in 1785 for the Ospedale degli Incurabili in Venice. His music has been little studied but consists of five operas and two oratorios. His students include Michael Kelly. RAUZZINI, VENANZIO (18 DECEMBER 1746, CAMERINO, NEAR ROME, ITALY, TO 8 APRIL 1810, BATH, ENGLAND). Italian castrato and composer. Brother of Matteo Rauzzini, he studied in Naples with Nicola
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Porpora, making his debut at the Teatro della Valle in Rome in 1765. The following year he was offered a post in Munich at the court of Elector Maximilian III, but in 1773 he returned to Milan to write music for the Carnival season following a liaison with a noblewoman. In 1774 he moved to London, where he performed frequently at the King’s Theatre. By 1777, however, he decided to retire to Bath, where he managed the public concerts in between various engagements in Dublin and London. His voice was flexible but he received some criticism for its lack of strength. He was often chided for devoting too much time to composition rather than performance, although his music was praised for its good taste. His works include 14 operas, four pieces of incidental stage music, four cantatas, a Requiem, six Italian canzonetts, 16 songs, a symphony, 18 quartets, 15 violin sonatas, and four duets. RAVISSA, MADAME (ca. 1755, TURIN, ITALY, TO AFTER 1783, PARIS[?]). Italian singer, teacher, keyboardist, and composer. Nothing is known of her, not even her maiden name or fate, other than she came from the city of Turin. She first appears in history in a debut as a singer at the Concerts spirituels in 1778, the same year she published an accomplished set of six keyboard sonatas. After several more appearances in the public concerts in Paris, she vanishes from history around 1783. Her music is carefully crafted, with good harmonic progressions and fluid melodies. RAY, BHARATCHANDRA (1712, PEDO-BHURSUT, HOWRAH, INDIA, TO 1760, KRISHNAGAR, INDIA). Indian composer and poet, known for his songs. He spent much of his life as court poet to the Maharaja Krishnachandra, for whom he wrote the Mangal kavja, a set of songs that is still sung throughout India today. The most popular work is the “Mangalgan,” a song of bliss in raga format. READ, DANIEL (16 NOVEMBER 1757, ATTLEBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES, TO 4 DECEMBER 1836, NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES). American psalmodist. Read served as a private in the Continental Army of the Revolutionary War, and he made his living as a merchant and maker of combs. He also taught music, publishing 94 works. Many of these appeared in the 1785 American Singing Book. REBEL, FRANÇOIS (19 JUNE 1701, PARIS, TO 7 NOVEMBER 1775, PARIS). French violinist, conductor, and composer. Son of famed musician Jean-Féry Rebel (1666–1747), he achieved his first success as a violinist child prodigy. In 1714 he was employed at the Opéra, where he began to write
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in collaboration with his equally talented colleague François Francoeur a series of ballets and operas. By 1734 he had become director of the Concerts spirituels, and in 1743 he and Francoeur were codirectors of the Opéra itself. Their opera-ballet Zelindor, roi des Sylphes, composed in 1745 to celebrate a French victory in the War of the Austrian Succession, was a tremendous success and led to him being named surintendant de musique at the court of Madame Pompadour. In 1760 he was ennobled by Louis XV, who allowed him to retire from official duties. In 1772 he was recalled as administrateur général of the Opéra, a post he held up until shortly before his death. Although a few instrumental pieces survive, he is best known for his stage music, much if not all of it written in collaboration with Francoeur. Although it is difficult to determine which composer wrote which movements of their 10 jointly composed theatre pieces, it was commonly said that the dramatic parts were composed by Rebel. This seems confirmed by the sole surviving work attributed to him alone, the incidental music for Pierre-Claud de La Chaussée’s L’amour pour l’amour from 1765, which shows a good sense of harmony and emotional tension. RECUEIL D’AIRS. A French compendium of popular vocal works, mainly from comic operas, arranged for smaller chamber ensembles, either voice and keyboard or various combinations of instruments. These were published and widely distributed throughout Europe to be performed by amateurs in salon settings. Composers include Joseph Boulogne, le Chevalier de SaintGeorges. REGENS CHORI. In the 18th century it is the title of the post of either choral or musical director, generally associated with monasteries or city churches. The post was generally allotted to one of the monks of the Catholic orders, but there could be civilians as well, such as Jakob Zupan in the city of Laibach (now Ljubljana, Slovenia). REICHARDT, JOHANN FRIEDRICH (25 NOVEMBER 1752, KÖNIGSBERG, EAST PRUSSIA [NOW KALININGRAD, RUSSIA], TO 27 JUNE 1814, GIEBICHENSTEIN, NEAR HALLE, GERMANY). German composer, musician, theorist, and man of letters. Son of a lutenist, Johann Reichardt, he received his early musical education from his father, as well as Franz Veichtner and Carl Gottlieb Richter. He attended Königsberg university, where he became acquainted with the philosophy of Emanuel Kant, but in 1771 he embarked on an extensive tour of Germany to further his own musical education. In 1775 he applied for and won the post of Kapellmeister to Frederick II though he had little experience in musical com-
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position, and in 1777 he married Julianne Benda, daughter of Franz Benda and composer in her own right. Tours to Italy and Vienna in 1783 (where he became friends with Joseph Martin Kraus) as well as France and England in 1785 both broadened his education and served to implement a Concert spirituel in Berlin. In 1791 he retired to his country home in Giebichenstein due to illness, and shortly thereafter he was denounced as a revolutionary. After the Napoleonic invasion, he was offered the post of musical director in Kassel, but he spent the last years of his life in poverty. Reichardt can be seen as one of the most intellectual composers of the period. His views on musical life, published as a series of letters, evoke Charles Burney, while his 1774 Über die deutsche komische Oper must be seen as a seminal work on the genre. He was close friends with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich von Schiller, working with the former in 1789 on the Singspiel Claudine von Villa Bella. His musical style is often dramatic, with orchestration that foreshadows the Romantic period, and he can be considered both an adherent of the Sturm und Drang style and one of the principal composers of Lieder of the Berlin School. His compositions include 1500 Lieder, 29 operas (mostly Singspiels), 11 sets of incidental music to plays, two ballets, two oratorios, 13 German cantatas, a Requiem, two Te Deums, eight Psalms, nine symphonies, 11 concertos (nine for keyboard), three quintets, a quartet, 15 trios, 26 keyboard sonatas, 16 violin sonatas, and over 100 horn duets. See also ENGEL, JOHANN JACOB; KUNZEN, FRIEDRICH LUDWIG AEMILIUS. REICHARDT, JULIANNE. See BENDA, JULIANNE. REID [ROBERTSON], JOHN (13 FEBRUARY 1721, STRATHLOCH, SCOTLAND, TO 6 FEBRUARY 1807, LONDON). Scottish composer and military figure. The composer used Reid as his last name, even though his father was a Robertson from an important Edinburgh military family. He too entered into military service, eventually becoming a major and then general of the 42nd Highlanders. His musical education was probably from his period in Edinburgh, and in 1770 he published several sets of minuets and dances, as well as six solos for flute or violin. He was known as the best flute player in Britain, often appearing in soirees in London. His rank and social standing made it possible for him to endow the first professorship at the University of Edinburgh. REINAGLE, ALEXANDER (23 APRIL 1756, PORTSMOUTH, ENGLAND, TO 21 SEPTEMBER 1809, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, UNITED STATES). English, Scottish, and American composer. The son of a German immigrant, he received his earliest musical education from his
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father and Raynor Taylor. Although trained as a merchant, he was active in the concert life of Edinburgh, publishing his first works there during the 1770s. In 1786 he moved to Philadelphia in the United States, where he wrote operas for the New Chestnut Street theatre, becoming one of the leading musicians in the city. His pupils included Nellie Custis, the granddaughter of George Washington, with whom he was on friendly terms. In 1803 he moved to Baltimore to take over the direction of the Holliday Street theatre. His music is characterized by its use of Scottish tunes, as well as a good foundation in melody and harmony. He is one of the few composers of the period able to harmonize modal folk tunes. His works include 25 operas, three medley overtures, four keyboard sonatas, as well as various marches and dance tunes. He also wrote several cantatas, odes, and dirges, such as the Monody on the Death of George Washington of 1799. See also M’GLASHAN, ALEXANDER. REINDL, PATER CONSTATIN (29 JUNE 1738, JETTENHOFEN, PALATINATE, GERMANY, TO 25 MARCH 1799, LUZERN, SWITZERLAND). German-Swiss monastic composer. In 1756 he became a Jesuit novitiate at Landsberg, following which he attended the University of Ingolstadt in philosophy and theology. In 1769 he was ordained and in 1770 moved to Freiburg as a teacher. In 1772 he transferred to the Gymnasium in Lucerne (Luzern), Switzerland, where he taught music and served as organist at St. Urban Church. His music has been little studied. It consists of 19 operas (mostly sacred Singspiels), three Masses, a Psalm, eight other sacred works, two symphonies, a sinfonia concertante, a violin concerto, 32 string quartets, and a number of dances. REINOSO, JOSÉ MARÍA (1740, SEVILLE, SPAIN, TO 23 MAY 1802, SANTANDER, SPAIN). Spanish composer and singer. In 1765 he was a vicar at the cathedral in Salamanca, where he sang in the choir. By 1780 he had begun to compose music, eventually taking on many of the duties of church music. His works, little studied, include 12 Masses, 48 motets, 19 oratorios, a Magnificat, 18 Psalms, two hymns, two Lamentations, six Sequences, 10 cantatas, and three villancicos. Much of his music is four part a cappella. RELLSTAB, JOHANN CARL FRIEDRICH (27 FEBRUARY 1759, BERLIN, TO 19 AUGUST 1813, BERLIN). German theorist, keyboardist, composer, music seller, and music publisher. He received his education under Johann Agricola beginning in 1773, later studying composition with Carl Friedrich Fasch. By 1779 further education under Carl Philipp Emanuel
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Bach was thwarted when he had to take over his father’s publishing business. He used his musical connections in Berlin at the Kenner und Liebhaber Konzerte to increase his interaction with musical circles in the Prussian capital. In 1783 he opened a lending library, which was followed several years later by a music publishing arm, which, although successful, led to a dispute over rights with C. P. E. Bach. In 1786 he published his treatise Versuch über die Vereinigung der musikalischen und oratorischen Deklamation, which describes vocal ornamentation in the 18th century. As his business and concert promotion declined, he became a critic for the Vossische Zeitung in 1808. His son, Ludwig Rellstab (1799–1860), was an influential poet. His own compositions are similar to his friend and colleague Johann Friedrich Reichardt with good formal structures and dramatic content. These include a Te Deum, nine symphonies, 32 odes or piano cantatas, 51 Lieder, 12 marches, a fantasy for glass harmonica, a keyboard sonata, six solfeggi, and several other smaller works for keyboard. REMBT, JOHANN ERNST (27 AUGUST 1749, SUHL, GERMANY, TO 26 FEBRUARY 1810, SUHL). German composer and organist. A student of Johann Peter Kellner, in 1768 he went on tour to the Netherlands and France before returning to his hometown, where he became organist at the Kreuzkirche in 1772 and a few years later at the main city church. He is best known for his collections of early organ works by Didrik Buxtehude and Johann Sebastian Bach. His own music consists largely of sacred works, including imitations of the preludes and fugues of his idols. It has been little studied. REQUIEM. In the 18th century a special setting of the Roman Catholic Mass for the Dead that includes portions of the Mass Proper and Ordinary, generally divided into a number of separate movements and often in a minor key. The movements are usually: Introit Requiem aeternam, Kyrie, Sequence Dies irae, dies illa, Offertory Domine Jesu Christe, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei, and the Communion Lux aeterna. To this could be added the Responsory Libera me, Domine and the Antiphon In paradisum. The Sequence is usually subdivided into as many as 6 to 10 additional movements, with fugal portions of the work mainly appearing in the Kyria, Amen at the end of the Sequence, the Offertory at Quam olim Abrihae promisisti, and at the final Amen of the Communion. Although the chorus is generally used extensively, there are usually operatic styles in the solo movements. The Requiem in D Minor (KV 626) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has achieved an iconic status due to its being unfinished at the composer’s death, but virtually all of his contemporaries, such as Michael Haydn, Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf,
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and Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler, wrote large-scale Requiems. In northern Europe this was often replaced by an elaborate funeral cantata, and in Great Britain by a funeral ode. RESCUE OPERA. A type of opera derived from and identical musically to the opéra comique and its variations. The plot always involves a hero or heroine (or both) who has been unjustly imprisoned and who is rescued by compatriots, spouses, or others. Examples include Richard Coeur-de-lion by André Ernest Modeste Grétry, Lodoïska and Les deux journées by Luigi Cherubini, and the iconic Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven. REUTTER, [JOHANN ADAM JOSEPH KARL] GEORG VON, JR. (6 APRIL 1708, VIENNA, TO 11 MARCH 1772, VIENNA). Austrian composer and organist. Son of Holy Roman court organist Georg Reutter Sr. (1656–1738), he received his earliest musical education from his father and court Kapellmeister Antonio Caldara. He was a precocious student who in 1726 made his public debut with an oratorio, followed a year later by an opera, Archidemia. Attempts at obtaining a court position were frustrated by Johann Fux, and in 1730 Reutter traveled to Italy for a year, principally in Venice and Rome. Upon his return, he was given the post of court composer, and in 1738 he succeeded his father as Kapellmeister of St. Stephen’s Cathedral. In 1740 Karl VI ennobled him, and in 1751 he was put in charge of the court orchestra, which he reformed and enlarged. His main occupation was providing music for services at the cathedral, as well as maintaining a stable of 31 musicians, including boy singers, among whom both Joseph Haydn and Michael Haydn served. Irascible and tightfisted, Reutter had a personal reputation that diametrically opposed his musical contributions, particularly in his ill treatment of his wards. Joseph Haydn was later to remark that he was continually “underfed” as a boy under Reutter’s tutelage. As a composer, however, Reutter was one of the most significant people of the period, producing around 677 works, including over 80 Masses, 30 operas, 277 motets and Psalms, 48 antiphons, 20 litanies, 53 hymns, 31 offertories, 17 graduals, six Requiems, and seven responsories, among other smaller works. He also wrote instrumental pieces: seven symphonies, two partitas, two servizia di tavola, four concertos (two for trumpet, two for keyboard), and a host of smaller keyboard works. His sacred music for the worship service was known for its homophonic brilliance supported by meandering non-thematic violin lines (the so-called violins à la Reutter), while several of the instrumental works contain some of the highest parts for clarino trumpet. His music exercised considerable influence throughout the length and breadth of the Holy Roman Empire. See also ULBRICH, MAXIMILIAN, ZÖSCHINGER, PATER LUDWIG.
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REY, JEAN-BAPTISTE (18 DECEMBER 1734, LAUZERTE, FRANCE, TO 15 JULY 1810, PARIS). French composer and conductor, brother of Louis-Charles-Joseph Rey. Following early training locally, he was appointed as maître de chapelle at the Auch cathedral in 1751 at the age of 16. By 1754 he had a post at the Opéra in Toulouse but toured frequently. In 1776 he arrived in Paris as a conductor at the Opéra, later becoming director in 1781. Although he held the title of maître de musique at the court of Louis XVI, during the Revolution he was part of the committee that produced and censured productions at the Opéra. In 1797 he was appointed professor of harmony at the Conservatoire, and in 1804 he became maître de chapelle to Napoleon. Rey was well respected as a conductor during his career for instilling discipline into the orchestra. As a composer, much of his music represents arrangements of others, though he himself did write an opera, two motets, and several Masses. REY, LOUIS-CHARLES-JOSEPH (26 OCTOBER 1738, LAUZERTE, FRANCE, TO 2 MAY 1811, PARIS). French composer and cellist. Like his elder brother, Jean-Baptiste Rey, he was trained locally, but in 1754 he was active as a cellist at the opera in Montpellier. The following year he performed in both Bordeaux and Paris, eventually settling into the orchestra at the Opéra in 1766. A more active composer than his brother, he wrote three ballets, an opera, four ariettas, six cello sonatas, six duos for two cellos, and a trio. REYNOLDS, MARIA HESTER [PARK] (29 SEPTEMBER 1760, PROBABLY OXFORD, ENGLAND, TO 7 JUNE 1813, HAMPSTEAD, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND). English composer, singer, and keyboardist. Little is known about her childhood or early career, but for seven years beginning in 1772 she functioned as a keyboardist for a local orchestra in Oxford, as well as occasionally singing in small gatherings. By 1785 she was the music teacher for nobility such as the Duchess of Devonshire, to whom she dedicated several sets of published works. In 1790 she married the poet Thomas Park (1759–1834) and thereafter ceased to perform in public, although she apparently maintained her artistic connections. Her music includes a piano concerto, a divertimento for fortepiano, a set of six glees, and 14 sonatas for the keyboard, most of which were published. RHEINECK, CHRISTOPH (1 NOVEMBER 1748, MEMMINGEN, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 29 JULY 1797, MEMMINGEN). German composer. His earliest training did not include music, but rather he was trained as a merchant, pursuing his trade at St. Gallen and Lyons, France. In 1761, while in the latter city, he studied music composition, and gained his first success
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with an opera, Pygmalion. In 1774 he moved to Paris to continue a career as a private music teacher, but the death of his patron a year later left him without prospects, so he moved back to Memmingen. There he was active in the town musical establishment and owned an inn, Zum weissen Ochsen. His musical compositions include the aforementioned opera, a Mass, three keyboard concertos, and several smaller works and Lieder. RIBEIRO NÓIA, INÁCIO (1688, RECIFE, BRAZIL, TO 1773, RECIFE). Brazilian composer. A mulatto from Recife, he may have been trained locally and became mestre di capilla at the cathedral in the city. Nothing is known about his activities, since the archives containing his music have not survived, but he did enter into a conversation about 1749 regarding the use of polyphony in sacred music. RICCI, FRANCESCO PASQUALE (17 MAY 1732, COMO, ITALY, TO 7 NOVEMBER 1817, COMO). Italian composer and violinist. Following early studies in Milan, he entered the Franciscan order, obtaining the title of abbé. In 1759 he was named as maestro di cappella of the cathedral in Como, but he was absent for long periods touring France and England. In 1764 he was employed at the court of William V of Orange in The Hague, where his students included Josina van Aerssen. In 1780 he returned to Como, where he remained, being pensioned in 1798. His main claim to fame was a treatise written for a Neapolitan conservatory titled Méthode ou recueil des connaissances élémentaires pour le forte-piano ou clavecin, published in 1786 and purported to be done in collaboration with the then-late Johann Christian Bach. His own music includes 15 symphonies, three sinfonia concertantes, two concertos, 12 trios, 12 trio sonatas, six quintets, six string quartets, a number of chamber works, two Masses, a Requiem sequence, and six ariettas. RICHTER, CARL GOTTLIEB (1728, BERLIN, TO 1809, KÖNIGSBERG, EAST PRUSSIA [NOW KALININGRAD, RUSSIA]). German organist and composer. Originally trained as a surgeon, in 1745 he became a musician at the court of Küstrin, Brandenburg. During this period, he was allegedly a pupil of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, with whom he remained on friendly terms his entire life. In 1761 he was appointed as organist of the Domkirche in Königsberg, where he remained his entire life performing and teaching. His most famous pupil is Johann Friedrich Reichardt. His style shows affinities with the “empfindsamer Stil” (Empfindsamkeit) of Bach. His music has largely been lost, but surviving works include five keyboard concertos and 10 sets of 12 minuets.
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RICHTER, FRANZ XAVER (1 DECEMBER 1709, HOLLESCHAU, MORAVIA [NOW HOLEŠOV, CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 12 SEPTEMBER 1789, STRASBOURG). Austrian-Moravian composer, theorist, and singer. Richter’s earliest education was at the Jesuit school in Uherské Hradištĕ (Ungarisch Hradisch), following which in 1727 he traveled to Italy and Vienna, where he probably received some musical instruction from Johann Joseph Fux. From around 1735 to 1740 he was employed in a variety of small positions, probably in Bavaria or the Tirol before obtaining the post of vice Kapellmeister for Prince-Abbot Anselm von Reichlin-Meldeg in Kempten. Here he composed one of his earliest works, a multi-movement Te Deum and several symphonies for strings, 12 of which were published in two sets in Paris (Grande Symphonies) as some of the earliest popular works in the genre. In 1747 he arrived in Mannheim as a singer (bass), where he performed in various operas and by 1768 had become known both as a teacher and as a composer of chamber music. During this period he often traveled to Paris and was on loan at the court of Oettingen-Wallerstein; his students included Joseph Martin Kraus, as well as most likely Carl Stamitz and Ignaz Fränzl. In 1769 he succeeded Joseph Garnier as Kapellmeister of the cathedral in Strasbourg, where he remained the rest of his life, save for a brief visit to Munich in 1787 to see his old colleagues from Mannheim. Although he was an active composer of sacred music during this time, his duties required him to hire an assistant in 1783, Ignaz Pleyel, who also became his successor following Richter’s death. Richter was one of the most notable composers of the Classical period, whose works were admired and imitated by many, including Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He was a significant developer of both the symphony and string quartet as genres, and his sacred music was disseminated widely throughout both France and the Holy Roman Empire, noted for its contrapuntal intricacy and lyrical beauty. Although Charles Burney dismissed his instrumental writing as “dry as dust,” Johann Nikolaus Forkel commented on his excellence as a contrapuntist and church composer, while Mozart complimented him on the fire he found in Richter’s music. His style was relatively unique, particularly in his symphonies, which range from single to three and four movements, where contrasting themes are divided by sections of suspensions. He compiled a treatise on counterpoint titled Harmonische Belehrungen, oder Gründliche Anweisung zu der musikalischen Ton-Kunst oder regulären Komposition that was published in French translation in 1804. His musical works include 87 symphonies; 39 Masses; at least three Te Deums; an oratorio (Deposizione della croce from 1748); six concertos for keyboard and six concertos for horn; individual concertos for trumpet, oboe, and flute; 12 string quartets; and a large number of liturgical
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works, including a Lamentation and several Misereres, motets, and Psalm settings. The sacred music has been cataloged by Jochen Reutter and uses R numbers. See also FRÄNZL, FERDINAND; RIGEL, HENRI-JOSEPH. RICHTER, GEORG FRIEDRICH (bap. 4 NOVEMBER 1749, BREDA, NETHERLANDS, TO ca. 1800, POSSIBLY FRANCE). German-Dutch keyboardist and composer. His early training and career are largely unresearched, but in 1768 he obtained the post of organist at the cathedral in Hoorn, North Holland. Three years later he appears to have embarked upon a career as a touring virtuoso, performing in Germany at Regensburg, and elsewhere. In 1784 he shared a concert with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, also working as a keyboard teacher whose students included Josefa Auernhammer. That year he left Vienna to continue his touring life, eventually publishing music toward the end of the century in Paris. His date of death is unknown. Mozart respected him as a colleague. His music includes 14 piano concertos (including one for two pianos), 17 keyboard sonatas, and a trio. RICHTER, JOHANN CHRISTOPH (15 JULY 1700, DRESDEN, TO 19 FEBRUARY 1785, DRESDEN). German organist and composer. Little is known of his youth, save that his talents as a musician were recognized early, and in 1716 the Saxon court sent him to Italy to be trained. In 1727 he was appointed as court organist, with increasing duties over the next several years. In 1760 he was finally appointed as Kapellmeister, although the title seems to have been more honorific than practical. His music shows tendencies of the galant style, but little has survived. There are only two Italian operas, an “echo” concerto, a series of dances, and a trio for two harpsichords. He was the chief performer on the pantaleon, an unusual instrument of his time. RIDDELL, JOHN (2 SEPTEMBER 1718, GLENCARNOCK, AYRSHIRE, SCOTLAND, TO 5 APRIL 1793, GLENCARNOCK). Scottish composer. Nothing is known about his life or education, but in 1757 Robert Brenner, a music publisher in Edinburgh, printed Riddell’s The Merry Lads of Air [sic], a collection of dance tunes he had composed. In 1782 James Aird of Glasgow came out with A Collection of Scots Reels or Country Dances and Minuets for violin, cello, and harpsichord, which contained a number of important tunes referred to by Robert Burns as quintessentially Scottish. He appears to have been a friend and subscriber to the music of Neil Gow. RIDDELL, ROBERT (1755, GLENRIDDEL, SCOTLAND, TO 21 APRIL 1794, FRIAR’S CARSE, DUMFRIES, SCOTLAND). Scottish military man and composer. The laird of the castle of Friar’s Carse, Riddell
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was considered a musical amateur, best known for his friendship with Robert Burns, who dedicated a sonnet to him in 1794. His compositions include a collection of his own dances, reels, and other Scots music published in 1787 for keyboard, as well as a set of variations on folk tunes for harpsichord. His Collection of Scotch, Glaswegian, and Borders Tunes for violin and keyboard, published in 1794, included settings of three songs to texts by Burns. RIEPEL, JOSEPH (22 JANUARY 1709, DEUTSCH HÖRSCHLAG, LOWER AUSTRIA, TO 23 OCTOBER 1783, REGENSBURG, GERMANY). German-Austrian composer, theorist, and violinist. Following education at the Gymnasium in Steyr, he attended the Jesuit College in Linz and then the University of Graz in philosophy. In 1735 he was made a manservant to Count Alexander d’Ollone, with whom he traveled throughout the Balkans. In 1739 he moved to Dresden where he became acquainted with and probably a student of Jan Dismas Zelenka. When no employment was found, he returned to Vienna in 1747, and two years later he was appointed as Kapellmeister at the Thurn und Taxis court in Regensburg. Riepel is best known for his two theoretical works, the Anfangsgründe zu musikalischen Setzkunst published between 1752 and 1768 and the Harmonische Syllbenmass of 1776. Both provide some of the first descriptions of Classical form and harmony of the period. He was also an active composer, whose works include eight Masses, three Requiems, three Passions (and several Passion songs), five large cantatas, 18 symphonies, 14 concertos, four divertimentos, a trio, and a violin sonata. His works are known by E (Emmerig) numbers. See also HEMMERLEIN, ANTON; KAFFKA, JOHANN CHRISTOPH; SCHACHT, FREIHERR THEODOR VON. RIGADE, ANDRÉ-JEAN (ca. 1730, PROVENCE, TO 1803, PARIS). Little is known of his youth or origins, save that he was sent to Italy to study under Niccolò Piccinni, probably at one of the conservatories in Naples. He returned to France and in 1763 presented his first opera Zélie et Lindor at the Comédie-Italienne. During the years before the Revolution he taught music in Paris, where his students included Felice Bambini. His work is almost completely forgotten, but he wrote six operas during his life, and probably other works that have been lost. RIGEL, ANTOINE [ANTON] (ca. 1745, WERTHEIM, GERMANY, TO ca. 1810, MANNHEIM). German composer. The brother of Henri-Joseph Rigel, he received his earliest training under the patronage of Prince Löwenstein, embarking on a touring career throughout northern Europe. By 1776 he had settled in Paris, where he performed at the Concerts spirituels alongside
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his brother. At the outbreak of the French Revolution, he apparently left Paris for Heilbronn, where he settled in as a music teacher. In 1807 he was living in Mannheim, possibly in retirement. Little work has been done on this composer. Works (some lost) include a flute concerto, three symphonies, 10 flute quartets, six orchestral sonatas for keyboard, six trios, 20 violin sonatas, and six keyboard sonatas. RIGEL, HENRI-JOSEPH (9 FEBRUARY 1741, WERTHEIM, GERMANY, TO 2 MAY 1799, PARIS). German-French composer. Brother of Antoine Rigel, he was sent by Prince Löwenstein to be educated in music, first in Stuttgart under Niccolò Jommelli and subsequently in Mannheim under Franz Xaver Richter. Upon Richter’s recommendation he went to Paris, arriving in 1767. There he established a reputation as a performer and teacher, often appearing at the Concerts spirituels. By 1783 he was musical director of the orchestra, later functioning as an inspector during the Revolution. His music is reflective of some of the most dramatic trends of the time, making him one of the most progressive composers of the age in Paris. His works include 14 operas, four oratorios, two motets, two Revolutionary hymns, 22 symphonies, seven concertos, 12 quartets, and 18 keyboard works. RIGHINI, VINCENZO MARIA (22 JANUARY 1756, BOLOGNA, TO 19 AUGUST 1812, BOLOGNA). Italian composer and singer active in Germany. Following early musical education under Padre Giovanni Battista Martini, Righini made his debut as a tenor in 1768 at the age of 12. Within a few years he had joined the Bustelli troupe touring central Europe, eventually moving to Vienna in 1777, where he became known as a teacher of singing. During this time he received numerous private commissions for operas, thereby establishing a reputation as a composer. In 1787 he was appointed as Kapellmeister to Elector Carl Friedrich von Erthal in Mainz but left after only a few years for a similar post at the royal Prussian court in Potsdam, where his talents were welcomed by Johann Friedrich Reichardt. When the Kapelle was dissolved in 1798 he remained behind at his post, eventually retiring back to his homeland around 1811. Righini was considered as a highly competent and progressive composer who infused considerable drama into his music. His surviving works include 14 operas (mainly opera seria), five large cantatas, a Mass, a Requiem, a large Te Deum, a symphony, a flute concerto and an oboe concerto, and a pair of wind partitas, as well as over 150 Lieder. He also wrote a treatise on vocalizing around 1800. See also KREUSSER, GEORG ANTON. RIGLER, FRANZ PAUL (1747, AUSTRIA, TO 17 OCTOBER 1796, VIENNA). Austrian composer and keyboardist. Nothing is known about his origins or training. He first appears in 1760 in Pressburg (now Bratislava,
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Slovakia), where he was a professor at the Hauptnazionalschule, teaching music education and cantors. By 1785 he had moved to Vienna to teach privately, but his success was diminished by bouts of mental illness. His most important work is a treatise, Anweisung zum Gesange, und dem Klavier oder Orgel zu spielen of 1798. His music consists of a number of works for voice and orchestra, eight keyboard sonatas, three rondos, 12 odes, and 18 miscellaneous other compositions. RINCK, JOHANN CHRISTIAN HEINRICH (18 FEBRUARY 1770, ELGEISBURG, THURINGIA, GERMANY, TO 7 AUGUST 1846, DARMSTADT, GERMANY). German organist and composer. He was a favorite pupil of Johann Christian Kittel in Erfurt, from whom he learned the strict contrapuntal style of Johann Sebastian Bach. His proficiency allowed him to obtain the post of organist at the cathedral in Gießen in 1790, where he began to write popular chorale preludes. By 1805 he had become cantor at the main cathedral in Darmstadt, later adding the position of court organist. Although most of his compositional efforts post-date 1800, the few works written prior to this date—almost all for organ—demonstrate his adherence to the style of his teachers and predecessors; the counterpoint, however, is rather more free. He also published a magazine titled Cäcilia, which discussed music for the church in the early 19th century. RIPA Y BLANQUES, ANTONIO (bap. 27 DECEMBER 1721, TARAZONA, SPAIN, TO 3 NOVEMBER 1795, SEVILLE). Spanish composer. After early musical education as a chorister in Tarazona, he entered the priesthood and was appointed organist at the cathedral of Zaragoza in 1745. A year later he returned to Tarazona as mestre de capella, eventually holding similar posts at Cuenca (1753–1758), the Descalzas Reale convent in Madrid (1758–1768), and finally in Seville beginning in 1768. In 1786 his reputation allowed him to be elected to the Accademia filarmonica, and throughout the last several decades of his life, he was possibly the most important composer in New Spain, for his music was exported in considerable quantity throughout the Spanish provinces in the New World. He left over 500 compositions, including 140 villancicos (noted for their popular tunes and vibrant melodies), 12 Masses, 39 vespers, 10 Misereres, 11 Lamentations, and five complete responsories. His musical style is reminiscent of Joseph Haydn in its harmonic structure and colorful orchestration. RISTORI, GIOVANNI ALBERTO (ca. 1692, BOLOGNA, TO 7 FEBRUARY 1753, DRESDEN). Italian composer. The son of Tommaso Ristori, the leader of a popular traveling troupe, he began touring Germany while still a youth, writing his first opera in 1713. By 1731 he was in Moscow at
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the request of Empress Anna, where he wrote coronation music, but by 1736 he had moved to Warsaw, where he entered the service of Elector Friedrich August of Saxony and king of Poland. When Johann Adolph Hasse returned to Dresden, Ristori declined to enter into competition or rivalry. In 1738 he returned to Naples to oversee the production of one of his operas, but he returned to Germany, where he was appointed as vice Kapellmeister in 1750 on the death of Jan Dismas Zelenka. Much of Ristori’s music reflects the Baroque style of composers such as Zelenka, but a number of operas, intermezzos, and instrumental works show the formal structural divisions and harmonic patterns of the galant. Unfortunately, almost all of his music was destroyed during the bombing of Dresden in World War II. This consisted of 24 operas and intermezzos, eight cantatas, two oratorios, three Masses, 22 motets, three Requiems, a litany, and four symphonies. RITTER, GEORG WENZEL (7 APRIL 1748, MANNHEIM, TO 16 JUNE 1808, BERLIN). German bassoonist and composer. Son of a violinist, he was trained by members of the Mannheim orchestra and joined it as first bassoon around 1765. During the next several years he traveled frequently to Paris and London as a soloist, but in 1778 he moved with the orchestra to Munich. In 1788 he was appointed at a large salary as principal bassoon of the royal orchestra in Berlin, a position he retained until his death. Well known for his brilliant technique and smooth tone, he taught a number of students such as Etienne Ozi. His music, not surprisingly, was largely meant for his own performance and includes two concertos, six bassoon quartets, and several duets for two bassoons. RITTER, PETER (2 JULY 1763, MANNHEIM, TO 1 AUGUST 1846, MANNHEIM). German composer and cellist. A student of Innocenz Danzi and nephew of Georg Wenzel Ritter, he was trained by members of the Mannheim orchestra, as well as at Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler’s Mannheimer Tonschule. In 1779 he had his first symphony performed there, and by 1784 he had become principal cellist in the remnant of the orchestra that had remained behind in Mannheim. In 1788 he premiered his first Singspiel, Der Eremit auf Fromentera, based upon a play by August Kotzezbue. After the French occupation, he became director of the Mannheim theatre, a position he retained until his retirement in 1823. Ritter was well known for his adept composition of the Singspiel, being singled out by early 19thcentury composers such as Carl Maria von Weber as a model. His music, now all but unknown, includes 24 Singspiels, a large choral ode, two oratorios, two symphonies (one titled overture), a piano concerto, 12 violin concertos, 12 quartets (including six bassoon quartets), six cello duets, and seven cello
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sonatas. His music is characterized by an inventive sense of harmony and, in the vocal works, good lyrical melodies. ROBERTO, COSTANTINO (1700, NAPLES, TO 17 NOVEMBER 1773, NAPLES). Italian violinist and composer. Roberto studied at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto under Giovanni Veneziano and Alessandro Scarlatti. By 1737 he had become a violinist at the Teatro San Bartolomeo and Teatro San Carlo in the city. His first work, an oratorio, was premiered in 1732, and he began to achieve a reputation for his comic operas in the Neapolitan style. Most, if not all, of his music has been lost, however, so further studies are not possible. Known works include the oratorio and five opera buffas. ROCOCO. Derived from an architectural term, it refers primarily to French music of the 18th century that is elaborate and highly ornamented. Often used more broadly as a generic term for all European music, it mostly refers to the so-called galant style. RODE, [JACQUES] PIERRE JOSEPH (16 FEBRUARY 1774, BORDEAUX, FRANCE, TO 25 NOVEMBER 1830, CHÂTEAU DE BOURBON, DAMAZON, FRANCE). French violinist and composer. A student of André Joseph Fauvel, he was sent to Paris to complete his training under Giovanni Battista Viotti in 1787. In 1790 he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels in one of Viotti’s concertos, and thereafter had a position in the orchestra of the Théâtre de Monsieur. In 1795 he was appointed as professor of violin at the Conservatoire. In 1804 he sought a position in Russia and in 1814 was in Berlin. He retired to a castle outside of Paris in 1828. Rode was one of the most influential violin teachers of the period. His music includes 13 violin concertos, 22 string quartets, 24 duos, and four romances. RODIL, ANTONIO (ca. 1710, SPAIN, TO 13 JULY 1787, LISBON). Portuguese flautist, composer, and teacher of Spanish birth. Nothing is known about Rodil’s place of birth or musical education, although it has been speculated that he was trained under members of the Capilla Real in Madrid before moving to Portugal to take up the position of premier flautist of the Orquestra del la Real Cámera de Lisboa in the capital city. Here he remained his entire life, save for a brief sojourn in London in 1774, where he wrote his Sei Sonate per flauto traverse e basso, published in 1777. An English historian, Richard Twiss, wrote at that time that he “had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Rodil, a Spaniard, whose skill on German flute and hautbois is now well known in London.” He composed a variety of other chamber works for his instrument,
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but the existence of a symphony in D major in Morelia, Mexico (then New Spain), may indicate a broader connection to the Americas. His style is reminiscent of the works of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. His son, Joaquim Pedro Rodil (1774–1834) became one of the most important instrumentalists at the Teatro de San Carlos in Lisbon during the 19th century. RODRÍGUEZ, VICENTE (ca. 1695, ONTENIENTE, NEAR VALENCIA, SPAIN, TO 14 DECEMBER 1760, VALENCIA). Spanish composer and organist. Of his youth and training nothing is known, save that in 1715 he was awarded the post of organist at the Valencia cathedral above several older and more seasoned candidates. He remained there his entire life. His most important work is the compendium Libro de tocatas para cimbalo, which contains 30 sonatas in the style of Domenico Scarlatti showing traces of galant style. His other works include numerous versetti and fugues for organ, as well as two Masses and two motets. RODRÍGUEZ DE HITA, ANTONIO (18 JANUARY 1722, VALVERDE DE ACALÁ, SPAIN, TO 21 FEBRUARY 1787, MADRID). Spanish composer and music theorist. Following early education in his birthplace, he was appointed as maestro di capilla at the church of Acalá de Henares in 1738. In 1744 he moved to a similar post at the Palencia cathedral and in 1751 published his influential treatise Escala diotónico-cromático-enharmónica. In 1765 he was appointed as organist at the monastery of Encarnción in Madrid, where he had moved to compose zarzuelas. Rodríguez de Hita can be considered one of the foremost popular proponents of the native Spanish stage genres, although he composed sacred music that reflects Italianate stylistic practices. His music consists of 42 zarzuelas, six tonadillas, 13 Masses, a Requiem, 25 hymns, 10 antiphons, 19 Lamentations, 11 motets, 24 responsories, 21 Psalms, 46 villancicos, 27 cuatros, two pastorellas, four gozos, and an oratorio, in addition to several other smaller sacred works. Among his several treatises, the aforementioned and Diapasón instructive from 1757 can be considered his most important. See also IRIARTE, TOMÁS DE. ROEL DEL RÍO, ANTONIO VENTURA (1705, SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, SPAIN, TO 1767, MONDOÑEDO, SPAIN). Spanish composer, organist, and theorist. A pupil of Pedro Rodrigo, he was trained at the Oviedo cathedral, where he was probably ordained and served. In 1748 he wrote his first treatise, Institución harmonica, in which he outlined his own concepts of voice-leading and harmony. He is best known for his opposition to the keyboard methods of Antonio Soler. By 1764 he was maestro di capilla at the Mondoñedo cathedral. Apart from several works embedded within his treatises, his music has never been cataloged or studied.
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ROLLA, ALESSANDRO (22 APRIL 1757, PAVIA, ITALY, TO 15 SEPTEMBER 1841, MILAN). Italian violinist, violist, and composer. In 1770 he was sent to Milan to study under Giovanni Andrea Fioroni, making his debut as a virtuoso two years later. In 1782 he became a member of the Ducal orchestra in Parma, where his students included Nicolo Paganini. In 1802 he was called to Milan to direct the revival of the La Scala orchestra, and in 1808 he became professor of violin at the Milan Conservatory, retiring in 1833. Rolla was known as an extraordinary teacher on his instrument, writing a number of pedagogical works during his years in Milan that are still considered seminal exercises on the violin and viola even today. As a composer, his career paralleled that of Giovanni Battista Viotti, with similar styles and focus. His music consists of eight ballets, 12 symphonies, 39 concertos (including 15 for viola and 25 for violin), three sextets, three quintets, 19 quartets, 41 trios, 12 sonatas, 283 duets, and other smaller chamber works. His music is known by IB numbers. See also BAILLOU, LUIGI DE. ROLLE, JOHANN HEINRICH (23 DECEMBER 1716, QUEDLINBURG, PRUSSIA, GERMANY, TO 29 DECEMBER 1785, MAGDEBURG, GERMANY). German composer and musician. The son of a cantor, he received his earliest training from his father, under whose auspices he obtained the post as organist at the Peterskirche in Magdeburg in 1734. In 1740 he was employed as a violinist and later violist at the court of Frederick II, but in 1746 he returned to Magdeburg to become his father’s successor at the local Gymnasium. In 1764 he founded the Mittwochsgesellschaft, an intellectual circle whose membership included major authors of the period. Although he never again left the city, his music was distributed widely throughout Germany, where it was known for its dramatic style. It includes 33 oratorios and musical dramas (of which Der Tod Abels was considered a masterpiece by contemporary critics), 65 motets, 60 Lutheran cantatas, an opera, a Mass, eight Passions, around 55 Lieder, a pair of secular cantatas, 10 symphonies, 10 trio sonatas, 11 keyboard concertos, eight violin sonatas, and a large number of smaller chamber works. Although considered one of the major figures of the time, his music has largely been neglected. ROMAN, JOHAN HELMICH (26 OCTOBER 1694, STOCKHOLM, TO 20 NOVEMBER 1758, HARALDSMÅLA, KALMAR, SWEDEN). Swedish composer and violinist. Known as the “Father of Swedish Music,” Roman was born into a family of musicians. He received his earliest training from his father, and while very young he was employed as a member of the Hovkapell. In 1715 he received a scholarship to travel to England, where he studied under Johann Pepusch and performed in various ensembles in London. In 1721 he returned to Sweden, where he was appointed as kapellmästare in
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1727. In 1731 he inaugurated the Cavalierskonserter, a public concert series modeled upon the Concerts spirituels of Paris. In 1735 he traveled to Italy for two years, during which his musical style, heretofore inspired by George Frederick Handel, underwent a significant evolution, becoming galant. In 1740 he was admitted as a member of the Vitterhetsakademi (Royal Academy of Sciences), and began a concerted effort to write vocal works in Swedish. In 1744 his most famous work, the Drottningholmsmusik, composed for the wedding of Crown Prince Adolph Fredrik and Prussian princess Louisa Ulrika, was premiered. By the following year, however, deafness and other ills forced him to retire to his farm near Kalmar in southern Sweden; from then until his death he made only periodic visits to Stockholm. One of several Baroque composers able to reinvent themselves in the new Classical style, Roman wrote a prodigious amount of music, including 32 symphonies; celebratory works for Prince Golovin and the Swedish court; a Swedish Mass; concertos for flute, violin, oboe d’amore, and oboe; numerous sonatas for violin (including a series of Assaggi for solo violin) and flutes; and a large number of sacred works in Swedish. He also translated treatises by Pepusch and Gasparini, as well as Fux. His instrumental music has been cataloged according to BeRI (Bengtsson Roman Instrumentalmusik) numbers, while the vocal works are known by their HRV (Holm Roman Vokalwerk) numbers. No complete works edition exists, and there are numerous issues of authenticity that are in need of resolution. He was close friends with Johan Agrell, with whom he exchanged music, and his only student was Per Brant. ROMANZINI [BLAND], MARIA THERESA (ca. 1769, PROBABLY CAEN, FRANCE, TO 15 JANUARY 1838, LONDON). English singer and composer. Born of Italian-Jewish parents who were part of a touring company, she began her career as an actress and singer in 1780 performing for Italian puppet shows in England. By 1790 she was employed regularly as a soprano at Drury Lane Theatre, where she had a reputation for a sweet voice. For the better part of two decades she was a popular singer on the London stages. Her music consists of a number of songs written in the ballad style. ROMBERG, ANDREAS JACOB (27 APRIL 1767, VECHTA, NEAR MÜNSTER, GERMANY, TO 10 NOVEMBER 1821, GOTHA, GERMANY). German composer and violinist. The son of Gerhard Romberg, he was inseparable from his like-aged cousin, Bernhard Heinrich Romberg, with whom he shared an identical training and early career, both being students of Andrea Luchesi. He was taken on tour with his father in 1782, where he performed at the Concerts spirituels with some success. He and
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his cousin then obtained positions with the Bonn court orchestra, only to have to flee to Hamburg in 1793 in advance of the French occupation. In 1795 he visited Italy and the following year Vienna, where he and his cousin parted ways. In 1800 he returned to Hamburg, where he was an active teacher and performer, receiving a doctorate in music from the University of Kiel in 1809. In 1815 he was appointed Kapellmeister at the court in Gotha. A prolific composer, his works are characterized by a dramatic content, often expansive in terms of form and structure. These include eight operas, a setting of Friedrich Klopstock’s epic Messias, a Mass, a Te Deum, two odes, several Psalms, over 20 Lieder, nine symphonies, 20 violin concertos (and five sinfonia concertantes), 25 string quartets, 10 quintets, an octet, three violin sonatas, and 17 duos for strings. ROMBERG, ANGELICA (21 JULY 1775, MÜNSTER, GERMANY, TO ca. 1803, MÜNSTER). German soprano and sister of Bernhard Heinrich Romberg. She was trained by her father and in 1775 joined the Münster cathedral as a soloist. She held this position until 1803, when she apparently resigned or passed away. She composed a small number of songs. ROMBERG, BERNHARD ANTON (6 MARCH 1742, MÜNSTER, GERMANY, TO 14 DECEMBER 1814, MÜNSTER). German cellist and bassoonist. He was trained by members of the local court orchestra in Münster. In 1782 he made his debut in Paris at the Concerts spirituels. In 1799 he stayed for several years in Hamburg during the French occupation, and then he returned to Münster. He was the father of Bernhard Heinrich Romberg, whom he trained. His compositions, often confused with those of his son, include several sonatas for his instruments. ROMBERG, BERNHARD HEINRICH (13 NOVEMBER 1767, DINKLAGE, OLDENBURG, GERMANY, TO 13 AUGUST 1841, HAMBURG). German composer and cellist. Son of Bernhard Anton Romberg and cousin to Andreas Jacob Romberg, his career path followed an identical one to his cousin. Trained by his father and Andrea Luchesi, he was employed with the Münster court orchestra and went on tour to Paris in 1782, where he performed at the Concerts spirituels. He and his cousin subsequently obtained positions at the Bonn court orchestra in 1790, later moving to Hamburg in 1793 to escape French troops and in 1795 touring Italy before winding up in Vienna a year later. In 1797, however, Romberg left to tour Iberia on his own, returning to Paris in 1801 to teach cello at the Conservatoire. In 1805 he was appointed to the court orchestra in Berlin and in 1815 became second Kapellmeister. In 1819 he resigned and devoted the
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remainder of his life to building a piano manufacturing business in Hamburg. Romberg was a significant composer of method books for his instrument, in addition to being a progressive, dramatic, and facile composer. His works include two motets, six stage works (some monodramas), numerous Lieder, nine symphonies, 19 concertos (mainly violin and cello), 50 rondos for strings and piano, 11 string quartets, six trios, and a number of keyboard works. See also ROMBERG, ANGELICA. ROMBERG, GERHARD HEINRICH (8 AUGUST 1745, MÜNSTER, GERMANY, TO 14 NOVEMBER 1819, MÜNSTER). German clarinetist and brother of Bernhard Anton Romberg. Like his brother, he was employed at the court in Münster, eventually becoming music director at the court. He taught his son, Andreas Romberg, the violin. He has been little studied. RÖMHILD, JOHANN CASPAR (1733, SAXONY, TO 1816, LÜDERSHAGEN, GERMANY). German organist and composer. Trained in Braunschweig and at the University of Helmstedt, he became cantor at Laumberg about 1760 and choir director in Lüneberg a few years later. In 1776 he was cantor at the Güstrow Gymnasium, moving to a similar post in Parchim in 1795. His music is conservative in style, with galant traits, though little of it has survived or been studied. Extant works consist of five cantatas, though he is known to have composed more. RONDO. Also known as rondeau. Both a musical form and genre that is characterized by a repeating theme that returns several times throughout in the tonic key. Early forms consist of couplets interspersed with a repeating refrain. The conventional form is chiastic (ABACABA), but variations of this occur frequently, most often in a short form (ABACA). The genre, which adheres to the formal structure and is often used alongside the sonata principle (e.g., Sonata-Rondo), was often used as the final movements in concertos, concertante movements, symphonies, and other genres for instruments. It was used commonly by a majority of composers during the 18th century. RONDÒ. Although the term spelled in this manner often refers to the normal rondo, it is used also to distinguish a particular vocal genre of the 18th century, generally found in concert arias and consisting of a two-part form divided into slow and fast sections, often prefaced by an accompanied recitative. The fast portion may not always be in conventional rondo form. Examples of this type of music were written by Johann Christian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
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ROSALIA. An 18th-century term used in Italy and France (Rosalie) to denote a string or sequence of repetitions, either a note higher, or a note lower of the same passage or modulation, commonly using a series of suspensions as bridge or transitional material. Charles Burney defines this in his travel diary for Germany and Northern Europe pertaining to the works of Franz Xaver Richter. ROSENGART, PATER AEMILIAN (29 MARCH 1757, KIRCHHEIM, SWABIA, GERMANY, TO 29 MAY 1810, TANNHEIM, BAVARIA, GERMANY). German monastic composer and teacher. Following early training in local monastic schools in Ulm, he took his vows at the monastery of Ochsenhausen in 1775, becoming ordained in 1781. The remainder of his life was spent as a professor of theology and philosophy at the school, though in 1795 he also became musical director of the priory. In 1804 he retired to Tannheim when the monasteries were secularized. Rosengart was an active composer whose works have been little studied. Around 90 works survive, including 45 hymns, a Mass, six responsories, 15 sacred songs, and four offertories. All are in the modern Italianate style of the time. ROSER, JOHANN GEORG (bap. 19 MARCH 1740, NAARN, NEAR LINZ, AUSTRIA, TO 23 SEPTEMBER 1797, LINZ). Austrian composer and organist. The son of a schoolmaster, he followed in his father’s footsteps in his hometown before coming to the attention of Leopold Mozart, who recommended him as Kapellmeister at the Linz cathedral around 1770. He is credited with the invention of an enharmonic keyboard instrument, but most of his compositions were written for local purposes. These include a Mass, two Requiems, six graduals, and a number of other sacred works. Almost all of this music has been lost, making a stylistic determination of them impossible. RÖSER, VALENTIN (ca. 1735, PROBABLY NEAR MANNHEIM, GERMANY, TO 1782, PARIS). German-French clarinetist and composer. Little is known of his early life or education, although he claimed an association with the Mannheim orchestra and Johann Stamitz. He first appears in history as a clarinetist in Paris in 1754, where he soon became a staple on the programs at the Concerts spirituels. By 1760 he was a member of the musical ensemble of the Prince of Monaco, although whether this was an official appointment or not is debatable. In 1769 he attached himself to the duc de Orléans, obtaining a pension from him several years later. He later made his living as a teacher and theorist. He is best known for one of three treatises, the Essai d’instruction à l’usage de ceux qui composent pour la clarinette et
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le cor published in 1764, one of the first to deal with transpositional issues of both instruments. As a composer, he wrote six orchestral trios, 20 symphonies, six quartets, 24 duos, and around 30 sonatas for various instruments and keyboard. ROSETTI, [FRANZ] ANTONIO (ca. 1750, LEITMERITZ, BOHEMIA [NOW LITOMĚŘICE, CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 30 JUNE 1792, LUDWIGSLUST, POMERANIA, GERMANY). Bohemian-German composer of Italianate parentage. Although the place of his birth is known, little information exists about his parents or childhood, save that he must have been educated at the local schools. At an early age he was enrolled in a Jesuit school in Prague (possibly the Collegium Klementinum), with the intention of entering the priesthood. There his musical education may have included Jan Strobach. He appears to have been a musician in the Orlov regiment, probably in Ukraine, after the dissolution of the Jesuit monasteries, but in 1773 he was taken on as a musician at the court of Duke Kraft Ernst of OettingenWallerstein, who apparently found Rosetti wandering and destitute. In 1781 he was given leave to visit Paris, and upon his return was eventually elevated to Kapellmeister. Financial difficulties in 1789, however, forced him to seek employment at the court of Duke Friedrich Franz of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Rosetti was a prolific and inventive composer, whose command of particular woodwind and brass instruments was superior. He was skilled in inserting considerable drama into technically complex works, and his harmonies and melodies are highly developed. His works include two oratorios, 13 Masses, four Requiems, a host of smaller sacred works, 82 Lieder, five large-scale cantatas/odes, at least 44 symphonies, five sinfonia concertantes, at least 51 concertos (with emphasis upon flute and horn), 38 serenades/parthies/ dances, five string trios, 13 string quartets, 13 keyboard trios, 11 keyboard sonatas, and numerous smaller chamber works. His music is known by K [Kaul] and Murray numbers. See also HIEBSCH, JOHANN NEPOMUK MARQUAND; WITT, FRIEDRICH. ROTTACH, PATER MEINGOSUS (1711, LEUTKIRCH, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 1760, WEINGARTEN MONASTERY, BAVARIA). German monastic composer. Nothing is known about his early training, save that in 1730 he took Holy Orders in the Benedictine monastery of Weingarten. There he taught philosophy in the monastery school and functioned as cellar master and regens chori. He was known for the good voicing of his music. Surviving works include 17 antiphons, several offertories, and a host of smaller church works.
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ROUSSEAU, JEAN-JACQUES (28 JUNE 1712, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, TO 2 JULY 1778, ERMENONVILLE, NEAR PARIS). French polymath, composer, theoretician, philosopher, and writer. Born in a province at the time a French-dominated Huguenot republic, Rousseau was educated locally before being sent to Turin and the court of Savoy by Françoise-Louise de Warens. By the age of 27 he had moved to Lyons, where he made a living as a tutor. Moving to Paris in 1742 he applied to the Académie des sciences with a new numbered system of musical notation. In 1743 he entered the service of the Comte de Montaigue, through whom he became fascinated with Italian opera. In 1744 he returned to Paris, where he became well known in French intellectual circles, eventually making significant contributions to Diderot’s famed Encyclopédie. In 1752 his pastoral opera Le devin du village was perceived as a significant event, although he turned down the offer of a lifetime pension by Louis XV. His own preference for Italian opera, however, made him a principal figure in the controversy that became the Querelle des bouffons. By 1762, however, his political beliefs forced him to flee to Switzerland, although he returned to France under the patronage of Lord Keith; his home at Môtiens was stoned by a mob, and he left for England in 1767, where he wrote his Dictionnare de musique. He returned to Paris in 1770, where he wrote his Dialogues, one of the earliest works on music criticism and a sequel to his 1753 overview Lettre sur la musique française. While Rousseau was best known for his activities as a writer and philosopher, as well as his treatises on music theory and his lexicographical work, he was also a composer who wrote seven operas (along with numerous Recueils), five motets, two symphonies, numerous songs, a pair of trio sonatas, and many smaller miscellaneous chamber works. See also DUPHLY, JACQUES; PHILIDOR, FRANÇOIS-ANDRÉ DANICAN. ROVANTINI, FRANZ GEORG (1757, BONN, TO 1781, BONN). German-Italian violinist. Little is known of him, save that he was sent by the Elector of Bonn to study violin in Italy, returning in 1778, where he lodged with the Beethoven family, to whom he was related, teaching Ludwig van Beethoven the violin and viola. He also composed a few works for his instrument, since lost. RUDOLPHE, JEAN-JOSEPH (14 OCTOBER 1730, STRASBOURG, ALSACE, TO 12 AUGUST 1812, PARIS). French-Alsatian horn player and composer. A student of Jean-Marie Leclair le cadet, he traveled to Italy and in 1761 to Stuttgart, where he became a pupil of Niccolò Jommelli. In
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1767 he returned to Paris, where he performed at the Concerts spirituels and as first hornist with the orchestra of the Prince de Condé. In 1785 he wrote a treatise Théorie d’accompagnement et de composition, which displayed thorough knowledge of compositional styles of the period. After the French Revolution, he was appointed as professor of horn at the new Conservatoire in 1797. Although he was known for his introduction of hand-stopping as a technique, his own compositions focused on the stage. He wrote three ballets, four operas, and several concertos for horn. See also LEBRUN, JEAN. RÜEFF, PATER LEONHARD [JOSEPH LEONHARD] (11 FEBRUARY 1760, BUCHAU, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 5 FEBRUARY 1828, RENNHARDSWEILER, GERMANY). German monastic composer. After early studies in Augsburg, he entered the Benedictine monastery of Weingarten in 1779, being ordained five years later. He functioned as a chaplain there, later becoming archivist at Hofen. After the secularization in 1803 he became professor of theology at the Abbey of St. Lambrecht in Austria, and a year later he was sent to Buchau, and later to Rennhardsweiler, as chaplain. His music has been little studied but consists mainly of sacred works, including six Masses, a vesper setting, a Requiem, an offertory, six Tantum ergos, and a motet. RUGE, FILIPPO (ca. 1725, ROME, TO ca. 1767, PARIS). Italian composer and flautist. Nothing is known about his early life or training; he first appears around 1751 in London, where he performed at the public concerts. In 1753 he arrived in Paris, where he made a successful debut at the Concerts spirituels. By 1757 he was a member of the court musical ensemble of the Marquis de Seignelay, but he disappears from records in 1767, presumably the date of his death. His music, little studied, includes 12 symphonies, six flute concertos, two vocal duets, six canzonetts, 35 flute sonatas, 18 trio sonatas, and 12 duo sonatas. RUSH, GEORGE (ca. 1736, LONDON, TO ca. 1790, STANSTED, ENGLAND). English composer, guitarist, and keyboardist. Of his youth, nothing is known, save for indications that he studied in Italy. In 1764 he made his debut as a composer with two operas at Drury Lane Theatre, later composing other stage works and pasticcios for Covent Garden. Around 1770 he visited The Hague, where he may have held a post until about 1780, when he apparently returned to England. The last record of him is a marriage in the town of Stansted, where he presumably lived the remainder of his life in retirement. His music has been largely overlooked, thanks to a harsh criticism by Charles Burney. His works include an ode, four operas, four concertos, two
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symphonies, three quartets, 14 violin sonatas, 18 lessons for the keyboard, six sonatas for violin and guitar, and several other smaller chamber works. RUST, FRIEDRICH WILHELM (6 JULY 1739, WÖRLITZ, SAXONY, GERMANY, TO 28 FEBRUARY 1796, DESSAU, GERMANY). German composer. Son of a violinist, Rust received his earliest training from his father, Johann Ludwig Anton Rust. In 1751 he attended primary school in Gröbzig, and in 1755 he went to the Lutheran Gymnasium in Cöthen. By 1758 he was studying law at Halle University, taking lessons from Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. Over the next six years, on Bach’s recommendation, he furthered his musical education with Carl Höckh and Franz Benda in Dresden and Berlin, as well as Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. In 1765 he was sent to Italy, where he became acquainted with Giuseppe Tartini and Padre Giovanni Battista Martini. Upon his return in 1769 he was appointed as the head of the public concerts in Dessau, later in 1775 becoming the musical director at the local court. His music has been little studied but includes six operas, eight large cantatas, over 100 Lieder, and 67 sonatas for two instruments (and a further 24 for keyboard), as well as three quartets (one for nail violin), three trios, and four sets of variations. RUST [RUSTI], GIACOMO (ca. 1741, ROME, TO 1786, BARCELONA). Italian composer. Probably of German parentage, he attended the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini before continuing back to Rome to study under Rinaldo da Capua. In 1763 his first opera, La Contadina in corte, was premiered in Venice successfully, leading to commissions for operas throughout Italy. His fame reached the Archbishop of Salzburg, who in 1777 offered him the post of Kapellmeister. Rust left after only a year due to his dislike of the climate, returning to Venice to compose further operas. In 1783 he was appointed as maestro di capilla at the cathedral in Barcelona. His music reflects the popular Italian style of the time and includes 27 opera buffas, as well as several concert arias. RUTTINI, GIOVANNI MARCO (23 APRIL 1723, FLORENCE, TO 22 DECEMBER 1797, FLORENCE). Italian keyboardist and composer. He received his education in Naples at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini under Leonardo Leo and Nicola Fago. In 1744 he was appointed as a teacher at the Partenope institute in the city, but by 1748, following a brief sojourn in his hometown, he arrived in Prague, where he became one of the leading opera composers in the city. In 1754 he accepted commissions from both Dresden and Berlin, and in 1757 he was invited by Empress Elisabeth of Russia to compose music in St. Petersburg. In 1761, he returned to Florence and
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the following year was elected to the Accademia filarmonica. By 1774 he was appointed as director of the Florentine Teatro degli Intrepidi and at the court of Duke Leopold of Tuscany. Ruttini can be considered one of the premier keyboardists of the period, publishing his sonatas for the fortepiano that demonstrate solid Classical forms and style. His music consists of 19 operas, three oratorios, five cantatas, a concerto for fortepiano, and 81 published fortepiano sonatas. See also NERI[-BONDI], MICHELE. RYBA, JAKUB JAN (26 OCTOBER 1765, PŘEŠTICE, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 8 APRIL 1815, ROŽMITÁL POD TŘEMŠÍNEM, BOHEMIA). Bohemian composer and teacher. He studied at the Priarist Gymnasium in Prague in 1780 before deciding to become a schoolteacher at Rožmitál, where he spent the remainder of his life. Subject to bouts of depression, he committed suicide by slitting his throat with a straight razor in the nearby woods. Although known only locally, Ryba was a prolific composer who often used Czech folk songs in his works. These include 90 Masses, seven responsories, 100 motets, six operas, 31 Czech sacred songs and 30 secular songs, 50 sacred arias, 50 pastorellas, 87 symphonies, seven quintets, 72 quartets, 48 trios, 56 duos, 38 sonatas, and 35 miscellaneous secular works, as well as over 650 dances.
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S SABATINO, NICOLA (ca. 1705, NAPLES, TO 4 APRIL 1796, NAPLES). Italian composer. The son of a violinist, he received his early education at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana in his hometown. His teachers included Francesco Feo and Ignazio Prota. Although he wrote a number of works during his youth, he first gained attention of the public in 1735 with a serenata, Il tempo felice. By 1750 he was receiving commissions for operas in both Rome and Naples, and in 1758 he became maestro di cappella at the church of San Giacomo degli Spanioli. He retired in 1788. As a composer, his music is fully representative of the Neapolitan style of the period. His works include four operas (with several others lost), eight oratorios, five Masses, 16 Tantum ergos, 18 Psalms and motets, six cantatas, and an instrumental trio sonata. SACCHINI, ANTONIO [MARIA GASPARE GIAOCCHINO] (14 JUNE 1730, FLORENCE, ITALY, TO 6 OCTOBER 1786, PARIS). Italian composer. He was taken by his father at an early age to Naples, where he studied violin under Nicola Fiorenza and composition under Francesco Durante at the Conservatorio Santa Maria di Loreto. In 1756 he composed his first opera, Fra Donato, which launched his career as a composer of opera in Italy. Although he served for several years as an assistant maestro di cappella at the conservatory, he abandoned his teaching profession by 1763 to concentrate on commissions from throughout the country, eventually establishing a reputation as a dramatic and talented composer. In 1768 while in Venice he became director of the Conservatorio dell’Ospedaletto, teaching singing to students such as Nancy Storace. In 1772 he moved to London, where he obtained a great success with his operas but was known for a dissolute lifestyle. This forced Sacchini to travel to Paris in 1781, where he was caught in the middle of the feud between Niccolò Piccinni and Christoph Willibald von Gluck, both of whose partisans condemned him as a member of the other’s faction. In 1786 he produced his most enduring work, Oedip à Colonne, at the request of Marie Antoinette, but his early death from his lifestyle and acute gout prevented him from realizing its success.
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As a composer, Sacchini was known for his dramatic musical style, particularly in serious opera. He was able to move fluidly between both the Italian and French styles, often using varied forms and progressive harmonic structures. His works include 47 operas, seven oratorios, two symphonies, six string quartets, six trio sonatas, and 12 violin sonatas or lessons, in addition to numerous insertion arias, Masses, motets, Psalms, and other sacred works. See also ZINGARELLI, NICCOLÒ ANTONIO. SADARANG [NIYAMAT KHAN] (1670 TO 1748). Indian performer and composer. He served the Mogol emperor Mohammed Shah for his entire life, developing out of the Dhrupal tradition a type of Classical song form called khayal. SÁENZ GARCÍA, TOMÁS (ca. 1710, ALICANTE, SPAIN, TO 1767, LORCA, SPAIN). Spanish composer. His earliest career was at Alcázar at the cathedral of San Juan before he moved to Lorca in 1731, obtaining the post of maestro di capilla. Although a prolific composer of sacred music, including 13 Lamentations, his music has remained all but unknown and unstudied. SAILER, PATER SEBASTIAN [JOHANN VALENTIN] (12 FEBRUARY 1714, SCHWÄBISCHE WEISSENHORN, TO 7 MARCH 1777, OBERMARCHTAL MONASTERY). Austrian cleric and composer. At an early age he enrolled in the school at the Premonstraterian priory in Obermarchtal. He was ordained a priest after the conclusion of his education and embarked upon a mission of creating popular didactic works, such as the 1743 Singspiel Die Schöpfung des ersten Menschen, which became regional successes. He also published texts to other sacred plays and sermons that were widely read and resulted in 1767 in Sailer preaching before Empress Maria Theresia. He later functioned as a parish priest in Reutlingendorf and Dieterskirchen beginning in 1773. Sailer wrote simple music in a folk vein, composing several religious Singspiels and cantatas. SAINETE. See TONADILLA. SAINT-AMANS, LOUIS JOSEPH (26 JUNE 1749, MARSEILLES, FRANCE, TO ca. 1820, PARIS). French composer, singer, and conductor. Although he trained in law, Saint-Amans abandoned his studies to devote his life to music as a member of a wandering troupe in Provence. In 1769 he arrived in Paris, where he made his debut at the Comédie-Italienne. By 1778 he had become director of the orchestra at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels,
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returning to Paris in 1784 as a teacher at the École royale de chant. Disputes led him to Brest, but he returned by 1810 to Paris, though without his former success as a musician and teacher. His music has been little studied but consists of 27 operas, three oratorios, a Revolutionary hymn, five motets, a concerto, and two sonatas. SAINT-GEORGES, JOSEPH BOULOGNE, LE CHEVALIER DE (25 DECEMBER 1745, BAILIF, NEAR BASSE-TERRE, GUADELOUPE, FRENCH CARIBBEAN, TO 10 JUNE 1799, PARIS). French-Caribbean composer, violinist, swordsman, equestrian, and military commander. Son of a manumitted African mother and French plantation owner (his last name was apparently taken from one of the plantations his father owned), he grew up in the vicinity of Basse-Terre. His family went to France in 1747 to escape difficulties with the law but returned to Guadeloupe a few years later. In 1753 they moved permanently, first to Bordeaux then to Paris, where he underwent his earliest musical education, probably under Antonio Lolli and a few years later François-Joseph Gossec. In 1769 he became a violinist in the Concerts des amateurs, later becoming its director. During this time, beginning with his debut as a soloist in 1772, he became famous for his technical proficiency on his instruments, earning the epithet as the finest violinist of the age. A proposal to make him musical director of the Opéra in 1776 was blocked by four singers who refused to work with a “mulatto.” In 1781 he founded the Loge Olympique orchestra sponsored by one of Paris’s largest masonic lodges; he conducted the premieres of Haydn’s so-called Paris symphonies, which he had helped commission. In 1787 he traveled to London, where his prowess as a violinist and swordsman were thought legendary. A supporter of the Revolution, he was given command of troops from France’s colonial domains in 1792, but a year later he was denounced and spent 18 months in prison. Disillusioned, he sailed to Hispanola to participate in the newly independent Haiti of Toussant l’Ouverture. There the corruption and poor living standards further eroded his health and state of mind. He returned to Paris to conduct the Cercle d’harmonie orchestra, but was unable to escape poverty. During his lifetime, Saint-Georges was a remarkable bon vivant who freely interacted in the upper circles of Parisian society. His music was known for its tunefulness and technical brilliance, using devices such as bariolage that were extremely uncommon. His 1778 opera Le partie du chasse was well received. In all he wrote six operas, 13 violin concertos, 10 sinfonia concertantes, a bassoon concerto, two symphonies, nine violin sonatas, 18 string quartets, and several other smaller pieces. His multifaceted personality has been the subject of both literature (six novels) and a motion picture. He is reckoned as one of the greatest Afro-Caribbean musicians of the period.
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SAINT-GERMAIN, LE COMTE DE (ca. 1710[?] TO 27 FEBRUARY 1784, ECKENFÖRDE, SCHLESWIG, GERMANY). Enigmatic figure, diplomat, and raconteur. Although nothing is known about this colorful figure in 18th-century intellectual life, largely thanks to a mythology surrounding his origins and his own contradictory self-promotion, it is possible that his birth name was Lipót Lajos György József Antal Rákóczi, son of Transylvanian prince Francis II Rákóczi, of Hungarian ancestry. Throughout his life he told contradictory stories of his beginnings, but it is clear he was well educated and for the better part of his life wealthy. He first appears in England around 1740, where he was described by Horace Walpole in a letter to Sir Horace Mann in 1745 in a variety of strange ways. He also became the confidant of a wide variety of personages from Madame Pompadour to Voltaire, and Cassanova. He served as a diplomatic courier and negotiator during the Seven Years’ War, and by 1770 he resided in Paris. Later he went to Leipzig and subsequently to Schleswig, in both places of which he was known as an alchemist and mystic. As a musician, he was praised by Charles Burney for his popular arias in Italian, as well as his masterful violin performance. He composed a series of works that were published in London between 1745 and 1758, including a set of three songs for the opera L’Incostanza delusa (1750), a set of almost 40 Italian arias titled Musique raisonée selon le bon sens aux Dames Angloise qui aiment le vrai gout en cet art (1750), six sonatas for two violins and basso (1750), a set of solos for violin (1758), and several songs in English (1747–1750). His style is similar to that of late Francesco Geminiani, known for its fluid melody and competent harmonies. SALA, NICOLA (7 APRIL 1713, TOCCO-CAUDIO, ITALY, TO 31 AUGUST 1801, NAPLES). Italian composer and teacher. His musical training was received in Naples at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria della Pietà dei Turchini under Leonardo Leo beginning in 1732, and while he was still there he functioned as Leo’s assistant. His first success appears to have been an opera, Vologeso, which may have been produced in Rome as early as 1737. He remained at the conservatory as a teacher, eventually in 1787 becoming assistant headmaster and headmaster in 1793. He held this position until he retired in 1799. His most important work is a treatise, Regole del contrappunto pratico, published in Naples in 1794 and containing a complete course in harmony and counterpoint. It is, however, only one of eight on this subject he wrote during his lifetime. His musical style was deemed conservative but has been little studied. Works include 10 operas, numerous insertion arias, four Masses, 12 Misereres, five Psalms, 12 other sacred works, a madrigal, and eight treatises on counterpoint. His students include Luigi Caruso, Carlo
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Lenzi, Antoine della Maria, and Angelo Tarchi. See also GHERARDESCHI, GIUSEPPE; SONYER, TOMÁS. SALARI, FRANCESCO (1751, BERGAMO, ITALY, TO 28 DECEMBER 1828, BERGAMO). Italian composer and teacher. Trained at the local cathedral as a chorister, he was sent to Naples to study at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana under Niccolò Piccinni. In 1776 he transferred to Milan to finish his education under Giovanni Andrea Fioroni. He spent the bulk of his career in Venice, where he taught singing and wrote stage works, returning to Bergamo in 1805. His students included Gaetano Donizetti. His music, little studied, includes four operas, three motets, and numerous other sacred works. SALAS Y CASTRO, ESTEBAN (25 DECEMBER 1725, HAVANA, CUBA, TO 14 JULY 1803, SANTIAGO DE CUBA). Cuban composer and organist. Trained as a chorister at the church of San Cristóbal in Havana, he later became both the organist and choir director there. He came to the attention of Bishop Pablo Morell, who appointed him director of music at the cathedral in Santiago de Cuba in 1764. There he reorganized the ensemble and taught from his residence in the seminary of San Basilia a Magro. His music is known by its lyrical simplicity and carefully constructed harmony. Works include 31 villancicos, 18 cantatas, 41 motets, seven Masses, seven Sequences, four pastorellas, five hymns, 12 antiphons, five Psalms, eight Lamentations, two litanies, and four Passions. He can be considered the most important composer in the Caribbean during this period. See also VILLAVICENCIO, JUAN NICOLÁS. SALES, PIETRO POMPEO (1729, BRESCIA, ITALY, TO 21 NOVEMBER 1797, HANAU, GERMANY). Italian-Austrian composer. Orphaned at an early age, he obtained his first position with Baron Pircher in Innsbruck, where he attended university. Becoming the director of a touring Italian opera troupe in 1752, he traveled northern Europe, eventually settling in Darmstadt in 1756 as the Kapellmeister for the Margrave of Hessen-Darmstadt. In 1758 he was elected a member of the Accademia filarmonica and in 1768 obtained a position with the Archbishop of Trier at Ehrenbreitstein, becoming Kapellmeister in 1787. He toured frequently throughout his life, and at the end was forced to flee French forces. His music was well respected but achieved limited circulation, and therefore has been little studied. Works include eight operas, 11 oratorios, four Masses, two litanies, five offertories, an antiphon, five symphonies, five concertos, a serenade, two trios, and a harpsichord sonata.
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SALIERI, ANTONIO (18 AUGUST 1750, LEGNANO, ITALY, TO 7 MAY 1825, VIENNA). Austro-Italian composer. After studying with his brother Francesco, he received further education from Giuseppe Simone, a student of Padre Giovanni Battista Martini. Taken as a protégé by Giovanni Mocenjo, he continued his studies with Giovanni Pescetti and Ferdinando Pacini in Venice in 1765. The following year he was taken by Florian Gassmann to Vienna, where in 1770 his first operas were performed. In 1778 he returned to Italy and succeeded in establishing a reputation for his works for the stage, and upon his return to Vienna in 1780 he wrote a German Singspiel, Der Rauchfangskehrer, for his newly emerging national theatre. Thereafter Christoph Willibald von Gluck took him on as a disciple, allowing him secretly to compose Les Danaïdes for Paris. This and work as a tutor to the royal family allowed him to be appointed as hofKapellmeister in 1788. By 1790 he began to withdraw from active duty, leaving much of the work to his student, Joseph Weigl, and although he had a revived career as an opera composer a few years later, his last work, Die Neger, was written in 1804. As a teacher, Salieri had numerous pupils who made major contributions to the world of music, including Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert. For many years he was the head of the Tonkünstlersozietät and in 1815 was responsible for programming the music that accompanied the Treaty of Vienna conference. Although his reputation has suffered through mostly unfounded rumors of his relationship with Mozart, he must be considered one of the main composers of the entire era. His music demonstrates good orchestrational skill, dramatic use of harmony, excellent attention to form, and a good grasp of theoretical principles. A prolific composer, his works include 41 operas, five oratorios, five Masses, two Requiems, 13 graduals, 31 offertories, 18 introits, seven Psalms, 10 hymns, 12 motets, 17 choruses, 96 insertion or concert arias, 13 secular cantatas, 180 canons, 20 vocal quartets, 70 vocal trios, 50 vocal duets, 45 songs, five ballets, four symphonies, seven concertos and sinfonia concertantes, five serenades, and a large amount of smaller chamber works. He cataloged his own sacred music around 1817, but his works have been cataloged according to A numbers. See also CAVALIERI, CATERINIA MAGDALENA JOSEPHA; DA PONTE, LORENZO; SÜßMAYER, FRANZ XAVER. SALOMON, JOHANN PETER (bap. 20 FEBRUARY 1745, BONN, TO 28 NOVEMBER 1815, LONDON). German-English composer, violinist, and impresario. The son of a court oboist and born in the same house as Ludwig van Beethoven, he entered the court orchestra in Bonn in 1758. By 1764 he was employed as the Konzertmeister of the ensemble of Prince
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Heinrich of Prussia at Rheinsberg. Around 1780 he left that position, making his way to England where he debuted at Covent Garden in 1781. Thereafter, he made his career as an impresario of the public concerts, called informally the “Salomon Concerts.” He functioned as organizer, arranger of music for publication of works such as Joseph Haydn’s London symphonies, and as conductor. He was one of the founders of the London Philharmonic Society. He died as the result of being thrown by a horse. He was best known for his facilitation of the appearance of musicians such as Joseph Haydn, but he was also a composer. His music includes six operas, three oratorio/odes, 18 canzonetts/songs, numerous catches and glees, several violin concertos (of which only one survives), seven duos for violin/cello, and a number of smaller chamber works. His quartets and trios have been lost. See also DELAVAL, MADAME; FIORILLO, FREDERIGO; MÜLLER, CHRISTIAN FRIEDRICH. SALOMONI, GIUSEPPE, JR. (ca. 1730, VENICE, TO ca. 1805, MOSCOW). Italian dancer, choreographer, and composer. The son of Giuseppe Salomoni Sr., he no doubt received his early training from his father, he was head dancer at the Teatro San Moisé in Venice in 1755, the year he was called to Lisbon. The remainder of his career was in Italy until 1765, when he was offered a post in Stuttgart. The next year, however, he accepted a position at the Petrovsky Theatre in Moscow. Much of the early Russian ballet owes its existence to his training. He was associated both with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Giovanni Paisiello. SALOMONI, GIUSEPPE, SR. (ca. 1710, VENICE, TO 22 SEPTEMBER 1777, VIENNA). Also known as Giuseppetto di Vienna and Salamoncino. Italian dancer, choreographer, and composer. He began his career in Vienna, but he later worked in Venice, Padua, and, after 1747, London at the Drury Lane Theatre. He worked closely with composers such as Niccolò Jommelli and Baldassare Galuppi, and in 1765 he moved to Stuttgart, often being called to Vienna for work as a choreographer. See also SALOMONI, GIUSEPPE, JR. SAMMARTINI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (1700/1, MILAN, TO 15 JANUARY 1775, MILAN). Italian composer, organist, and teacher. The brother of Giuseppe Sammartini, he was the son of a French oboist, Alexis SaintMartin, who gave him his first instruction in music. A set of vocal works published in 1725 allowed him to obtain the post of maestro di cappella at the church of Sant’Ambrogio, as well as other churches in the city of Milan, where he remained his entire life.
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A prolific composer, he was much sought after, particularly for his sacred music and instrumental pieces. An early pioneer of the symphony, Sammartini began writing independent pieces in the new genre as early as 1732 in three and four parts, with their first documented appearance in his opera Memet composed for Lodi. They take on increasingly complex structures over the next several decades, with consistent binary forms that anticipate the sonata principle. These works achieved international fame, with sources found throughout Europe and even South America. Sammartini had a reputation as one of the most influential teachers of the period; his most famous student was Christoph Willibald von Gluck, who studied with him from 1737 to 1741. He was a prolific composer, writing four operas, 17 large sacred works, eight large cantatas, over 200 string trios (some indistinguishable from the Sinfonia à 3), 50 sonatas, at least 68 symphonies, 21 quartets (some with flute), and 10 concertos for cello, flute, violin, and recorder. His works, known by their JC numbers, have been cataloged by Newell Jenkins and Bathia Churgin. See also CANNABICH, CHRISTIAN INNOCENZ BONAVENTURA; FIORONI, GIOVANNI ANDREA; FREITHOFF, JOHAN HENRIK; MONZA, CARLO; ZAPPA, FRANCESCO. SAMMARTINI, GIUSEPPE GASPARE MELCHIORRE BALDASSARE (6 JANUARY 1695, MILAN, TO BETWEEN 17–23 NOVEMBER 1750, LONDON). Italian-English composer and oboist. Son of French oboist Alexis Saint-Martin and brother of Milanese composer Giovanni Battista Sammartini, he received his earliest music education from his father, entering the ducal orchestra around 1711. In 1717 he published a set of sonatas in Amsterdam, and in 1729 he immigrated to England, where he performed regularly under George Frederick Handel in the opera orchestra. In 1736 he became musical director of chamber concerts at the house of Frederick, Prince of Wales. In 1740 he premiered his opera The Judgement of Paris in Cliveden. A prolific composer, he published much of his music during his lifetime. This includes a set of six organ concertos (Op. 9), 24 sonatas for flute and basso, 30 trios including the flute, 24 concerti grossi, and 16 symphonies (published as overtures). Other works include numerous arias meant to insert into operas, as well as nine cantatas, and concertos for oboe, recorder, flute, and violin. His style remained conservative, adhering to Baroque models, save for the symphonies, most published after his death, which reveal galant forms and structures. SAMMARTINI, GIUSEPPE MELCHIORE (ca. 1700, NEAR NAPLES, ITALY, TO 11 DECEMBER 1765, VALLETTA, MALTA). ItalianMaltese composer. Not to be confused with Giuseppe Gaspare Melchiorre
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Baldassare Sammartini, he was a student of the Conservatorio di Santa Maria della Pietà dei Turchini before being appointed as maestro di cappella of St. John’s Co-Cathedral in Malta (at that time the convent church of the Order of the Knights of St. John) on 4 November 1724. Documents show that he was recommended by an uncle who was a violinist in the church ensemble. Little of his music has survived, but what has demonstrates a tendency toward the Neapolitan style of his contemporaries such as Francesco Durante, including galant features. His surviving works include a set of minuets, a two-movement overture, and several smaller sacred works. His relationship with the more famous Milanese Sammartini family has not been established. SÁNCHEZ XIMENO, FRANCISCO (ca. 1700, ALBARRACÍN, SPAIN, TO 1747, ALBARRACÍN). Spanish composer. Nothing is known of his life, save that he obtained the post of maestro di capilla in 1742. While the bulk of his music is written in the Baroque style, several smaller sacred works indicate that he was aware of the Italian galant influences. SANCHO LITERES, PADRE JUAN BATTISTA (1 DECEMBER 1772, ARTÀ, MALLORCA, SPAIN, TO 8 FEBRUARY 1830, SAN ANTONIO DI PADUA MISSION, ALTA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO). SpanishMexican monastic composer. Born to a prosperous farming family on the island of Mallorca, he attended a local school before entering the Franciscan order in 1791 as a novice in Palma. He became a priest in 1796, and in 1803 he embarked from Cadiz to Alta California, where he was stationed at the mission of San Antonio di Padua. His music consists of at least two Masses, written in a simple homophonic style, as well as an antiphon, a Requiem, and several smaller works. His music is some of the first composed in the New Spanish periphery. SÅNGSPEL. See SINGSPIEL. SANTA CLARA PINTO, FREI JOÃO DE (1735, RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL, TO 1825, RIO DE JANEIRO). Brazilian clerical composer. Nothing is known of his early life or training, save that he entered the Franciscan monastery of Saint Anthony in Rio de Janeiro, teaching music there to novices. He was well regarded as a composer by his younger contemporaries, though only a few sacred works survive. SANTA EULALIA, FREI FRANCISCO DE (ca. 1750, RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL, TO 10 MARCH 1814, RIO DE JANEIRO). Brazilian clerical composer. Like many monks, nothing is known of his youth, save
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that he entered the Franciscan monastery of Saint Anthony in Rio de Janeiro in 1778. His only surviving works are a few Psalms. SANTAFÉ RODRÍGUEZ, FRANCISCO (1773, SEGORBE, SPAIN, TO 1808, VALENCIA, SPAIN). Spanish composer. His earliest studies were at the cathedral school in Segorbe beginning in 1785. In 1798 he transferred to Valencia, where he completed his musical education while functioning as a maestro di música before his early death. He left few works, though his one Lamentation setting is scored richly for a large orchestra. SANTARELLI, GIUSEPPE (1710, FORLI, ITALY, TO 1790, ROME). Italian composer, singer, and teacher. His early life and training are unknown, but he first appears in history as a singer on the Venetian stage around 1741. Shortly thereafter he joined the Augustinian order, moving to Rome to become a member of the Sistine Chapel choir and was appointed its conductor in 1770. He also functioned as maestro di cappella of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. He was known for his promotion of the stile antico, as noted by his close friend, Charles Burney. His own music has been almost completely ignored, consisting exclusively of sacred a cappella choral works, including a 10-voice motet, Plaudite minibus. SANTAVALLA, ANGEL CUSTODIO (5 JULY 1750, BRAGA, PORTUGAL, TO 15 DECEMBER 1804, MONDOÑEDO, SPAIN). SpanishPortuguese composer and organist. His earliest musical education was at Tuy Cathedral. There he was a violinist and chorister before becoming assistant organist around 1769. In 1774 he spent time furthering his studies in Madrid, and in 1782 he was appointed as maestro di capilla at the cathedral at Mondoñedo, a position he retained his entire life as the successor to Joaquín Lázaro. His music, often conservative in terms of style and harmony, is noted for its use of Gallician dialect, particularly in the villancicos. His works number over 530 pieces, including 12 Masses, numerous arias, villancicos, anthems, and smaller sacred works. SANTOS, JOSÉ JOAQUIM DOS (ca. 1747, SENHOR DA PEDRA NEAR ÓBIDOS, PORTUGAL, TO 1801, LISBON). Portuguese composer of sacred music. Following education at the Real Seminario de Música de Patriarcal in Lisbon, he was appointed as professor of solfège there in 1763. In 1768 he was admitted to the Irmandade de Santa Cecilia. His music imitates that of his mentor, Davide Perez. His works include five Masses, seven vespers, 15 motets, three Te Deums, a responsory, and a Miserere.
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SANTOS, LUCIANO XAVIER (ca. 1734, LISBON, TO 2 FEBRUARY 1808, LISBON). Portuguese organist and composer. His earliest musical education was under Giovanni Giorgi at the Escola de Música Sacra at Santa Catarina de Ribemar. By 1756 he had been admitted to the Irmandade de Santa Cecilia and shortly thereafter was appointed organist at the Bempost of the Capela Real. Early in his career he focused on opera, but toward the end of his life he became more interested in sacred music. His works include 14 operas, two oratorios, four Masses (and 11 Mass movements), two Te Deums, Lamentations, and other smaller sacred works. In addition, he composed a symphony in 1799. Little of his music has been revived in modern times. SARRO [or SARRI], DOMENICO NATALE (24 DECEMBER 1679, TRANIA, APULIA, ITALY, TO 25 JANUARY 1744, NAPLES). Italian composer. He studied at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana and in 1704 was appointed as assistant maestro di cappella at the Neapolitan court. Beginning in 1718 he attained a reputation as one of the leading opera composers of Italy. He was responsible for the inaugural work for the Teatro San Carlo in Naples in 1737, and although largely forgotten today, he was one of the most active composers in the city up through his death. The bulk of his operas reflect the Baroque practice found in Neapolitan opera seria at the beginning of the 18th century. Beginning in 1734, however, with La finta pellegrina, Sarro wrote operas that reflected a similar style to that of Giovanni Pergolesi, becoming forerunners of the galant. Works written in this new style include seven operas (the most important of which are intermezzos), three oratorios, a flute concerto, and a number of sacred works whose dates are not secure. SARTI, GIUSEPPE (bap. 1 DECEMBER 1729, FAENZA, ITALY, TO 28 JULY 1802, BERLIN). Italian composer of international stature. Following violin study with F. Vallotti, he became a pupil of Padre Giovanni Battista Martini in 1739, being elected to the Accademia filarmonica in 1743. In 1748 he was appointed as musical director of the Faenza cathedral, only to resign a few years later to concentrate on opera following the success of his Il re pastore. In 1753 he joined the Mingotti troupe as Christoph Willibald von Gluck’s successor, traveling to northern Europe. He was subsequently appointed as hovkapelmester at the court of Frederick V in Copenhagen and spent the next 15 years there writing Danish Syngespile and seria. In 1769 he left for London but was unable to make a success there, eventually winning in 1770 a post as maestro di capella first at the Conservatorio dell’Ospedale in Venice and in 1776 at the Milan cathedral. In 1784 he was called to St. Petersburg by Catherine II, traveling via Vienna, where his opera Fra i due
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litiganti was an enormous success. Although he was equally as successful in Russia, he sometimes ran into political difficulties, spending large amounts of time over the next two decades in Moscow or at the Golovin estate in Ukraine. In 1802 he received a pension and attempted to return home to Italy, only to pass away as he traveled through Berlin. Sarti can be considered one of the best known international figures of the 18th century. His Italian operas (both seria and buffa) were performed throughout Europe with great success, and he made significant contributions to the development of music in both Denmark and Russia. His Syngespil Soliman II was considered the model upon which all subsequent Danish works were to imitate. In Russia he not only composed Russian opera, such as The Early Reign of Oleg (to a text by Catherine II), but also explored church music, writing oratorios using Old Church Slavonic Orthodox melodies, as well as a spectacular Te Deum to celebrate the victory at Ochakov, which uses a church carillon, a Russian horn choir, and even cannon. He also wrote treatises on general bass and harmony. His most important student was Luigi Cherubini, whom he taught in Milan. His works include 75 operas; 12 large secular cantatas; four Masses and numerous Mass movements; five Requiems; three Magnificats; three Misereres; seven Te Deums; two complete Russian Orthodox liturgies; seven oratorios; many motets, Psalms, and miscellaneous sacred works; 25 symphonies; three concertones; four sonatas for violin/flute; 13 keyboard sonatas; and numerous other smaller chamber works. See also DEGTYARYOV, STEPAN ANIKIYEVICH; SCALABRINI, PAOLO. SARTORI, BLASIUS [GEORG LUDWIG] (ca. 1720, POSSIBLY ITALY, TO ca. 1778, MANNHEIM, GERMANY). German flautist, teacher, and composer, possibly the son of Baldassare Sartori (ca. 1700–1750), who moved to Germany from Italy. It is uncertain how the name “Blasius” was acquired. He was appointed in 1747 to the Mannheim orchestra as a flautist, but by 1776 he was listed among the violins. He was the teacher of Yevstigny Fomin and possibly the father of Georg Kaspar Sartorius. His music has been little known, but he appears to have composed chamber works for his instruments, as well as several sacred works (though these may also be by his putative father). SARTORIUS, GEORG KASPAR (1754, MANNHEIM, GERMANY, TO 1809, AUERBACH, GERMANY). German composer and violinist. Little is known about him, though he may have been related, perhaps even the son of, Blasius [Georg Ludwig] Sartori. He was probably trained in Mannheim and attended the Jesuit Gymnasium, but by 1777 he had ob-
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tained the post of music director at the court of Hesse-Darmstadt, where he remained until 1804. He was dismissed at that time and moved to Auerbach, where he shot himself. He was known for his progressive musical style. Unfortunately, only a single song survives, and so this reputation cannot be substantiated. SAVAGE, JANE (ca. 1752, LONDON, TO 9 NOVEMBER 1824, CAMBERWELL, NEAR LONDON). English singer, keyboardist, and composer. Daughter of composer William Savage, she studied under her father. Although she earned a reputation for her voice and keyboard skills, much of her life was spent writing and performing for intimate salons. She apparently ceased musical composition after her marriage in 1793. Her works include an opera, a large cantata, 12 keyboard works, and several songs. SAVAGE, WILLIAM (ca. 1720, LONDON, TO 27 JULY 1789, LONDON). English composer and singer. His musical education was under Johann Pepusch, and by the 1740s he had become a singer for George Frederick Handel’s company. In 1743 he was appointed as organist in Finchley, and in 1748 he became vicar at St. Paul’s, retiring in 1777. His music, though it has galant stylistic tendencies, often reflects the Baroque styles of his teachers and mentors. Works include 23 Psalms, 40 anthems, and 10 other sacred works, as well as numerous songs, catches, and glees. His daughter Jane Savage became a well-respected performer in her own right. SCALABRINI, PAOLO (ca. 1713, ITALY, TO 28 FEBRUARY 1806, LUCCA, ITALY). Italian singer and composer active in Denmark. Nothing is known about his youth or education. He first appears in 1742 when he joined the Mingotti troupe in Graz as a singer, later emerging as a conductor of the ensemble in 1747. In 1748 he was appointed by the Danish court as Kapellmeister to replace Johann Adolph Scheibe, but with the arrival of fellow composer Giuseppe Sarti in 1755 he withdrew from contention and devoted his efforts toward comic opera, did extensive touring of northern Europe, and established his own school to train vocalists, including Carolina Halle. When Sarti left Copenhagen in 1769 he was reinstated in his old position, remaining there until 1781, when he returned to Italy following the death of his wife. As a composer, Scalabrini was well liked for his tuneful melodies and accessible music. Unlike Sarti, whose compositions tended to be dramatic, he preferred a simpler style. He composed 15 opera serias, five Danish Syngespile (of which Kaelighed udan strømper of 1771 was considered his best-known work), six symphonies, an oratorio, and several smaller songs and independent insertion arias.
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SCARLATTI, DOMENICO (26 OCTOBER 1685, NAPLES, TO 23 JULY 1757, MADRID). Italian composer and keyboardist resident in Spain. Son of famed Neapolitan composer Alessandro Scarlatti, he received his earliest training from both his father and resident musicians in Naples. His early career was focused on the composition of opera in Venice and Rome, and by 1719 he had traveled to London and Lisbon. In 1727 he moved to Spain, first to Seville and in 1733 to Madrid, where he became the tutor to Maria Barbara, later queen of Spain. He remained there for the remainder of his life. Although the bulk of his early music, including a number of operas and sacred works, conforms to the prevailing Baroque style, his 555 sonatas for keyboard (mainly harpsichord) demonstrate a burgeoning awareness of a newer, more homophonic stylistic idiom. Moreover, there are folk elements that can be discerned in structure, melody, and rhythm, all of which caused Charles Burney to consider these, along with the 30 Exxercizi per gravicemablo published in London 1738–1739, as models. Late works include a Mass in G minor for a capella voices and a Salve Regina that mirrors the more triadic and lyrical Neapolitan style of the early Classical period. His music is designated by K (Kirkpatrick) or L (Longo) numbers. See also SCARLATTI, GIUSEPPE. SCARLATTI, GIUSEPPE (1718, NAPLES, TO 17 AUGUST 1777, VIENNA). Italian composer. Nephew of Domenico Scarlatti, he came from an extended family of Neapolitan musicians, among whom he probably received his earliest training. He was probably educated at one of the Neapolitan conservatories, but no official records exist of his attendance. His earliest success was an oratorio performed in Rome in 1738, and thereafter he was commissioned to write operas throughout Italy. He apparently moved to Vienna in 1757, where he was a member of the social circle that included Count Giacomo Durazzo and Christoph Willibald von Gluck. He was best known for his comic operas, where his music reflects a good sense of timing and simplicity. His music has, however, all but been forgotten. It consists of 34 operas, an oratorio, five cantatas, numerous insertion arias, and a keyboard sonata. SCHACHT, FREIHERR THEODOR VON (1748, STRASBOURG, TO 20 JUNE 1823, REGENSBURG, BAVARIA). German nobleman and composer. Born into a family of the minor nobility, he was trained in musical composition by Johann Küffner and Joseph Riepel in Regensburg before traveling to Stuttgart to study with Niccolò Jommelli. Following a brief period in Wetzlar, he returned as Hofcavalier to Regensburg, where in 1773 he was named director of music at the Thurn und Taxis court. His main duties
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were to create an Italian opera there, but by 1790 he had taken on further duties as privy counselor. In 1796 he was pensioned, and from 1805–1812 he resided in Vienna, where he sought to establish himself and his music. He was considered a competent composer well aware of the latest stylistic trends of his contemporaries. He was, however, less popular with his subordinates, and in the case of František Pokorný, he even sought to erase the memory of a versatile figure by misattributing authorship of a large number of works. His own works, which have been little studied, include 14 Masses, a Requiem, two German Masses, eight operas (mostly Italian), five ballets, two oratorios, 30 secular cantatas, 29 other sacred works, 84 canons, six vocal notturnos, 35 symphonies, 45 concertos (for all instruments), 27 serenades/ divertimentos, 12 trio sonatas, four string quartets, and a string quintet, as well as numerous miscellaneous marches, minuets, and keyboard works. SCHACK, BENEDIKT EMANUEL (7 FEBRUARY 1758, MIROTICE, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 10 DECEMBER 1826, MUNICH). Bohemian-Austrian tenor and composer. Following elementary education from his schoolteacher father, he was trained as a chorister at the main cathedral in Prague beginning in 1773. By 1775 he had moved to Vienna to study medicine at the university, as well as taking singing lessons. In 1780 he was appointed Kapellmeister to Prince Heinrich von Schönaich-Caroleth in Silesia, but he left in 1786 to join the troupe of Emanuel Schickaneder as lead tenor and one of the resident composers. He became a popular composer of Singspiels when the troupe settled in Vienna in 1789 at the Theater auf der Wieden. In 1793 he left the company and moved to Graz, but in 1796 he was appointed a lead singer at the Hoftheater in Munich, a position he held until he retired in 1813 when his voice failed. He is best known for his close friendship with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but he was also well known for his flexible and sonorous tenor. As a composer, his works have been little studied, but they include 25 Singspiels, two Masses, two Requiems, nine Lamentations, in addition to a series of oratorios, smaller sacred works, and concertos for wind instruments that have all been lost. SCHAD, JOHANN BAPTIST [PATER ROMANUS] (1758, MÜRSBACH, GERMANY, TO 1834, JENA, GERMANY). German academic, composer, and literary figure. He was educated in the Benedictine monastery at Banz beginning in 1768 as a chorister, followed by Jesuit schools in Bamberg. By 1778 he entered the monastery as a novice under the name of Pater Romanus. In 1798 he fled due to an anticlerical pamphlet and converted to Lutheranism in Ebersdorf. In 1803 he was appointed as professor at the University of Kharkov in Russia, but he was expelled in 1816, whereupon he
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returned to Germany. Schad was a leading intellectual in the anti-monastic movement of the late 18th century, but he was also trained in music, composing during his monastic years. His works include two hymns and a Regina coeli. SCHAFFRATH, CHRISTOPH (ca. 1710, HOHNSTEIN, SAXONY, TO 17 FEBRUARY 1763, BERLIN). German theoretician, keyboardist, and composer. According to early biographical information, Schaffrath received his earliest training on the harpsichord at the age of 9, probably in Dresden, which was close to his birthplace. By 1730 he was a keyboardist in the Polish Kapelle of August II, and when this was dissolved he moved briefly to Slawuta in Poland (now in Ukraine) to become a musician at the court of Prince Sangusko-Lubatowicz of Lithuania. By 1733 he unsuccessfully sought the position of organist at the Frauenkirche in Dresden but accepted a position with Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia at Rheinsburg. He was made principal accompanist in 1740 upon his patron ascending the Prussian throne, and in 1744 he accepted a lifelong position as musician to Frederick II’s sister, Princess Anna Amalia, to whom he dedicated his first published set of keyboard sonatas (Op. 1) in 1746. Schaffrath was a competent and prolific composer who focused almost entirely upon instrumental works. His music includes 20 overtures or symphonies (all for strings, but with a few woodwinds on occasion); 72 concertos for the harpsichord; eight concertos for two harpsichords, violin, flute, and oboe (and others for flute, oboe, bassoon, and viola da gamba that have been lost); 30 trio sonatas, 40 sonatas for a single instrument and keyboard; and around 40 sonatas for keyboard alone. As a member of the Berlin School, Schaffrath wrote in a mixture of galant and the older contrapuntal styles, though his formats often use contrasting themes and triplet figurations. SCHALL, CLAUS NIELSEN (28 APRIL 1757, COPENHAGEN, TO 10 AUGUST 1835, COPENHAGEN). Danish composer and violinist. Son of a dancing master, he was enrolled in 1772 as a student in the Kongelige Kapel, where he also taught violin. Other teaching positions were undertaken in Roskilde and Holbaek, and in 1779 he was appointed as a violinist at the royal theatre. In 1759 he traveled to Paris, where he studied briefly under Giovanni Battista Viotti, extending his tour to Berlin where he appeared as a soloist. In 1792 he returned to Copenhagen as concertmaster, later becoming conductor of the theatre orchestra in 1818. Like Friedrich Ludwig Aemelius Kunzen, his works are characterized by colorful, dramatic orchestration. These include 29 ballets (many written for August Bournonville), six Syngespile, four large cantatas, seven concertos (violin, bassoon, flute), and a number of smaller works. See also SCHALL, PEDER.
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SCHALL, PEDER (30 DECEMBER 1762, COPENHAGEN, TO 1 FEBRUARY 1820, COPENHAGEN). Danish cellist and composer. Younger brother of Claus Schall, he received his earliest training from his father and by the age of 20 had been appointed as cellist in Det Kongelige Kapel. He retained this position his entire life, as well as being known as a guitar virtuoso in the emerging salon societies of the time. His music has been little explored; only several published humoresques for guitar and a number of four-part hymns are known. SCHAUENSEE, FRANZ JOSEPH MEYER VON (10 AUGUST 1720, LUZERN [LUCERNE], SWITZERLAND, TO 2 JANUARY 1789, LUZERN). Swiss composer and organist. Born into a patrician family, he went to Milan in 1740 to study at the Helvetische Kollegium, where he learned to play the violin. After a brief military service he returned to Luzern to become organist at the St. Leodegar monastery. In 1760 he established a music school in the town, and in 1768 he was ordained a priest. His music has been little studied but corresponds to the Mannheim style. His works include six operas (the folk Singspiel Engelberger Talhochzeit of 1781 being the most popular), 40 sacred arias, 16 offertories, seven Masses, seven motets, and at least 20 symphonies. SCHEIBE, JOHANN ADOLPH (5 MAY 1708, LEIPZIG, TO 2 APRIL 1776, COPENHAGEN). German composer, theorist, and organist. The son of an organ builder, Scheibe was forced to teach himself music around 1725 due to economic difficulties, at the same time as he was attending Leipzig University in law and philosophy. By 1736 he had moved to Hamburg when applications for posts in Leipzig proved unsuccessful, coming into contact with Georg Philipp Telemann and Johann Mattheson. During this period he published three volumes of his most important treatise on music, Der critische Musicus. In 1739 he had obtained a post as Kapellmeister to Margrave Friedrich Ernst of Brandenburg-Kulmbach in the town of Itzehoe, and through his connections a year later he was appointed to the same post at the Danish court of Christian VI in Copenhagen. When the king’s successor reopened the Royal Theatre, Scheibe came into conflict with Paolo Scalabrini over the viability of Italian opera, moving to the city of Sønderborg to teach music. He later returned to Copenhagen, where he was celebrated as a teacher and theorist. In 1740 he published an autobiography in a work by Mattheson, claiming that he had written over 150 flute concertos, 30 violin concertos, and 60 to 70 symphonies, none of which are verifiable. His surviving music, however, reflects galant North German styles, while his sonatas and keyboard pieces are firmly rooted in the Baroque. As a theorist, he published no fewer than nine works, ranging from composition to proposed German opera
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librettos (1742, Thusnelde), for which he gained a reputation as a rationalist. His works include 13 concertos, 15 symphonies, three woodwind quartets, five trio sonatas, 10 violin sonatas, 14 keyboard sonatas, several Masses, two Magnificats, six Lutheran cantatas, five Passions, eight secular cantatas, and numerous songs. See also WALTER, THOMAS. SCHEIBL, JOHANN ADAM (18 NOVEMBER 1710, SPITAL AM PYHRU, LOWER AUSTRIA, TO 31 DECEMBER 1773, ST. PÖLTEN, LOWER AUSTRIA). Austrian composer and organist. He first appears as a musician at the town of Enns, and subsequently functioned as organist at the Seitenstetten monastery and for the main church in the provincial town of St. Pölten. Although he was mostly a local composer, he was aware of the styles being developed in the nearby capital of Vienna. As a result he was relatively prolific, writing 30 Masses, 23 litanies, seven offertories, six antiphons, and a host of smaller sacred works, in addition to six keyboard concertos, eight parthies for winds, and three symphonies. His organ works include fugues and smaller improvisational pieces. SCHEINPFLUG, CHRISTIAN GOTTHELF (4 JULY 1722, ZSCHOPAU, GERMANY, TO 7 APRIL 1770, RUDOLSTADT, GERMANY). German composer and bureaucrat. He received his early training in Dresden, though his exact teacher remains unknown. In 1745 he was appointed a tenor in the Kapelle at Rudolstadt, becoming chamber musician two years later. In 1747 he began studies in theology and philosophy at the University of Jena, and in 1751 upon graduation he was appointed as state councilor in Rudolstadt. In 1754 he became Kapellmeister. His most famous student was Heinrich Christoph Koch. His music has, however, been little studied. It includes an oratorio (Die Pilger auf Golgotha), 110 Lutheran cantatas (mostly lost), a Te Deum, 26 symphonies, and 17 partitas. SCHENK, JOHANN BAPTIST (30 NOVEMBER 1753, WIENER NEUSTADT, AUSTRIA, TO 29 DECEMBER 1836, VIENNA). Austrian composer. He received his early music education under Anton Stoll in nearby Baden before moving to Vienna in 1773 to study with Georg Christoph Wagenseil and Leopold Hofmann. By 1780 he had begun to compose Singspiels for the various theatres around the city, as well as taking on students in music theory, such as Ludwig van Beethoven. He achieved the zenith of his fame as an opera composer with Die Jagd of 1799 and thereafter retired to a “peaceful and withdrawn life,” as he stated in his own autobiography. As a composer, he wrote carefully constructed music that is lively and well formulated, with good orchestral underlay and a good sense of timing. His
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works include 20 operas, five secular cantatas, two Masses, four litanies, a Stabat mater, seven notturnos, over 15 canons, numerous Lieder, four concertos (three for harp and one for fortepiano), 10 symphonies, six string trios, five string quartets, a woodwind quartet, and numerous smaller works for keyboard. His music has been little explored. SCHERRER, NICOLAS (ca. 1747, LUDWIGSLUST, GERMANY, TO 1821, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND). German-Swiss composer and keyboardist. Little is known of his life or training. His first appearance comes in 1784 with the dedication of a set of trio sonatas to Count Friedrich Franz of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Shortly thereafter he appears in Geneva, where he was an amateur musician at the public concerts. His works include seven symphonies, six trio sonatas, nine violin and six cello sonatas, and a keyboard march. SCHETKY, JOHANN GEORG CHRISTOPH (19 AUGUST 1737, DARMSTADT, TO 30 NOVEMBER 1824, EDINBURGH). GermanScottish composer and cellist. Schetky studied under Anton Fils before becoming a member of the Darmstadt court orchestra in 1768. In 1772 he immigrated to London and subsequently to Scotland, where he became a major figure in the Edinburgh Music Society along with his friend and colleague Thomas Erskine. He can be considered one of the most active composers resident there, with his works, all written in the Mannheim style, achieving considerable success. These include a pianoforte concerto, eight cello concertos, four symphonies, collections of Scots reels and Strathspeys arranged for chamber group and for orchestra, six string quartets, 10 keyboard sonatas, 23 trio sonatas, and numerous works for cello with or without accompaniment. He also composed at least 17 songs, as well as other vocal pieces. His son George Schetky also became a composer and cellist. SCHETKY, [JOHN] GEORGE (1 JUNE 1776, EDINBURGH, TO 11 DECEMBER 1831, PHILADELPHIA, UNITED STATES). ScottishAmerican composer, music publisher, and cellist. Son of Johann Georg Schetky, he received his earliest training from his father in Scotland. In 1787 he immigrated to the United States, and by 1796 he was a regular performer at public concerts in Philadelphia. He associated with Benjamin Carr in the music publishing business. In 1812 he returned to Scotland in sympathy with the British but came back to the United States in 1817. During his time in the country, he was one of the chief members of the Musical Fund Society. Although active as a composer, few of his works have survived; only six songs and a handful of dances and other smaller keyboard works exist. A large-scale
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orchestral cantata, The Battle of Prague, has not been lost, and although he performed several cello concertos in Philadelphia, it is not certain whether these were his or his father’s. SCHEUPFLUG, PATER CLEMENS [FRANZ DEPAULA JOSEPH WOLFGANG] (15 JANUARY 1731, HRADČANY, BOHEMIA [CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 22 JANUARY 1805, HEILIGENKREUZ ABBEY, BOHEMIA). Austro-Bohemian monastic composer and organist. Scheupflug was trained as a chorister in the nearby Heiligenkreuz abbey, receiving musical training in composition from Franz Gerhard Pruneder (1692–1764). In 1753 he was ordained a priest at the same time as the first of many Requiems was performed in the abbey church. By 1759 he had been appointed as prefect at the monastic school and in 1766 was cantor and regens chori. Beginning in 1771 he spent two years as a parish priest in Trumau. His music includes 12 Requiems, three Masses, a litany, eight graduals, 16 hymns, six offertories, seven other sacred works, and 15 organ preludes. SCHICKANEDER, EMANUEL [JOHANN JOSEPH BAPTIST] (1 SEPTEMBER 1751, STRAUBING, GERMANY, TO 21 SEPTEMBER 1812, VIENNA). German-Austrian impresario, singer, and composer. His earliest training was at the Jesuit Gymnasium in Regensburg, after which he joined the Moser Theatre troupe as an actor in 1773, later moving with the troupe as it toured Austria under various successive directors. In 1775 he composed his first Singspiel, Die Lyranten, which was successfully performed in Innsbruck. In 1778 he became the director of the troupe, which performed in Bavaria and Salzburg, where he met Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In 1784 he was invited by Joseph II to perform in Vienna, first at the Nationaltheater and subsequently, under Imperial license, at the Theater auf der Wieden. He continued to give Singspiels up through 1799, when he turned over management of his enterprises due to financial difficulties. Although he briefly revived his career in 1801, he eventually suffered from mental health issues, going insane in 1809. As a singer, Schickaneder was best known for his role as Papageno in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, a work he had commissioned in 1791. He was regarded as a fine comic actor and industrious impresario. His musical activities, however, have been little studied. His works consist of over 50 plays and another 50 opera librettos (for people such as Mozart, Peter von Winter, and Ignaz von Seyfried); he himself composed two Singspiels, as well as numerous insertion arias into various pasticcio operas. See also LICKL, JOHANN GEORG; SCHROETER, CORONA ELISABETH WILHELMINE.
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SCHIMERT, PETER (1712, SIEBENBURG, GERMANY, TO 1785, HERMANNSTADT, HUNGARY [NOW SIBIU, ROMANIA]). German composer. Following studies with Johann Sebastian Bach from 1733 to 1735, he accepted a position as Kapellmeister at the town of Hermannstadt, also known as Nagyszeben, in the Carpathians in 1742. His music has been little studied but consists mainly of sacred works. His organ compositions in the style of Bach were particularly praised. SCHLECHT, FRANZ XAVER (ca. 1730, WENDLINGEN AM DOSBACH, BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG, GERMANY, TO 16 FEBRUARY 1782, EICHSTÄTT, BAVARIA, GERMANY). German composer. Following an early education at Salem monastery in Bavaria, he studied law at Salzburg University, intending to enter the Benedictine order. By 1770, however, he was appointed as Kapellmeister at the main church in the town of Eichstätt, where he remained his entire career. His musical works were written in the prevalent church style, with florid instrumental parts and homophonic choruses. These include around 35 Masses, five vespers, three offertories, a Passion, several hymns, a string quartet, and a sonata. His music has been little explored. SCHMITTBAUR, JOSEPH ALOYS (18 NOVEMBER 1718, BAMBERG, GERMANY, TO 24 OCTOBER 1809, KARLSRUHE, GERMANY). German composer, glass harmonica maker, and organist. After early musical education in Würzburg, he became a musician at the court in Rastatt in 1741, where he functioned first as Konzertmeister and subsequently Kapellmeister. In 1771 he obtained a position in Karlsruhe but left four years later for Cologne, where he directed the public concerts and was Kapellmeister at the cathedral. This lasted only two years before he was offered the same post in Karlsruhe, where he remained for the rest of his life. He retired in 1806. His music is representative of the Mannheim School in terms of its style, which by the end of his career was regarded as anachronistic. His works include nine operas, five Masses, a Requiem, 14 offertories, around 50 Lieder, a litany, 28 symphonies, 17 concertos, 20 quartets, seven divertimentos, three trios, and over 50 pieces for keyboard. SCHMÜGEL, JOHANN CHRISTIAN (13 JANUARY 1727, PRITZIER, NORTH GERMANY, TO 21 OCTOBER 1798, MÖLLN, SCHLESWIG, GERMANY). German composer and organist. After studies with his father, he traveled to Hamburg to study with Georg Philipp Telemann, who considered him one of his best students. In 1758 he obtained the post of organist at Lüneburg, where he also taught students such as Johann Abraham
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Peter Schulz. In 1766 he obtained the post of organist in Mölln. His music is characteristic of the North German Empfindsamkeit style of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and others. His surviving works include a serenade, six symphonies, five large-scale cantatas, two flute quartets, a divertimento, a trio for three flutes, and a number of chorale preludes. SCHNEIDER, FRANZ (2 OCTOBER 1737, PULKAU, LOWER AUSTRIA, TO 5 FEBRUARY 1812, MELK, AUSTRIA). Austrian organist and composer. Following early training and a time as school organist at his birthplace, he traveled to Melk to study with Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, whom he succeeded as organist at the priory in 1766. He remained there his entire life. His music conforms to the ornate sacred style of the time, and he was known for his improvisations on the organ that could last several hours. His music includes 52 Masses, 30 litanies, 15 vespers, nine offertories, seven antiphons, a host of smaller sacred works, a pastorale and a symphony. His music is known by Fe S numbers. SCHNITZER, PATER FRANCISCUS [FRANZ XAVER] (13 DECEMBER 1740, BAD WURZACH, BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG, GERMANY, TO 9 MAY 1785, OTTOBEUREN, BAVARIA, GERMANY). German monastic composer and organist. His earliest education was probably from local musicians in the rural region of his birth, but in 1760 he entered the Benedictine monastery at Ottobeuren, where he studied music under Placidus Christadler and Benedikt Kraus. In 1769 he was made regens chori, and he published a set of hymns in 1784 titled Cantus ottoburani monasterii. His musical compositions include 17 sacred dramas, six keyboard sonatas, several Masses, and smaller church works. SCHNITZER, PATER MAGNUS (11 DECEMBER 1755, FÜSSEN, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 27 MARCH 1827, WEISSENSEE, GERMANY). German monastic composer. He entered the Benedictine monastery in Füssen in 1777, becoming ordained three years later. When the monastery was dissolved in 1803, he moved to the town of Weissensee, where he served as parish priest until his death. His music has been little studied but conforms to the monastic style of the time. Works include an offertory, a Stabat mater, several Masses, and numerous smaller organ works. SCHOBERT, JOHANN (ca. 1735, PROBABLY SILESIA, TO 28 AUGUST 1767, PARIS). German-French composer and keyboardist. Nothing is known about his origins or youth; there is differing information on his
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birth date, which ranges from 1720 to 1740. Schobert first appeared in Paris in 1760, where he began a career as a keyboard virtuoso, eventually publishing 20 sets of works. In 1761 a few of his pieces appeared in the pasticcio Le tonnelier, and in 1765 he unsuccessfully attempted to become a composer of opéra comique with the comedy Le garde-chasse et le braconnier. He found employment with Louis François I de Bourbon, Prince of Conti, however. Throughout his career he achieved some fame for his expressive performances and works, in addition to being a rival of Johann Gottfried Eckard. He died along with his family, a servant, and four friends as a consequence of eating poisonous mushrooms. His musical style was influenced by that of Mannheim, although he was noted for his expressive melodies. His works include 21 violin sonatas, six symphonies, seven trio sonatas, five harpsichord concertos, three keyboard quartets, and several sonatas and miscellaneous works for harpsichord. SCHROETER, CHRISTOPH GOTTLIEB (10 AUGUST 1699, HOHNSTEIN, SAXONY, GERMANY, TO 20 MAY 1782, NORDHAUSEN, GERMANY). German composer, theorist, and organist. From 1732 onward he was organist at the Nordhausen cathedral, and although the bulk of his music appears to be written in a Baroque style, his 1772 treatise Deutliche Anweisung zum General-Bass takes as its foundation the harmony of JeanPhilippe Rameau. The bulk of his music has been lost, but it is possible that the many concertos and several serenades might have been written in the galant style. He lectured on music at the University of Jena for almost 50 years. SCHROETER, CORONA ELISABETH WILHELMINE (14 JANUARY 1751, GUBEN, BRANDENBURG, GERMANY, TO 23 AUGUST 1802, ILMENAU, THURINGIA, GERMANY). German actress, soprano, and composer. The daughter of Johann Friedrich Schroeter and sister of Johann Samuel Schroeter, she studied music under Johann Adam Hiller in Leipzig, often appearing in the public concerts. In 1776 a friendship with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe led to an appointment as a chamber musician at the Weimar court of Princess Anna Amalia. Although this was dissolved in 1783, she continued to live there supporting herself through lessons and through her musical salons. She and a companion moved to Ilmenau in 1801 in a vain attempt to recover from a lung disease. The bulk of her compositional efforts were dedicated toward Lieder, of which 41 have survived, including an early setting of Goethe’s Der Erlkönig. In addition she composed 360 Italian airs and duets (lost), as well as music for two Singspiels.
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SCHROETER, JOHANN FRIEDRICH (1724, EILENBERG, GERMANY, TO 1811, KASSEL, GERMANY). German composer and oboist. Following study in his hometown, he joined the regiment of Count Brühl as an oboist in 1748. He was stationed in the town of Guben when his first two children, Corona Elisabeth Schroeter and Johann Samuel Schroeter were born. He later followed his patron to Warsaw and then to Leipzig, where he was an active participant in the public concerts, which included two other children with musical talent, Johann Heinrich Schroeter and Marie Henriette Schroeter (1766–1804), the latter of whom became a well-respected soprano. He was pensioned in 1786 in the city of Kassel. Although an active composer, almost nothing apart from six duets has survived. SCHROETER, JOHANN HEINRICH (ca. 1760, WARSAW, TO ca. 1784, POSSIBLY ROTTERDAM). German composer and violinist. The third son of Johann Friedrich Schroeter, he was promoted as a child prodigy. His actual birth date may have been altered to show him younger than he was when he made his debut in Leipzig in 1770. In 1779 he followed his father to Hanau, but he then began a life on tour to various cities in northern Europe. In 1784 he and a Dutch flautist named Zentgraff organized the concert season in Rotterdam, after which he disappears from history. His musical legacy is small, only 12 duets for two violins and six trios. SCHROETER, JOHANN SAMUEL (ca. 1752, GUBEN, BRANDENBURG, GERMANY, TO 2 NOVEMBER 1788, LONDON). German composer and keyboardist. Son of Johann Friedrich Schroeter, he studied with his father and Johann Adam Hiller in Leipzig. He found a patron in Count Brühl, and in 1767 he made his debut in the city concerts, later traveling to London in 1773 along with the rest of his family. He remained behind and in 1782 was appointed music master to Queen Charlotte. Schroeter was a skillful and sensitive keyboardist whose style was admired by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, among others. His works include 18 keyboard concertos, 13 songs (mostly Scots airs), 13 trio sonatas, two quintets, six keyboard sonatas, and eight violin sonatas. SCHUBART, CHRISTIAN DANIEL FRIEDRICH (24 MARCH 1739, OBERSONTHEIM, GERMANY, TO 10 OCTOBER 1791, STUTTGART, GERMANY). German aesthete, writer, and composer. Following early study in music under Georg Wilhelm Gruber in Nuremburg, he attended university in Erlangen but was in constant trouble with the authorities. In 1763 he obtained the post of organist in Geisslingen, followed in 1769 by a similar appointment in Ludwigsburg. His dissolute lifestyle and unorthodox
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views caused him to be banished from the country in 1773, and he moved first to Augsburg then to Ulm, where he published the Deutsche Chronik. In 1777 his anti-Catholic diatribes landed him a 10-year sentence in prison, where he drafted his Ideen zu einer Ästhetik der Tonkunst, one of the most brilliant discussions of 18th-century music. Released in 1787, he was appointed court poet in Stuttgart for the Duke of Württemburg. He was best known during his lifetime for his various writings on music, but as a composer, he focused on Lieder, eventually writing 197 of them, in addition to two large cantatas and four keyboard sonatas, as well as a host of smaller pieces for the fortepiano. SCHULTHESIUS, JOHANN PAUL (14 SEPTEMBER 1748, FECHHEIM, NEAR NEUSTADT, GERMANY, TO 18 APRIL 1816, LIVORNO, ITALY). German theologian and amateur composer. He was educated in theology at the University of Erlangen, where he became a student of Johann Balthasar Kehl, who introduced him to the galant style. In 1773 he obtained the post as pastor of the Protestant church in Livorno, Italy, where he became friends with visitors such as Joseph Martin Kraus. While he published his music, almost entirely for keyboard, he was regarded as a musical amateur, whose style is similar to that of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. He corresponded frequently with the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung and published a work on sacred music in 1810 titled Memoria sulla musica da chiesa. His works consist of 10 sets of variations for keyboard, seven violin sonatas, two quartets, and two large keyboard sonatas. SCHULZ, JOHANN ABRAHAM PETER (31 MARCH 1747, LÜNEBURG, GERMANY, TO 10 JUNE 1800, SCHEDT AN DER ODER, GERMANY). German-Danish composer and keyboardist. The son of a town musician, Schulz initially sought to become a theologian, although studies with Johann Christian Schmügel in music made him proficient on the keyboard, flute, and violin. In 1762 he traveled to Berlin to seek out Johann Kirnberger, continuing studies there interspersed with theology in Lüneburg. In 1768 he was appointed as teacher to Princess Sapieha Wolwodin of Smolensk, traveling with her entourage throughout Poland and Germany. Here he met Johann Friedrich Reichardt, who asked him to help in his musical-theoretical publications and under whose recommendation Schulz was appointed as Kapellmeister of the French Theatre in Berlin. Further connections with the royal family continued in Potsdam and Rheisberg until 1787, when he resigned to accept a post as kapelmestere in Copenhagen. In 1793 his Syngespil Pers Bryllup was performed successfully, making him the leading composer in Denmark. By 1795, however, tuberculosis forced him into retirement, and after a debilitating winter spent in Arendal in Norway when
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his ship to Portugal foundered, he spent his last years in his homeland. As a composer, Schulz was noted for his use of folk material, as well as a good sense of text settings in his Lieder. His surviving music includes 12 operas, five oratorios, six large cantatas, 10 other sacred works, 21 part songs, over 100 Lieder, three symphonies, and around 10 sonatas. See also KUNZEN, FRIEDRICH LUDWIG AEMILIUS. SCHÜRER, JOHANN GEORG (ca. 1720, RAUDWITZ, BOHEMIA [NOW ROUDICE, CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 16 FEBRUARY 1786, DRESDEN). German composer. Little is known of his early life or training, save that it was probably at one of the Jesuit schools near his hometown. In 1746 he appears as resident composer in Dresden for the Mingotti troupe, making a great success with his opera Astrea placata at the Zwinger theatre. In 1751 he was appointed as a church composer and successor to Jan Dismas Zelenka, from which he retired in 1780, selling his music to the Saxon court. His works, many lost, include eight operas, three oratorios, seven cantatas, 36 Masses, 152 Psalms, 65 antiphons, 17 motets, 15 litanies, 56 offertories, three Requiems, three Te Deums, a Passion, and two concert arias. See also SEYDELMANN, FRANZ. SCHUSTER, JOSEPH (11 AUGUST 1748, DRESDEN, TO 24 JULY 1812, DRESDEN). German composer. After initial studies with his father, a local musician, he was granted a scholarship to travel to Italy, where his teachers included Padre Giovanni Battista Martini. In 1776 his first opera, Didone abbandonata, was premiered successfully in Naples, and for the next decade he achieved a considerable reputation in Italy for his stage works. In 1787 he returned to Dresden as Kapellmeister, though the formal title was held by his friend Johann Gottlieb Naumann. He retired from active composition in 1800. His music has been little studied, although he was fairly active, composing 10 Masses, 12 antiphons, two litanies, four Magnificats, a Te Deum, nine oratorios, 12 operas, three symphonies, six divertimentos, four string quartets, and a number of keyboard works. See also SEYDELMANN, FRANZ. SCHWANENBERGER, JOHANN GOTTFRIED (28 DECEMBER 1737, WÖLFENBÜTTEL, GERMANY, TO 29 MARCH 1804, BRAUNSCHWEIG). German composer. Son of a musician, he moved with his family to Braunschweig around 1750. In 1756 he was sent to study music in Italy under Gaetano Latilla and Johann Adolph Hasse. Upon his return he was appointed as a musician at the ducal court, becoming Kapellmeister in 1762, a post he retained despite several offers from other places such as Berlin. His
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works are Italianate in character, reflecting his student years. These include 12 operas (all in Italian), five cantatas, two motets, two duets for two sopranos and basso, 20 symphonies, six concertos (mostly keyboard), two string quartets, a trio, a violin sonata, and 27 keyboard sonatas. SCHWARZENDORF. See MARTIN, JOHANN PAUL AEGIDIUS. SCHWEITZER, ANTON (bap. 6 JUNE 1735, COBURG, GERMANY, TO 23 NOVEMBER 1787, GOTHA, GERMANY). German composer. Trained as a household musician for the Duke of Hildeburghausen, he was sent to Italy in 1764 to study music composition. Upon his return in 1766 he was appointed Kapellmeister for the court, but in 1769, upon dissolution of the ensemble, he became the in-house composer for the Seyler Troupe, a traveling company whose main focus was the German Singspiel. While on tour, Princess Anna Amalia, Duchess of Saxe-Weimar desired to offer him a permanent post at Weimar, but her Kapellmeister Ernst Wilhelm Wolf conspired to prevent it. In 1774 he composed his most famous opera, Alceste, which attempted to bridge the gap between the comic Singspiel and more serious opera. In 1775 he remained at Gotha as director of the Hoftheater, and three years later he succeeded Jiří Antonín Benda as Kapellmeister. Schweitzer was a controversial figure, who Benda accused of extreme laziness and others such as Joseph Martin Kraus condemned as superficial and derivative. His music, however, often has a dramatic flair and colorful orchestration. His works include 21 Singspiels, 46 ballets (most lost), a Mass, four large cantatas, nine symphonies, a trio, and a number of smaller keyboard works. SCHWINDL, FRIEDRICH (3 MAY 1737, PROBABLY AMSTERDAM, TO 7 AUGUST 1786, KARLSRUHE, GERMANY). Dutch-German composer. He was probably trained both in Holland and in Bohemia, though he first appears as the Konzertmeister to the Margrave of Wied-Runkel around 1760. Shortly thereafter, in 1763 he held the same post with Count von Colloredo, and in 1770 he settled in The Hague as a court composer to the House of Orange. There his students included Johann August Just. He made frequent trips of long duration to Zürich as well beginning in 1774, and in 1780 he became Kapellmeister at the court of the Margrave of Bad Durlach near Karlsruhe. Charles Burney extolled his music for its “taste and grace,” and his symphonies were popular as examples of the style of Empfindsamkeit during the period. His music includes six operas, a Mass, a German Te Deum, an oratorio, a large celebratory cantata, 35 symphonies, a sinfonia concertante, six string quintets, eight quartets, 22 trios, 54 duos, 12 sonatas, and several smaller works.
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SCIO, ETIENNE (1766, BORDEAUX, FRANCE, TO 21 FEBRUARY 1796, PARIS). French composer and violinist. He made his debut as a composer at the Grand Théâtre in Marseilles in 1788, and in 1791 he was brought to Paris to compose for the Théâtre Molière. Shortly thereafter he moved to the Théâtre Feydeaux, where he both performed and composed until his early death. He was unfavorably compared with Luigi Cherubini in local criticism, so his music has been largely ignored. Six operas survive. SCIROLI, GREGORIO (5 OCTOBER 1722, NAPLES, TO 1781, NAPLES). Italian composer and teacher. As a child he came under that patronage of the Duke of Caprigliano, who paid for his education at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini, where his teachers included Leonardo Leo and Lorenzo Fago. His initial career was as a teacher and composer, whose works were performed throughout Italy. In 1752 he entered the service of the Prince of Bisignano and the following year became director of the conservatory in Palermo. In 1766 he settled in Venice and subsequently in Milan, but by 1779 he had returned to Naples to write operas for the Teatro San Carlo. He disappears from history after the 1780 season, presumably having passed away. Like many Italian composers of his generation, he was adept at the comic Neapolitan opera style, which accounts for his popularity. His music, little studied, includes 35 operas, eight Masses, two oratorios, 18 other sacred works, five motets, five symphonies, six concertos, and several smaller chamber works. See also APRILE, GIUSEPPE. SCOLARI, PIETRO (ca. 1720, VICENZA, ITALY, TO ca. 1778, LISBON). Italian-Portuguese composer and violinist. Little is known of his origins or training, though he was active as a composer beginning in 1752 in Venice. The following year he apparently moved to Spain, where he wrote operas for the next 15 years, eventually winding up in Lisbon in 1768. As a traveling composer, he wrote mainly comic operas on demand, many of which are formulaic in structure. His works, little studied, include 37 operas, five concert arias, a canzonett, three symphonies, and a violin concerto. SEDAINE, MICHEL-JEAN (4 JULY 1719, PARIS, TO 17 MAY 1797, PARIS). French playwright and opera impresario. The son of an architect, Sedaine was left destitute as a child due to the early death of his father. After manual labor for a number of years, he was taken on as an apprentice architect, managing to finish his education in the process. In 1750 he published his first literary works, a series of stories and texts under the title Recuil de pièces fugitives, and in 1756 he formed his own company at the Théâtre de la Foire St. Laurent to produce comic operas based on the popular Italian models that featured in the Querelle des bouffons. The first of these, Le diable à quatre,
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was based upon a successful English ballad in French translation. It contained music by diverse composers, although in later theatre pieces Sedaine worked directly with prominent composers of the period, such as PierreAlexandre Monsigny, Nicolas-Marie Dalayrac, François-André Danican Philidor, and André Ernest Modeste Grétry. His most famous works were the 1761 pasticcio Soliman II, ou Les trois sultanes, for which he imported costumes and props from Constantinople (thus inaugurating a fad for exotic comic opera that was to spread throughout Europe), and Richard Cœur-delion in 1784 with music by Grétry, which became the model for the subgenre of rescue opera that was popular through the French Revolution and in Napoleonic times. Sedaine was elected to the French Académie in 1786. SEGER [CZEGERT], JOSEF [FERDINAND NORBERT] (bap. 21 MARCH 1716, ŘEPÍN, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 22 APRIL 1782, PRAGUE). Bohemian composer, pedagogue, and organist. His earliest musical education was at the Jesuit Gymnasium in Prague, where he became a student of Bohuslav Černohorský on the organ and both Jan Zach and František Tůma in composition and thorough-bass. In 1741 he was appointed organist at the Týn Church and four years later also at the Crusader’s Church. He attained a considerable reputation as a teacher, whose students included Jan Antonín Koželuh, Vincenz Mašek, Josef Mysliveček, and Václav Pichl. In addition, he was a virtuoso on his instrument, receiving the admiration of Charles Burney and Joseph II, who sought to appoint him as Imperial court organist in 1781. As a composer, he wrote prolifically for his instrument; his works include four Masses, two litanies, a motet, two antiphons, a gradual, over 208 works for organ (toccatas, fugues, preludes, etc.), and over 200 lessons in thorough-bass. SEIDEL, FRIEDRICH LUDWIG (1 JUNE 1765, TREUENBRIETZEN, GERMANY, TO 5 MAY 1831, BERLIN). German composer and keyboardist. He studied in Berlin under Franz Benda and Johann Friedrich Reichardt. In 1799 he was appointed as organist at the Marienkirche and in 1801 associate conductor at the National Theatre, a position he retained until his retirement in 1830. He was not a prolific composer, and his style is reminiscent of his teacher, Reichardt. His works, little studied, include three ballets, three operas, a Mass, a Requiem, an oratorio, a sextet, and numerous Lied settings of the poetry of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller. SEIXAS, JOSÉ ANTÓNIO CARLOS DE (11 JUNE 1704, COIMBRA, PORTUGAL, TO 25 AUGUST 1742, LISBON). Portuguese organist and composer. As a child he was trained in organ by his father and at the age of 14 replaced him at the Coimbra church. In 1720 he moved to Lisbon, where
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he continued his studies with Domenico Scarlatti. Around 1725 he was appointed as Scarlatti’s assistant maestro di cappella, taking over the principal post after the more famed composer left in 1728. He was ennobled by João V in 1738. As a composer, he wrote a considerable amount of sacred music in the prevailing contrapuntal polyphonic style of the Baroque, but his secular instrumental works show tendencies toward the more mellifluous empfindsamer Stil [Empfindsamkeit] of his more northern and Italian contemporaries. Included among these is a three-movement Italianate Symphony in B-flat Major, as well as around 80 or so keyboard sonatas (out of possibly as many as 700), which are more adventurous harmonically than those of Scarlatti, who served as his model, even though most have multiple movements. His Sonatas para Orgão include both Baroque suites and more modern forms, and his harpsichord concerto contains more homophonic ritornellos than Vivaldi. The bulk of his music appears to have been destroyed in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. SELLITTO, GIACOMO (28 JULY 1701, NAPLES, TO 20 NOVEMBER 1763, NAPLES). Italian composer and teacher. The brother of Giuseppe Sellitto, he was probably trained at one of the conservatories in Naples. He apparently resisted the need for recognition, being content to function as a singing teacher at the Collegio dei Nobili his entire life. His music has been little studied but is not extensive and reflects a similar style of Giovanni Pergolesi. Surviving works include two operas, a Stabat mater, a soprano aria, and 72 fugues for organ. SELLITTO, GIUSEPPE (22 MARCH 1700, NAPLES, TO 23 AUGUST 1777, NAPLES). Italian composer. Like his brother Giacomo Sellitto, he received his training probably at one of the Neapolitan conservatories. In 1733 he made his debut as an opera composer in Rome, thereafter receiving commissions from throughout Italy, though he remained mostly in Naples. In 1760 he was appointed as organist at the church of San Giacomo degli Spagnuoli. Although prolific as a composer, he is all but unknown today. His music consists of 46 operas, two cantatas, and numerous other sacred works. SEMPAIO, FREI JOSÉ JESUS MARIA (MARCH 1721, PROBABLY BAHIA, BRAZIL, TO 23 AUGUST 1810, BAHIA). Brazilian clerical composer. Nothing is known of his life, save that he instructed at the Colégio at Bahia (Salvador), Brazil, where he was a Benedictine monk. He was known for his belief that instruction in music was the chief function of religion of both monks and nuns. He wrote several Masses, but these have been lost.
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SEPOLCRO. Similar to the azione teatrale, but with a sacred subject, usually performed around Easter or during Lent in the Catholic portions of Europe. Usually consists of recitatives, arias, reflective choruses, and instrumental interludes. Popular especially with monastic composers in Austria and southern Germany. One such sepolcro is Der Tod Jesu by Joseph Martin Kraus. See also ORATORIO. SERENADE. A popular multi-movement work, usually for larger ensemble, that was meant to be performed as entertainment. Although the format is not prescribed, there were generally five core movements: a fast allegro, a minuet, a slow movement, another minuet, and a fast finale in rondo or sonata form. To this could be added an introductory march and a concerto or concertante piece usually consisting of two movements; slow and fast. These could be excerpted as individual concertos as needed by composers, such as Michael Haydn, Leopold Mozart, Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Although usually written for orchestra, larger groups of winds (Harmoniemusik) could be used. See also DIVERTIMENTO. SERENATA. Similar to the azione teatrale in that it is usually a larger work commissioned especially to celebrate a particular court event, such as a marriage. An example is Christoph Willibald von Gluck’s Il parnasso confuse or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Ascanio in Alba. Not to be confused with the serenade, an instrumental genre. SERIA. See OPERA SERIA. SESSÉ Y BALAGUER, JUAN DE (24 MAY 1736, CALANDRA, NEAR ZARAGOZA, SPAIN, TO 17 MARCH 1801, MADRID). Spanish organist and composer. Following early musical education at Zaragoza, a life he claimed was forced upon him due to failing eyesight, he became maestro de capilla at the church of San Felipe Neri in 1760. In 1768 he was appointed as one of the court organists in Madrid, eventually working his way up the ranks. As a composer, he wrote mostly smaller pieces for organ; only two sets of fugues have survived, as have several individual works. He was reputed to have written string quartets and violin sonatas, all of which have been lost. SEYDELMANN, FRANZ (8 OCTOBER 1748, DRESDEN, TO 23 OCTOBER 1806, DRESDEN). German composer. The son of a tenor, he studied under Johann Georg Schürer and Johann Gottlieb Naumann, the latter of whom encouraged him to travel to Italy along with Joseph Schuster to
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further his education in 1765. In 1772 he returned and became a church composer in Dresden. By 1787 he had been appointed Kapellmeister, duties of which he shared with Schuster. Active as a composer for the stage, he turned almost exclusively to church music after 1790. His work is characterized by good lyrical themes and rich orchestration. Music includes 12 operas, three oratorios, 36 Masses, a Requiem, 37 offertories, 15 vespers, 12 litanies, 32 antiphons, 40 Psalms, four Misereres, five cantatas, two arias, 17 Lieder, a symphony, 11 duo sonatas, and 12 keyboard sonatas. SEYFRIED, IGNAZ XAVIER RITTER VON (15 AUGUST 1776, VIENNA, TO 22 AUGUST 1841, VIENNA). German composer and conductor. His initial musical studies were with Jan Koželuh and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for keyboard and Johann Georg Albrechtsberger and Peter von Winter in composition. In 1792 he studied law at Prague University, but after a few years he decided to dedicate his life to music. He became musical director of Emanuel Schickaneder’s Theater auf der Wieden in 1797, retaining that post until 1826. A popular and gregarious figure, he was close friends with early 19th-century Viennese composers, including Ludwig van Beethoven, whose opera Fidelio Seyfried conducted at its premiere. Although his musical compositions more properly belong to the Romantic period, he composed at least four Singspiels prior to 1800, all of which were considered as popular successes. See also FISCHER, ANTON. SHAW, THOMAS, JR. (ca. 1752, BATH, ENGLAND, TO ca. 1830, PARIS). English violinist and composer. The son of violinist Thomas Shaw Sr. (1716–1792), he was trained by his father and in 1770 led the Bath orchestra. By 1776 he had moved to London, where he joined the Society of Musicians and conducted the Drury Lane orchestra. By 1800 he gave up that position, and during the 1820s his economic circumstances led him to Paris, where he made a paltry living as a music teacher. His works include an anthem, three pieces of incidental music, a violin concerto, 12 keyboard sonatas, flute solos, and a trio. SHIELD, WILLIAM (5 MARCH 1748, SWALLWELL, GATESHEAD, ENGLAND, TO 25 JANUARY 1829, LONDON). English composer and violinist/violist. After being orphaned at an early age, he was apprenticed to a shipwright in Newcastle, but a precocious talent for music led him to study under Charles Avison. In 1772 he was employed as an instrumentalist at Covent Garden, eventually becoming known for his popular operas, such as Rosina. In 1800 he completed his best-known treatise, An Introduction to Harmony. His last position was as master of the King’s Musick in 1817. A
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versatile if conservative composer not unwilling to borrow and expand upon popular tunes of the day, he was well represented in English opera houses. His works include 59 operas or stage works, six string quartets, six trios, 12 duets, two odes, an anthem, and a large number (over 100) of airs, canzonetts, catches, and glees. SHRUBSOLE, WILLIAM (bap. 13 JANUARY 1760, CANTERBURY, ENGLAND, TO 18 JANUARY 1806, LONDON). English composer and organist. Trained as a chorister in Canterbury, he became organist at the Bangor cathedral in 1782 but was dismissed after only a year due to his consorting with religious dissidents. In 1784 he became organist in London at Spafield’s Chapel and later in 1800 at St. Bartholomew-the-less. His claim to fame is a single tune, “Miles Lane,” which became extremely popular during the late 18th century. He also wrote at least four more. SIBERAU, WOLFGANG CONRAD ANDREAS (25 NOVEMBER 1688, LAIBACH, AUSTRIA [NOW LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA], TO 31 MAY 1766, LAIBACH). German-Slovenian composer and organist. Little is known about his life or training, but he was one of the founders of the Accademia filarmonica in his hometown of Laibach, where he was organist at the main church for the majority of his life. Although he wrote mainly in a Baroque style, some of his later church works show Italian galant or Neapolitan stylistic influences. His music, however, remains largely unstudied. SIGHICELLI, GIUSEPPE (1737, MODENA, ITALY, TO 8 NOVEMBER 1826, MODENA). Italian violinist and composer. The son of famed Baroque violinist Filippo Sighicelli (1686–1773), he was trained by his father. He debuted as an opera composer in 1766 at the local theatre and thereafter entered the service of Duke Ercole Rinaldo d’Este III. In 1773 he succeeded his father as concertmaster, and 10 years later he became maestro di cappella at the Ducal theatre. He was pensioned in 1808. His music has been little studied but consists of at least four operas, five symphonies, several violin concertos, and a number of chamber works. SILLETTO, GIACOMO (22 MARCH 1700, NAPLES, TO 23 AUGUST 1777, NAPLES). Italian composer and organist. He was probably trained at one of the conservatories in Naples, and by 1737 he made his debut as an opera composer in Bologna and Venice. He moved to Rome in 1742, and although he failed to obtain a post of maestro di cappella in Naples, he was offered the position of organist at San Giacomo degli Spagnuoli. His music
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has been little studied, but he wrote 46 operas (of which about 35 survive), as well as two cantatas. See also SILLETTO, GIUSEPPE. SILLETTO, GIUSEPPE (28 JULY 1701, NAPLES, TO 20 NOVEMBER 1763, NAPLES). Italian composer and singer. The brother of Giacomo Silletto, he was trained at one of the Neapolitan conservatories. Early in his career he became maestro di cappella at the Collegio dei Nobili, where he remained his entire life. His music includes two operas, a Stabat mater, and 72 fugues for keyboard. SILVA, JOÃO CORDEIRO DA (ca. 1735, LISBON, TO ca. 1808, LISBON). Portuguese composer. Nothing is known about his musical education or personal background, since documentation seems to have been the victim of the 1755 earthquake in Lisbon. He first appears in 1756, when he was admitted to the Irmandade de Santa Cecilia in November of that year. In 1763 he was appointed as organist in the Royal Chapel and was well regarded for his operatic compositions. He wrote over nine operas, including Telemaco, as well as an oratorio, Salome, in 1783, to a text by Gaetano Martinelli. Other compositions that have survived include several sonatas for keyboard, four Masses, four symphonies, two trios for two violins and basso, a Magnificat, and numerous other sacred works. His musical style is modeled upon that of Neapolitan composers such as Niccolò Jommelli, with good lyrical lines and conventional harmony. SILVA, POLICARPO JOSÉ ANTÓNIO DA (ca. 1780, PORTUGAL, TO ca. 1810, PORTUGAL). Portuguese composer of modhinas. Nothing is known about his life; indeed, his identity rests upon a single surviving piece, “De amor sobre as asas,” which displays a good sense of vocal writing demonstrating competency in the popular form. SILVA ROSA, MANUEL DA (ca. 1740, RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL, TO 15 MAY 1793, RIO DE JANEIRO). Brazilian clerical composer. Nothing is known of his life or training, save that he entered the Benedictine convent around 1765 in his hometown as a monk. He later taught at the Colégio but wrote almost exclusively sacred music. His surviving works include a Passion and several Psalms. SINFONIA. See SYMPHONY. SINFONIA CONCERTANTE. Also spelled symphonie concertante, sinfonia konzertant, concertone. A subgenre of the symphony that developed
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largely in France and Italy during the Classical period. It is commonly defined as a concerto for two or more (up to nine) instruments and orchestra. Although there is extensive orchestral accompaniment, most conform to the more common concerto double exposition form in their first movements, albeit with expansion to accommodate the multiple instruments. The usual format was either two or three movements; in the former, the slow movement is omitted. The subgenre was also inserted in two-movement format (slow-rondo or fast) into serenades mainly in the music of Austrian composers. The sinfonia concertante was a particular favorite at the Concerts spirituels in Paris, where composers such as Giuseppe Cambini made it a compositional focus. The Italian version, the concertone or “grand concerto,” often added additional obbligato instruments to the principal soloists. The largest concertante is for 12 instruments and orchestra by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf. SINFONIA DA CHIESA. See SYMPHONY. SINGSPIEL. Also known in Swedish as Sångspel, in Danish as Syngespil. A northern European form of opera that features bucolic settings, folklike and often strophic songs or arias, simple homophonic choruses, and spoken dialogue. It is often thought of as a nationalist genre in the 18th century, particularly in Scandinavia, where the subject matter is almost entirely localized. Although antecedents in Germany can be found as early as the Medieval or Renaissance, this particular manifestation began in 1743 in Berlin with a performance of Der Teufel ist los, translated from the English ballad opera The Devil to Pay by Prussian minister of war Count Caspar Wilhelm von Borcke. This work was subsequently performed throughout northern Germany by the Schönemann troupe, but his protégé Heinrich Christoph Koch commissioned Christian Felix Weiße to provide a localized adaptation, with music by Johann Georg Standfuß. This was premiered on 6 October 1752, igniting the so-called Comic War. In 1766 Johann Adam Hiller revised the work, thereby establishing the genre in Germany. In the last part of the century, the simple folk settings came to include more fantastical and exotic settings, thereby broadening the appeal of the genre. Major contributors to the Singspiel include Johann Adam Hiller, Jiří Antonín Benda, Johann Friedrich Reichardt, and Christian Gottlob Neefe. The genre itself came under criticism by Christoph Martin Wieland in his Versuch über das deutsche Singspiel. A similar popular form also developed in Vienna during the late 1730s, including works like Joseph Haydn’s Der krumme Teufel, which were based upon stock characters such as the clown Hanswurst and often were written in dialect. These later developed and
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merged with their North German counterparts in works written by Johann Friedrich Reichardt, Pavel Vranický, and Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf. In Sweden, the first opera written in Swedish was Syrinx, eller then uti Wass förvandlade Wattennyphen produced at the Swedish Comic Theatre in 1747 as a pasticcio. This became their stock in trade, with librettos localized from French models drawn from the opéra comique. The first Danish Syngespil was Gram og Signe based on a text by Nils Krog Bredal (1732–1778) likewise with pasticcio music, performed on 21 February 1757. This genre was immediately successful and led to a flourishing national form in Copenhagen at the Kongelige Teater. Later examples were composed by Giuseppe Sarti, Johann Ernst Hartmann, Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, Friedrich Ludwig Aemilius Kunzen, and Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse, the last primarily in the early years of the 19th century. Russian operas of Vasily Pashkevich and Yevstigny Fomin also tend to have spoken dialogue, as well as being based upon folk tales or contain folk elements, and thus belong to this genre. SINYAVINA, YEKATERINA ALEXEYEVA [MADAME VORONTSOV] (ca. 1750, RUSSIA, TO 1784, ST. PETERSBURG). Russian pianist and composer. Daughter of Russian admiral Alexey Sinyava, she was taken to court at an early age, where she became a lady-in-waiting to Catherine II. She was instructed in music by Giovanni Paisiello, who dedicated a piano concerto to her that was performed with her as soloist in 1781. The same year she married Sergei Vorontsov, Russian ambassador to London. Although she composed a variety of instrumental chamber works, her only surviving piece is a piano sonata dedicated to her teacher. This is one of the first keyboard works composed by a native Russian composer. SIRMEN, MADDALENA LAURA LOMBARDINI (9 DECEMBER 1745, VENICE, TO 18 MAY 1818, VENICE). Italian composer and violinist. As a child Sirmen studied at the Mendicanti in Venice, eventually becoming a student of Giuseppe Tartini in Padua. She married violinist Lodovico Sirmen in 1767, and immediately she and her husband began a concert tour that was successful. She continued to perform in Paris, London, and Turin before accepting a position as a singer at the court in Dresden in 1779. She largely disappears from history after 1800. Her music, some published in Paris, includes 12 sonatas for two violins, seven trios for two violins and basso (six published as Op. 1), six string quartets (Op. 3), and six violin concertos (also transcribed for keyboard). Her style is reminiscent of Joseph Haydn.
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SKJÖLDEBRAND, ANDERS FREDRIK (14 JULY 1757, ALGIERS, CALIPHATE OF ALGIERS, TO 23 AUGUST 1834, STOCKHOLM). Swedish diplomat, nobleman, author, and composer. Son of a Swedish diplomat, he entered military service in 1774 with the Skåne regiment, attaining the rank of lieutenant in the Swedish palace guard by 1794. Although he maintained his military standing, eventually rising to become a general of the Infantry in 1820, he was mostly occupied as a civil servant in the court of Gustav IV Adolph and Carl XIII, where he served as a state counselor. Trained as an author, he modeled his works after popular German playwright August Kotzebue, writing the play Hermann von Unna, set to music by Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler, with whom he also studied music composition. In 1799 he made his debut as a composer at the Swedish Comedy with a folk opera (Sångspel) titled Rudolf, also writing several string quartets, songs, and at least four other operas. He conducted the operetta society Nytt och Nöje for several years beginning in 1802, and in 1810 he became Intendant of the Royal Swedish Opera. His orchestration is often colorful, but the music has taints of amateurism with repetitious themes, static harmony, and often strange formal structures. SKOVORODA, HYYHORII SAVYCH (3 DECEMBER 1722, CHERNUKHY, KIEV GOVERNATE, RUSSIA [NOW UKRAINE], TO 9 NOVEMBER 1794, IVANOVKA, KHARKOV GOVERNATE, RUSSIA). Russian-Ukrainian composer, aesthete, and philosopher. Born into a serf family, he received intermittent education during the years 1734 to 1753 at the Mohyla Academy in Kiev. During those periods where he was not attending school, he served as a singer at the Imperial Choir in Moscow in 1741, in 1743 he traveled extensively in Eastern Europe, and in 1753 he accepted a post as a tutor for the Kovrai family. In 1759 he was appointed to the post of philosophy teacher at the Kharkov Collegium, but he left after a decade for a life as a wandering mystic. He wound up living with friends in Ivanovka, where, after three nights of digging his own grave, he announced his death, which occurred only a few hours later. Although his major works were focused on politics and philosophy, he was an active composer of liturgical hymns and songs, the latter often written to his own texts. One of these, the Skovorodyski psalmody, became inculcated into the repertory of the kobzars, 19th-century Ukrainian folk musicians. SMETHERGELL, WILLIAM (bap. 6 JANUARY 1751, LONDON, TO MARCH 1836, LONDON). English composer and organist. He received his earliest education as an organist under Thomas Curtis in 1765, and by 1770
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SMITH, JOHN CHRISTOPHER [JOHANN CHRISTOPH SCHMIDT], JR.
he had obtained the post of organist at the All Hallows Church at Barking-bythe-Tower. In 1775 he was appointed to a second post at St. Mary’s-at-Hill; he maintained both positions until his death. That same year he was accepted into the Society of Musicians, and during the last two decades of the 18th century he managed a subscription concert series. His 1791 treatise Rules for the Thorough-Bass shows a mastery of the art of traditional harmony. Smethergell was not a prolific composer, though he did publish his music frequently in London. This includes 12 lessons for the keyboard, 12 symphonies, seven keyboard concertos, six “canzonetts” for violin and basso, six duets for two violins, and numerous songs and glees. His style is somewhat closer to Thomas Arne and William Boyce, although the symphonies contain mannerisms of the Mannheim style. SMITH, JOHN CHRISTOPHER [JOHANN CHRISTOPH SCHMIDT], JR. (1712, ANSPACH, GERMANY, TO 3 OCTOBER 1795, BATH, ENGLAND). English composer and organist born in Germany. Smith arrived in England in 1720, having been called to London by his father, who in turn had immigrated there in 1716 to serve as George Frederick Handel’s chief copyist and financial advisor. He received his musical education from Johann Pepusch, Thomas Roseingrave, and probably Handel, serving Handel as his private secretary after 1730. In 1733 he premiered his first opera, Ulysses, which gave him a reputation as one of Handel’s disciples. He eventually wrote three other opera serias: Dario, Il Ciro rinconosciuto, and Issipile. In 1753, he took over conducting Handel’s oratorio series when the elder composer was no longer able to do so, eventually partnering with John Stanley after 1760. During this period he also composed for Drury Lane Theatre three operas, two of which, The Fairies (1755) and The Tempest (1756), were based upon Shakespeare. David Garrick himself wrote the libretto for his last opera, The Enchanter of 1760. Smith also served as the chief organist of the Foundling Hospital, where many of the oratorios were performed. He retired to Bath following the composition of a funeral service for the Prince of Wales in 1772. Smith was one of the major composers of the English oratorio; between 1760 and 1772 he wrote no fewer than seven, beginning with Paradise Lost. The remainder consists of Tobit, Jehoshaphat, Redemption, Nabal, Rebecca, and Gideon, the last three of which are arrangements of music by Handel. He also published five volumes of pieces for the keyboard (1732–1763). While this composer influenced his use of counterpoint and vocal style, his style was much more akin in his music to his colleague Thomas Arne. SMITH, JOHN STAFFORD (30 MARCH 1750, GLOUCESTER, ENGLAND, TO 21 SEPTEMBER 1836, LONDON). English organist and composer. Son of the cathedral organist in Gloucester, Smith studied under
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William Boyce beginning in 1761 as a chorister in the Chapel Royal. By 1784 he had been appointed a gentleman at the chapel, and a year later he was given the post as lay vicar at Westminster Abbey. Following a brief time as organist at Gloucester, in 1802 he returned to London as organist for the Chapel Royal. Smith is best known for his catches and glees, including the song “To Anacreon in Heav’n,” which became the basis for the American national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” He also wrote a treatise titled Introduction to the Art of Composing, which remained unpublished. His music consists of 63 glees, songs, and catches, as well as 20 anthems, 12 chants, 24 songs, a cantata, two hymns, and several smaller Anglican works. SMORFIOSO/CON SMORFIA. An 18th-century tempo marking meaning “mincing” or “affected,” an allusion to certain social mannerisms. It is possibly an indication of a type of glissando effect. It was used by composers such as Luigi Boccherini. SODI, CARLO (1715, ROME, TO SEPTEMBER 1788, PARIS). ItalianFrench composer. Little is known of his youth or training. The first documented appearance is in 1749, when he arrived in Paris as a violinist, employed by the Comédie-Italienne. The following year he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels, subsequently becoming the music master for Madame Favart. He was pensioned in 1765; thereafter he became a much-sought-after teacher. His music includes four operas, nine ballets, three oratorios, six arias, and a mandolin concerto. SOJKA, MATĔJ [MATTHIAS] (12 FEBRUARY 1740, VILÉMOV, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 13 MARCH 1817, VILÉMOV). Bohemian composer and organist. Probably trained in Prague by Josef Seger, he entered the service of Count Millesimus in his hometown. There he composed and taught music his entire life, producing about 300 works in a style reminiscent of Joseph Haydn. His works include numerous Masses, symphonies, and concertos; over 100 miscellaneous sacred works; two Requiems; and a large number of contrapuntal organ preludes and fugues, which may have contributed to the rumor that he had once been a student of Johann Sebastian Bach. SOJO, PADRE. See PALACIOS Y SOJO, PEDRO RAMÓN [PADRE SOJO]. SOKOLOVSKY, MIKHAIL MATVEYEVICH (ca. 1756, MOSCOW[?], TO AFTER 1795, MOSCOW). Russian singer, actor, and composer. Nothing is known about his origins or training, but he appears as a violinist and
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SOLER RAMOS, PADRE ANTONIO FRANCISCO JAVIER JOSÉ
singer with the Maddox [Petrovsky] Theatre in Moscow under the patronage of Nikolai Sheremetev (1751–1809). It was here that his sole surviving work, the folk opera Mel’nik-koldun obmashchik i svat [The Miller Who Was a Wizard, Cheat, and Matchmaker] to a text by Aleksander Ablesimov was premiered in 1779. He also taught singing at Moscow University during this time. SOLER RAMOS, PADRE ANTONIO FRANCISCO JAVIER JOSÉ (bap. 3 DECEMBER 1729, OLOT, GIRONA, CATALONIA, TO 20 DECEMBER 1783, MADRID). Catalan composer and organist. His earliest musical education came when he was a student at the monastery of Monserrat under Benito Esteve and Benito Valls beginning in 1736. By 1744 he had taken Holy Orders and obtained the post of organist at the cathedral of La Seu d’Urgell, later functioning as director in Lleida and finally at El Escorial in Madrid. There he taught the royal family, as well as living a simple life in the Heironymite monastery of San Lorenzo. In 1762 he published a treatise on harmony, Llave de la modulación. Soler can be considered one of the major composers of the middle of the 18th century in Spain, whose reputation especially for his keyboard sonatas achieved international recognition. He composed some 200 of these, as well as 132 villancicos, 60 Psalms, 25 hymns, 13 Magnificats, nine Masses, six quintets for organ and strings, six concertos for solo organ, five Requiems, and five motets, as well as some miscellaneous pieces, over 500 compositions in total. His musical style shows the development of the sonata principle in his sonatas, and the organ concertos are still performed regularly today as exemplars of a florid church style. See also MIR Y LLUSÁ, JOSÉ. SOLÈRE, PEDRO ÉTIENNE (14 APRIL 1753, MONT-LOUIS, PYRENEES, FRANCE, TO 1817, PARIS). French composer and clarinetist. His earliest career was as a musician in an infantry regiment beginning in 1767. His duties took him to Paris, where he became a student of Michel Yost, making his debut at the Concerts spirituels in 1784. Thereafter he performed throughout Europe on tour, and in 1795 he became the first professor of the instrument at the Conservatoire. His music, which incorporates rhythms of his mountain homeland, has been little explored but includes two clarinet concertos (including a Concerto Espagnole featuring a fandango movement), a sinfonia concertante for two clarinets, and a fantasy for clarinet, cello, and piano. SOLIÉ, JEAN-PIERRE (1755, NÎMES, FRANCE, TO 6 AUGUST 1812, PARIS). French singer and composer. The son of a musician, Solié (also spelled Soullier) was trained at the local cathedral as a choirboy, develop-
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ing a versatile voice. In 1778 he was in Avignon when he was called upon to replace an ill actor in La rosière de Salency by André Ernest Modeste Grétry. His success in the role led to a position with the Comédie-Italienne, where he performed, first as a tenor and later as a baritone, in various works throughout the 1780s. In 1783 he had his first success as a composer with Le séducteur, and shortly thereafter he left Paris to work in Nancy and Lyons. By 1787 he had returned to the French capital, and in 1790 he began to write more dramatic works for the stage. In 1801 he had his greatest triumph with the comic opera Le secret, followed a short time thereafter with a setting of the perennial favorite, Le diable à quatre, which was performed successfully internationally. Although he composed a few songs and patriotic hymns, he preferred to concentrate on opera, writing 43 works over his lifetime. His musical style is not as advanced or as colorful as that of his colleagues Etienne-Nicolas Méhul, Nicolas-Marie Dalayrac, Grétry, or François-Joseph Gossec, however. SOLNITZ, ANTON WILHELM (ca. 1708, BOHEMIA, TO AFTER 1753, LEIDEN, NETHERLANDS). Bohemian-Dutch composer. Of his origins nothing is known, save that he moved to the Netherlands in 1735, where a symphony was performed in Amsterdam. In 1743 he enrolled at the University of Leiden, but for the remainder of his life he performed frequently at the Nieuw Vaux-Hall concerts in The Hague. By 1752 he had returned to Amsterdam but apparently died the next year in Leiden. His music demonstrates the growth of formal structures, particularly in the symphonies. It has, however, been little studied. His works include a pantomime, a concerto, 18 symphonies, four quartets (perhaps quadros), 24 trio sonatas, and six duos, in addition to several divertimentos for winds. SOMIS, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (25 DECEMBER 1686, TURIN, ITALY, TO 14 AUGUST 1763, TURIN). Italian violinist and composer. The son of a violinist, he studied in Rome under Archangelo Corelli before returning to Turin in 1706. He eventually became the concertmaster in the court orchestra, and in 1737 he became director of the Teatro Regio. Somis made numerous visits to Paris as part of the ducal entourage, where he became well known as a teacher. Much of his music reflects Baroque practice, although most of the violin concertos, his major genre, are of limited virtuosity. The symphonies and concertos for other instruments, however, show an awareness of the emerging galant style. His students include Gaetano Pugnani and Louis-Gabriel Guillemain. His works include a motet, 152 violin concertos, 14 other concertos, three symphonies, 20 trio sonatas, 75 violin sonatas, and 12 solo sonatas.
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SOMIS, GIOVANNI LORENZO (11 NOVEMBER 1688, TURIN, ITALY, TO 29 NOVEMBER 1772, TURIN). Italian composer, artist, and violinist. The brother of Giovanni Battista Somis, he studied with his father and at an early age moved to Bologna to study both music and art. In 1722 he was elected a member of the Accademia filarmonica and in 1724 was employed by the king of Sardinia. By 1732 he had returned to Turin, where he was a member of the court orchestra. Somis was an avid art collector and painter, whose works were well respected. As a composer, his symphony and several of the violin sonatas reflect the new galant style, though these can be seen as transitional between the Baroque and Classical practices. His music includes 20 violin sonatas, a symphony, six concertos, and six trio sonatas. SOMMER, PATER JACOB [JOACHIM] (1746, OTTOBEUREN, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 20 MAY 1796, SALEM, BAVARIA, GERMANY). German monastic composer and organist. Sommer grew up in the vicinity of and was educated at the Benedictine monastery in his hometown. In 1781 he entered the order, being ordained in 1788. Little of his music has survived; the most important work is a Mass for substantial orchestral and vocal forces, demonstrating his interest in large-scale sacred musical forms. SONATA. In the 18th century, generally a work for two performers, usually an instrument accompanied by a keyboard or a solo instrument. It derived from the 16th-century Italian term denoting pieces of music that were generally performed and not sung. In the early Classical period, the genre followed the division into Sonata da camera, or chamber sonata made up primarily of various movements with stylized dance rhythms, and Sonata da chiesa, or church sonata consisting of alternating slow and fast contrapuntal movements. By the middle of the 18th century it had become more fashionable, particularly in France, as a display piece for a melody instrument, generally a violin, flute, or oboe, with a keyboard or continuo, with a structure that mirrored that of the concerto, generally three or four movements alternating fast and slow tempos. One of the most important performers to make the genre popular in France was Jean-Jacques de Mondonville, who was criticized in Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Dictionnaire de musique. Domenico Scarlatti popularized the single-movement keyboard sonata, and his works were widely circulated throughout Europe and New Spain. By the middle of the century, the genre had become regularized into three movements, fast-slow-fast, with the final movement generally a complex ternary, rondo, or theme and variations form. Single-movement sonatas were still performed in church as Epistle sonatas, usually for organ and instruments. The format of the first movement was generally a complex rounded
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binary form, which conforms to the sonata principle (referred to often simply as sonata form). Duo sonatas were written for various combinations of instruments, though the most common were for two string instruments, usually violins or violin and viola. Examples of these were written by Ignaz Pleyel, Franz Anton Hoffmeister, Michael Haydn, Giovanni Battista Viotti, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf. The term “sonata,” however, could be applied to virtually any chamber work, making it a more generic title. See also TRIO SONATA. SONATA PRINCIPLE. Also called “sonata form.” An expanded complex rounded binary form common in the second half of the 18th century and consisting of three principal sections; an Exposition, a Development, and a Recapitulation. Each of these is divided into subsections that create thematic and harmonic contrast. The Exposition typically has four sections: a primary theme in the tonic key, a transition (usually to the supertonic or dominant of the dominant), a secondary theme in the dominant, and a closing theme. The Development uses material from the Exposition, varying and sequencing it (although it can also introduce new material) in a variety of keys, most commonly the subdominant and relative or parallel minor. This leads to a retransition to the dominant in preparation for the return of the Recapitulation, a repetition of the Exposition, only in the tonic key. To this may be added additional internal variation or sequencing of themes (the so-called thematische Arbeit), introductions, or extensive coda/codettas. The result is a chiastic structure. Given the variety and flexibility of the form and its use and development during the Classical period, it is more common currently to designate it the sonata “principle,” rather than former designations “sonata form” or “sonata-allegro.” It was described in theoretical terms by Heinrich Christoph Koch in his Versuch einer Anleitung zur Composition (1782–1793) and Francesco Galeazzi in his Elementi teorico-pratici di musica of 1792–1796, among others. SONNLEITHNER, CHRISTOPH (28 MAY 1734, SZEGED, HUNGARY, TO 25 DECEMBER 1786, VIENNA). Austrian lawyer and composer. His musical training began in Vienna with an uncle, Leopold Sonnleither, who was a chorusmaster. His professional career, however, was destined for the state bureaucracy, and to that end he attended the University of Vienna in law. While he did continue his musical studies with Wenzel Raimund Pirk, he rose through the ranks of court functionaries eventually becoming the main counsel for Prince Esterházy. His duties there brought him into contact with Joseph Haydn, who performed some of his music. His son, Ignaz von Sonnleitner (1770–1831) later became a leader in Viennese society
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SONYER, TOMÁS [SOGNER, TOMMASO]
at whose home the music of Franz Schubert was performed. Although now virtually forgotten, Sonnleithner was a facile composer. His works include 44 Masses, six motets, five litanies, seven symphonies, 36 string quartets, three serenades, and a host of smaller works. The string quartets reflect the influence of Haydn. SONYER, TOMÁS [SOGNER, TOMMASO] (4 OCTOBER 1762, GERONA, CATALONIA [SPAIN], TO 9 JULY 1821, LIVORNO, ITALY). Catalonian-Italian composer. After receiving his first musical education from his father, an organist, he was sent to the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in Naples, where he was instructed by Nicola Sala. He made his debut as an opera composer at the Teatro Valle in Rome in 1791 and the following year was appointed as maestro di cappella at the Livorno cathedral. His music has been little studied but conforms to the late Neapolitan style. It includes an opera, an oratorio, four violin sonatas, and a number of quartets. Almost all of his music has been lost. SORKOČEVIĆ, ANTUN (25 DECEMBER 1775, DUBROVNIK, DALMATIA [NOW CROATIA], TO 14 FEBRUARY 1841, PARIS). Dalmatian-Croatian composer and nobleman. Son of Luka Sorkočević, he received his earliest musical education from his father, in whose footsteps he followed in diplomatic service following his father’s suicide and a period of music study in Rome from 1789 to 1794. He was appointed as consul to France and continued to reside there after the Republic of Dubrovnik was dissolved. Like his father, he was active as a composer only peripherally, writing only a limited number of works in the Italian style of the late 18th century. These include a couple of sacred works, a concert aria, six symphonies, a string quartet, six trios, and two sonatas. The bulk of his music appears to have been written before 1805. SORKOČEVIĆ, LUKA (13 JANUARY 1734, DUBROVNIK, DALMATIA [NOW CROATIA], TO 11 SEPTEMBER 1789, DUBROVNIK). Dalmatian-Croatian composer and nobleman. A member of a family of Dalmatian nobility, he was trained in music by Giovanni Valentini, maestro di cappella of the Dubrovnik cathedral. He traveled to Rome to study under Rinaldo da Capua around 1757, but his position in society redirected his life toward a role as a politician. From 1781 to 1782 he was ambassador for the Republic of Dubrovnik to the Holy Roman court in Vienna, during which period he became friends with Christoph Willibald von Gluck, Joseph Haydn, and Pietro Metastasio. His health began to fail upon his return to Dubrovnik when he was afflicted with chronic arthritis, and in a fit of despon-
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dency he committed suicide by leaping from the upper story of his palace. He was occupied with musical composition for a small portion of his life, even as he maintained a career in politics. His musical style is galant, although he shows some influences of the Italian opera. His musical compositions include nine symphonies, two sonatas (one keyboard and one violin), several arias, and a motet in Croatian titled Bablionskiem na riekama (Super flumina Babylonis, Psalm 136). His son, Antun Sorkočević, was also a composer. SOSTOA, JUAN JOSÉ DE (ca. 1745, EIBAR, SPAIN, TO 1813, MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY). Spanish-Uruguayan composer. Little is known of his training, save that he was ordained a priest around 1764 (the same time as his brother Manuel Sostoa Zuloaga), and immigrated to Montevideo around 1786. There he directed the city’s theatre and composed sacred music, little of which has survived. He was, however, instrumental in the development of the musical culture of the city, as well as teaching in a school of music. SOSTOA ZULOAGA, MANUEL (23 MAY 1749, EIBAR, SPAIN, TO 2 JULY 1806, ARÁNZAZU, SPAIN). Spanish composer. The brother of Juan José de Sostoa, he was ordained a Franciscan friar in 1764, moving to the monastery in Aránzazu, where he served in the choir and as an organist. His music seems to have been mostly lost, save for a sonata for organ that demonstrates knowledge of the style of Domenico Scarlatti. SOUZA LÔBO, JERÔNIMO DE (ca. 1750, VILA RICA [NOW OURO PRÊTA], BRAZIL, TO 1810, VILA RICA). Brazilian composer and organist. Part of the Minas Gerais school of composers, he became a member of the Irmendade de São José dos Homens Pardos in 1780, and he later served as organist at the Matriz de Nossa Senhora do Pilar. His music consists of a few sacred pieces, including three settings of the Lamentations. SPANGENBERG, JOHANN CONRAD (1720, PROBABLY THE HAGUE, TO 1800, THE HAGUE). Dutch oboist, violinist, composer, and publisher. Little is known about his life or training, save that he performed regularly with the musicians at the House of Orange in The Hague beginning around 1750. At that time he opened a music shop, where he sold works by Johann Christian Bach and others, as well as published music. His own pieces have been largely lost or forgotten, save for a set of six symphonies. SPERANZA, ALESSANDRO (ca. 1728, PALMA COMPANIA, ITALY, TO 17 NOVEMBER 1797, NAPLES). Italian composer. His early studies were with Francesco Durante at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto
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in Naples, following which he was ordained and functioned both as a teacher of singing and as maestro di cappella at a number of local churches. His music has been little studied but reflects a good grasp of counterpoint and harmony. This includes four Masses, a litany, a Passion, several Mass movements, three Lamentations, four antiphons, three Misereres, three arias, six divertimentos for keyboard, and a sonata. SPERGER, JOHANN MATTHIAS (23 MARCH 1750, FELDSBURG, BOHEMIA [NOW VALTICE, CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 13 MAY 1812, LUDWIGSLUST, GERMANY). German composer and contrabass player. Following studies under Franz Becker, he became a student of Johann Georg Albrechtsberger in Vienna, making his debut as a soloist in 1768. In 1777 he was employed by Cardinal von Batthyani in Pozsony (Pressburg, now Bratislava, Slovakia), and in 1783 he became a member of the Kapelle of Count Erdődy in Fidisch. After the dissolution of the ensemble he made his living as a copyist, as well as touring both Germany and Italy as a bass soloist. In 1789 he was appointed to the Kapelle of the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, where he remained for the rest of his life. Sperger was well versed in the styles of music of his time, becoming a significant composer of symphonies in particular. His music consists of 45 symphonies, 22 concertos (18 for double bass), three sinfonia concertantes, two nonets, an octet and a septet, two sextets, 12 quartets, two keyboard sonatas, 14 other sonatas (duos), five cantatas, three sacred songs, three hymns, three antiphons, and two offertories, as well as 50 partitas and several organ fugues. SPIEß, PATER MEINRAD [MATTHÄUS] (24 AUGUST 1683, HONSOLGEN BEI BUCHLOE, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 12 JUNE 1761, IRSEE MONASTERY, BAVARIA). German monastic composer and theorist. He received his earliest musical education from the Benedictines in Munich beginning in 1695, when he entered the monastery there as a novice. By 1700 he had moved to the Irsee monastery, where he remained for the rest of his life, functioning as a master in the monastic school and as regens chori. In 1745 he wrote a catalog of his own musical works, the bulk of which were published in eight collections. These include eight Masses, 26 Marian antiphons, 20 offertories, and 12 trio sonatas. In 1745 he also published a treatise titled Tractatus musicus compositorio-practicus, which advocated blending the new homophonic, lyrical style with a strict sense of counterpoint. While his early works are in the Baroque style, several of the Masses and antiphons demonstrate elements of the galant. He was a much-sought-after teacher within Benedictine circles. See also WEISS, PATER RAPHAEL.
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SPOURNI, WENCESLAS JOSEPH (ca. 1700, PROBABLY BOHEMIA, TO 1754, PARIS). French-Bohemian cellist and composer. Little is known of his life or training. He first appears around 1740 as a cellist in the service of the Prince of Carignan. His music includes six trio sonatas and several solos for his instrument. STADLER, ABBÉ MAXIMILIAN [JOHANN CARL DOMINIK] (4 AUGUST 1748, MELK, AUSTRIA, TO 8 NOVEMBER 1833, VIENNA). Austrian clerical composer and organist. Following early training at the Melk monastery, he was enrolled as a chorister in the monastery school in Lilienfeld in 1758. In 1762 he attended the Jesuit College in Vienna, where his teachers included Johann Georg Albrechtsberger. In 1764 he began a series of administrative posts as prior in Melk, Kremsmünster, and Lilienfeld before settling in Vienna in 1796. With the dissolution of the monasteries in 1803, he was a parish priest until his retirement in 1815. Stadler is best known as the musical advisor for Constanze Mozart and the first music teacher for both her sons. He was, however, a well-respected composer of church music, who both wrote original pieces and arranged the more important works by his colleagues. His own music includes a Singspiel, two oratorios, six Masses, two Requiems, over 100 other sacred works, three cantatas, 30 Lieder, five hymns, two melodramas, two concertos for cello, two divertimentos, six trios, and 19 sonatas. STADLER, ANTON (28 JUNE 1753, BRUCK AN DER LEITHA, AUSTRIA, TO 15 JUNE 1812, VIENNA). Austrian clarinetist and composer. The son of a cobbler, he moved to Vienna at an early age with his family, where he received his musical education. In 1773 he appeared at the Tonkünstlersozietät concerts along with his brother, and thereafter he became a much-sought-after artist. In 1779 he was made a member of the Imperial Harmoniemusik. Beginning around 1781 he became a friend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, though their dealings were often problematic due to Stadler’s lack of business sense. After Mozart’s death he organized a School of Music in Hungary. Stadler is best known as the soloist for Mozart’s Concerto for Basset-Clarinet KV 622, as well as the solo arias in the opera La clemenza di Tito. He himself spent much time refining and developing the clarinet and basset horn. As a composer, his music, little studied, includes a lost basset horn concerto, a wind partita, 18 trios for basset horns, 18 duos for two clarinets, and a number of sets of variations. STADLER, JOHANN WILHELM (8 OCTOBER 1747, REPPERNDORF, GERMANY, TO 26 JUNE 1819, ELTERSDORF, GERMANY). German composer and organist. Following musical education from the local cantor in Heilsbronn, he attended the University of Erlangen in 1770 to study
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STADLIN, GEORG JOSEPH
theology, where he became a pupil of Johann Balthasar Kehl. He succeeded Kehl in Bayreuth as city cantor in 1778, later becoming headmaster at the local Gymnasium. Stadler’s music is all but unknown, much of it having been lost. Lost works include an oratorio, several cantatas, and a number of choral works. What survives are a few Lieder from various collections, which do not give a definitive view of his style. STADLIN, GEORG JOSEPH (22 NOVEMBER 1717, ZUG, SWITZERLAND, TO 25 OCTOBER 1757, ZUG). Swiss composer. Little is known of his early education. By 1743 he was appointed as chaplain at the Rosenkreuz Church in Oberswil, and five years later also served in Zug at the Heiligkreuz Pfrund Church, to which he dedicated funds for a new organ. Although he had mostly administrative duties, he also composed a substantial number of sacred works, many of which have been lost. Surviving pieces, sacred duets now in Einsiedeln, show him to have been a competent composer. STALDER, JOSEPH FRANZ DOMINIK (bap. 29 MARCH 1725, LUZERN, SWITZERLAND, TO 4 JANUARY 1765, LUZERN). Swiss composer. Following early training at the Jesuit College in Lucerne (Luzern), he traveled to Milan in 1748 to study theology. While there he decided to become a composer, studying under Giovanni Battista Sammartini and Ferdinando Galimberti. In 1752 he became the provisioner at the St. Leodegar monastery in Lucerne but left a year later to further his career in London and Paris. In the latter he served the courts of the Prince de Conti and the Prince de Monaco before returning to Lucerne in 1762 as organist at St. Leodegar. His works reflect the Mannheim style and include seven stage works (mostly Jesuit Singspiels), 48 symphonies, seven sacred works, a flute concerto, a sextet, six string quartets, six trios, and a keyboard sonata. He can be regarded as one of the leading Swiss symphonists of the 18th century. STAMITZ, ANTON [THADEUS JOHANN NEPOMUK] (27 NOVEMBER 1750, NĚMECKÝ BROD [NOW HAVLÍČKŮV BROD], BOHEMIA [CZECH REPUBLIC], TO BEFORE 1809, PARIS). Bohemian composer and violinist. Son of Johann Stamitz and brother of Carl Stamitz, he was born during a brief family visit to his father’s home in Bohemia. Taken immediately back to Mannheim, he was trained by his brother and Christian Cannabich on the violin, serving from 1764 as a supernumerary with the Mannheim orchestra. In 1770 he and his brother decided to seek careers as soloists, traveling first to Paris, where he debuted at the Concerts spirituels in 1772. Thereafter he performed there frequently. In 1778 he spent two years as a violin teacher in Versailles; among his students was Rodol-
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phe Kreutzer. By 1782 he had returned to Paris where he was an ordinary musician in the Chapelle Royale, a post he held until the Revolution. He last appears in a brief notice in 1796, which remarks that he had been admitted into an insane asylum. The exact date of his death is unknown. His musical style shows his Mannheim training in the fluid themes, use of orchestral devices, and clear formal structures that adhere to the sonata principle. He left no vocal works, preferring to concentrate on instrumental genres. His music includes 15 symphonies; five sinfonia concertantes; 26 concertos (mainly for violin, but also viola, flute, and fortepiano); 54 string quartets; 60 trios (mainly for two violins and bass); 12 duos for two violins, 18 duos for violin/ viola, 12 duos for violin/cello, and 30 duos for two flutes; six violin sonatas; and 12 variations for violin and keyboard. There is a sense of irony about his lifestyle, that others, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, remarked was “Bohemian.” STAMITZ, CARL PHILIPP (bap. 8 MAY 1745, MANNHEIM, TO 9 NOVEMBER 1801, JENA). German composer and violist. The son of concertmaster Johann Stamitz, he received his training from his father’s colleagues Christian Cannabich, Ignaz Holzbauer, and Franz Xaver Richter before being appointed a violinist in the Mannheim orchestra at the age of 17. In 1770, however, he decided to resign his position and began a 25-year career as a touring virtuoso, performing mainly on the viola and viola d’amore. His first city was Paris, where he began publishing his music, followed by Frankfurt in 1773, St. Petersburg in 1775, Strasbourg in 1777, London in 1778, Amsterdam and The Hague in 1782, Berlin in 1786, Nuremburg in 1788, Kassel in 1790, and Weimar in 1792. His successes were variable, but he maintained close contact to various composers and musicians he met in each city. In 1795 he settled in the university town of Jena, where he spent the last years of his life devoted to the study of alchemy in a place without any appreciable musical establishment, although he did find employment teaching at the university. Toward the end of his life he planned further tours to Russia. Stamitz came to epitomize the clarity and regularity of Classical form and structure in his numerous compositions. These include good lyrical contrasting melodies, careful use of the so-called Mannheim devices, regularized harmony, and sometimes colorful harmony. His focus was on instrumental music, particularly the symphony and concerto, of which he is recognized as a universalist composer. His music includes over 50 symphonies, 38 sinfonia concertantes (mainly for two violins or violin and viola), over 80 concertos (20 for violin, three for viola, six for cello, 11 for flute, four for oboe, 15 for clarinet, 12 for bassoon, five for horn, and others for keyboard, harp, basset
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horn, and viola d’amore), seven wind parthies, 22 wind serenades, six string quintets, 21 string quartets, 12 woodwind quartets, 35 string trios and six piano trios, 90 duets, 15 violin sonatas, two operas, two festive cantatas, a Mass, three canticles, a massive quodlibet in two acts titled Great Allegorical Musical Festivity (written in 1788 in Nuremburg to celebrate the balloon flight of Jean-Pierre Blanchard the previous year), and other smaller chamber works. He can be reckoned as one of the most prolific composers of the period. STAMITZ, JOHANN WENZEL ANTON [JAN VÁCLAV ANTONÍN] (bap. 18 JUNE 1717, NÉMECKÝ BROD [NOW HAVLÍČKŮV BROD], BOHEMIA [CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 27 MARCH 1757, MANNHEIM). Bohemian-German composer and violinist. Son of an organist whose brothers were all musicians, Stamitz (Stámič) received his initial training from his father before attending the Jesuit Gymnasium in Jihlava. By 1734 he had enrolled at Prague University in law but after only a brief stay decided to devote himself to becoming a virtuoso violinist. He spent the next several years touring, but in 1741 he was offered a position at the Palatine court of Carl Theodor in Mannheim, where his efforts to reform the orchestra led him to being appointed first violinist in 1741 and director of instrumental music in 1750. He traveled to Paris under the protection of Count Alexandre Le Rode de la Pouenlinière in 1754, where he created a sensation at the Concerts spirituels, as well as being lauded for introducing the musical style of the Mannheim orchestra through his symphonies, labeled La melodia Germania. He returned to Mannheim a year later, but broken health coupled with exhaustion caused his demise shortly thereafter. Stamitz can be seen as one of the pivotal figures in the development of the Classical period style through his expansion of Italianate orchestral devices, use of color and texture in his orchestration, and evolution of formal structures from simple binary forms to those reflecting sonata principles. A prolific composer, he was well versed in all genres of the time. His works include 58 symphonies, 10 orchestral trios, 15 trio sonatas, 25 violin concertos, 11 flute concertos, six other concertos (keyboard, clarinet, oboe), 27 other smaller orchestra works, 16 violin sonatas, six cello sonatas, six flute duos, several caprices for solo violin, two Masses, two litanies, and an offertory. His two sons, Anton Stamitz and Carl Stamitz, also became significant composers during this period. See also CANNABICH, CHRISTIAN INNOCENZ BONAVENTURA; TOESCHI, CARL JOSEPH. STANDFUß, JOHANN GEORG [CHRISTOPH] (ca. 1720, WEHLEN, SAXONY, TO ca. 1759, HAMBURG). German composer. Nothing is known about his life or training, though in 1740 he matriculated at the
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University of Leipzig. Around 1750 he became the musical director of the theatre troupe headed by Georg Heinrich Koch. He provided music for the performances given as the troupe traveled throughout Saxony. On 6 October 1752 his most famous work, the Singspiel Der Teufel ist los—a translation of Charles Coffey’s ballad opera The Devil to Pay by Christian Felix Weiße— was premiered in Leipzig, both inaugurating the 18th-century version of German opera as well as the so-called Comic War that pitted Koch against the moralist and didactic vision for opera proposed by Johann G. Gottsched, a professor at Leipzig University. Two other Singspiels by Standfuß survive, Der lustige Schuster (a sequel to The Devil to Pay) and Jochem Tröbs, oder Der vergnügte Bauernskind; both were performed in 1759, the former in Lübeck and the latter in Hamburg. In addition, he apparently wrote three motets, of which two survive. The music for the Singspiels has survived only because it was included in a published vocal score by Johann Adam Hiller in 1766, but this fact indicates that the music was well known. It shows a simple folklike style with strophic tunes and diatonic harmony. Gerber reported that Standfuß died in Hamburg in 1756, but it is likely that the date was a misprint. STANLEY, CHARLES JOHN (17 JANUARY 1712, LONDON, TO 1 MAY 1786, LONDON). English composer and organist. At the age of 2 he had an accident that left him virtually blind, but nonetheless he studied organ with John Reading, and when that was unsatisfactory, with Maurice Greene. By 1726 he had been organist at All Hallows and was appointed at the age of 14 in a similar position at St. Andrews in Holbourne. In 1729 he received a bachelor’s degree in music from Oxford University, from where he returned to London to become a member of the Society of the Inner Temple in 1734. At the same time he performed as a violinist, arranging a series of public concerts at the Swan Tavern, Cornhill, and Castle Tavern on Paternoster Row. By 1742 he was employed at the royal court and soon became a friend of George Frederick Handel. After Handel’s death, in 1760 he continued to develop oratorio concerts in conjunction with John Christopher Smith Jr. In 1770 he was elected to the board of the Foundling Hospital, and in 1779 he succeeded William Boyce as master of the King’s Musick. Stanley was well regarded, both for his majestic performance and for his compositions. These include an opera, Teremintas; a large-scale cantata, The Choice of Hercules; and four oratorios (Jephthah, 1757; Arcadia, 1761; The Fall of Egypt, 1774; and Zimri). He also composed odes for the English court birthdays and other occasions; these have mostly been lost and their exact number is unknown. In addition, he regularly published his music, beginning in 1740 with the eight solos for the flute. These works, as Op. 1–10, include three sets of organ voluntaries (1748–1754), six organ concertos, 15 cantatas, and six “concertos” for solo keyboard. His style is similar to that of Thomas Arne or William Boyce.
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STATTMILLER, PATER BEDA (1699, GERMANY, TO 1770, KLOSTER WEINGARTEN, BAVARIA). German monastic composer. Little is known of his life or activities, save that he entered the Benedictine order at Weingarten around 1720. His musical style apparently developed after around 1740, when he was active in the monastery as a singer and musician. His works include several Masses, 10 Marian antiphons, a Te Deum, and seven offertories. STECKLER, ANNE-MARIE [KRUMPHOLTZ] (10 AUGUST 1766, METZ, FRANCE, TO 15 NOVEMBER 1813, LONDON). French harpist and composer. The daughter of a well-known harp maker, Christian Steckler, she was a pupil of Jan Krumpholtz, whom she married in 1783. She made her debut at the Concerts spirituels as early as 1779, appearing frequently thereafter both as a soloist and with her husband. In 1788 she began a love affair that resulted in her eloping to London, possibly with pianist Jan Dussek, eventually settling into society there for the remainder of her life. In London she was celebrated as one of the most important virtuosos of the time on her instrument, for which she wrote sonatas and various arrangements of popular tunes. STEFFAN, JOSEF ANTON. See ŠTĚPÁN, JOSEF ANTONÍN. STEGMANN, CARL DAVID (1751, STAUCHA, SAXONY, GERMANY, TO 27 MAY 1826, BONN, GERMANY). German tenor, keyboardist, and composer. Following studies in Dresden with Johann Friedrich Zillich at the Kreuzschule in 1760, Stegmann became a pupil of Gottfried August Homilius. In 1772 he began an itinerant career as a singer in Breslau, moving from position to position in cities such as Königsberg and Danzig. In 1778 he settled in Hamburg where he produced Singspiels. By 1783 he had joined the Grossman troupe as a harpsichordist, eventually becoming attached to courts in Mainz and Frankfurt, where in 1793 he produced his most significant opera, Heinrich der Löwe. In 1798 he returned to Hamburg as a director of the theatre, remaining there until his retirement in 1811. As a composer, Stegmann was known for his incidental music, much of which conforms to the late Singspiel tradition of northern Germany. His music has, however, received little attention. It consists of 18 stage works (including Singspiels), 12 concertos, two symphonies, numerous Lieder, and many arrangements of works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Ferdinando Paër, Christoph Willibald von Gluck, and others. STEIBELT, DANIEL GOTTLIEB (22 OCTOBER 1765, BERLIN, TO 20 SEPTEMBER 1823, ST. PETERSBURG). German composer and keyboardist. At an early age he came to the attention of the Berlin court as a tal-
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ented musician, studying under Johann Philipp Kirnberger. Forced by his father to join the military, he deserted in 1784 and fled to central Germany, eventually winding up in Paris in 1790. Thereafter he traveled between the French capital and London on tour, and by 1793 he had established himself as a fashionable composer of operas. In 1799 he began a longer European tour as a soloist, returning to Paris several years later. He fled Paris in 1808 due to debts and made his way to St. Petersburg, where he wrote for the French theatre there. Although his music was seen as interesting and colorful, he had a reputation as a scoundrel who was both conceited and dishonest. He did, however, have a flair for the unusual when it came to his own compositions. His works include 16 operas, eight keyboard concertos (rivaling Johann Nepomuk Hummel in grandeur, the eighth of which requires two accompanying orchestras), a symphony, three quintets, seven quartets, 160 keyboard sonatas, 180 smaller works, and a harp concerto. STENBORG, CARL (8 SEPTEMBER 1752, STOCKHOLM, TO 1 AUGUST 1813, STOCKHOLM). Swedish composer, impresario, and singer. He made his debut at the public concerts in Stockholm at the age of 14, earning a lifelong sinecure from the Swedish court as a secretary. In 1773 he was named hovsångare, participating in the premiere of the Gustavian Opera’s inaugural work, Francesco Antonio Uttini’s Thetis och Pelée. At the beginning of 1780 he took over leadership of the Swedish Comic Theatre from his father, eventually raising the private company to a rival of the Royal Spectacles. Excess costs, however, along with his work as the main singer at the Royal Opera, forced his company into bankruptcy in 1799. Thereafter he toured the provinces as the head of a wandering troupe, eventually retiring in 1808. As a singer he was known for his dark and expressive voice, more baritone than tenor, as well as his superior acting ability. As a composer, his works are comic operas in Swedish (Sångspel) with the exception of the three-act drama Gustaf Ericsson i Dalarne. His music is often simple and folklike, though the aforementioned opera shows similarities with the music of Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler and Joseph Martin Kraus. His works include seven operas (and four other partial collaborations), three ballets, an oratorio, at least 10 individual arias, 14 songs, and several smaller works. See also ENVALLSSON, CARL. ŠTĚPÁN, JOSEF ANTONÍN [STEFFAN, JOSEF ANTON] (bap. 14 MARCH 1726, KOPIDLNO, BOHEMIA [CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 12 APRIL 1797, VIENNA). Austro-Bohemian composer and keyboardist. Following early instruction from his father, a local cantor, he fled to Vienna to escape Prussian troops during the War of the Austrian Succession, eventually acquiring Count Schlick as his patron. He became a favorite pupil of
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Georg Christoph Wagenseil, under whose tutelage he achieved a reputation as one of the best keyboardists in Vienna. He was appointed as instructor to princesses Maria Carolina and Maria Antonia (later Marie Antoinette). In 1775 he was forced to retire due to failing eyesight, though he retained his salary. The remainder of his life was spent as a guest in the various salons of the city, where his Lieder (most of which were published) were popular. As a composer, his music conforms to the conventions of the style prevalent in Vienna of the period. These include two Masses (and a Requiem), seven hymns, numerous other smaller sacred works, one oratorio, 79 Lieder, 47 keyboard sonatas/divertimentos, 224 other individual works for the keyboard (including cadenzas), 12 symphonies, 45 concertos for the keyboard, seven piano trios, a violin sonata, and two piano quartets. His music remains largely unexplored. STEPHENSEN, MAGNÙS (1762, ICELAND, TO 1833, REYKYAVIK, ICELAND). Icelandic musician and teacher. Although he was trained in folk music at his home, it was not until he traveled to Denmark to receive education at the University of Copenhagen in jurisprudence 1781–1788 that Stephensen began a lifelong interest in music. He himself noted that he learned to play the organ in Copenhagen around 1799 during a visit there, probably becoming the only organist in Iceland. He also performed on the violin and a native instrument, the langspil, a sort of folk fiddle (fiđla), as well as flute. In 1797 he published the first book of Icelandic songs, Skémtileg Vina-gledi i frólegum Samraedum og liódmaelum [Jesting Drinking Songs in Happy Company and Fellowship] and in 1801 the Evangelisk-kristileg Messu-saungs-og Sálma-Bók [Lutheran Christian Mass Singing and Psalm Book], which served as the basic hymnal for the entire island. He also commented upon the history of culture in 18th-century Iceland in Eptimaeli Atjándu Aldar [Epilogue to the 18th Century] from 1806. His musical compositions were apparently limited to adapting melodies for the songbook and hymnal. His main occupation was as a district administrator. STERKEL, ABBÉ JOHANN FRANZ XAVER (3 DECEMBER 1750, WÜRZBURG, GERMANY, TO 21 OCTOBER 1817, WÜRZBURG). German composer and organist. His earliest musical education was from local musicians, and in 1768 he attended the University of Würzburg in theology at the same time as he supported himself as organist at the cathedral. In 1774 he was ordained and four years later became the court chaplain for Elector Friedrich Karl Joseph von Erthal in Mainz. After a year spent in Italy to further his musical education, he became canon in 1785 and in 1793 was appointed as Kapellmeister. During the Napoleonic wars he followed the
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court of the Duke of Frankfurt to Aschaffenburg, returning to Würzburg in 1814. Sterkel maintained a prolific correspondence with many major musical figures of the time, including Joseph Haydn. His own compositional style imitates Haydn. His works include an opera, four Masses, a Te Deum, 125 Lieder, 15 part songs, eight concert arias, 26 symphonies, six piano concertos, a piano quartet, a quintet, 46 trios, 31 violin sonatas, six duos, 14 keyboard sonatas, and 53 miscellaneous other pieces for keyboard. STEYR, PATER MICHAEL (28 SEPTEMBER 1757, OTTOBEUREN, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 8 MAY 1809, RAVENSBURG, GERMANY). German monastic composer. Trained at the Benedictine monastery school in Ottobeuren, he entered the order as a novice at the Kloster Weinberg in 1776. After the secularization he became a parish priest in Ravensburg. As a composer, his music has been little studied but consists of 10 sacred songs, two alleluias, nine Marian antiphons, a Stabat mater, three offertories, a litany, six hymns, and a gradual. STICH, JAN VÁCLAV (28 SEPTEMBER 1746, ZEHUŠICE, BOHEMIA [CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 16 FEBRUARY 1803, PRAGUE). Bohemian horn player and composer. Born into a poor family on the estate of Count Joseph Johann von Thun, Stich was sent to Prague by his patron to study horn with Joseph Matiegka and composition with Johann Schindlarz. In 1764 he became a student of Anton Joseph Hampel in Dresden, where he perfected his technique of hand-stopping. His return to and service in the court ensemble of Count Thun, however, was marked by charges of insubordination, and he escaped to Italy pursued by the count’s thugs who were charged with either bringing him back to Bohemia or knocking out his front teeth. He made his way to Italy, where he “Italianized” his name to Giovanni Punto, winning approbation for his performance and obtaining a post as a violinist at the court of Joseph Friedrich Wilhelm von HohenzollernHeuchingen. In 1769 he moved to Mainz to perform for Elector-Archbishop Emmerich Joseph von Breidbach zu Bürresheim. In 1772 he began a career as a touring soloist, centering his activities in Paris and London, although he maintained a post with Archbishop Adam von Seinsheim in Würzburg and with the private orchestra of George III of England. Settling in Paris in 1788 he was appointed conductor of the Théâtre des Variétés Amusantes a year later, riding out the Revolution as a popular conductor. Refusal to appoint him to the faculty of the new Conservatoire in 1798, however, led him to return to touring in Bohemia and Austria, where his performance ability was noted by composers such as Ludwig van Beethoven. As a performer, he concentrated on second or low horn, perfecting
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the art of hand-stopping to produce notes outside the natural harmonic series. Charles Burney noted the “astounding execution” of his performances. As a composer, he concentrated on his own instrument, writing 16 horn concertos (plus another for two horns), 103 horn duets, 47 horn trios, 21 horn quartets, and a horn sextet; in addition he composed a clarinet concerto, three flute quartets, three flute quintets (with horn), and a large number of trios for flute and strings. See also DOMNICH, HEINRICH; LEBRUN, JEAN. STONE, JOSEPH (20 MARCH 1758, WORCHESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES, TO 2 FEBRUARY 1837, WARD [NOW NEW AUBURN], MASSACHUSETTS). American psalmodist. Like Daniel Read, he served in the Revolutionary War as a private and by 1786 had become town clerk, surveyor, and assessor at Ward. In 1806 he served on the Massachusetts General Court as a judge. A student of Abraham Wood, he published 55 works, many in 1785 in The Country Harmonist and in 1791 in The Columbian Harmony. STORACE, NANCY [ANNA SELINA] (27 OCTOBER 1765, LONDON, TO 24 AUGUST 1817, DULWICH, ENGLAND). English soprano. Born to Italian immigrant musician Steffano Storace and the daughter of the director of the Marylebone Gardens concerts, she was a precocious talent who made her debut as a soprano in 1773. She subsequently studied with Venanzio Rauzzini and Antonio Sacchini before beginning her career as a singer in Florence in 1779. In 1783 she joined the Italian Opera in Vienna, for which she created prima donna roles for the next five years, becoming a close personal friend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In 1788 she returned to London, where she paired with her brother Stephen Storace in opera productions at Drury Lane Theatre. After her brother’s death, she performed at the King’s Theatre and toured Europe in 1797. Her partnership with tenor John Braham ended in 1816 in acrimony, with him attempting to sue her for support. She was considered a skilled actress and interpreter of roles, among them Susanna in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, although she lacked the ability to produce a pure tone. As a composer, she wrote a number of songs and canzonetts. STORACE, STEFFANO (1725, TORRE ANNUNZIATA, ITALY, TO 1781, LONDON). Italian-English contrabass player and composer. Trained probably in or around Naples, Storace left for Dublin, Ireland, in 1748, to perform in the public concerts there. In 1758 he moved to London, where he appeared frequently at the Marylebone and Vauxhall Garden concerts, the latter of which he became director. He is best known as the father of Nancy
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Storace and Stephen Storace. His one claim to fame is an incident in the 1753 Gentleman’s Gazette describing his use of the tarantella for its recuperative effects. His music has been almost all but forgotten, consisting of a few vocal works. STORACE, STEPHEN (4 APRIL 1762, LONDON, TO 16 MARCH 1796, LONDON). English composer. Son of Italian immigrant Steffano Storace and the daughter of the director of the Marylebone Gardens concerts, he was raised alongside his sister, Nancy Storace, in a musical environment. He was sent to Naples, where he enrolled in the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana, later abandoning his studies to travel with his sister and Irish tenor Michael Kelly. By around 1782 he had returned to London but traveled frequently to Vienna, where he became a friend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In 1787 upon his return from his travels, he was jailed for disorderly conduct but was able to get release and perform with the Italian opera company. In 1788 he joined the Society of Musicians and began composing for the Drury Lane Theatre. A sudden illness cut short his career. As a composer, he followed popular composers of the period such as Thomas Linley Jr. in writing accessible balladlike tunes. His music includes 19 operas, a cantata, five arias, two ballads, eight canzonetts, a ballet, two quintets, three trios, and six sonatas, much of which was written within an eight-year professional career. STRATICO, [GIUSEPPE] MICHELE (31 JULY 1728, ZARA, VENETIAN REPUBLIC [NOW ZADAR, CROATIA], TO ca. 1782, SANGUINETTO, ITALY). Italian composer and violinist. The son of a Venetian nobleman, he received his education in Padua, where he studied under Giuseppe Tartini. Around 1759 he moved to the town of Sanguinetto where he wrote his treatise, Trattato di musica, as well as taught pupils. Due to his family connections, he had little need to find employment, and thus he could concentrate on his own theories and musical composition. His works still need a thorough study and include 35 symphonies, 61 violin concertos, 15 violin duos, 170 violin sonatas, six string quartets, and 50 trios, as well as a number of smaller chamber works. STROHBACH, JAN JOSEF [JOHANN JOSEPH] (2 DECEMBER 1731, SVITAVA U SLOUPU, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 1794, PRAGUE). Bohemian violinist and conductor. During his early years he moved to Prague to receive his musical education, eventually becoming a violinist at the Crusader’s Church. In 1764 he was a conductor at the Italian Opera and in 1785 became Kapellmeister at the National Opera. He also
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functioned as regens chori of the St. Nikolaus Church until his death. He is best known as the first conductor of Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Although he wrote a number of sacred works, these have not been studied. See also ROSETTI, ANTONIO. STURM UND DRANG. A literary movement inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s novel Werther of 1774, although several literary circles, such as the Göttinger Hainbund, were involved with the aesthetical discussion of extreme emotionalism and expression in literature around the same time. Considered in the history of literature as an outgrowth of the more restrained Empfindsamkeit movement promoted by authors such as Friedrich Klopstock and Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, it sought to expand dramatic expression and raw emotions in all literary venues. An analogue with the realm of music can be seen in a manifestation of a variety of musical devices that came to typify a more emotional style. These include a penchant for minor keys, radical shifts in dynamic levels and crescendo, use of string tremolo, abrupt syncopations and rhythmic shifts, often progressive use of harmony and dissonance, and thicker, more dramatic orchestration. Joseph Martin Kraus describes this musical movement as the difference between “feeling (Gefühl)” and “passion (Leidenschaft)” in his 1778 treatise Etwas von und über Musik fürs Jahr 1777. It is to be seen as less of a movement or proto-Romantic trend than a particular dramatic style of writing, especially in instrumental works, that many composers used. For example, one of the earliest pieces predating the literary movement is Christoph Willibald von Gluck’s ballet Don Juan of 1761. SULZER, JOHANN ANTON (18 SEPTEMBER 1752, RHEINFELDEN, SWITZERLAND, TO 8 MARCH 1828, KONSTANZ, GERMANY). Swiss amateur composer. Following early training at the Jesuit Gymnasium in Solothurn, he attended the University of Fribourg in theology and in 1783 obtained a doctorate in law from the University of Freiburg im Breisgau. Thereafter he served as magistrate at the Kreuzhagen monastery and in 1798 was appointed professor and librarian at the Konstanz Lyceum. Sulzer was entirely self-taught as a composer, although his works were considered popular for their time. These include around 80 Lieder, as well as 12 sonatas, which he published. SULZER, JOHANN GEORG (16 OCTOBER 1720, WINTERTHUR, SWITZERLAND, TO 27 FEBRUARY 1779, BERLIN). Swiss-German aesthetician and theorist. Following studies in Zürich, he obtained the post of tutor in Magdeburg before moving to Berlin in 1747 as professor of math-
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ematics at the Joachimsthal Gymnasium. There he became a part of the social circle of Frederick II. Although not a composer, he enlisted friends Johann Philipp Kirnberger and Johann Abraham Peter Schulz to write articles on music for his magnum opus, the Allgemeine Theorie der schönen Künste, published 1771–1774. SÜßMAYER, FRANZ XAVER (1766, SCHWANENSTADT, UPPER AUSTRIA, TO 17 SEPTEMBER 1803, VIENNA). Austrian composer. His earliest training was from his father, a local church organist, following which he served as a chorister and eventually cantor at the Benedictine monastery in Kremsmünster. In 1787 he moved to Vienna, where he became a student of Antonio Salieri, eventually also becoming a close friend and associate of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (though the traditional close student-master relationship heretofore noted in the literature has been difficult to establish). In 1792 he became vice director of the Kärntnertor Theatre in Vienna; two years later he obtained a position as Kapellmeister at the Burgtheater. He continued to compose operas for that institution until his death from tuberculosis. Süßmayer as a composer has always been seen in the light of his relationship with Mozart, particularly since he was responsible for the completion of Mozart’s Requiem (KV 626). His reputation, however, was more as a talented composer of the Singspiel, in which he demonstrated a good grasp of the simple style of the genre similar to Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf. His works include 24 operas (both German and Italian), four ballets, 16 insertion arias and choruses, eight part songs, 23 Lieder, four Masses (and two German Requiems), nine offertories, numerous Psalms, sacred arias, and hymns, a Magnificat, a Te Deum, seven symphonies, over 100 marches and dances, three concertos (piano, clarinet, horn), a sextet, four divertimentos, two quintets, two trios, two sonatas, and several smaller chamber works. His music is known by SmWV numbers. SWAN, TIMOTHY (23 JULY 1758, WORCHESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES, TO 23 JULY 1842, NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS). American psalmodist. Early in his career he moved to Northampton, where he worked as a merchant and hatter. His music consists of 63 works, mainly psalmody and secular songs. SWIETEN, GOTTFRIED FREIHERR VAN (29 OCTOBER 1733, LEIDEN, NETHERLANDS, TO 29 MARCH 1803, VIENNA). DutchAustrian nobleman, diplomat, patron, librettist, and composer. The son of a renowned doctor, he spent his earliest years in Leiden, but in 1745 his entire family moved to Vienna when his father became personal physician to
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Empress Maria Theresia. Shortly thereafter they were ennobled, allowing him the opportunity to be educated at the Jesuit schools in preparation for service to the Holy Roman state. In 1755 he was appointed a diplomat to the court of Charles of Lorraine in Brussels, following which he spent several years in Paris. After a brief sojourn in Warsaw in 1763, he was appointed ambassador to the Prussian court in Berlin, a post he held from 1770 to 1777. Returning to Vienna he was made prefect of the Imperial Library. He maintained a strong interest in music his entire life, particularly with respect to reviving neglected works by major Baroque figures such as Bach and Handel. In 1780 he founded the Gesellschaft der Assoziierten, whose purpose was to perform large choral works “updated” to fit late 18th-century performance standards. He was also a patron of composers, from Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (from whom he commissioned symphonies) to Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. For Haydn, Swieten was intimately involved with the texts of Haydn’s last two oratorios. He had aspirations as a composer himself, writing three comic operas and ten symphonies. The quality of the latter have been prejudiced by a remark by Haydn that they were “as stiff as the Baron himself.” Though not inventive, they do conform to the practices of the time; as well, there is a paucity of thematic development and progressive harmony. SYMPHONY. Also sinfonia, sinfonia da chiesa, symphonie, overture. Initially created during the Baroque period as introductions to theatre productions or for providing ceremonial music in the church, the symphony emerged as an independent instrumental genre between 1728 and 1735. Forerunners include the Baroque sinfonia/sonata da chiesa, the Italian opera sinfonia, the French overture, the Baroque suite (for northern models), and the Neapolitan ripieno concerto. Early nomenclature is extremely varied and imprecise generically, but during the Classical period it was defined as a work from one to as many as 10 movements; generally, though, the majority conform to a single-movement (da chiesa or church), three-movement (Italian sinfonia), or four-movement pattern. The first follows the French overture pattern of a slow introduction followed by an extensive fugue; the second is a fast movement usually in binary form, followed by a contrasting slow movement and concluding with a triple-meter dance; and the last includes a minuet in either the second or third position, often concluding with either a lengthy movement according to the sonata principle or a rondo. Although the early works—many of which did double duty as independent instrumental pieces and as the opening movements in operas—are often rather short, their length and instrumentation grew considerably by the end of the 18th century into compositions of significant stature and length.
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The symphony as a genre was defined by Johann Mattheson (initially as church or theatre works in Das neu-eröffnete Orchestre of 1713 and later as an independent genre in Der vollkommene Capellmeister of 1749), Johann Adolph Scheibe (Der critischer Musicus of 1738–1740), and Johann Abraham Peter Schulz (in Johann Georg Sulzer’s Allgemeine Theorie der schönen Künste of 1774). A thematic identification catalog created in the 1960s by musicologist Jan LaRue and expanded upon since includes well over 16,000 works written during this period. Symphonies are often one of the most significant genres written by composers, with a number of composers writing large numbers, such as Franz Xaver Richter or František Pokorny. Joseph Haydn wrote 108 symphonies during his long career, sets of which were commissioned by the Loge Olympique in Paris and the Salomon concerts of London, respectively. Even during the 18th century, his symphonies were considered the models upon which composers throughout Europe based their contributions to the genre. Subgenres include the sinfonia caracteristica, within which movements have individual titles, the symphonie périodique, and the medley overture or miscellaneous overture, which consists of a succession of orchestrated and arranged popular and borrowed music in single- or two-movement pattern. The sinfonia da chiesa was popular as a substitution for the Epistle sonata, with composers such as Gaetano Valeri and Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli composing examples of these single-movement works. See also SINFONIA CONCERTANTE. SYNGESPIL. See SINGSPIEL. SZCZUROWSKI, JACEK (18 AUGUST 1718, KALISZ, POLAND, TO ca. 1773, POLAND). Polish clerical composer. Although little information on his life or training has survived, it is known he was ordained a Jesuit priest in Kalisz around 1737, and he functioned in monasteries and churches throughout Silesia in cities such as Danzig and Posen during his lifetime. His music is colorful, with good use of homophonic chorus and a progressive harmonic structure. His music consists of a symphony, nine litanies, four Masses, and two antiphons, as well as numerous Psalms, motets, and offertories.
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T TAPPĀ. A Classical Punjabi Indian style of music developed by Satarang in the early Classical period. It consists of poetry extolling Hindu kings, Hindu mythology, and epics. It also consists of accompaniment with a drum (pakhawaj) and a four-beat structure combined into longer beat motives. TAPRAY [TAPERET], JEAN-FRANÇOIS (1738, NOMENY, LORRAINE, FRANCE, TO ca. 1819, FONTAINEBLEAU, FRANCE). French composer and organist. Son of a skilled organist, Jean Taperet (1700–after 1770), he grew up in a family of keyboardists. In 1756 he was named coorganist at the cathedral in Dole, and a year later he published his first organ concerto. In 1765 he moved along with his father to Besançon, but by 1772 he had established himself at the École militaire in Paris as a keyboard instructor. His students included Lucille Grétry. Although ill health forced him to retire in 1786, his work as a teacher continued, with a good reputation established with the publication of his keyboard method book in 1789. During the Revolution, he functioned as a conductor, but after 1798 he appears to have retired into obscurity in the suburb of Fontainebleau. One of the first composers to oversee his own published music as opus numbers, his style conforms to that prevalent in Paris of the 1770s. His works include 20 ariettes/romances, three symphonies, four sinfonia concertantes (for fortepiano, harpsichord, and orchestra), 29 violin sonatas, 18 keyboard sonatas, 12 trio sonatas, and four keyboard quartets with wind instruments. TARCHI, ANGELO (ca. 1760, NAPLES, TO 19 AUGUST 1814, PARIS). Italian composer. He studied at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini under Lorenzo Fago and Nicola Sala. By 1778 he had begun a career as a composer of opera buffa in Naples, and four years later he began receiving commissions from other cities in Italy. In 1787 he traveled to London to write for the King’s Theatre, but he returned to Italy only a few years later. In 1797 he went to Paris, but lacking success he abandoned composition and became a teacher of singing. Tarchi was a facile and prolific composer whose music is both expressive and lyrical, but he has largely been forgotten. His works
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include 55 operas, two oratorios, two Masses, a Stabat mater, and a secular cantata. TARTINI, GIUSEPPE (8 APRIL 1692, PIRANA, ISTRIA, VENETIAN REPUBLIC [NOW PIRAN, SLOVENIA], TO 26 FEBRUARY 1770, PADUA, ITALY). Italian violinist and composer. Intended to join the clergy, he was trained at the Franciscan monastery in Pirana and later at Capodistra (now Koper, Slovenia). In 1710 he fled to Assisi, where he took refuge in the Franciscan monastery there, avoiding his parents’ displeasure and practicing his violin. While there he studied musical composition with Padre Bohuslav Černohorský. Beginning in 1714 he performed regularly in orchestras and opera houses in northern Italy, before being appointed as concertmaster at the church of San Antonio in Padua in 1721. Although he traveled throughout Italy and even to Prague, he remained there the rest of his life. Tartini’s main focus was as perhaps the most famous teacher of violin during the 18th century, whose students included musicians from all over Europe, from Anders Wesström of Sweden to Pietro Nardini to Johann Gottlieb Naumann of Germany. He represents the main conduit of the Italian violin school between the Baroque and later Classical period performer-composers such as Giovanni Battista Viotti. More important were his theoretical works, the treatises Trattato di musica secondo la vera scienza dell’armonia (1750), De’ principi dell’armonia musicale contenuta nel diatonico genere (1767), and Dell’armonia musicale fondata sul cerchio (which was not published during Tartini’s lifetime). His music straddles the transition from Baroque to Classical styles, with good contrasting themes in those written after around 1740 and bipartite formal structures. His music and life have been extensively studied. The former includes 16 sacred canzonas, three Misereres, five other sacred works, 15 symphonies, around 135 violin concertos (and another several for other instruments), around 40 trio sonatas, and at least 130 duo sonatas, in manuscript; much of his music was, however, published during his lifetime. His music is known by Dounias (D) and Brainerd (B) numbers. See also GRAUN, JOHANN GOTTLIEB; HELLENDAAL, PIETER; PUGNANI, GAETANO; STRATICO, [GIUSEPPE] MICHELE; TOUCHEMOULIN, JOSEPH; VERACINI, FRANCESCO MARIA. TAYLOR, RAYNOR (OCTOBER 1747, LONDON, TO 17 AUGUST 1825, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES). English-American composer and organist. He began his career as a chorister in the Chapel Royal, where anecdotal evidence suggests that he sang at the funeral for George Frederick Handel, allegedly falling into that composer’s grave. His main teacher was Samuel Arnold, under whose patronage he be-
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came director at the Sadler’s Wells theatre and at the Marlyebone concerts. He also held the post of organist at the church in Chelmsford. In 1792 he followed his pupil Alexander Reinagle to the United States, where he settled in Baltimore and Annapolis before moving to Philadelphia in 1795. There he obtained the post of organist at St. Peter’s Church, although he also contributed to the public concerts and the Chestnut Street theatre productions. He was noted for his facile abilities to create memorable melodies. His works include 26 operas, at least three symphonies, and a number of keyboard works, including a divertimento. Much of his music has been lost, however. TEIXEIRA, ANTÓNIO (14 MAY 1707, LISBON, TO 1770, LISBON). Portuguese composer and singer. Following study on a royal stipend in Rome from 1714 to 1728, he returned to Lisbon as a chaplain and singer for the Lisbon cathedral, for whom he wrote the bulk of his sacred music. By 1760 he produced operas at the Teatro do Bairro Alto Lima, becoming known for his lyrical style of Italian opera, as well as being the first to write operas in Portuguese. The first of these, Guerras do alecim e manjerona, was a major factor in establishing opera in the native language. In 1765 he was elected to the Irmandade de St. Cecilia. His compositions include seven operas, two Masses, two motets, a large cantata, and numerous other sacred works. While many of his sacred works reflect later 18th-century church style, his most famous work, a 20-voice Te Deum composed in 1734, is largely Baroque with polychoral writing. TEIXIDOR I BARCELÒ, JOSEP (1752, SERÓS, CATALONIA, TO 1811, PROBABLY MADRID). Catalan-Spanish composer and organist. Nothing is known about his early life, save that he was trained at the Seu de Vella in Lleida in Western Catalonia. By 1774 he was employed as an organist at the convent of Descalzas Reales in Madrid, a year later being appointed to the Capilla Reale. He remained in the position until 1809, and thereafter died either in Madrid or in the city of Múrcia. His main claim to fame were two historical treatises, one on Spanish music and the other, Discorso sobre la historia universal de la música, a general history published in 1804. His music has been little studied but consists mostly of sacred music, although a set of six string quartets from around 1789 reflects the style of Luigi Boccherini. TELEMANN, GEORG MICHAEL (20 APRIL 1748, PLÖN, GERMANY, TO 4 MARCH 1831, RIGA [NOW LATVIA]). German organist and composer. Son of a pastor, Andreas Telemann (1715–1755), and grandson of famed composer Georg Philipp Telemann, he grew up in the home
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of the latter after the age of 5, receiving his musical education there and at the Johanneum in Hamburg. When his grandfather died in 1767, he composed a funeral ode, Trauer-Ode auf das betrübte Absterben meines Großvaters Herrn Georg Philipp Telemann, which served as an initial step in his becoming the successor as town musician. In 1770, however, he relinquished the post to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and moved to Kiel to attend university in theology. In 1773 he was appointed as the Kapellmeister at the city church in Riga and cantor at the main cathedral, St. Peter’s, a position he maintained his entire life. There he performed the compositions of his father and in 1812 edited a chorale book with his own arrangements. In 1828 he retired due to the onset of blindness. During his lifetime he wrote two treatises, Unterricht zur Generalbass-Schule in 1773 and Beytrag zur Kirchenmusik in 1785, the last of which contained a number of exemplary compositions. His musical style is similar to his successor C. P. E. Bach, although it tends toward a more simple and conservative vein. Works include 10 anthems, 29 chorale preludes for mixed voices and instruments (a further eight are published in the second treatise), three cantatas, two choruses, and an ode, Sink ich einst in jenen Schlummer to a text by Klopstock, for voices and orchestra. TELEMANN, GEORG PHILIPP (14 MARCH 1681, MAGDEBURG, GERMANY, TO 25 JUNE 1767, HAMBURG). German composer. Although Telemann is largely considered a Baroque composer whose works in many ways epitomized the German Baroque style, he merits consideration here for his work during the last decades of his life, when he was active in Hamburg as city music director and cantor of the Johanneum. In 1737 he undertook a journey to Paris, where he became aware of the emerging galant style of French composers, which, still tied to the Baroque, nonetheless demonstrated more progressive harmony and more advanced formal structures. In 1739 he joined the Societät der musikalischen Wissenschaften founded by Lorenz Miller, contributing material for their Neues musicalisches System in 1742. Although he did not remain a member, he nonetheless began a systematic correspondence with various poets such as Carl Ramler and Just Friedrich Zachariä, who subsequently provided him with texts for sacred works that were more emotional, philosophical, and less graphic than the normal Baroque librettos. As a result he composed a series of works, among which are four oratorios (Der Tod Jesu, Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu [both by Ramler], Der Tage des Gerichts [text by Alers], Die Auferstehung [text by Zachariä]) and two cantatas (Die Tageszeiten and Ino), which contain movements that reflect the newer musical Empfindsamkeit style. As a result, many of the works written during this last period in his life are blends of older Baroque styles and idioms with the emerging styles of musical clas-
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sicism. His grandson, Georg Michael Telemann, became his immediate successor in Hamburg. See also JOHNSEN, HINRICH PHILIP; SCHEIBE, JOHANN ADOLPH; SCHMÜGEL, JOHANN CHRISTIAN. TENDUCCI, GIUSTO FERNANDO (ca. 1735, SIENA, ITALY, TO 25 JANUARY 1790, GENOA, ITALY). Italian castrato and composer. He first appeared as a soloist in Caligari in 1750, and after several years singing in theatres throughout Italy he went to London in 1758, where he appeared at the King’s Theatre. Thereafter he spent several years in Dublin and Edinburgh, before scandal resulted in his returning to Italy around 1770. In 1777 he appeared in Paris, where music was written for him by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but he remained in London until shortly before his death. Tenducci was known for his flexible lyrical soprano voice, being compared to the castrato Senesino. There is, however, reason to believe that he may have been the equivalent to a modern male countertenor rather than a true castrato. In 1765 he married in Dublin and allegedly had two children by his wife. Although this caused a scandal resulting in his incarceration and the kidnapping of his wife (and progeny, if any), the issue has not entirely been settled. Tenducci was also active as a composer, writing four operas, a symphony, around 25 songs, and a set of lessons for the keyboard. TENGSTRÖM, JAKOB (4 DECEMBER 1755, KOKKOLA, FINLAND, TO 26 DECEMBER 1832, TURKU, FINLAND). Finnish-Swedish polymath and musician. Although not a professional musician, Tengström had interests in music, literature, history, and religion. He was appointed professor at Turku University in 1790 and Lutheran Archbishop of Turku in 1803. He was one of the founders of the Turku Musical Society, acting for many years as its secretary and chairman, as well as performing as a flautist. As early as 1791 he extolled the virtues of music as the determinant of a nation’s culture, and aided Giuseppe Acerbi in compiling the first descriptions of Finnish folk melodies. TERRADELLAS, DOMINGO MIGUEL BERNABE (1711, BARCELONA, TO 20 MAY 1751, ROME). Catalan/Spanish-Italian composer. Following initial study under Fancesc Valls in Barcelona, he moved to Italy in 1732, where he was enrolled in the Conservatorio di Poveri dei Gesù Cristo under Francesco Durante. By 1743 he had his first success as an opera composer with Merope in Rome, but when positions failed to materialize, Terradellas was appointed as organist at San Giacomo degli Spagnuoli. In 1742 he traveled to London and Paris, but by 1745 had returned to Italy. A rumor, unsubstantiated and now largely discounted, had him murdered at the request
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of Niccolò Jommelli and his body tossed into the Tiber. As a composer, his music reflects the lyricism of the Neapolitan style. His works include 11 operas, two oratorios, five Masses, four hymns, 13 motets and Psalms, an antiphon, numerous insertion arias, two cantatas, and two symphonies. TERZETT(O). A trio for three voices accompanied mostly by orchestra and generally used in opera; more uncommonly used to designate instrumental works. See also TRIO. TERZIANI, PIETRO (1765, ROME, TO 5 OCTOBER 1831, ROME). Italian composer. Terziani received his earliest training in Rome under Giovanni Battista Casali before going to Naples to enroll at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana, where his teachers included Carlo Cotumacci and Giacomo Insanguine. In 1784 he was elected a member of the Accademia filarmonica and became director of the Congregazione di Santa Cecilia in Rome. From 1797 to 1816 he was resident in Vienna, but he returned to Rome as the maestro di cappella of the church of St. John Lateran. His music has been relatively little studied, but it was considered as conservative and of insufficient strength for the venues in which it was performed. This includes three operas, two oratorios, and a large number, never enumerated, of sacred works including Masses, motets, antiphons, and such. TESSARINI, CARLO (1690, RIMINI, ITALY, TO ca. DECEMBER 1766, ARNHEM). Italian composer. Nothing is known of his youth or training, but he appears first as a violinist in the orchestra at St. Mark’s in Venice in 1720 and a few years later as a teacher at the Ospedale dei Derelitti. In 1731 he moved to Urbino, but he also served at the court of Cardinal Wolfgang Hannibal von Schrattenbach in Brno. In 1747 he returned north to the Netherlands and London, where he gave concerts at Ruckholt House. In 1750 he was back in Urbino, but in 1761 he began touring again in the Netherlands. His last appearance was in December 1766 in Arnhem, where he is presumed to have passed away suddenly. Although his early career was as a performer and composer of the Baroque period, his published works, all dating from the 1750s, show him to have adopted the galant style almost completely. His music still awaits further study and includes 24 symphonies, a pantomime, 13 concertos, 50 violin sonatas, 29 trio sonatas, 12 string quartets, and two treatises. TESTORI, CARLO GIOVANNI (24 MARCH 1714, VERCELLI, ITALY, TO 20 MAY 1782, VERCELLI). Italian theorist and composer. He received his earliest musical education from his father, a violinist, and later studied in Milan. He decided to return to Vercelli, where he remained as a
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teacher. He is best known for his treatise, La musica ragionata, published in 1767, in which he discusses his theory of harmony based upon Jean-Philippe Rameau. Unfortunately, though he was active as a composer, his works, consisting of a number of sacred pieces and sonatas, have been lost. THIELO, CARL AUGUST (7 FEBRUARY 1702, COPENHAGEN, TO 3 DECEMBER 1763, HØSTERKØB, DENMARK). Danish composer. As a youth, he was sent to Weimar to study music, returning in 1726 as a teacher in Copenhagen. By 1739 he was organist at the Citadelkirke, five years later writing a treatise on singing that was the first in Danish to discuss the topic. By 1747 he had become the musical director at the local comic theatre, though he resigned due to the Pietist leanings of the court and a dispute with the stage director, Ludvig Holberg. After struggling to make a living, he bought a farm north of the city in 1762, but he died in an inn while awaiting possession of the property. Thielo was best known for his work on incidental music for the Danish stage, and in style he was similar to North German composers such as Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach; he was also known for the treatise Tanker og Regler fra Grunden af om Musiken from 1746. Little of his music has survived, however, so a complete assessment is difficult to make. Works that have survived include 10 arias, two sets of incidental music, an oboe concerto, and several songs. TIENTO. A Spanish instrumental musical genre similar to a prelude and fugue, generally written for organ. Examples were written by Pedro Aranaz y Vides. TILL, JOHANN CHRISTIAN (18 MAY 1762, GNADENTHAL, NEAR NAZARETH, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES, TO 19 NOVEMBER 1844, BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA). American composer and organist. His earliest musical education was received from Simon Peter at Nazareth, Pennsylvania, although his early career choices included nail maker and carpenter. With Peter’s intercession, he was able to become organist at Hope, New Jersey, in the Moravian Church school, but in 1808 he returned to Bethlehem as a woodworker, supporting himself by building fortepianos. In 1811 he succeeded Johann Friedrich Peter as organist of the Central Church. His compositions are similar to the Peter brothers and include anthems and hymns, including a volume of liturgical settings written in 1823. TITOV, SERGEY NIKOLAYEVICH (1770, ST. PETERSBURG, TO 24 MARCH 1825, ST. PETERSBURG). Russian composer, violinist, and military officer. He was trained in St. Petersburg and entered the military
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ranks, rising to the rank of major-general. Like his brother, Aleksey Titov (1769–1827), he was an amateur musician. Although both his and his brother’s nationalist operas reflect early 19th-century practice being written after 1805, a ballet, Novïy Verther, based upon the novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, was produced in 1799 and reflects Italianate style in its music. TITZ, ANTON FERDINAND (ca. 1742, NUREMBURG, TO 6 JANUARY 1811, ST. PETERSBURG). Also spelled Tietz or Dietz. German violinist and composer. Orphaned at an early age, he was trained as a painter in Nuremburg before focusing on music. He was a violinist at St. Sebaldus Church there until he moved to Vienna following a difficult personal matter (possibly an unhappy love affair). There he became acquainted with Christoph Willibald von Gluck and may have studied under Joseph Haydn. He was a member of the Hofoper orchestra at this time. In 1771 Pjotr Sojzmonov recruited him for the musical establishment of Catherine II of Russia. He worked in St. Petersburg in a variety of teaching and music positions, including conductor and solo viola, viola d’amore player. By 1805 he began to be afflicted with a mental illness that prevented him from working. Ludwig Spohr remarked in 1803 that his former technique, noted particularly for sensitivity in adagios, had largely vanished. His salon cantata, Le pigeon bleu et noir gémit, was a favorite with private audiences in St. Petersburg on into the 19th century. Titz established a reputation in Europe for his development of the string quartet, of which he composed 18. Other works include 11 violin sonatas, 10 string quintets, three duos for two violins, a symphony, and a violin concerto. Other works composed for the Russian court have been lost. TOESCHI, ALESSANDRO (ca. 1700, ROME, TO 15 OCTOBER 1758, MANNHEIM). Italian violinist and composer. Son of a chamberlain, he was sent on tour of Germany and France while still in his teens. In 1719 he obtained a post as violinist at the court of Duke Ernst Ludwig of HesseDarmstadt, but in 1725 he moved to Stuttgart as second Konzertmeister. In 1742 he was recruited by Carl Theodor in Mannheim for his orchestra, a position he retained until his death. As a composer, his earliest works are similar to the Baroque style of Vivaldi, but his ballets, written in Mannheim, are galant in style. TOESCHI, CARL JOSEPH (bap. 11 NOVEMBER 1731, LUDWIGSBURG, GERMANY, TO 12 APRIL 1788, MUNICH). German composer and violinist. The son of Alessandro Toeschi and brother of Johann Christoph Toeschi, he was trained under his father and Johann Stamitz, eventually being appointed to the Mannheim orchestra in 1752. By 1759
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he had risen to Konzertmeister, the same year he made a successful debut at the Concerts spirituels in Paris. By 1774 he was director of chamber music, a post he retained when the orchestra moved to Munich in 1778. As a composer, he was considered one of the leading symphonists of the time, blending the orchestral effects of the Mannheim style with a good sense of form and structure. His works include 66 symphonies, 30 concertos (many for flute), 32 ballets, 35 string quartets, six flute quartets, three sextets, five trio sonatas, 18 duo sonatas (mainly flute or violin), three sacred works, and numerous smaller chamber works. TOESCHI, CARL THEODOR (7 APRIL 1768, MANNHEIM, TO 10 OCTOBER 1843, MUNICH). German composer and violinist. The third generation of musicians in the Toeschi family, he was trained as a violinist by his father, Johann Christoph Toeschi. He obtained his first position as a violinist in the Munich orchestra in 1780, but nine years later was laid off due to health concerns. In 1801 he was reappointed as chamber composer but did not fulfill the expectations of his father and uncle. His music includes an opera, a ballet, and a motet, as well as four symphonies and two concertos written before 1800. After this date, his works appear to be exclusively dances or waltzes of a more perfunctory nature. TOESCHI, JOHANN [BAPTIST] CHRISTOPH (1 OCTOBER 1735, STUTTGART, TO 3 MARCH 1800, MUNICH). German violinist and composer. Son of Alessandro Toeschi, he, like his brother, Carl Joseph Toeschi, was trained under Johann Stamitz and possibly Christian Cannabich. In 1755 he was appointed as a violinist in the Mannheim orchestra, rising to the post of Konzertmeister in 1774. In 1793 he was named music director of the Bavarian court, though this included mainly conducting at the Frauenkirche. His compositions are sparse; only a melodrama, four ballets, six trio sonatas, and three works for viola d’amore survive, indicating that he spent the bulk of his time performing. TOLLIS DE LA ROCA, MATHEO (ca. 1710, SPAIN OR ITALY, TO 18 NOVEMBER 1780, MEXICO CITY). Hispanic-Italian composer and organist. Presumed to have been born in Italy, he is probably identical with the Matheo de la Roca who was appointed as court keyboard player in 1741 in Madrid and whose opera La Casandra was performed with success in the Coliseo de la Cruz there several years earlier in 1737. In 1756 he appeared in Mexico City where he was appointed to a post as assistant to Ignacio de Jerusalem y Stella. The relationship amounted to a rivalry, and de Jerusalem y Stella did everything in his power to keep him from further advancement.
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Nonetheless, he was appointed as “Master of Polyphony” in 1758 and in 1770 as de Jerusalem y Stella’s interim successor. By 1778, however, he was censured for “slothful composition” and did not achieve his potential. His surviving music, featuring good use of counterpoint, includes four Masses and 14 motets. TOMÁS, SEBASTIÁN (ca. 1725, TERUEL, SPAIN, TO 1792, MADRID). Spanish composer. He probably studied locally before being appointed as maestro di capilla in Teruel, from which he moved to Valladolid. In 1752 he obtained a similar post in Orehuela, and during the last years of his life he taught music in Madrid. His music, consisting of villancicos and other sacred works, has been little studied. TOMASINI, ALOIS LUIGI (22 JUNE 1741, PESARO, ITALY, TO 25 APRIL 1808, EISENSTADT, AUSTRIA). Italian violinist and composer. In 1757 he was employed as a servant at the Esterházy court and a couple of years later was sent to Italy for musical training. Upon his return to Eisenstadt, he was a student of Joseph Haydn, by which time he was already functioning as Konzertmeister of the court Kapelle. When the orchestra disbanded in 1790 he, like Haydn, was pensioned, but only two years later he returned to his former post, which he held until 1802, when he became director of chamber music. Tomasini was a facile and expressive performer, for whom Haydn wrote most of his solo works for violin. As a composer, he was also active in providing music both for general audiences and for the court. His works include three symphonies, three violin concertos, 30 string quartets, 24 divertimentos, 12 duos, six violin sonatas, and a number of trios (lost). TONADILLA. A short satirical piece for one or two singers that was performed in Spain between the acts of longer pieces during the 18th century; an analog to the intermezzo in Italy. It developed out of the 17th-century Sainete. Composers include Manuel Pla and Luis Misón. TONKÜNSTLERSOZIETÄT. “Society of Musicians” founded in 1771 by Florian Gassmann in Vienna as a charitable organization providing funds for the widows and orphans of musicians. Two double performances were presented each year, generally consisting of oratorios and various instrumental works. Most composers active in Vienna were members, and it was known for memorable performances of Esther by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf in 1773 and Die Schöpfung by Joseph Haydn in 1798. See also ASPLMAYR, FRANZ.
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TORENBERG, JOHAN (9 FEBRUARY 1773, AMSTERDAM, TO 21 AUGUST 1809, TURKU, FINLAND). Finnish composer and organist. Son of prominent Finnish-Swedish organist and organ builder, Carl Torenberg (1743–1812), he was born while his family was in the Netherlands as part of a commission to construct an organ there. His musical education was from his father, and when the family returned to Turku in 1790, Torenberg was appointed to the vacant post of cathedral organist and director musices of Turku University. He was an eccentric whose own musical compositions were scant, including a couple of marches, a set of variations for mechanical organ, a keyboard polonaise, and a cantata for the death of university rector Henrik Porthan in 1803. Torenberg committed suicide by plunging into the Aura River in Turku in 1809. TOSCANI, ANTONIO (27 JUNE 1750, PARMA, ITALY, TO 3 JULY 1805, PARMA). Italian composer. He received his education locally and in 1766 was sent to Bologna, where he studied under Padre Giovanni Battista Martini. He became a member of the Accademia filarmonica the following year, returning to Parma in 1772 as a court cembalist. Toscani began to make a name for himself as a composer of opera and in 1778 was appointed maestro di cappella at the cathedral there. His music includes two operas, two Masses, several Mass movements, a Te Deum, three responsories, and around 22 other sacred works. TOUCHEMOULIN, JOSEPH (23 OCTOBER 1727, CHALON-SURSAÔNE, FRANCE, TO 25 OCTOBER 1801, REGENSBURG, GERMANY). German-French composer and violinist. The son of an oboist, he received his early training from his father before being sent to Italy to study under Giuseppe Tartini. Returning to Bonn in 1753 he served as a violinist at the court and later, in 1760, was appointed Kapellmeister. He left only a year later, however, to take up a position as violinist at the Thurn und Taxis court in Regensburg, where he spent the rest of his career. His music contains a similar style to the Mannheim composers. His surviving works include an opera, a Mass, a Requiem, six symphonies, 13 concertos (violin and flute), a string quartet, a divertimento, four violin sonatas, numerous Lieder, and a host of smaller chamber works. TOZZI, ANTONIO (ca. 1736, BOLOGNA, ITALY, TO ca. 1812, BOLOGNA). Italian composer. Tozzi studied in his hometown under Padre Giovanni Battista Martini, being elected to the Accademia filarmonica in 1761. The following year he established himself as a composer of opera
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with the premiere of Tigrane in Venice. By 1764 he was composing music in Braunschweig, and in 1774 he was appointed Kapellmeister in Munich. Following a scandalous affair with Countess von Törring-Seefeld, he fled Bavaria, traveling first to Venice then to Spain, where he was active in Madrid and Barcelona; he was appointed musical director at the Teatro Santa Cruz in Barcelona. He returned to Bologna in 1805. His works have been little studied but conform to the lyrical Italian style of the time. These include 20 operas, two oratorios, a large cantata, an antiphon, two Psalms, a Magnificat, a madrigal, and nine keyboard works. TRAETTA, TOMMASO MICHELE FRANCESCO SAVARIO (30 MARCH 1727, BITONTO, NEAR BARI, ITALY, TO 6 APRIL 1779, VENICE). Italian composer of opera. Traetta received his early musical education at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto in Naples beginning in 1740, where his teachers included Nicola Porpora and Francesco Durante. His first operatic success, the opera seria Il furnace, at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples launched his career as a composer of opera, with commissions coming from cities throughout Italy. In 1758 he moved to Parma, where he wrote the opera Ippolito e Aricia, which purported to blend the French style of Jean-Philippe Rameau with that of the Italian seria. This solidified his reputation as a reformer, leading to two other significant works, Sofonisba for Mannheim in 1762 and Ifigenie for Vienna the following year. In 1765 he was appointed as director of the Conservatorio dell’Ospedale in Venice, which allowed him to be resident in one of the most active opera-producing centers in Europe. His fame brought him to the attention of Catherine II of Russia, who brought him to St. Petersburg in 1768. There he composed one of his most advanced and successful works, Antigona, in 1772. In 1775 ill health forced him to return to Venice, where he remained the rest of his life, save for a visit to Paris in 1777. Traetta’s music is characterized by a depth of emotion and life given to his characters. He has a fluidity with respect to melody, as well as using both ensembles and choruses with good effect. Indeed, his music was regarded as “always beautiful and sometimes sublime.” During his life he wrote 44 operas, as well as an oratorio (Rex Salomon), two Masses, a Stabat mater, a St. John Passion, a Miserere, and a number of smaller motets. He can be regarded as one of the principal composers of Italian opera in the middle of the 18th century. TRAGÉDIE [MIS] EN MUSIQUE. See OPERA. TRAGÉDIE LYRIQUE. A type of opera in France derived from the operas of Jean-Baptiste Lully during the 17th century. Generally, it consists
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of a prologue and five acts, with subject matter based upon Classical history or mythology. It is characterized often by through-composed accopagnato recitatives that merge in the short airs, numerous ballet insertions, and heavy use of the chorus. Attempts were made periodically during the 18th century to reform and revive this characteristic work of the ancien régime. Composers include Jean-Philippe Rameau. TRANI, GIUSEPPE (1707, ITALY, TO JULY 1797, VIENNA). AustrianItalian violinist and composer. Little is known of his life or training, but by 1750 he was employed in the orchestra of the Prince of Hildeburgshausen, where his pupils included Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf. In 1767 he was appointed Konzertmeister in the Hofkapelle in Vienna, retiring in 1788 to concentrate upon teaching. His music has been little studied, and his name is always associated entirely with his principal student, Dittersdorf. He may have written several concertos for his instrument, and in 1783 he may have contributed a motet for performance at the Concerts spirituels in Paris, although this is conjectural and based upon a reference given by Joseph Martin Kraus. TRAVERS, JOHN (ca. 1703, WINDSOR, ENGLAND, TO JUNE 1758, LONDON). British composer and organist. A student of Maurice Greene, he was also a lifelong friend of Johann Pepusch, with whom he may also have studied. Thanks to a recommendation by the Duke of Bedford, he was appointed as an organist at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London in 1726. In 1737 he was admitted to the Chapel Royal. Travers was noted for combining modal harmonies and homophonic tunes. His Service was a popular piece in Anglican churches for over a century. His works include 25 anthems, three Te Deums, 18 canzonetts, a large ode, and 12 voluntaries, as well as songs, catches, and glees. He also published complete hymn settings of the Psalms in several volumes (1746–1750). TRAVERSA, GIAOCHINO (ca. 1745, BRA, ITALY, TO ca. 1800, CARIGNANO, ITALY). Italian composer and violinist. A student of Gaetano Pugnani, he was violinist at the court of Carignano. Nothing is known of his education or career, save that he made a debut at the Concerts spirituels in 1770, and was immediately celebrated for his technical ability and lyrical tone. His surviving music, all but completely unstudied, includes 12 string quartets, six violin sonatas, and a violin concerto. TRENTO, VITTORIO (ca. 1761, VENICE, TO ca. 1833, PROBABLY LISBON). Italian composer. His musical studies occurred in Venice at the Conservatorio dei Mendicanti under Ferdinando Bertoni, following which
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he established himself as a composer of comic operas and ballets at the various theatres in the city. He also served as keyboardist at the Teatro San Samuele and La Fenice. By 1789 he was commissioned to write for other cities in Italy and by 1806 was active in Amsterdam as music director. Despite work in Italy, Lisbon, and London, he fell from favor about 1816, returning to Lisbon in 1821, where he retired two years later. His music was considered derivative and soon eclipsed by Giaocchino Rossini. His works include 46 operas, six string quartets, five cantatas, and six duets for two violins. TRIAL, ARMAND-EMMANUAL (1 MARCH 1771, PARIS, TO 9 SEPTEMBER 1803, PARIS). French singer and composer. He was the son of singer Antoine Trial and nephew of Jean-Claude Trial. By the age of 17 he was employed as a singer at the Comédie-Italienne, where his acting style and lyrical voice won him acclaim. In 1797 he was made singing director at the Thêátre Lyrique, but his life of dissolution led to his early death. His music consists of six comic operas, none of which achieved success due to their superficiality. TRIAL, JEAN-CLAUDE (13 DECEMBER 1732, AVIGNON, FRANCE, TO 23 JUNE 1771, PARIS). French composer and violinist. Following his early training in Avignon and Montpellier, he was appointed as music master in Languedoc but went to Paris to study with Jean-Philippe Rameau. While there he became a musician in the Opéra Comique and private orchestra of the Prince de Condé. In 1767 he and Pierre Berton were named directors of the Opéra, but their administration was unsuccessful. His music, little studied, includes eight operas, a motet, three cantatas, five ariettas, and several symphonies and string quartets, as well as a series of Recueils. His brother Antoine Trial (1735–1795) was a tenor, well known for his comic acting talent. He was an agent of Robespierre, and when his mentor was executed, he poisoned himself. TRICKLIR, JEAN BALTHASAR (1750, DIJON, FRANCE, TO 29 NOVEMBER 1813, DRESDEN). Franco-German cellist and composer. Although as a child he was destined for the priesthood, he decided on a career in music, being sent to Mannheim in 1765. In 1776 he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels in Paris, following which he toured Italy. In 1782 he was made chamber composer to the Elector of Mainz, but he left a year later for a position at the Saxon court in Dresden. He was known as a sensitive and facile performer. His theoretical interests included how changes in temperature affect musical instruments and their sound. His music consists of 16 cello concertos, three violin and six cello sonatas, a sinfonia concertante, and several quartets.
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TRIER, JOHANN (1716, THEMAN, GERMANY, TO 1790, ZITTAU, GERMANY). German composer and organist. He studied music in Leipzig while attending the university in theology, and by 1747 he was conductor of the Georg Philipp Telemann Society there. He was not, however, a pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1753 he obtained the post of organist at the main church in Zittau, where he remained his entire life. His works include 49 German cantatas, as well as several organ works, but his music has yet to be studied. TRIO. A mid-to-late Classical period genre for three instruments or combinations of instruments and voices, usually in three or four movements. The most common setting is the Piano Trio, which usually consists of a violin, violoncello, and keyboard (generally a fortepiano). Another common setting is the String Trio, either a pair of violins and violoncello or a violin, viola, and violoncello. There is, however, no prescribed instrumentation and unusual combinations are not uncommon, such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Kegelstatt Trio for clarinet, viola, and fortepiano KV 498. A trio for voices (usually with instrumental accompaniment) is often labeled a terzett to distinguish it from the instrumental genre. Occasionally trios are also labeled divertimento, serenade, or sonata, making the generic designation indistinct during this period. See also TRIO SONATA. TRIO SONATA. A work usually in three or four movements that emerged during the Baroque period as a means of contrasting two melody instruments, accompanied by a continuo. By the Classical period, this genre began to diminish in popularity, to be replaced by the piano trio, as the continuo practice dissolved. Early composers of this popular chamber genre include Johann Joachim Quantz, Carl Heinrich Graun and Johann Gottlieb Graun, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Johan Helmich Roman, Johan Agrell, Maurice Greene, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and many others. See also SONATA. TRITTO, GIACOMO DOMENICO MARIO ANTONIO PASQUALE GIUSEPPE (2 APRIL 1733, ALTAMURA, ITALY, TO 16 SEPTEMBER 1824, NAPLES). Italian composer and organist. His musical education was at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini under Pasquale Cafaro. He attempted to become a singer on stage in 1764 but failed, and the following year he began to compose comic operas for a variety of theatres throughout Italy. In 1784 he became a teacher at his old conservatory in Naples, becoming primo maestro in 1799 after the revolution was crushed. He continued to be one of the most important teachers in Naples until his death. Tritto was well regarded both as a composer and teacher, although his musical style was similar to Domenico Cimarosa and Giovanni Paisiello. His works,
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however, have not received the attention of those of these composers. He composed 59 operas or stage works, eight Masses, a Requiem, three Passions, two Te Deums, a Magnificat, 13 motets, six antiphons, seven Psalms, and a host of smaller sacred works. See also FABRIZI, VINCENZO. TULINDBERG, ERIK (22 FEBRUARY 1761, VÄHÄKRYÖ, FINLAND, TO 1 SEPTEMBER 1814, TURKU [ÅBO], FINLAND). Finnish-Swedish composer and violinist. It is unknown where Tulindberg received his musical training in the remote Swedish province of Finland, where he was born, but in 1776 he was enrolled at the University of Turku, where he later received a scholarship to study violin and cello. At this time, he was a student of Carl Petter Lenning, from whom he probably received further training in music composition. In 1784 he received a master’s degree and moved to Oulu as a town bureaucrat. His musical activities, however, must have attracted attention, for in 1797 he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. In 1809 he was appointed by the new Russian government as member of the provincial cabinet, later serving in Turku as financial accountant. Although he was active both in Turku and Oulu as a composer and violinist, his number of compositions remains small. These include two violin concertos (one from 1783, and another that is lost), as well as six string quartets in the style of Joseph Haydn. Only a polonaise for solo violin is extant of his other chamber works. He was a seminal figure in the study of Finnish folk music. TÜRK, DANIEL GOTTLOB (10 AUGUST 1750, CLAUSSNITZ, SAXONY, GERMANY, TO 26 AUGUST 1813, HALLE, GERMANY). German theorist and composer. Trained as a youth in the trade of hosiery, he decided to become a musician following study under Gottfried August Homilius at the Kreuzschule in Dresden. In 1772 he enrolled in law at the University of Leipzig while continuing to study under Johann Adam Hiller. In 1774 he was appointed as cantor at the Ulrichskirche in Halle, and five years later he was awarded a doctorate at the University of Halle, where he taught seminars in music. In 1787 he became Kapellmeister at the Marienkirche in the city, and in the early part of the 19th century he was a leading figure in the Halle revival of George Frederick Handel. Türk is best known as a music theorist, whose seven treatises include the seminal Clavierschule of 1789 and the Anweisung zum Generalbass-Schule of 1791. His music, written in the North German style, includes 20 cantatas, 21 Lieder, an opera, 46 chorales, a Choralbuch, 38 keyboard sonatas, and 164 smaller works for keyboard. TURKISH OPERA. A type of opera, often a Singspiel, which is set in an exotic location, generally Turkey or Arabic lands. The plots usually depict
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interaction between Islamic and European characters, often with comic results. In many instances, there is an element of satire, which avoids issues of censorship that might otherwise have cast suspicion upon the work. The Muslim characters are usually a ruler (often with intimations of a harem and possessing considerable nobility in his bearing) and a bumbling overseer, with the Europeans generally interlopers, either captives or visitors. Not infrequently Islamic prohibitions, such as forbidding wine, are used as comic foils in the plots. In the quintessential Turkish opera Soliman II created by Charles Simon Favart, costumes were imported from Constantinople, and composers were encouraged to use various percussion instruments, such as the Jingling Johnny (Schellenbaum, Bell Tree) found in Ottoman military bands. The best-known works of this genre are Die Entführung aus dem Serail by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Le caravane de Caire by André Ernest Modeste Grétry. TURRINI, FERDINANDO GASPARO (26 FEBRUARY 1745, SALÒ, ITALY, TO ca. 1820, BRESCIA, ITALY). Italian composer and organist, nicknamed Bertoncino or Bertoni l’orbo. The nephew of composer Ferdinando Bertoni, he studied with his uncle in Venice before embarking upon a career as a keyboardist and opera composer. In 1776 he moved to Padua, where he was organist at the basilica of Santa Giustina. After the French occupation, he moved to Brescia around 1800, where all trace of him was lost after 1812. He was well respected as a composer of keyboard music, in particular a set of sonatas published in Venice in 1784 and another 12 in 1802 dedicated to Muzio Clementi. He also composed operas, sacred music, concertos for keyboard, and numerous other chamber works, but his music has remained all but unknown.
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U UBEDA, FREI JOSÉ MANUEL (ca. 1760, VALENCIA, SPAIN, TO 1823, MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY). Spanish-Uruguayan composer. Virtually nothing is known about his life or training, save that he arrived in Uruguay in 1801 as a priest well versed in music. His sole surviving composition is a Requiem composed in 1802, which demonstrates a good knowledge of Classical sacred music style. ULBRICH, MAXIMILIAN (16 JANUARY 1743, VIENNA, TO 20 SEPTEMBER 1814, VIENNA). Austrian composer, bass singer, cellist, and pianist. Son of the principal trombone player at the Viennese court, Anton Ignaz Ulbrich (1706–1796), he was trained at the Jesuit seminary, receiving lessons in composition from Georg Christoph Wagenseil and Georg von Reutter Jr. In 1770 he entered the state bureaucracy as an accountant, eventually rising in rank to become an administrator in the treasury until his pensioning in 1804. He retained his lifelong interest in music, however, by organizing concerts (Academies) based around his own compositions, such as one for the Tonkünstlersozietät in 1783 that featured his oratorio Die Israeliten in der Wüste. His other works include a Mass, a litany, a gradual, 11 motets, two Marian antiphons, three Singspiels, four symphonies, two string quintets, and a divertimento. The style of music is reminiscent of Joseph Haydn. ULLINGER, PATER AUGUSTIN [FRANZ] (27 MARCH 1746, RANOLDSBERG, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 30 JULY 1781, FREISING, BAVARIA, GERMANY). German monastic composer and organist. He attended the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich beginning in 1760, and in 1776 he was appointed as organist to the Prince-Archbishop Ludwig Joseph van Welder in Freising, where he studied under Placidus von Camerloher. His compositions include 22 Masses, a Requiem, two vespers, a litany, several sacred arias, nine stage works (mostly school dramas), eight symphonies, and a bassoon concerto.
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ULLINGER, SEBASTIAN (ca. 1740, RANOLDSBERG, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 6 OCTOBER 1763, WASSERBERG AM INN, BAVARIA, GERMANY). German organist and composer. Brother of Pater Augustin Ullinger, he received his education at the WIlhelmsgymnasium in Munich before moving to Wasserberg to study organ with Bartholomäus Miller. He became Miller’s successor around 1760. Although he was known as an active composer, only one work, a Salve Regina, survives. URBANO, PADRE JOSÉ DE LA LUZ (1755, CARACAS, VENEZUELA, TO 1810, CARACAS). Venezuelan composer and organist. A student of Ambrosio de Carreño, he was appointed organist at the Caracas cathedral in 1774. He was ordained in 1789. His few surviving works are exclusively sacred. URSINO, GIOVANNI VALENTINI (ca. 1750, ROME, TO 1804, NAPLES). Italian composer. Nothing is known about his early life or education. He appears when his opera buffa La pastorella tradita was premiered in Rome in 1770. The success of this work led to commissions throughout Italy for operas, and by 1779 he had moved to Venice, where he became maestro di cappella at the Ospedale dei Derelitti. In 1787 he abruptly left his post, and no other musical works appear to have been written up through his death. His style is similar to other composers of the opera buffa. He wrote 14 operas, four oratorios, and a cantata, but his music remains unexplored. USTÁRIZ USSÓN, RAFAEL (1754, FALCES, NAVARRA, SPAIN, TO 1802, LAGUARDIA, SPAIN). Spanish composer. He studied music with his father, an organist, and with Manuel Gamara. By 1776 he was appointed to the chorus at the cathedral of Santa María in Laguardia, where he also became maestro di capilla in 1785. His music, consisting of sacred works, has been largely unstudied. UTTINI, FRANCESCO ANTONIO BALDASSARE (1723, BOLOGNA, TO 25 OCTOBER 1795, STOCKHOLM). Swedish-Italian composer. A student of Padre Giovanni Battista Martini, Uttini was nominated as a member in the Accademia filarmonica in Bologna in 1743, thereafter working in local churches until 1752, when he became assistant musical director of the Mingotti troupe. Becoming its maestro di capella in 1755, he lasted only a season before the troupe faced bankruptcy on tour to Sweden. He managed to obtain the post of personal musician to Queen Lovisa Ulrika and remained in the country, eventually being appointed kapellmästare of the Hovkapell in 1757 upon the death of Per Brant. Over the next 15 years he wrote both
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Italian operas for the Drottningholm court theatre, as well as French opéras comiques for the resident French troupe. In 1773 he composed the inaugural opera for the new Royal Swedish Opera of Gustav III, Thetis och Pelée. This was followed by music for the play Birger Jarl the next year. In 1788 he retired, having relinquished his duties to his deputy Joseph Martin Kraus and guests such as Johann Gottlieb Naumann several years earlier. His son Carlo Gasparo Simone (1753–1808) became a successful actor at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, while another, Adolpho Lodovico (1756–1804), was a contrabass player in the Hovkapell. In all, Uttini composed 23 operas, 17 concert arias, seven symphonies, 18 trio sonatas, two oratorios, five Masses, four Prologues, three divertimentos, 18 keyboard sonatas, two settings of incidental music for plays, 12 songs, and a host of smaller dances and individual movements for keyboard.
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V VACHON, PIERRE (3 JUNE 1731, AVIGNON, FRANCE, TO 7 OCTOBER 1803, BERLIN). French composer, violinist, and conductor. Sent to Paris in 1751 to study under Carlo Chiabrano, he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels in 1756. Thereafter he was a member of the Prince de Conti’s orchestra, often performing before the royal court at Fontainebleau. In 1772 he made the first of three tours to London, where he achieved considerable success for his performance abilities. In 1784 he obtained an appointment at Mannheim but left two years later for Berlin. As an active and facile composer, he was considered one of the leading musicians in Paris. His works include five operas, six symphonies, three concertos (and two sinfonia concertantes), 54 string quartets, 12 trios, six duets, and 12 violin sonatas. VALENTINE, ANN (bap. 15 MARCH 1762, LEICESTER, ENGLAND, TO 13 OCTOBER 1842, LEICESTER). English organist and composer. Daughter of violinist John Valentine, she was trained by her father. For the greater part of her life she functioned as organist at St. Margaret’s Church in Leicester, as well as participating in the local musical salons. Her compositional style is reminiscent of William Boyce and includes a set of keyboard pieces (Monny Music), 10 violin sonatas, and numerous smaller keyboard works. VALENTINE, JOHN (bap. 7 JUNE 1730, LEICESTER, ENGLAND, TO 10 SEPTEMBER 1791, LEICESTER). English violinist and composer. Valentine was trained locally in the provincial town of Leicester and remained there as a leading figure for his entire life. His most important works are The Compleat Dancing Master for 1760 and the opera Epithalamium cinoised un from 1762. Other music includes a large ode, six anthems, 30 Psalm tunes, eight symphonies, 31 duos, and 54 marches, much of which was published. See also VALENTINE, ANN. VALENTINI, GIOVANNI (ca. 1750, POSSIBLY ROME, TO ca. 1804, POSSIBLY NAPLES). Italian composer and organist. Nothing is known about his youth or training, save that it must have been in Rome, where in 571
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1770 he had a successful premiere of his opera La pastorella tradita. This led to commissions for operas throughout Italy, but in 1779 he established a residence in Venice, where he continued to compose for the various theatres in town. It was here that his most successful opera, La statua matematica, was premiered in 1780. In 1786 he was appointed as maestro di cappella at the Ospedale dei Derelitti, after which he seems to have vanished from history, although performances of his operas sometimes call him a maestro di cappella Napolitano, indicating that he may have returned home the final years of his life. His surviving music demonstrates the lyrical style of Italian opera buffa of the period with lively melodies, simple diatonic harmony, and a good sense of text. His works include 14 operas, four oratorios, and a cantata. His music has been little explored. See also SORKOČEVIĆ, LUKA. VALENTINI, MICHELANGELO (ca. 1720, NAPLES, TO AFTER 1768, NAPLES). Italian composer and organist. Possibly trained as a musician under Leonardo Leo, although no records exist of his ever attending one of the Neapolitan conservatories. He applied unsuccessfully as organist at the Capella Reale in 1744, a year before a successful debut as an opera composer at the Teatro Nuovo with the opera buffa Il Demetrio. He subsequently received commissions from several theatres throughout Italy but preferred to remain in Naples, where he worked largely for the Teatro Fiorentini. His surviving works bear similarities to the Neapolitan style of his colleagues and include eight operas, at least 20 insertion arias, and an important cantata, the Regina Valentini. His relationship to Giovanni Valentini is not known. VALERI, GAETANO (21 SEPTEMBER 1760, PADUA, TO 3 APRIL 1822, PADUA). Italian composer and organist. After early musical education under Francesco Turini at the San Giustini Church, he was appointed organist at the Santa Maria del Carmine Church in his hometown, later being appointed organist in 1785 and maestro di cappella at the main cathedral in 1805. His career was almost exclusively as a church composer, although he was a major influence on the musical life of Padua and had a high reputation for his piano performance skills. His works are similar in style to colleagues Giovanni Paisiello and Domenico Cimarosa; these include two operas, two Masses, a Requiem, four Magnificats, 26 Psalms, 36 hymns, 10 antiphons, five Stabat maters, five litanies, 25 symphonies (several of which are singlemovement sinfonia da chiesas), an organ concerto, 65 organ sonatas, 57 keyboard sonatas, six violin sonatas, three piano trios, and a large number of individual pieces for the organ.
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VALLADE, JOHANN BAPTISTE ANTON (ca. 1722, PROBABLY NEAR INGOLSTADT, GERMANY, TO ca. 1780, PROBABLY MENDORF, GERMANY). German composer and organist. Little is known of his training or origins, though he must have been educated in Ingolstadt. In 1747 he first appears as an organist at the small church of Mendorf, a position he apparently held until he disappears from history around 1780. His music was well known throughout Bavaria for its pedagogical work, including a set of arias, Nepomucenische Sing- und Lob-Octave, from 1756. He also published sets of preludes and fugues for keyboard, including one that encompasses all 24 keys. VALLOTTI, FRANCESCO ANTONIO (11 JUNE 1697, VERCELLI, PIEDMONT, ITALY, TO 10 JUNE 1780, PADUA). Italian monastic composer and theorist. Following early studies under Padre Beccaria at San Eusebio Church in his hometown, he studied music with G. Brissone at the main cathedral. In 1716 he entered the Franciscan monastery, being ordained in 1720. By 1721 he had moved to Padua, where he was third organist at the Basilica de San Antonio. In 1730 he became the maestro di cappella there, a position he retained the remainder of his life. Well versed in theory, he sought to invent a system of equalized temperament for keyboard instruments, publishing his methods in 1779 in the treatise Della scienza teorica e pratica della moderna musica, including a particularly effective temperament now called Vallotti. His musical compositions, almost exclusively for the Padua cathedral, include 12 introits, 13 responsories, 68 Psalms, 69 Mass movements, 46 hymns, 15 Tantum ergos, and a host of smaller versicles, as well as 30 fugues and nine treatises on theory and counterpoint. VAN AERSSEN, JOSINA ANA PETRONELLA [VAN BOETZELAER] (3 JANUARY 1733, THE HAGUE, TO 30 SEPTEMBER 1797, IJSSELSTEIN, NETHERLANDS). Dutch composer, painter, and noblewoman. Taken as a lady-in-waiting to the Dutch court at an early age, she was a pupil of court violinist Francesco Pasquale Ricci. She was one of the musically inclined courtiers met by the Mozarts in 1765, around the same time she married Baron Carel van Boetzelaer. In 1780 she published in rapid succession four books of works, six ariettas (Op. 1) for voice and keyboard, 12 arias to texts by Pietro Metastasio for voice and orchestra (Op. 2 and Op. 4), and a set of six canzonetts (Op. 3). Her surviving music is in the Italian style of the period. VAN BOETZELAER, JOSINA. See VAN AERSSEN, JOSINA ANNA PETRONELLA.
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VAN DER HAGEN, ARMAND (1753, ANTWERP, TO JULY 1822, PARIS). Belgian clarinetist and basset horn virtuoso, conductor, and composer. Van der Hagen first appears as a singer in the Antwerp Cathedral, where he likely received his earliest training. By 1773 he was clarinetist in the Royal Chapel of Prince Charles of Lorraine in Brussels, where he studied under Pierre van Maldere. In 1785 he published his seminal treatise Méthode nouvelle et raisonée pour la clarinette (revised and expanded in 1800), and three years later he moved to Paris as the director of music of the Royal Watch. During the French Revolution he held the post of master of military music at the Military Academy and later became director of the Garde-Grennadiere for Napoleon. After 1815 he served as principal clarinet and basset horn player at the Théâtre Feydeau in Paris. His fame rests largely on his comprehensive treatise on the clarinet, though he had a good reputation as the finest basset horn virtuoso in Europe. His musical compositions are mostly meant for wind band (Harmoniemusik) and include a sinfonia concertante, a “Grand Symphonie militaire,” and collections of smaller ensemble pieces he published as his Op. 14, 17–18, 20–21. He also wrote duets for two clarinets and concertos for his own instrument and the flute. His musical style follows the dancelike tuneful fashion of France. VAN MALDERE, PIERRE (bap. 16 OCTOBER 1729, BRUSSELS, TO 1 NOVEMBER 1768, BRUSSELS). Belgian composer and violinist. Baptized in the St. Géry parish in 1729, he received his earliest education from Baroque violinist Jean-Joseph Fiocco before being accepted into the second violin section of the royal chapel of Charles of Lorraine at the age of 17. In 1749 he was appointed concertmaster and two years later embarked upon the first of several concert tours, this one to Dublin where he published his first compositions, six trios for two violins and basso, with William Mainwaring. He also served as in-house composer for the Charitable Music Society and Philharmonick Concerts. In 1754 he appeared as a soloist in his own violin concerto at the Concerts spirituels in Paris, where the Mercure de France proclaimed him a “great talent,” a sentiment later echoed by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf. In 1757 he accompanied his patron to Vienna, and due to the success of his opera Les amours champêtres, he decided to devote his attentions to the composition of opera, becoming a codirector of the Grand Théâtre in Brussels. This was made possible by an appointment as valet de chambre to Prince Charles, which allowed him the freedom to explore opportunities outside of court. By 1766, however, the enterprise had failed, but in the intervening years he had attained a considerable reputation for his symphonies, which were published in London and Paris and were lauded by theorists such as Johann Adam Hiller.
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Van Maldere also was much sought after as a teacher. He died from a stroke at his home in Brussels. He composed around 60 symphonies, of which 26 were published during his lifetime. In addition, he wrote six operas, an orchestral concerto, a flute concerto, two violin concertos, 27 trio sonatas, 15 violin sonatas, and three keyboard trios. His instrumental works are known by their VM numbers cataloged by Willy van Rompaey in 1990. His musical style, characterized by Hiller and others, was described as “full of fire and invention . . . and far more cohesive, orderly, and weighty than the works of some others” and “uncommonly brilliant.” The symphonies especially show dramatic elements that are characteristic of the Sturm und Drang, including restless ostinati, syncopations, abrupt dynamic changes, tremolo, and use of minor keys. See also VAN DER HAGEN, ARMAND. VAN VLECK, JACOB (24 MARCH 1751, NEW YORK, TO 3 JULY 1831, BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA). American theologian and composer. Following early Moravian Church training in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, he was sent to Barby in Germany to receive training in theology. In 1778 he returned to the United States as assistant pastor in Bethlehem, also functioning as inspector of a girls’ school. In 1815 he became a bishop in Salem, North Carolina. Van Vleck was considered an outstanding performer on keyboard instruments, although his other duties left little time for music. His compositions include a number of songs and anthems. VAN ZUYLEN, BELLE. See DE CHARRIÈRE, ISABELLE. VANČURA, ARNOŠT (ca. 1750, VAMBEK, BOHEMIA [CZECH REPUBLIC], TO JANUARY, 1802, ST. PETERSBURG). Bohemian-Russian composer and nobleman. Born into a respected old aristocratic family, he probably received his earliest training at Bohemian Jesuit schools and likely was trained in music in Vienna or Prague. His earliest career, though, was as a military officer. In 1783 he arrived in St. Petersburg, establishing himself as a freelance composer during the reorganization of the state and private theatres there. He moved to Moscow shortly thereafter to establish his own theatre, but it failed in competition with Maddox’s Petrovsky Theatre, forcing him to teach at the music school associated with his rival. In 1786 he returned to St. Petersburg, where he set the opera Ivan Tsarevich to a text by Catherine II. He remained a figure at court for the remainder of his life. Vančura was a persuasive personality who was able to convince potential patrons of his competence and social status without proof apart from his own resources. Apart from several operas, he composed six symphonies, three quartets for mixed instrumentation, and a number of keyboard works. Three of his
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symphonies, subtitled “Russian,” “Ukrainian,” and “Polish,” make considerable use of folk music, although they conform stylistically to conventions of the late 18th century. VANDINI, ANTONIO (ca. 1690, BOLOGNA, TO 1778, BOLOGNA). Italian violoncellist and composer. A close friend of violinist Giuseppe Tartini, he was trained in Bologna at the church of San Antonio. In 1723, following short periods of employment at Bergamo and Venice at the Ospedale della Pietà, he served for three years in the private Kapelle of Count Kinsky in Prague but returned to Italy, where in 1728 he helped to found the Accademia dei Ricoverati. He later performed in the orchestra at the Basilica di San Francesco d’Assissi in Padua until his retirement in 1750. Critics of the time noted that he was able to make his instrument speak (a parlare) but few compositions survive; only a cello concerto, which is in the galant style, and a set of six sonatas, which are thoroughly Baroque. VANHAL, JAN KŘTITEL [JOHANN BAPTIST] (12 MAY 1739, NECHANICE, NEAR HRADEC KRÁLOVÉ, BOHEMIA [CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 20 AUGUST 1813, VIENNA). Austro-Bohemian composer and cellist. Born into a poor peasant family, he obtained some early education in music from a local organist, Anton Erban. His first post was as an organist at the town of Opocžna, and subsequently he became a choral director at Niemcžoves, during which time he was trained as a string player by Matthias Nowák. In 1769 he moved to Vienna to study under Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf. In turn he established a reputation as a teacher, whose students included Ignaz Pleyel. In 1769 he traveled to Italy, where his first opera, Demofoonte, was performed a year later. He returned to Vienna in 1771 but visited the estates of his patron, Ladislaus Erdödy, in Croatia. Thereafter he continued to publish his music actively as a member of the most important musical circles of the Imperial capital. Vanhal can be considered one of the more prolific and popular composers of the period, with over 1,300 works written. Although Charles Burney claimed that his creativity had diminished due to mental issues (now known to be false), he continued to produce compositions that were disseminated throughout the world, becoming almost as popular as his friend and colleague Joseph Haydn. These include 76 symphonies, around 60 concertos (for violin, flute, viola, oboe, contrabass, keyboard, and other instruments), 100 string quartets, 13 piano quartets, 51 piano trios, 49 other trios, six quintets, 98 duets for various instruments, 102 sonatas/sonatinas for various instruments and keyboard, 196 keyboard sonatas, 68 sets of keyboard variations, 76 miscellaneous keyboard works, 25 divertimentos, 38 organ works, 47 sets or pieces of dance music, three operas, 48 Masses, two Requiems,
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46 offertories, 32 motets, 15 antiphons, 34 sacred arias, 32 Stabat maters, 10 litanies, 10 graduals, 17 other sacred works, 17 pieces of programmatic music, and 41 songs. Vanhal’s musical style is often dramatic but carefully constructed according to form and structure. His use of melody is often lyrical, with good sequencing and internal variation. He can be considered one of the main figures in late 18th-century music. His works are known by their Bryan numbers. VAUDEVILLE. Usually used for final movements of theatre works in the 18th century, this genre consists of a series of verses done by the principal characters, each of which is followed by a choral refrain (often performed by all of the principals) and generally concluding with an instrumental coda. This began with the opéra comique developed by Michel-Jean Sedaine but later became common, particularly in non-Italian operatic works such as the Singspiel. The best example still found in the modern repertory is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail. VAUXHALLS. Public concerts held outdoors in various gardens during the summer months in England and the United States, named for Vauxhall Gardens, where they originated during the early part of the 18th century. These were often performed in special pavilions created for the occasion, and programs were a mixture of instrumental and vocal works, often the latest compositions by local composers. Besides cities in England, these were held in New York City in the United States and The Hague in the Netherlands. VEDEL, ARTEMY LUKJANOVICH (ca. 1767, KIEV, UKRAINE, TO 14 JULY 1808, KIEV). Russian military and monastic composer. Early in his youth he sang in the Eparch choir in Kiev, attending the Mohyla Academy where his teachers included Giuseppe Sarti. He subsequently served as an assistant chorusmaster and violinist with Governor General Yeropkin in Moscow, but in 1794 he returned to Kiev as a violinist and conductor in the military band of General Levanidov. The next years he rose in rank to captain, and in 1799 he took vows as an orthodox monk following the dissolution of the private musical organizations of the Russian military. His music was regarded as some of the best crafted liturgical works of the late 18th century. Surviving pieces include 28 choral concertos, two complete Orthodox liturgies, a trio, and 10 other smaller sacred works. VEICHTNER, FRANZ ADAM (bap. 10 FEBRUARY 1741, REGENSBURG, TO 3 MARCH 1822, KLIEVENHOF, COURLAND [NOW KALNCIEMS, LITHUANIA]). German violinist and composer. Following his initial studies under Joseph Riepel, he went to Berlin to study violin
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under Franz Benda. In 1763 he joined the court of Count Hermann von Keyserling at Königsberg, and two years later he was appointed as concertmaster for Prince Peter von Biron at Mittau. After the loss of independence of Courland, he went to St. Petersburg in 1795, where he established himself as a performer and composer. He retired to his country home in 1820. Veichtner was well known and respected as an excellent violinist, and as a composer he was an important figure in the life of Johann Friedrich Reichardt. His surviving works include three Singspiels, a violin concerto, three string quartets, 24 fantasies for violin and fortepiano, 12 violin sonatas, and a “Russian” symphony. VELÁSQUEZ ROJAS, JOSÉ FRANCISCO (1755, CARACAS, VENEZUELA, TO 1805, CARACAS). Venezuelan composer. Father of composer José Francisco Velásquez Jr. (1781–1822), he served as musical director of the Confraternity of Gloriosa Santa Rosalía in Caracas for most of his life. He was also a teacher of the Chacao School. His works show the influence of Joseph Haydn and include three Masses, a Stabat mater, and numerous villancicos. VELLA, MICHEL’ANGELO (7 NOVEMBER 1710, SENGLEA, MALTA, TO 25 DECEMBER 1792, COSPICUA, MALTA). Maltese composer. Son of a wealthy maritime family, he entered the Catholic Church as a cleric at the age of 11, and in 1730 he was sent to Naples to be trained in music at the Conservatorio Santa Maria della Pietà dei Turchini under Nicola Fago and Andrea Basso. He finished his musical education under Leonardo Leo and returned to Malta in 1738 after several years as a parish priest. His compositions include two serenatas (La virtù trionfante, 1741, and Gli applausi della fama, 1758), a litany, a Stabat mater, 24 sonatas for three flutes, one symphony, and a few other liturgical choral works. In 1768 he published the Sei Sonate a Tre Violini col Basso in Paris, dedicated to Frà de Wignacourt, the Prior of Champagne. His musical style blends the German galant with more conservative elements found in Jean-Philippe Rameau and Neapolitan composers. Much of his music, however, has been lost. See also ISOUARD, NICOLÒ. VENTO, MATTIA (1735, NAPLES, TO 22 NOVEMBER 1776, LONDON). Italian-English composer. Trained at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto in Naples, he achieved his first successes as an opera composer in Rome with La delusa accortezze (1756) and La finta semplice (1759). Thereafter he was much sought after throughout Italy as a composer of opera buffa. In 1764 he was invited to travel to London where
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his opera Demofoonte established him as one of the leading composers in England in the post-Handelian era. By 1775 he had become a director of the King’s Theatre, and although praise for his music from people like Charles Burney was muted, there is little doubt that his contributions especially in English-language pasticcios were much admired. His works include 20 operas (many of which are pasticcios), 11 books of sonatas for keyboard with ad libitum violin, 12 canzonetts, two celebratory cantatas, six symphonies or overtures, six trio sonatas, 18 violin sonatas, and five keyboard sonatas. His music was criticized as lacking invention, although he does infuse it with longer themes and more dynamics toward the end of his career. VERACINI, FRANCESCO MARIA (1 FEBRUARY 1690, FLORENCE, TO 31 OCTOBER 1768, FLORENCE). Italian composer, violinist, and theorist. His earliest musical education was from his uncle, Antonio Veracini (1659–1733), and by 1712 he had become so proficient on the violin that he overawed Giuseppe Tartini. In 1714 he traveled to London, later being recruited for the Saxon court of August the Strong as a chamber musician in 1717. In 1722, however, a heated dispute among musicians caused him to leap from an upper-story window and break his leg. In 1723 he returned to Florence as a church musician, but by 1733 he was back in London performing. He accepted a position in Florence at the churches of San Pancrazio and San Gaetano in 1745, arriving after a shipwreck that almost cost him his life. Charles Burney considered him one of the greatest violinists of the age whose skill was almost unequaled. Although the bulk of his compositions are from before 1730 and reflect Baroque genres and practice, in 1744 he published a set of Sonate accademiche that show the development of the galant style in terms of formal structures. He also wrote an important musical treatise, It trionfo della pratica musicale in 1760. The asteroid 10875 Veracini is named for him. VERBEEK, JOHANNES RENATUS (17 NOVEMBER 1748, AMSTERDAM, TO 13 JULY 1820, HERRNHUT, SAXONY, GERMANY). DutchAmerican composer and pastor. His earliest education was at the Moravian Church schools in Zeist, Groß Hennersdorf, and Niesky, whereafter he attended theology school in Barby. He was ordained a minister in 1777, serving as a secretary for the main Moravian Church administration in Niesky and Barby, as well as being a teacher at the local school. In 1796 he traveled to the West Indies, and in 1806 he immigrated to the United States, though he returned to Germany within a few years. His music consists primarily of a large number of anthems.
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VERBUNKOS. A popular Hungarian dance derived around 1715 as recruitment music for military regiments. By the middle of the 18th century, it had retained its martial rhythms but had become more formalized. Popular composers such as János Bihari and Antal Csermák compiled sets of these dances, becoming forerunners of the Hungarian national music during the 19th century. VEROCAI, GIOVANNI (ca. 1700, VENICE, TO 13 DECEMBER 1745, BRAUNSCHWEIG, GERMANY). Italian violinist and composer. It is not known from whom he received his early training, although he may have been a violin student of Antonio Vivaldi. In 1727 he was recruited by Santo Burigotti, the director of a Venetian theatre troupe, to travel north to Breslau, where he contributed several arias to the pasticcio Griselda the following year. In 1729 he entered the service of the Elector of Saxony, traveling with a select group to Moscow in 1731, where he composed a celebratory cantata in Russian for the coronation of Empress Anna Ivanova. He spent several years at St. Petersburg as a member of the court orchestra, but in 1738 he was appointed as director of the opera and Kapellmeister in Braunschweig. His music includes 13 operas, 12 trio sonatas, a symphony, two cantatas (now lost), and numerous arias. Although his instrumental music shows the influence of Vivaldi, his single symphony is in the newer galant style and format. VERSOS. Short interludes or Psalm orchestral “verses” interspersed into the Matins and vespers services. Originally only a few measures long and performed by an organ, by the mid-18th century these were usually played by the cathedral orchestra and had evolved into substantial instrumental works. Their origins are not entirely clear, but they were used prominently in New Spain and may have emanated from Spain itself. Joseph Haydn’s Seven Last Words written for Cadiz, the embarkation point for many of the priests going to New Spain, may reflect this tradition, and examples by Ignacio de Jerusalem y Stella and José Manuel Aldana indicate its popularity in Mexico. VIENNESE CLASSICISM. A term that often substitutes as a generic statement for the entire style of the Classical period but refers specifically to music being composed in Vienna primarily by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Haydn, as well as their colleagues. The style refers to symmetry of form, use of the sonata principle, and progressive harmony and texture. VIGANÒ, ONORATO (6 SEPTEMBER 1739, MILAN, TO ca. 1811, VENICE). Italian dancer and impresario. Beginning around 1750 he began a career as a ballet dancer in several larger Italian cities, famed for his comic style. By 1783 he had begun a career as a choreographer and impresario at
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the Teatro Argentina in Rome, later serving at the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice and in Padua. His major ballets were choreographed in collaboration with Luigi Marescalchi. See also VIGANÒ, SALVATORE. VIGANÒ, SALVATORE (25 MARCH 1769, NAPLES, TO 10 AUGUST 1821, MILAN). Italian dancer, choreographer, and composer. Son of ballet dancer Onorato Viganò, he studied under his father and his uncle, Luigi Boccherini, as well as Carlo Cannobio. He was active in Rome at the Teatro Argentina as early as 1783, and his first full-length composition, La credula vedova, was premiered in the city in 1786. After a short sojourn in Venice, he traveled to Madrid, where he choreographed for Carlos IV, eventually moving to France and London by 1792. A successful debut in Vienna in 1793 led him to travel between Venice and the Austrian city, where he was noted for his more physical style of dance, often based upon paraphrases of popular operas. Eventually in 1799 he became balletmaster in Vienna, where his most daring production, The Creatures of Prometheus, with music by Ludwig van Beethoven, was criticized for its departure from the dramatic pantomime ballet fostered by Gasparo Angiolini and Jean-Georges Noverre. By 1811 he had obtained the post of balletmaster at La Scala in Milan, a position he held until his death. As a choreographer, he was noted for his autonomic style of dance that often precluded dramatic acting in favor of pure movement. Although trained as a composer, his works include only a farce and numerous dance movements for his own ballets. VILLANCICO. Also known as the Vilanate. A Spanish popular vocal genre consisting of a series of stanzas (coplas) framed by a refrain (estribillo). The texts are in the vernacular and were often meant as devotional pieces, particularly for the Christmas season. Although it developed during the late 15th century, reaching its peak in the 17th, its history during the 18th century is marked by its eventual decline as a genre beginning in Spain around 1765. The works could be quite elaborate, consisting of arias, recitatives, and choruses, all accompanied by an orchestra that increased in size over the period. In New Spain, the genre was particularly favored by composers, who sometimes altered it to include indigenous instruments and languages (sometimes styled Jácara). Here, it remained popular up through 1800 and beyond. Composers of this genre include Ignacio de Jerusalem y Stella, Francisco García Fajer, and Rafael Castellanos. See also CANTADA. VILLAVICENCIO, JUAN NICOLÁS (ca. 1730, HAVANA, TO 1779, HAVANA). Cuban organist and composer. Nothing is known of his life or training, save that he was related to an important clerical and governmental family in Cuba and may have studied under Esteban Salas y Castro. He was
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appointed as organist at the Havana cathedral in 1759, holding the post until 1779 when his successor, Francisco Hierrezuelo, obtained the post. His music has been entirely unstudied, but he apparently was active as a composer of the villancico. VIÑAS, FRANCISCO (1698, BARCELONA, TO 1784, CALAHORRA, SPAIN). Spanish monastic composer. He was ordained around 1722, when he also became a member of the Confradía de Nuestra Señora de la Cueva, eventually obtaining a post of maestro di capilla in Jaca. In 1731 he was appointed to the same post at the cathedral of Calahorra, where he remained for the rest of his life. As a Franciscan monk, he wrote almost exclusively sacred music, with over 100 compositions extant, including five Masses, four Magnificats, Lamentations, Psalms, motets, and numerous villancicos. VIOLA, PATER ANSELM [PERE] (13 JUNE 1738, TOROELLA DE MONTGRI, CATALONIA, TO 25 JANUARY 1798, MONSERRAT). Catalan monastic composer and organist. His earliest training was at the monastery of Monserrat, where he began his studies in 1748 with Padre Josep Martí. After his voice broke in 1756 he became a novice, entering the priesthood as Pater Anselm a year later. In 1758 he was sent to Madrid to complete his musical education at the affiliate Benedictine monastery there. He was able to come into contact with a number of important musicians in the city, including Francesco Courcelle and José de Nebra Blasco. His own music was performed by the Real Capilla with some success, but in 1767 he returned to Monserrat to become mestre de capella for the monastery. The remainder of his life was spent there. His students include Ferran Sors. As a composer, Viola was known for his daring modulations and structural proportions of his music. His surviving works consist of 10 sacred pieces (including a Missa Alma redemptoris mater), a number of keyboard sonatas and versetti (originally written for organ), a villancico, and several works for bajón, a local version of the curtal and probably meant for bassoon. VIOLAND, PATER AUGUST (8 FEBRUARY 1750, ENDINGEN, NEAR KAISERSTUHL, GERMANY, TO 12 NOVEMBER 1811, TUNSEL, GERMANY). German monastic composer. He apparently went to Italy to study under Pasquale Anfossi, returning around 1772 to become a novice at the monastery of St. Trudpart. After the secularization, he functioned as vicar in Grunern and finally as parish priest in Tunsel. His musical compositions, mostly written for his own monastery, include a number of sacred works, mainly offertories.
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• 583
VIOTTI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (12 MAY 1755, FONTANELLO PO, PIEDMONT, ITALY, TO 3 MARCH 1824, LONDON). Italian violinist and composer. At the age of 11 he was taken by Prince Alfonso dal Pozzo della Cisterna to Turin to study under Gaetano Pugnani and by 1775 had become a professional violinist in the court orchestra. In 1780 he was persuaded by his teacher to undertake an extensive concert tour of Europe, traveling as far afield as St. Petersburg, but in 1782 he debuted at the Concerts spirituels in Paris. Initially a spectacular success and rival to the Chevalier de SaintGeorges, he entered the service of the royal court at Versailles in 1783, eventually becoming director of the Théâtre de Monsieur five years later. Although successful, he soon found life in revolutionary France problematic and went in 1791 to London, where he appeared in the famed Hannover Square concerts of Johann Peter Salomon. Further uncertainty between 1798 and 1801 led him to travel to Germany and Paris before he gave up music to run a wine business back in London out of the Crown and Anchor Inn. He was one of the founders of the Philharmonic Society in 1813 and in 1818 returned to Paris when his business failed, there becoming director of the Académie royale de musique and the Théâtre Italien, before returning to London in equal economic distress. Viotti can be seen as perhaps the most significant violinist of the last half of the 18th century, whose own performance abilities were marked by innovative technique for the bow, a powerful tone, and expressive line. He is considered the founder of the 19th-century French violin school of Rudolphe Kreutzer, Pierre Rode, and Pierre Baillot (1771–1842); Baillot’s published treatises on violin playing reflect Viotti’s own methodology. His own works, mostly focused on his own instrument, demonstrate his interest in technical mastery and intricate rhythmic structures. These include 29 violin concertos, 29 string quartets, 21 string trios, 54 duos for two violins, 15 violin sonatas, two sinfonia concertantes, 13 arias, concertos for cello and flute, six piano quartets, and numerous other works, including piano concertos, that were derived from his compositions for the violin. VITZTHUMB, IGNAZ (14 SEPTEMBER 1724, BADEN BEI WIEN, AUSTRIA, TO 23 MARCH 1816, BRUSSELS). Belgian-Austrian percussionist, tenor, violinist, and composer. After moving to Brussels at the age of 11, Vitzthumb studied music with Jean-Joseph Fiocco, eventually being admitted into the royal chapel as a timpanist. Following the War of the Austrian Succession, in which he served as a Hussar in a Hungarian regiment, he returned to Belgium as a violinist and theatre director, eventually serving as an administrator at the Théâtre de la Monnaie up through 1777. He was suspended from his court position in 1791 for political activities, whereupon
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VOGEL, JOHANN CHRISTOPH
he moved to Amsterdam to become the music teacher in the College of Dramatic and Lyrical Arts. Ill health forced him to return to Brussels a year later. Little of Vitzthumb’s music has survived, but what has—a Lamentation, several symphonies, and a published set of arrangements of popular opera tunes—shows him to be similar in style to his colleague and friend, Pierre van Maldere. Indeed, his five operas, including La Fausse esclave from 1761, were popular and successful, though it is unknown if he continued to compose after the 1790s. VOGEL, JOHANN CHRISTOPH (bap. 18 MARCH 1756, NUREMBERG, GERMANY, TO 28 JUNE 1788, PARIS). German composer. The son of a violin maker, he studied with Georg Wilhelm Gruber and Joseph Riepel in Regensburg. In 1776 he moved to Paris to make a name for himself as a horn player, performing in ensembles of the Count de Montmorency and the Count de Valentinois. He appeared regularly at the Concerts spirituels both as a performer and as a composer. Although active, ill health prevented him from completing several commissions before his early death. He achieved a reputation for progressive harmony and the use of a monothematic form. His works include two operas (one of which, Demophon, remained unfinished), an oratorio, four symphonies, four sinfonia concertantes, 22 concertos, 21 quartets, 12 trios, 18 duos, and three sonatas. VOGEL, PATER CHRISTOPH (1722, AMBERG, GERMANY, TO 1767, KLOSTER WEINBERG, GERMANY). German monastic composer. He probably studied music in Ingolstadt and entered the Benedictine order around 1744. Thereafter he was sent to the Weinberg monastery, where he achieved a reputation for good poetry and talented music. His works include 26 Masses, four alleluias, 15 Marian antiphons, five litanies, three Requiems, a vesper setting, six Magnificats, and around a dozen other smaller sacred works. VOGEL, PATER KAJETÁN [CAJETAN] (ca. 1750, KONOJEDY, NEAR LITOMĚŘICE, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 27 AUGUST 1794, PRAGUE). Bohemian clerical composer. Following early musical education in his hometown, he attended the Jesuit Gymnasium in Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland), where he sang and performed as an organist. Further studies in Prague followed, after which he joined the Servite order of the Jesuits. He was appointed organist at the church of St. Michael in Prague, a post he held until 1786, when he became a parish priest at the Trinity Church. His music was widely distributed throughout the Holy Roman Empire due to its interesting and flowing melodies. His music, much of
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VOGLER, ABBÉ GEORG JOSEPH
• 585
it now lost, includes 21 Masses, seven Requiems, 14 litanies, four Marian antiphons, several vesper settings, 19 Psalms with Magnificats (published posthumously in 1819), numerous other sacred works, nine concertos, a Singspiel, 13 quartets, two symphonies, and several wind partitas. VOGL, GEORG (23 MAY 1725, TREMMERSDORF, ESCHENBACH, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 19 NOVEMBER 1761, NAPLES). German violinist and composer. After early training in Freising at the Jesuit schools as a chorister, he was taken on by Count Clemens von Bayern as an ordinary musician. His early studies were with Placidus von Camerloher, but in 1758 he was sent to Italy to complete his training. There he became known for his violin playing and operas, written both for Italian theatres and for Jesuit seminaries in Germany. His Italian and German operas have not survived; his remaining music includes three symphonies, a violin concerto, a Requiem, and two litanies. VOGL, PATER BENEDIKT (31 DECEMBER 1718, SAULBURG, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 20 APRIL 1790, OTTOBEUREN, BAVARIA). German monastic composer and violinist. Nothing is known about his early life or training. He was ordained in 1744 and became an instructor at the monastic school at the Benedictine monastery of Ottobeuren, where he became known both for his adept violin playing and for his unusual sense of musical composition. The latter relied upon idiosyncratic rules of harmony. Much of his music has been lost, including Latin dramas. Surviving works include three litanies. VOGLER, ABBÉ GEORG JOSEPH (15 JUNE 1749, PLEICHACH, GERMANY, TO 6 MAY 1814 DARMSTADT, GERMANY). German composer, keyboardist, and pedagogue. Vogler received his earliest training from his father, a maker of musical instruments, later transferring to the Jesuit Gymnasium in Würzburg, where he matriculated at the university in law in 1763. In 1766 he moved to Bamberg to study theology, and in 1771 he was offered the position of almoner at the Electoral court of Mannheim. Two years later he was sent on a grand tour of Italy to study with Padre Giovanni Battista Martini and Padre Francesco Vallotti, eventually finding his way to Rome where he built a reputation as a keyboard player and was named a papal legate with the title of Abbé. In 1775 he returned to Mannheim, where he opened a school of music and published two treatises on music theory, Tonwissenschaft und Tonsetzkunst and Stimmbildungskunst. A monthly journal outlining his theoretical concepts, the Betrachtungen einer Mannheimer Tonschule, followed 1778–1781. By 1780 he had
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VOGLER, FRANZ HEINRICH [FRANCIS VOGELER]
appeared in Paris and later London, from which he was recruited to Stockholm as director musices. Following the successful performance of his opera Gustaf Adolph och Ebba Brahe, he often went abroad on concert tours, traveling as far afield as Gibraltar, Greece, and North Africa. In 1793, following the death of his rival Joseph Martin Kraus, he returned to Stockholm where he founded another school of composition, eventually being pensioned off in 1799. Over the next several years he traveled extensively, making his home in Copenhagen, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, and Munich. In 1807, he was offered a permanent position as ecclesiastical counselor and Kapellmeister in the city of Darmstadt, where his pupils included Giacomo Meyerbeer and Carl Maria von Weber. A colorful figure who excelled at intrigue, he was often accused of being a charlatan, particularly when publishing music reputed to have come from exotic locations (such as the “Greenlandic” song “Døle vise” or the Chinese rondo Cheu-teu) or performing upon instruments of his own invention that included pyrotechnics. His mannerisms did not gainsay this reputation, but his contributions, particularly toward the field of music theory and orchestration, were seminal in music history. As a composer, his more than 600 works include 14 operas, four ballets, incidental music for a variety of plays (including Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Skjöldebrand’s Herman von Unna), 14 Masses, 60 Mass movements, a large amount of sacred music, a massive Requiem, 30 songs and small cantatas, four symphonies (one, in C major subtitled “Scalan” that was revised to include a chorus as the “Bavarian National Symphony”), 11 piano concertos, a horn concerto, 30 piano trios, 10 string quartets, 112 preludes for organ, and a plethora of smaller sonatas and miscellaneous pieces. His works often foreshadow the following century in their sense of orchestral color. The music was cataloged by his biographer Emil von Schafhäutl in 1888. VOGLER, FRANZ HEINRICH [FRANCIS VOGELER] (ca. 1746, HESSEN, GERMANY, TO 1821, QUÉBEC CITY, CANADA). Known also as François Henri Vogeler. German-Canadian musician. Nothing is known about his origins or training, but in 1777 he arrived in Canada as a woodwind player in Prince Frederick’s regimental band. Upon his release and return to civilian life in 1783, he settled in Québec, where he taught music, imported instruments, and entered into a partnership with Johann Conrad Friedrich [Frederick] Glackmayer to produce the first subscription concert series in the provincial capital. His business affairs were less successful, and he died in relative poverty. Vogler was one of the main influences on the development of Canadian musical life, though it is unclear if he actually composed music.
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VON [VAN] HAGEN, ELIZABETH JOANETTA CATHERINE (ca. 1750, AMSTERDAM, TO 1809, SUFFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES). Dutch-American composer, performer, and teacher. Her early years are largely unknown, but in 1774 she married composer Peter von Hagen II shortly before they immigrated to Charleston, South Carolina. She participated fully in the family music business, and appeared frequently as a soloist with the Old City Concerts, where her technical ability was particularly admired. She published a set of variations, but concert programs of the time indicate that she was also active as a composer. She continued her work when the family moved to Boston, eventually succeeding her husband as organist at the Stone Chapel there and serving as a teacher in nearby Salem. VON [VAN] HAGEN, PETER ALBRECHT I (ca. 1720, HAMBURG[?], TO ca. 1774, ROTTERDAM). German violinist and organist. Little is known about this eldest member of a musical family, save that he was probably a pupil of Francesco Geminiani and appeared with considerable success in 1740 in Hamburg as a soloist. Thereafter he appears to have traveled to London and around 1750 or so settled in Rotterdam, where he was appointed as city organist at the local main church. In 1772 Charles Burney visited him, describing him as “an excellent performer on the violin.” He noted several compositions (“solos”) that were in Geminiani’s style, but nothing seems to have survived. The family name von Hagen was translated into Dutch as van Hagen, probably when he accepted the position in Rotterdam. VON [VAN] HAGEN, PETER ALBRECHT II (ca. 1755, ROTTERDAM, TO 20 AUGUST 1803, BOSTON). Dutch-American composer, violinist, music publisher, and organist. Initially he is described as “Peter van Hagen Jr.,” later changing the suffix to “Sr.” upon the birth of his son Peter van Hagen III. He probably received his earliest musical education from his father, but by 1772 Charles Burney noted that he had been sent to Paris to study under Leontzi Honauer, one of the foremost keyboard teachers of the time. In 1774, shortly after his marriage to Elizabeth Joanetta Catherine von Hagen, he immigrated to Charleston, South Carolina, probably as a result of his father’s death. He may have spent some of the time of the American War for Independence in London, but in 1789 he was in New York, where he began publishing music and participating in the public concerts. He moved to Boston in 1796 and became an active participant in the musical life of the city, including the New Theatre. In 1800 he was an organist at the Stone Chapel. His musical style evokes the English songs of the period, although he wrote at least two sets of incidental music, several operas, and at
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VON [VAN] HAGEN, PETER ALBRECHT III
least one Federal Overture. His Funeral Dirge for George Washington was a popular piece of political music of the day. He changed his family name from the Dutch back to the German von Hagen in 1796 as a result of the move to Massachusetts. VON [VAN] HAGEN, PETER ALBRECHT III (1781, CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES, TO 12 SEPTEMBER 1837, BOSTON). American composer and performer. Son of Peter von Hagen II, he was given the suffix “Jr.” after his debut at the age of 8 as a child prodigy in a New York concert. In 1792 he joined his mother and father as teachers in that city, and when the family moved to Boston in 1796 he began to perform his own music, including a New Federal Overture, at the Old City Concerts. He continued his career as a performer on the violin and keyboard in the city for the remainder of his life. His music includes numerous songs, but a complete reckoning has not yet been accomplished. The style of the remaining songs is identical with the English songs of the period. VRANICKÝ, ANTONÍN (13 JUNE 1761, NOVÁ ŘÍŠE, MORAVIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 6 AUGUST 1820, VIENNA). Also known as Anton Wranitzky. Austro-Moravian composer. Like his brother, Pavel Vranický, he was a chorister in his hometown, eventually moving to Olmouc to study philosophy after a period as a student in the Jesuit schools. In 1782 he matriculated at the University of Brno in law and music but only a year later wound up in Vienna as director of the Theresian-Savoy Academy. His studies continued with Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Joseph Haydn. He continued smaller positions in Vienna until 1797, when he became director of the private orchestra of Prince Maximilian Lobkowitz in Prague. His post allowed him to move fluidly between the two major cities of the Holy Roman Empire (and country estates), as well as access to the most influential musical societies of the time. In 1808 he succeeded his brother as conductor of the Hoftheater in Vienna, a post he held until his death. His music often reflects a dramatic flair, even if it is more conventional than that of his brother. Much of it still remains to be explored. His pedagogical interests can be seen in a treatise, Violin Fondament, published in 1804. His works include 15 symphonies, 16 concertos (mostly for violin), five sinfonia concertantes (all for various combinations of stringed instruments), 16 quintets, six sextets, 24 string quartets, seven string trios, 11 duos, a small amount of keyboard music, and numerous sacred works and occasional pieces such as divertimentos.
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VRANICKÝ, PAVEL [PAUL]
• 589
VRANICKÝ, PAVEL [PAUL] (30 DECEMBER 1756, NOVÁ ŘÍŠE, MORAVIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 29 SEPTEMBER 1808, VIENNA). Also known as Paul Wranitzky. Austro-Moravian composer and keyboardist. His earliest musical training was at the Premonstraterian monastery in 1761, from which he went to the Jihlava Gymnasium to study under the Jesuits. In 1771 he enrolled in Olmouc University in theology, later transferring to Vienna in 1776. In 1783 he was able to study briefly with visiting composer Joseph Martin Kraus, who no doubt was instrumental in obtaining for Vranický posts at the Kärntnertortheater in Vienna and as musical director to Count Johann Nepomuk Esterházy at Galantha. Later posts include conductor at the Burgtheater, where he championed the works of Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven. He died of typhoid fever at the age of 52. Vranický can be considered one of the most dramatic and popular composers resident in Vienna. His 1789 Singspiel Oberon was performed for the coronation ceremonies of Leopold II, as well as remaining in the repertory until the advent of Carl Maria von Weber’s like-named work in 1826. His symphonies, many of which have a quasi-programmatic function, demonstrate good orchestration, progressive harmonies, and solid form. His music includes 13 operas (all German), four occasional divertissements, 15 sets of incidental music, a large-scale secular cantata, five concert arias, a Mass, 55 symphonies (including self-contained overtures), 10 concertos, 11 divertimentos, 12 quintets, 65 quartets (mostly for strings), nine string trios, 99 Lieder, 109 canons, 10 woodwind quintets, six sextets, and many smaller sets of dances, sonatas, and keyboard works. He also arranged for various combinations of instruments for larger works such as symphonies and opera.
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W WAGENSEIL, GEORG CHRISTOPH (29 JANUARY 1715, VIENNA, TO 1 MARCH 1777, VIENNA). Austrian composer and keyboardist. Born into a prominent Viennese family, Wagenseil studied under Johann Joseph Fux and Mattheo Palotta beginning around 1735. Fux was so impressed by his student that he recommended him in 1739 for the post of court composer, which was followed the next year by an appointment as organist for Dowager Empress Elisabeth. By 1749 he had become hofklaviermeister with the responsibility of instructing the royal family on the keyboard. Four years earlier, in 1745, his opera Ariodante launched a career in the royal theatres, and by 1751 he had published a treatise Rudimenta panduristae oder GeigFundamenta, which was a forerunner of Leopold Mozart’s work. By 1765, however, he began to be afflicted with gout, resulting in a diminishing of his capacity and confinement to his home the final years of his life. Wagenseil was a much-appreciated teacher, whose students included Frantisˇek Xaver Dusˇek, Leopold Hofmann, and Johann Baptist Schenk. Although his early Masses display a Baroque style, his symphonies and concertos, of which he was one of the most prolific composers of the period, were much more advanced, while his penchant for solid, colorful orchestration, interesting harmony, and attention to dramatic detail presage the opera reforms of Christoph Willibald von Gluck in his opera serias. He composed 16 operas; three oratorios; 17 Masses and a Requiem; over 90 other sacred works (including canticles, Psalms, hymns, etc.); nine secular cantatas; 30 concert arias; 77 symphonies; 81 concertos for keyboard (most with string accompaniment); other concertos for flute, violin, cello, bassoon, and trombone; seven violin sonatas; seven divertimentos; four flute quartets; 60 trio sonatas; and a large number of smaller works for keyboard. His instrumental music is known by their WV numbers. See also MICHL, JOHANN JOSEPH; ULBRICH, MAXIMILIAN. WALOND, WILLIAM (bap. 16 JULY 1719, OXFORD; buried 21 AUGUST 1768, OXFORD). English organist and composer. Walond spent his entire life in Oxford, where he was both trained and apprenticed. His sole position was as organist for New College and Christ Church, and he was one of the first musicians to receive a bachelor of music from Oxford University. 591
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He also functioned as a music copyist. His largest work was the first setting of Alexander Pope’s original Ode to St. Cecilia’s Day. He was well known throughout England for his innovative organ works, of which he published six voluntaries, as well as a further 10 pieces. WALTER, [JOHANN] IGNAZ [JOSEPH] (31 AUGUST 1755, RADONITZ, BOHEMIA [NOW RADONICE, CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 22 FEBRUARY 1822, REGENSBURG, GERMANY). German composer and singer. After studies with Ignaz Neudörffl in Radonitz, he attended the University of Vienna, studying music under Joseph Starzer. In 1780 he was employed as a tenor in the city, and in 1792 he toured Saxony as a member of the Grossmann troupe before settling in Regensburg in 1804 as director of the Hoftheater. His musical compositions began with his first opera in 1787, eventually encompassing 17 Singspiels, nine pieces of incidental music, six Masses, six oratorios, two cantatas, four sacred arias, six concertos, six quartets, a quintet, a trio, 10 duos, a wind parthie, and several symphonies. His music has been little studied. WALTER [WALTHER], THOMAS CHRISTIAN (12 FEBRUARY 1749, COPENHAGEN, TO 18 NOVEMBER 1788, THARANGAMBADI [TRANKEBAR], TAMIL NADU, INDIA). Danish composer and government official. Born into a prosperous Danish family, Walter received his education at the University of Copenhagen, as well as under Johann Adolph Scheibe in music. In 1768 he became a member of the Nye musikalske Selskab, producing his first work, an aria in Italian, in 1772. The following year he was named as director of the royal opera, but in 1775 he was sent abroad due to the public abuse of his wife, Carolina Halle. His travels took him to Stockholm and Italy, where he composed operas. In 1777 the failure of his opera Arsene in Copenhagen and the scandal associated with his former wife forced him to abandon music and take up a series of posts with the Danish East Indian Company in their colony in India. His music consists of a symphony, two Italian concert arias, an oratorio (of which only the overture survives), and five operas (three in Danish [Silphen, Soliman II, Den prøvende troskab], one in Swedish [Adonis], and one in Italian [Arsene]). His style is influenced by Italian opera buffa. WANŽURA, ERNEST. See VANČURA, ARNOŠT. WEBER, JOHANN GOTTFRIED (7 OCTOBER 1740, HERRNHUT, SAXONY, GERMANY, TO 31 MARCH 1797, GRADAU, SAXONY, GERMANY). German composer and organist. Following early musical education he was baptized into the Moravian Church in 1754 and intended
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WEINRAUCH, PATER ERNESTUS [FAUSTINUS]
• 593
to follow his father’s trade as a weaver. In 1766, however, he was employed in Kleinwelka as an organist, later moving to Neudietendorf. In 1772 he was appointed organist at the main Moravian church in Herrnhut and in 1785 was ordained a minister, serving in that capacity in Barby and in Göteborg, Sweden. He returned to Herrnhut in 1788. An innovative composer, he wrote numerous anthems, as well as six sonatas for four trombones. WEIMAR, GEORG PETER (16 DECEMBER 1734, STOTTERNHEIM, NEAR ERFURT, GERMANY, TO 19 DECEMBER 1800, ERFURT). German composer, educator, and organist. His earliest musical education was under Jakob Adlung at the Erfurt Gymnasium beginning in 1752, and in 1758 he obtained the position of cantor at Zerbst, where he continued his studies under Johann Friedrich Fasch and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. In 1763 he was offered the post of organist at the Kaufmannkirche in Erfurt, where he remained his entire life. He also taught at the local Gymnasiums, where his students probably included Joseph Martin Kraus. His musical style reflects that of his mentors, namely, galant and Empfindsamkeit. His works, little studied or performed, include a children’s operetta, 13 cantatas or odes, 18 motets and sacred arias, three sets of funeral music, a Passion, four wind partitas, and numerous Lieder. See also ADLUNG, JAKOB. WEINERT, ANTONI (2 JUNE 1751, LUSDORF, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 18 JUNE 1850, WARSAW). Czech-Polish composer and flautist. Following early education in Bohemia, he obtained a post as flautist with Prince Lubomirski in Opice in 1773. After only a year he went to Warsaw, where he was employed as first flute in the opera and at court, later becoming director of the former. In 1795 with the dissolution of Poland, he stayed for several years in Rogalin near Poznań as a musician in the court of Duke Raczyński. By 1805 he had returned to Warsaw, where for the remainder of his long life he was a major player in the musical life of the city, directing at the National Theatre and teaching at the Warsaw Conservatory. The bulk of his music remains unstudied, but his major focus during the 18th century was on his three Polish Singspiels, of which Skrupuł niepotrzebny can be considered one of the first major works in Polish. WEINRAUCH, PATER ERNESTUS [FAUSTINUS] (bap. 17 OCTOBER 1730, DONAUWÖRTH, GERMANY, TO 9 APRIL 1793, ZWEIFALTEN MONASTERY, BAVARIA). German monastic composer. Son of a glassblower, he was educated at the Benedictine monastery at Zweifalten, taking his vows in 1748 and being ordained in 1755. He eventually became deputy prior of the monastery and wrote music for the monastic choir. His works are reminiscent of Michael Haydn and include two
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WEIS[S], FRIEDRICH WILHELM
oratorios, six Psalms, four Masses, a Requiem, six vespers, and several smaller church works. WEIS[S], FRIEDRICH WILHELM (3 MARCH 1744, GÖTTINGEN, TO 26 JULY 1826, ROTHEBURG AN DER FULDA, GERMANY). German amateur composer, university lecturer, and physician. Following studies and the awarding of a medical degree, Weis lectured in medicine and natural sciences at Göttingen University. There he became part of the Sturm und Drang literary circle, the Göttinger Hainbund. He established himself as a composer of Lieder, using the poetry of the group as his texts. He published a set of songs in 1775 as Lieder mit Melodien, and thereafter he contributed 27 further songs to the Musenalmanach in its various guises. His work is largely strophic with good melodies, but his accompaniment is often simplistic and marred by obvious harmonic mistakes. By 1786 he had obtained a position as privy councilor to the court of Hesse-Rothenburg; thereafter he ceased to compose music. WEISS, PATER RAPHAEL [JOSEPH FRANZ XAVER] (10 MARCH 1713, WANGEN, ALLGAU, TO 28 OCTOBER 1778, OTTOBEUREN). German monastic composer. In 1730 he entered the Benedictine monastery in Ottobeuren as a novice, and by 1738 he had been promoted to regens chori, later teaching in the monastery school. Around this time he also traveled briefly to Irsee to study under Pater Meinrad Spieß. His sacred dramas, Singspiels performed at the monastery school, were particularly popular, but little of his music survives. The works include a Mass, a Requiem, a vesper, a litany, and three Psalms settings, as well as 10 Latin school operas. The music is mostly homophonic with simple melodies and harmony. WENDLING, JOHANN BAPTIST (17 JUNE 1723, RAPPOLTSWEILER, ALSACE [NOW RIBEAUVILLE, FRANCE], TO 27 NOVEMBER 1797, MUNICH). German-Alsatian composer and flautist. Little is known of his training, but in 1745 he obtained a post as a flute teacher in Zweibrücken. By 1749 he undertook tours to Berlin and Paris, where he made a successful debut at the Concerts spirituels. In 1752 he was appointed as flute teacher to the Electoral court in Mannheim, following the court to Munich in 1778. He retired in 1790. Wendling is best known for his friendship with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but he also contributed much toward the development of music for his instrument. His style reflects second-generation Mannheim composers. His works include 14 concertos, three flute quartets, 30 trios, 39 duos, and 12 sonatas for the flute.
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WENDT, JOHANN NEPOMUK (1745, DIVICE, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 3 JULY 1801, VIENNA). Austro-Bohemian composer and oboist. Following his early education, he was employed as an instrumentalist with Count Prachta in Prague before obtaining a post with Prince Schwarzenburg in Vienna in 1775. Two years later he was appointed first oboist with the national opera theatre, and in 1782 he was named head of the Royal Harmoniemusik. He is best known for his arrangements of various popular operas (numbering some 50 or more), but his original works include 14 string quartets, a symphony, five flute duos, six quintets, and over 80 works for Harmoniemusik. WERNER, GREGOR JOSEPH (28 JANUARY 1693, YBBS AN DER DONAU, LOWER AUSTRIA, TO 3 MARCH 1766, EISENSTADT, LOWER AUSTRIA). Austrian composer. Werner entered the Melk monastery school possibly as early as 1715, where he was trained as an organist. By around 1722 he was in Vienna, where he studied with Johann Joseph Fux. In 1728 he was appointed as Kapellmeister to the Esterházy court in Eisenstadt, a position he retained his entire life. His main focus was building the musical establishment that had fallen into disrepair. He relinquished some of his duties in 1761 with the hiring of an assistant, Joseph Haydn, with whom he had an acrimonious relationship. His sacred music was important in the development of the Viennese church style along with Georg Reutter Jr. His most innovative work, however, is the Neues und sehr curios-musikalisches Instrumental-Calender published in 1748, in which a series of four suites arranged according to seasons of the year outline various musical descriptions of activities, interspersed with minuets whose measure numbers reflect the length of days and nights. His other music includes 23 Masses (and perhaps as high as 50), 18 oratorios, three Requiems, 75 smaller church works (antiphons, motets, hymns, etc.), seven symphonies, four organ concertos, two secular humorous cantatas, four pastorals, and around 20 trio sonatas. His works were cataloged by János Hárich, but this remains unpublished. See also KRAFT, ANTONÍN. WESLEY, CHARLES, JR. (11 DECEMBER 1757, BRISTOL, ENGLAND, TO 23 MAY 1834, LONDON). English composer and organist. Son of Anglican minister Charles Wesley Sr., he evidenced musical talent at an early age. He studied under William Boyce and organ under Joseph Kelway. He career developed only slowly, although he performed frequently at private concerts with his brother Samuel Wesley. By the end of the century he had found permanent employment with the Lock Hospital Chapel and eventually
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St. Marylebone. A highly conservative composer, called by his brother “an obstinate Handelian,” his music appears anachronistic for the time. Works include six hymns, 15 anthems, a cantata, eight songs, six string quartets, six violin concertos (and a concerto grosso from 1782), six keyboard sonatas, and a number of catches and glees. See also CARR, BENJAMIN. WESLEY, CHARLES, SR. (18 DECEMBER 1707, EPWORTH, LINCOLNSHIRE, ENGLAND, TO 29 MARCH 1788, LONDON). English clergyman and writer of hymns. After training at Westminster and Oxford he was ordained as an Anglican minister, working as a pastor at Bristol in 1749 and St. Marylebone in London in 1771. Although he attempted to discourage his two sons, Charles Wesley Jr. and Samuel Wesley, from becoming musicians, he himself was said to have written over 8,000 hymns, many of which are still in use in the Anglican Church today. See also PSALMODY. WESLEY, SAMUEL (24 FEBRUARY 1766, BRISTOL, ENGLAND, TO 11 OCTOBER 1837, LONDON). English composer and organist. The son of Charles Wesley Sr. and brother of Charles Wesley Jr., he studied music under William Boyce in 1774. By 1779 he and his brother embarked upon a career giving subscription concerts. In 1784, Wesley converted to Catholicism, focusing his compositional efforts on writing sacred music. An accident in 1787 forced him into a quiet rural life at Ridge near St. Albans for two decades, but after 1808 he returned to become one of the leaders of the English musical establishment, including founding membership in the Royal Philharmonic Society. His music is characterized by good harmony and a more progressive sense of style. Works include five Masses, two services, 63 other sacred works, 38 anthems, 51 choruses, two oratorios, 97 hymns (57 of which were published in 1835 in The Psalmist), seven symphonies, 13 concertos, three quartets, nine trios, and 10 violin sonatas, as well as many smaller works. WESSTRÖM, ANDERS (ca. 1720, HUDIKSVALL, SWEDEN, TO 7 MAY 1780, UPPSALA, SWEDEN). Swedish composer and violinist. His earliest musical education was received from his father, a local organist. In 1738 he matriculated at Uppsala University, where he graduated in law with the dissertation De abdication regia in 1744. In 1748 he obtained a second position as violinist in the court ensemble, and in 1756 he undertook a journey with a friend, Dresden composer Johann Gottlieb Naumann, to Italy where he studied under Giuseppe Tartini. After returning to Sweden in 1760, he made a further journey to England, as well as concertizing throughout his home country. Debts and alcoholism forced his dismissal in 1773,
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and a position as musical director in the town of Gävle was equally problematic. He died in abject poverty shortly after resigning this second post. Few compositions by Wesström have survived. These include two symphonies, a pair of overtures for the proposed opera Armide, six quartets for strings and other obbligato instruments, and a few solos and sonatas for violin. Several concertos for violin have been lost. WEST, ELISHA (bap. 25 APRIL 1756, NORTH YARMOUTH, MAINE, UNITED STATES, TO 1 SEPTEMBER 1832, GREENE, MAINE). American psalmodist. A student of William Billings, he moved to Woodstock, Vermont, in 1790 to farm. There he also taught singing and was a choirmaster in the local church. He left 50 works, some published in 1802 in The Musical Concert. WESTENHOLZ, CARL AUGUST FRIEDRICH (JULY 1736, LAUENBURG, GERMANY, TO 24 JANUARY 1789, LUDWIGSLUST, GERMANY). German singer and composer. Trained in Lübeck, he joined the court of Mecklenburg-Schwerin as a tenor, studying composition under Johann Wilhelm Hertel. A short period of study under Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach gave him the training necessary to become appointed as Kapellmeister at court in 1770, whereupon he stopped his career as a singer. His music conforms to the style of his teachers and includes four cantatas, an oratorio, five Psalms, five chorales, 13 arias, three concertos, a violin sonata, and a symphony. His works have received scant scholarly attention. See also WESTENHOLZ, SOPHIE MARIE. WESTENHOLZ, SOPHIE MARIE (10 JULY 1759, NEUBRANDENBURG, GERMANY, TO 4 OCTOBER 1838, LUDWIGSLUST, GERMANY). German composer and performer. The wife of composer Carl August Westenholz, she was a student of Johann Wilhelm Hertel and became known as a virtuoso on the glass harmonica. In 1799 she was named as Kapellmeister at the court of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, becoming one of the first women to hold a high court position. Her music includes 30 Lieder, three arias, four keyboard sonatas, and numerous other works. WICK-TRIMMER. One of the lowest paid but most important positions in any opera house, the wick-trimmer was responsible for seeing that the lighting, produced mainly by tallow candles, was properly handled. Given that all opera houses of that age had highly flammable decorations, props, and costumes, lack of attention to the flames produced by the lighting candles and their reflective holders could have catastrophic results for the buildings. It was the wick-trimmer’s position to see that this did not happen.
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WIDERKEHR, JACQUES CHRISTIAN MICHEL (18 APRIL 1759, STRASBOURG, TO APRIL 1823, PARIS). French-Alsatian composer and cellist. A student of Franz Xaver Richter and pianist Georges Dumonchou. In 1783 he arrived in Paris, where he performed in the orchestras of the Concerts spirituels and the Loge Olympique. A popular composer and teacher, he remained active in Paris throughout his life. His music represents good attention to form and structure, particularly in his use of solo instruments. Works include 15 sinfonia concertantes, two symphonies, an opera, three Revolutionary hymns, seven quintets, seven quartets, 20 trios, and three duos. WIKMANSON, JOHAN (28 DECEMBER 1753, STOCKHOLM, TO 10 JANUARY 1800, STOCKHOLM). Swedish composer, cellist, and organist. Demonstrating talent as a youth, he was instructed in music by Hinrich Philip Johnsen and Ferdinand Zellbell, Jr. In 1771 he was appointed organist at the Dutch Reformed church in Stockholm, moving to the more prestigious St. Clara Church a decade later as Johnsen’s successor. The following year he obtained a post in the state lottery. In 1780 he became a member of the society Utile dulci and was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in 1788. During this time he received composition lessons from Joseph Martin Kraus. As a member of the Palmstedt Literary Circle, he composed numerous songs and piano cantatas, as well as at least one concert aria (in 1798 for the society Nytt och Nöje), a symphony minuet (later inserted into a work by his pupil Johann Fredrik Berwald), 6 string quartets, and sonatas for both cittern and piano. He also contributed pieces to the pastiches Äfventyraren (1791) and Eremiten (1798). He also translated Giuseppe Tartini’s Trattato delle appogiature and wrote his own piano school. His vocal musical style is similar to that of Kraus, while his quartets show the influence of Joseph Haydn. His music was cataloged by Carl Gabriel Stellan Mörner. WILHELMINE OF PRUSSIA, PRINCESS [FRIEDERIKE SOPHIE] (3 JULY 1709, BERLIN, TO 14 OCTOBER 1758, BAYREUTH, BAVARIA). German Markgräfin and composer. The daughter of Friedrich Wilhelm I and sister of the future Frederick II of Prussia, she had a privileged but unhappy childhood. After a number of arranged marriages failed to be concluded, she was forcibly wed to the Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth in 1735. She and her husband bankrupted the small state in their attempt to turn the city of Bayreuth into a cultural Mecca of the region. In later life she also functioned as a conduit of information for her brother during the War of the Austrian Succession. Trained as a lute player by Sylvius Leopold Weiss, she also dabbled in musical composition. In 1740 she premiered her opera Argenore at a newly rebuilt court opera house in Bayreuth. In addition, she
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composed smaller chamber works, such as trio sonatas and songs. Her musical style is similar to Carl Heinrich Graun or Johann Adolph Hasse. WINEBERGER, PAUL ANTON (7 OCTOBER 1758, MERGENTHEIM, GERMANY, TO 8 FEBRUARY 1822, HAMBURG). German composer and cellist. Following study by local musicians in the Odenwald region, he became an organist at the Dominican church in his hometown before moving to Mannheim in 1778, where he studied under Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler even while teaching at the Jesuit Gymnasium and Music Seminar. In 1780 he found employment at the court of Count Kraft Ernst of Oettingen-Wallerstein as a cellist, working under Antonio Rosetti. He held this post until 1798, when he moved to Hamburg to perform in the theatre orchestra. Wineberger’s compositional efforts resemble his colleagues such as Rosetti in style and structure. Surviving music includes three Masses, five symphonies, five concertos (and two sinfonia concertantes), an opera, an oratorio, a large cantata, a Requiem, 15 quintets, and 20 wind partitas. WINTER, PETER [VON] (bap. 28 AUGUST 1754, MANNHEIM, TO 17 OCTOBER 1825, MUNICH). German composer. The son of a soldier, he showed promise as a musician, performing at the age of 10 with the Mannheim orchestra. He studied under Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler and by 1776 was appointed formally as a violinist with the orchestra. In 1778 he moved along with the Kapelle to Munich where he eventually became director of the court theatre. A brief sojourn in Vienna to study under Antonio Salieri followed in 1780, and thereafter he was appointed as assistant Kapellmeister in 1787 and full in 1798. His most successful work was the Singspiel Das unterbrochene Opferfest of 1796, and the year of his death he published a treatise on singing titled Die vollständige Singschule. Although he often had rocky relationships with colleagues, he was considered a well-rounded and competent composer, whose stage works represent some of the more progressive Singspiels of the period in terms of harmony and instrumentation. His music consists of 41 operas, eight ballets, 26 Masses, two Requiems and two Te Deums, an oratorio, six cantatas, eight concertos (and three sinfonia concertantes), 13 divertimentos, three symphonies, five string quartets, four string quintets, two sextets (and a septet and an octet), three violin sonatas, and a host of smaller keyboard works. See also SEYFRIED, IGNAZ XAVIER RITTER VON. WITT, FRIEDRICH (8 NOVEMBER 1770, NIEDERSTETTEN, WÜRTTEMBURG, GERMANY, TO 3 JANUARY 1836, WÜRZBURG, GERMANY). German composer and cellist. Born at Schloß Halbergstetten, he probably received his early training at the court there. In 1789 he was
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appointed cellist at the court of Oettingen-Wallerstein, where he came into contact with Antonio Rosetti. In 1802 the performance of his oratorio Der leidenede Heiland in Würzburg led to an appointment as Kapellmeister in the city, later in 1814 extended to the local theatre. Witt was not a prolific composer, and his style reflects that of Rosetti. His works include three stage pieces, two oratorios, three Masses, two large odes, 12 symphonies (though the infamous so-called Jena symphony once attributed to Beethoven is a crude forgery), eight concertos, a septet, a quintet, and several wind partitas. WOLF, ERNST WILHELM (bap. 25 FEBRUARY 1735, GROSSEN BEHRINGEN, THURINGIA, GERMANY, TO 30 NOVEMBER 1792, WEIMAR, GERMANY). German violinist and composer. He attended the Gymnasium in both Eisenach and Gotha before entering the University of Jena in 1755. There he supported himself as director of the collegium musicum, and in 1758 when he moved to Leipzig, he became music tutor to the Ponickau family. Intending to make his fortune in Italy, he stopped in Weimar, where Princess Anna Amalia offered him the post of concertmaster in 1761. Two years later he became court organist and in 1772 Kapellmeister. He was part of an intellectual salon that included author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and under their influence he published the treatise Musikalische Unterricht für Liebhaber in 1788, one of the few meant exclusively for amateurs. A prolific composer in a late Empfindsamkeit style, his works include 15 Singspiels, five oratorios, nine sacred cantatas (and four secular), 51 Lieder, 12 symphonies, 25 keyboard concertos, two quintets, 10 quartets (mostly string), six trio sonatas, six violin sonatas, and 63 keyboard sonatas. See also SCHWEITZER, ANTON. WOLF, GEORG FRIEDRICH (12 SEPTEMBER 1761, HAINRODE, NEAR SONDERSHAUSEN, GERMANY, TO 23 JANUARY 1814, WERNIGERODE, GERMANY). German organist, writer, and composer. Following early studies under his father, a local organist, he traveled to Nordhausen in 1767 to study under Christoph Gottlieb Schroeter. By 1782 he had enrolled in Göttingen University in theology but after his studies became the personal Kapellmeister to Count Ludwig von Stollberg. In 1801 he was appointed as Kapellmeister and organist at the Pfarrkirche in Wernigerode in Thuringia. He is best known for three of his treatises, the Unterricht in Singkunst of 1784, Kurzgefaßtes musikalisches Lexicon of 1787, and a collection of vocal works, Trauermotetten und Arien. Apart from these, his surviving works include three sets of Lieder, four keyboard sonatas, and several organ works. WOLF, MARIA CAROLINA. See BENDA, MARIA CAROLINA.
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WOOD, ABRAHAM (30 JULY 1752, NORTHBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES, TO 6 AUGUST 1804, NORTHBOROUGH). American psalmodist. Wood served in the militia during the Revolutionary War before returning to Northborough to become a cloth fuller. In 1782 he became the town assessor, also serving in other civic capacities during his lifetime. As a composer, he wrote 48 works, many of which were published in 1793 in The Columbian Harmony alongside works by Joseph Stone. WOODRUFF, MERIT (17 JUNE 1780, WATERTOWN, CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES, TO 26 JUNE 1799, WATERTOWN). American psalmodist. Woodruff was self-taught during his earliest years but later became a student of Ashael Benham. His profession was as a store clerk, but he also wrote 40 works, published in the Devotional Harmony of 1801, two years after his death by drowning while bathing in a pond. WOODWARD, RICHARD, JR. (ca. 1743, ENGLAND, TO 22 NOVEMBER 1777, DUBLIN). Anglo-Irish singer and composer. He appears first in Ireland in 1759 as a chorister and by 1765 was serving as a singer at Christ Church in Dublin. In 1771 he became chair of music at Dublin University. Woodward became well known for his series of benefit concerts presented to the public in Ireland. His best publication is a set of services known as Cathedral Music Op. 3, but he also wrote numerous songs, catches, and glees. WORTHINGTON, JOHN (3 NOVEMBER 1725, DUBLIN, TO 12 MARCH 1790, DUBLIN). Irish singer and composer. Trained as a singer in the boy’s choir of the local Anglican church, he turned to a profligate life when his voice changed. While earning a precarious living, he came to the attention of Pastor Benjamin LaTrobe, who persuaded him to join the Moravian Church and hired him as a teacher of music. In 1763 he was ordained a minister and served in numerous churches throughout Great Britain before returning to his native Dublin. Almost nothing of his music has survived apart from a single arrangement, but Worthington had a reputation for compositions that reflected “simplicity and elegance.” WOSCHITKA, FRANZ XAVER (1728, VIENNA, TO 5 DECEMBER 1796, MUNICH). Austrian-German cellist and composer. The son of a bassoonist, Tobias Woschitka (1683–1752), he probably studied under his father, though little is known of his youth or education. He first appears in 1750 as a chamber musician in Ludwigslust at the court of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. By 1765 he had become chamber musician at the Electoral court in Munich,
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where he taught members of the royal family. In addition to a substantial number of works for viol, he also composed six cello concertos similar in style to Luigi Boccherini, as well as six quartets and other chamber works. See also HEMMERLEIN, ANTON. WRANITZKY, ANTON. See VRANICKÝ, ANTONÍN. WRANITZKY, PAUL. See VRANICKÝ, PAVEL. WRIGHTEN, MARY ANN. See POWNALL, MARY ANN. WUIET, CAROLINE (1766, RABOUILLET, FRANCE, TO 1835, PARIS). French composer. A child prodigy, she was taken to Paris at an early age, where she studied under André Ernest Modeste Grétry. In 1784 she wrote the opera Le trompeur tromp, which was proclaimed as an important work despite not being staged. Thereafter she became well known on Parisian concert programs as a pianist, even attracting the attention of Marie Antoinette. During the French Revolution, she went into hiding and afterward made a living as a newspaper editor and writer of fiction. She continued to compose music, which she published under the pseudonyms Aufdiener and Dona Elidora. In later years she suffered derangement and died as a homeless woman in a Paris park. Her music includes five operas, three violin sonatas, and 12 romances. WUNDERLICH, JOHANN GEORG [JEAN-GEORGES] (2 FEBRUARY 1755, BAYREUTH, GERMANY, TO 1819, PARIS). German-French flautist and composer. The son of an oboist in the service of the Bayreuth court, he received his education from his father before moving to Paris in 1775 to become a student of Félix Rault. The following year he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels and by 1781 was employed in the orchestra at the Opéra. By 1795, as the most famous flautist in France, he was given the post as professor of his instrument at the Conservatoire, for whose students he published his Méthode de flute in 1804. His music is mainly meant for his own instrument and consists of 12 duos for two flutes, six flute sonatas, six divertissements, and 12 solos, in addition to numerous pedagogical pieces. WÜST, PATER COELESTIN [BALTHASAR] (30 JANUARY 1720, KLEINWENKHEIM, GERMANY, TO 7 FEBRUARY 1761, MAINZ, GERMANY). German monastic composer and organist. He attended the Augustinian Gymnasium at Münnenstadt in 1737, where his teachers included Georg Hahn. In 1747 he became a novice and in 1745 a priest, moving to Uttenweiler, where he was an organist before going to Mainz. Of his music, only two Masses survive.
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Y YOST, MICHEL (1754, PARIS, TO 5 JULY 1786, PARIS). French clarinetist and composer. He received his first musical education under Joseph Beer, making his debut at the Concerts spirituels in 1777. Thereafter he made his living as a private teacher, with students such as Pedro Étienne Solère. His own music includes 14 clarinet concertos (some of the best of the time), 65 clarinet duos, 18 quartets (strings and/or clarinet), 30 clarinet trios, and 36 variations on popular tunes. See also LEFÉVRE, JEAN-XAVIER. YOUNG, MARY POLLY [MARIA BARTHÉLEMON] (7 JULY 1749, LONDON, TO 20 SEPTEMBER 1799, LONDON). English composer. Youngest of six children, she was brought up by her aunt, wife of English composer Thomas Arne. Young made her debut as a soprano in Dublin in 1755, and in 1762 she appeared in London in The Beggar’s Opera at Covent Garden. In 1766 she married the principal violinist of the King’s Theatre, François-Hippolyte Barthélemon, and a decade later undertook a successful European tour, but upon her return her career faltered. By 1792, however, she and her husband appeared frequently at the Hannover Square concerts along with Joseph Haydn. Although her main focus was as a singer, she also composed six keyboard sonatas (Op. 1), a set of six songs (Op 2), a set of six anthems/hymns (Op. 3), and an ode for George III (Op. 5).
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Z ZAAR, JOHAN GOTTFRID (15 MAY 1754, STOCKHOLM, TO 20 JULY 1818, STOCKHOLM). Swedish-Norwegian violist, musical director, and composer. At an early age he was trained as a singer in Stockholm, though who did the training is unknown. When the Royal Opera was formed in 1773 he was employed as a tenor, appearing in numerous secondary roles. At the same time, he began to display considerable technical virtuosity on the violin, viola, and cittern, upon which he performed regularly at venues such as the public concerts and Utile dulci society. His teacher on these instruments was probably violinist Johan David Zander Sr. (1714–1774). In 1780 he undertook a tour to Denmark’s Norwegian provinces, establishing a public concert series in Christiania [now Oslo] that year; after only a year he returned to Stockholm, though he continued to travel back and forth on occasion. In 1811 he was given the post of principal violist in the Hovkapell, in which he served until his retirement in 1815. Zaar was well regarded as one of the founding members of the public concerts in Norway, and he probably wrote a number of works, primarily concertos and chamber pieces for this venue and for his own use in Stockholm in earlier years, although there is documentary evidence of several large-scale cantatas for Gustav III. The only work to have survived, however, is a polonaise for solo violin. ZACH, JAN [JOHANN] (bap. 13 NOVEMBER 1699, ČELÁKOVICE, BOHEMIA [NOW CZECH REPUBLIC], TO 24 MAY 1773, ELLWANGEN, GERMANY). German-Bohemian composer and organist. He received his earliest musical training in Prague, possibly under Bohuslav Černohorský (1684–1742). During this time he functioned as a violinist in several churches, as well as organist at St. Martín Church. In 1745 he accepted a post as Kapellmeister in Mainz, following travels to Italy and throughout southern Germany and Bohemia. His relationships there were problematic, resulting in his dismissal in 1756. A post at Trier failed to materialize, and he spent the last of his career in a variety of temporary posts, such as the court of Oettingen-Wallerstein in 1773. Included in these years were repeat visits to Italy, but he seems to have been closely associated with the monastery of Stams in the Austrian Tyrol. His music shows influences of the galant style, 605
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with a particular penchant for use of Bohemian dances and melodies. His music includes 26 Masses, three Requiems, four motets, two offertories, some 20 or more hymns and Psalms, nine vespers, eight sacred arias, 48 symphonies, six partitas, 10 concertos (for flute, harpsichord, oboe, and cello), three trio sonatas, six violin sonatas, and a large number of individual fugues and smaller pieces for organ and keyboard. His music is known by K (Komma) numbers. ZANDER, JOHAN DAVID, JR. (15 OCTOBER 1752, STOCKHOLM, TO 12 FEBRUARY 1796, STOCKHOLM). Swedish violinist and composer. He received his musical education in violin under his father, Johan David Zander Sr. (1714–1774), and composition under Ferdinand Zellbell Jr. In 1775 he was appointed as chamber musician to Prince Carl of Södermanland, and in 1778 he transferred to the Hovkapell, where he played both violin and viola. During this time he also began a career as a soloist at the public concerts, both the Riddarhuskonserter and those given by the Utile dulci society. In 1784 he acted as the kapellmästare for Carl Stenborg’s Swedish Comedy, eventually producing the bulk of his operas for that venue. As his duties there became greater, he neglected his position as assistant concertmaster at the Hovkapell, resulting in his dismissal in 1792 from the latter. Although reinstated two years later, he never regained his former interest or position. During his lifetime, Zander was an extremely popular composer of mainly comic operas. Beginning in 1782 he orchestrated many of the pasticcios and parodies produced in Stockholm, and three works—Kopparslagaren of 1783, Njugg spar och fan tar of 1784, and Kronfogdarne of 1787—were perennial favorites. There exist in all 10 operas, a symphony, two orchestral polonaises, a violin concerto, three viola concertos, and two cello concertos, as well as several violin sonatas and solos, three string quartets, five concert arias, a string trio, 10 songs, and a host of smaller pieces for keyboard or violin. His music is similar in style to that of Joseph Haydn, who probably served as his model. ZANI, ANDREA TEODORO (11 NOVEMBER 1696, CASALMAGGIORE, ITALY, TO 28 SEPTEMBER 1757, CASALMAGGIORE). Italian violinist and composer. Born in the center of the Italian violin makers at Cremona, he received his earliest training on the violin from his father and, subsequently, from Giacomo Civeri and Carlo Ricci. He came to the attention of Antonio Caldara around 1727, who took Zani to Vienna where he performed successfully at court. In 1736, however, he returned to Casalmaggiore on the death of his mentor, remaining there as a performer and teacher. He died in a carriage accident on the way to Mantua. His works are mostly in
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• 607
the style of Vivaldi, including the 12 violin concertos and the 18 trio sonatas (six of which were published in 1727). His set of six symphonies published in 1729, however, reflect the styles and structures of Milanese works by Antonio Brioschi and Giovanni Battista Sammartini. ZANNETTI, FRANCESCO (27 MARCH 1737, VOLTERRA, ITALY, TO 31 JANUARY 1788, PERUGIA, ITALY). Italian composer. He began his musical education under Giovanni Clari in 1750, where he eventually became a violinist in the orchestra at Lucca. In 1757 he sought to continue in Naples at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini, but he was forced to abandon his studies after only two years due an extended leave from the post of maestro di cappella at Volterra. In 1760 he was elected a member of the Accademia filarmonica and in 1762 was appointed to the chief post at the cathedral in Perugia. His music has been little studied, although his operas were frequently performed by Italian troupes, especially in northern Europe. His works consist of nine operas, 10 oratorios, 29 trio sonatas, six trios, six quartets, six quintets, and a large amount of sacred music, including Masses, motets, Psalms, and other pieces. ZAPPA, FRANCESCO (ca. 1745, MILAN, TO ca. 1795, POSSIBLY BINNENHOF, GERMANY). Italian cellist and composer. He was trained in Milan, possibly by Giovanni Battista Sammartini. By 1765 he was a teacher of the Duke of York, though it is not known whether this was during the duke’s years in Italy or if Zappa traveled to London. However, Zappa was in England as the maestro di musica by 1767. By 1771 he began touring northern Europe, achieving success in Germany and Poland, although he was also employed at the Court of Orange in The Hague. In 1791 he sought permission to join the orchestra of Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia, remaining there until 1795, when his name disappears from the salary lists. His music is characterized by a firm galant style, making it somewhat conservative by the 1780s. His music includes 30 trio sonatas, seven symphonies, four string quartets, and around 15 sonatas for keyboard. ZARTH, GEORG (bap. 8 APRIL 1708, HOCHTANN, NEAR DEUTSCHBROD, BOHEMIA, TO AFTER 1778, MUNICH). Also spelled Czard, Czarth, Szarth, Tzarth, Zardt. German violinist and composer. Following early studies with Lukaš Lorenz, he traveled to Vienna in 1725 to complete his training. In 1728 he was hired as a violinist at the court of Count Pachta at Rajov, but only a year later he left abruptly with his friend Franz Benda to seek their fortunes in Poland. There he was employed at the Starost Suchaczewsky and later at the Kapelle in Warsaw, before being offered a post as
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ZARZUELA
violinist with Crown Prince Friedrich of Prussia (later Frederick II) in 1734. In 1758 he left this position after two decades to accept a post as violinist in the Mannheim orchestra, where he remained until his death. His surviving music shows old-fashioned stylistic traits held over from the Baroque period, such as sequencing and ritornello forms. The works include eight flute sonatas (six published in Paris in 1750 as his Op. 1), seven violin sonatas, four trio sonatas, three concertos (one for flute, two for violin), and a symphony. ZARZUELA. Spanish opera with origins in the 17th century. Consists of dances, arias, and often spoken dialogue popular throughout Spanish colonies in Europe and the Americas (New Spain). Examples were written by José de Nebra Blasco. ŻEBROWSKI, MARCIN JOZEF (1702, CZĘSTOCHOWA PROVINCE, POLAND, TO 1770, JASNA GÓRA, POLAND). Polish composer. Little is known of his youth, save that he was trained by the Paulite Fathers at the Jasna Góra monastery, where he apparently spent the bulk of his life. His music was well regarded in Poland by the use of folk tunes. This includes five Masses, a Magnificat, vespers, a symphony, several piano works, and several sacred arias. ZECH, PATER MARKUS [LEOPOLD] (1727, WAAL, BAVARIA, GERMANY, TO 8 MARCH 1770, KLOSTER EINSIEDELN, SWITZERLAND). German-Swiss monastic composer. He entered the Benedictine order as a novice in 1746, becoming ordained five years later. By 1753 he was professor of rhetoric at the monastic school in Einsiedeln, where he also directed a theatre group made up of students. Around 1762 he became the monastic Kapellmeister. As a composer, Zech was extraordinarily prolific, though his works are almost all concentrated on Einsiedeln. His style reflects the Italian idioms of the time. Included are two Singspiels, 12 Magnificats, numerous Mass movements, six Marian antiphons, two vespers, 25 Psalms, three Te Deums, two services, six concertos, three German hymns, and several other sacred works. ZECHNER, JOHANN GEORG (9 APRIL 1716, GLEISDORF, STEIRMARK, AUSTRIA, TO 7 JUNE 1778, STEIN AN DER DONAU, AUSTRIA). Austrian monastic organist and composer. Following early education in monastic schools, he became an organist at the Göttweig monastery in 1736. By 1746 he had moved to the St. Veit monastery in Krems, where he was ordained a priest some time between the years 1750 to 1752. In 1753 he transferred to Stein an der Donau, where he remained the rest of his life.
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• 609
Zechner wrote in a galant or Empfindsamkeit style similar to contemporaries Georg Matthias Monn and Georg Christoph Wagenseil. His works include 64 Masses, six Requiems, 20 vespers, 27 Marian antiphons, 13 litanies, eight hymns, 61 offertories, 56 German motets, 12 oratorios, two operas, nine cantatas, 10 symphonies, five concertos, four divertimentos, and a large number of organ and keyboard works. ZELLBELL, FERDINAND, JR. (3 SEPTEMBER 1719, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, TO 21 APRIL 1780, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN). Swedish composer and organist. Eldest son of Ferdinand Zellbell Sr., from whom he received his earliest instruction in music. In 1741 he traveled to Hamburg to study under Georg Philipp Telemann; upon his return he was given the post of organist at the St. Nicolai Church, which he was awarded following the death of his father. In 1750 he succeeded Per Brant as concertmaster of the Hovkapell, and in 1758 he traveled to Russia, where he was commissioned to write an opera seria (Il giudizio d’Aminta) for Empress Elisabeth. By 1771 he was one of the main conductors of the public concert series in Stockholm. His works include two operas, one in Swedish (Sveas högtid, 1774), concert arias, seven symphonies, concertos for bassoon and cello, a number of chamber works, and a book of chorales (1782). His style imitates the Empfindsamkeit of late Georg Philipp Telemann or Carl Heinrich Graun. His students include Olof Åhlström and Carl Stenborg. ZELLBELL, FERDINAND, SR. (14 OR 15 APRIL 1689, UPPSALA, SWEDEN, TO 1765, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN). Swedish composer and organist. He began his musical education under Christian Zellinger in Uppsala before becoming a member of the Hovkapell in 1715. By 1718 he was permanently employed as the organist for the St. Nicolai Church in Stockholm, a post he held until his death. His compositions include at least 30 preludes for organ and two books of chorales, one of which was published in Stockholm in 1749. Other works include one symphony, two violin concertos, and at least 69 Psalm intonations for organ. He was also the author of two treatises: Temperatura sonorum (1740) and Institutiones bassi continui (lost). Although his organ works are Baroque, his symphony and concertos display galant stylistic tendencies. ZELLER, GEORG BERNHARD LEOPOLD (1728, DESSAU, GERMANY, TO 1803, NEUSTRELITZ, GERMANY). German composer and violinist. Little is known about his life or works, save that in 1754 he was appointed as court violinist for Prince Heinrich at Rheinsberg. Around 10 years later he became Kapellmeister at the court of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in
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Neustrelitz, where he remained for the rest of his life. His music conforms to the Empfindsamkeit style of the period but has been little studied. One concerto and four symphonies have survived. ZELTER, CARL FRIEDRICH (11 DECEMBER 1758, BERLIN, TO 15 MAY 1832, BERLIN). German composer, conductor, pedagogue, and mason. Son of a mason, he was largely self-taught in terms of music, learning the violin well enough to play in the theatre orchestra of Carl Döbbelin in 1779. In 1783 he received his diploma as a mason and joined his father in the construction business. In 1784 he began to take composition lessons from Carl Friedrich Fasch, later joining the Sing-Akademie in 1791. In 1800 he succeeded Fasch as director of this institution, and in 1802 he traveled to Weimar to meet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, with whom he formed a long friendship. In 1809 he was appointed as professor at the Royal Academy of the Arts, in which position he was responsible for establishing various music conservatories throughout Prussia. In about 1820 he began a series of “historical” concerts that featured the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Zelter is well known as the mentor of 19th-century composers such as Felix Mendelssohn, Giacomo Meyerbeer, and Otto Nicolai, but he was also one of the most significant composers of the late Berlin School. His compositions include 210 Lieder, a viola concerto, an oratorio, 16 large odes or hymns, 12 chorales, seven secular cantatas, six choruses, four concert arias (and a fragmentary opera), three sets of keyboard variations, and a keyboard sonata. He also published a biography of Fasch in 1801. ZERAFA, BENIGNO (25 AUGUST 1726, RABAT, MALTA, TO 20 MARCH 1804, RABAT). Maltese composer and organist. He received his earliest musical education in the cathedral in Mdina as a choirboy in 1735, and two years later he was appointed soprano soloist at the main cathedral there. He studied initially with the maestro di capella Pietro Gristi (1696–1738), and after Gristi’s untimely death, he was sent to Naples where he enrolled in the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo under Francesco Durante, Francesco Feo, and fellow Maltese composer Girolamo Abos. Here he wrote his first works, Messa di Gloria and Dixit Dominus. In 1744 he was appointed as the maestro di capella at the cathedral in Mdina, Malta, receiving Holy Orders in 1748. Despite a period of insecurity that resulted in his temporary dismissal, he remained at the post until his death. He also served at the Knights of St. John Church of St. Publius in Rabat. He was pensioned in 1787. His musical style is reminiscent of that found in Naples, often with brilliant writing for the brass, careful counterpoint, and good homophonic choral parts. His orchestras follow the Neapolitan sacred model,
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with a string section that omits the violas. His music consists of 19 Masses, four Requiems (all in F minor), four Sequences, a Te Deum, four litanies, and five Magnificats, as well as numerous motets, antiphons, versicles, offertories, graduals, and anthems. His music has been cataloged by Frederick Aquilina and is known by Z numbers. ZIELCHE, HANS HEINRICH (bap. 22 FEBRUARY 1741, PLÖN, HOLSTEIN, GERMANY, TO 13 JUNE 1802, COPENHAGEN). German-Danish flautist and composer. After learning flute from his father, he moved to Hamburg to study with Georg Philipp Telemann. He then became flautist in the orchestral ensemble of Duke Friedrich Carl of Plön, and when this court was dissolved in 1761 he moved to Copenhagen. By 1796 he was one of the highest paid musicians in the royal orchestra. Although his music is little known, it was performed often at the Harmoniske Selskab and reflects a similarity with the style of his colleague Johann Ernst Hartmann Sr. His surviving music includes a Singspiel, six symphonies, nine flute quartets, six flute sonatas, and 12 flute duos. ZIMMERMANN, ANTON (bap. 27 DECEMBER 1741, BREITENAU, SILESIA, GERMANY [NOW ŠIROKÁ NIVA, CZECH REPUBLIC], TO PRESSBURG, AUSTRIA [NOW BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA]). German composer and organist. Following training from a local organist at Königgrätz (now Hradec Kráslové, Czech Republic), he obtained a post in Pressburg in 1770 as organist and town Kapellmeister. In 1776 he became Kapellmeister at the court of Count Joseph Battlyány, but returned to the city as organist at St. Martin’s Church. Zimmermann was widely known for his good sense of thematic contrast in his instrumental music, as well as his progressive chamber music. His works include five operas, 10 Masses, an oratorio, 12 graduals, six motets, two hymns, 16 Marian antiphons, 18 symphonies, 12 concertos, 15 divertimentos, a serenade, four partitas, 30 string quartets, six sextets, 20 quintets, four duets, and a large number of dances. ZINCK, BENDIX FRIEDRICH, JR. (bap. 8 MARCH 1747, HUSUM, HOLSTEIN, GERMANY, TO 23 JUNE 1801, LUDWIGSLUST, POMERANIA, GERMANY). German organist and composer. The son of an organist and brother of Hardenack Otto Zinck, he received his education from his father. In 1764 he moved to Christiania (now Oslo, Norway), where he founded a music school, but in 1767 he obtained a post as violinist at the court of the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. His music has been largely for-
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gotten but includes 15 symphonies, a large Psalm, a large cantata, several oratorios, and a number of smaller chamber works. ZINCK, HARDENACK OTTO CONRAD (2 JULY 1746, HUSUM, HOLSTEIN, GERMANY, TO 15 FEBRUARY 1822, COPENHAGEN). German singer and composer. Like his brother, Bendix Friedrich Zinck, he received his musical education from his father, a local organist, before going to Hamburg to study with Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. In 1777 he was appointed as a singer at the court of the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin at Ludwigslust. By 1787, however, he had moved to Copenhagen to become a voice teacher and organist at the Vorfrelsenskirke. He also founded a school for singing in 1800, and he appeared frequently at the public concerts as a soloist. As a composer, his style is reminiscent of his teacher, Bach, with frequent unusual modulations, progressive harmonies, and a short, motivic melodic style. His surviving works include five oratorios, an opera, four volumes of Lieder, 11 sonatas for flute/violin, six keyboard sonatas, and a trio. He also composed symphonies, though these have been lost. ZINGARELLI, NICCOLÒ ANTONIO (4 APRIL 1752, NAPLES, TO 5 MAY 1837, TORRE DEL GRECO, ITALY). Italian composer. Following studies at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto under Pasquale Anfossi and Antonio Sacchini, Zingarelli was appointed as a violin teacher at Torre Annuziata in 1772. In 1781 his opera Montezuma achieved success, allowing him to receive commissions throughout Italy, where he became one of the leading composers of opera. He attempted to achieve the same success in Paris in 1790, writing some works in collaboration with his pupil Isabelle de Charrière, though these all failed and the Revolution forced his return to Italy. In 1795 he became maestro di cappella at Santa Casa in Loreto, having brushed aside a similar post in Milan at the cathedral there. By 1804 he was maestro di cappella at St. Peter’s in Rome, but a conflict with the French occupiers landed him in prison. He was released only at the special intervention of Napoleon. By 1816 he was in Naples, where he taught music and became maestro di cappella at the main cathedral. Zingarelli was an incredibly prolific composer throughout his entire life, writing in virtually all genres. He was considered the last great composer of opera seria, and he spent much of his later years composing sacred music when his operas were overshadowed by other Italians such as Giaocchino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini. His music conforms to the late Italian style of the Classical period and, thus, may have seemed anachronistic. It still awaits a major study. His works include 99 Masses, eight oratorios, 57 operas, many Mass movements and insertion arias, 15 Requiems, 55 Magnificats,
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• 613
23 Te Deums, 541 Psalm settings, 21 Stabat maters, and 50 motets, as well as numerous litanies, responsories, and sacred cantatas. He also wrote 20 secular cantatas, three large odes or hymns, 79 symphonies (mostly singlemovement sinfonia da chiesa), eight string quartets, three duos, eight sonatas, 11 pastorals, and 60 other works for organ. ZINGONI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (ca. 1720, FLORENCE, ITALY, TO 21 APRIL 1811, COLLIGIS-GRANDELAIN, FRANCE). Italian composer and singer. Trained in Naples at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria della Pietà dei Turchini, he moved in 1751 to Savonna as maestro di cappella. Similar posts at the church of San Ambroglio followed, and in 1759 he joined the De Amicis troupe. Traveling throughout Europe, he settled in The Hague in 1764 as kapellmeester. In 1786 he was pensioned and moved to a villa in a small town outside of Laon in France. His music has been little explored but consists of eight operas, eight symphonies, five arias, and three sacred works. ZONCA, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (1728, BRESCIA, ITALY, TO 1809, GÁMBARA, ITALY). Italian bass. Nephew of Giuseppe Zonca, he began his career in Italy and by 1761 had performed in London before being hired in Mannheim by Elector Carl Theodor. He moved with the court to Munich in 1778, performing in Idomeneo by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He retired to his home in Gámbara in 1788. He may have been a composer, probably smaller works for voice. ZONCA, GIUSEPPE (1715, BRESCIA, ITALY, TO 4 JANUARY 1772, MUNICH). Italian composer and bass. Although trained in philosophy and theology in Brescia, he turned to music as his career, even though he was an ordained priest. In 1752 he was employed as a singer in Munich at the Electoral court, eventually achieving a reputation for his operas, some music of which may have been composed by his nephew Giovanni Battista Zonca. His works, little studied, include three operas, an oratorio, numerous insertion arias, and two motets. ZOPPIS, FRANCESCO (ca. 1715, VENICE, TO ca. 1790, VENICE). Italian composer. His early training was probably in one of the schools in Venice, but his first appearance as a composer was in an opera performed by the Mingotti troupe in Graz in 1739. It is not known whether he was a member of that troupe, but in 1745 he was assistant Kapellmeister in Bonn, after which in 1752 he joined the troupe led by Pietro Locatelli. In 1757 he arrived in St. Petersburg, where he eventually became conductor of the Italian opera and in 1768 succeeded Baldassare Galuppi as director of the Imperial
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choir. In 1781 he resigned and returned to Italy. Zoppis wrote mainly stage works, including four operas, an oratorio, and a Te Deum, as well as numerous cantatas and arias. ZÖSCHINGER, PATER LUDWIG [JOHANN GEORG] (29 MARCH 1731, BURTENBACH, GERMANY, TO 1 NOVEMBER 1806, AUGSBURG, GERMANY). Also known as Reschnezgi. German clerical composer. He became an Augustinian novice in 1751 in Augsburg, being ordained three years later. He functioned as organist and cantor of the main cathedral in the city, later becoming its prelate. He was related to Ernst Eberlin, and thus had close connections to the family of Leopold Mozart, although his own style of composition most resembles Michael Haydn. His music includes two Masses, a vesper setting, an offertory, and several smaller keyboard works, as well as a compendium of various church compositions titled Philomela organica in cymbalis canora. ZUBOVA, MARIJA (ca. 1749, ST. PETERSBURG, TO SEPTEMBER 1799, ST. PETERSBURG). Russian singer and composer. Daughter of Admiral Ivan Rimsky-Korsakov, she was brought up in the court of Catherine II, where she performed frequently in Russian opera before her marriage to Alexey Zubov, governor of Kursk. She was described as the best singer of the court, and her own musical accomplishments as a composer were a series of folklike songs published in 1770. ZUCCHINETTI, GIOVANNI BERNARDO (10 NOVEMBER 1730, SUNA, ITALY, TO 11 NOVEMBER 1801, MONZA, ITALY). Italian composer. A student of Giovanni Andrea Fioroni, he became maestro di cappella at the Varese cathedral in 1755. Two years later he obtained the same post in Monza, where he remained until 1765, when his duties were assumed by his brother, Giovanni Domenico Zucchinetti (1735–1801). By 1773 he was organist at the Milan cathedral, returning to Monza to his old post in 1779. His music has been almost completely overlooked by scholars. He composed around 55 sacred works, as well as two concertos for organ. ZUMAYA [SUMAYA], MANUEL DE (ca. 1678, MEXICO, NEW SPAIN, TO 21 DECEMBER 1755, ANTEQUERRA, NEAR OAXACA, NEW SPAIN). Mexican (Novohispanic) composer and organist. After studying composition under Antonio de Salazar, he premiered the first opera produced in Mexico, La Partenope, in 1711, even as he occupied a position as maestro de capilla at the main cathedral. In 1738 he abruptly left for the provincial city of Oaxaca, where he first functioned as a private chaplain and
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subsequently after 1745 as maestro de capilla. Although the bulk of his music is solidly Baroque in style, his villancicos, many produced around 1730 or later, demonstrate an awareness of the emerging galant stylistic idioms. ZUMSTEEG, JOHANN RUDOLF (10 JUNE 1760, SACHSENFLUR, LAUDA-KÖNIGSHOFEN, GERMANY, TO 27 JANUARY 1802, STUTTGART). German cellist and composer. His earliest education was at the Karlsschule in Stuttgart, where he intended to become a sculptor. During these years, however, he received musical training from Johann Friebach and Eberhard Malterre, as well as Augostino Poli, who was able to get him a position as a cellist in the Hofkapelle in 1781. By 1785 he had become a teacher at the Karlsschule, at which time he began to compose music for the poetry and plays of Friedrich von Schiller, a close friend. The success of several Singspiels led to his appointment as the director of music at the Hoftheater in 1791. He died unexpectedly of a stroke at the height of his career. Zumsteeg not only promoted contemporaries such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, he also was able to infuse the Stuttgart orchestra with a brilliance and discipline that raised its standards to earlier times. He was leading composer of the Singspiel and the Lied. His music includes 12 operas, a monodrama, five sets of incidental music, two Masses, 14 sacred and 16 occasional cantatas, an ode, two symphonies, 12 concertos (10 for cello and two for flute, in addition to a concertante for two flutes), two cello sonatas, a trio for three cellos, and four duos. He also composed 20 ballads and 133 Lieder published in seven volumes. ZUPAN [SUPPAN], JAKOB (27 JULY 1734, SCHRÖTTEN, NEAR HENGERBURG, AUSTRIA, TO 11 APRIL 1810, KAMNIK, SLOVENIA). Slovenian composer. He attended the Jesuit University in Graz beginning in 1749, and by 1757 he had established himself as a music teacher in Laibach (now Ljubljana), Slovenia. In 1773 he was named civilian regens chori in nearby Kamnik, a position he retained his entire life. His music conforms to the styles prevalent in Vienna, with good contrasts, lyrical themes, and interesting harmony. It has, however, been little researched, probably because of its limited circulation. His works include two Masses, an opera, a Te Deum, a litany, three Marian antiphons, hymns, six Latin and six German motets, and an organ sonata. ZWIERZCHOWSKI, MATEUSZ (ca. 1720, GNIEZNO, POLAND, TO 14 APRIL 1768, GNIEZNO). Polish composer. Little is known of his life or training, but in 1747 he became organist and Kapellmeister at the Gniezno cathedral, a position he held his entire life. Much of his music was destroyed
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Bibliography
CONTENTS Introduction General Histories, Genre Studies, and Analyses of Classical Period Music Guides to Research Thematic Catalogs of Composers Complete Works Biographical or General Studies
617 620 621 622 626 626
INTRODUCTION The Classical period has generated a gargantuan amount of research and information, and in the case of some of the iconic major figures, such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or Ludwig van Beethoven, the research on their life and works is vast and often minutely detailed. Due to this fact, a comprehensive bibliography of the entire period covered in the dictionary would be impractical and indeed could easily comprise a separate work of several volumes all on its own. Given the shortness of some of the entries, which is part of the nature of a dictionary such as this, it is obvious that some indications of where one might go to find information on some of the lesser-known composers would be a practical asset in providing a deeper understanding of their roles and contributions. Therefore, it is the purpose of this bibliography to give a fair listing of sources ranging from general overviews or histories of the period—however it is defined—to a selection of specialized studies on the life and works of a composer. This bibliography starts with a section on general histories of the period, genre studies, and analytical treatments, the last of which speaks to the various forms and genres that are described within the main body of the dictionary but for which a conclusive definition and historical development may be elusive, or perhaps even debatable. Thereafter is a section on guides to research, which have been published to give overviews of the literature available on individual composers. As one might imagine, these are wonderful resources, save for the fact that they tend to go out of date rather quickly after publication, given that music scholarship is an ongoing effort and many of them were published two decades ago or earlier. This does not invalidate the entries or the information contained therein, but there is a caveat as to how current the bibliographic information is. This section in turn is followed by one 617
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devoted to specific thematic catalogs of certain composers, generally with indications of work designators, if any. Only those that are specifically devoted to such listing and source study are included, but there are others that are embedded within the category devoted to biographical or works-related studies. Although this will require two separate places for the reader to look, they have been placed there because the main topics of the monographs are larger studies or articles, with the works list or thematic catalogs forming only an appendix. This is followed by a section listing those complete works editions that are available or in progress, though the list is not intended to be absolutely comprehensive, given that the music of certain composers is often published piecemeal. The final section comprises a list of selected general studies and biographies. Here, the caveat is that certain composers, at least the more popular ones such as Haydn or Mozart or Beethoven, have exhaustive bibliographies already, and thus it is easy to access them through deeper investigation of those chosen for this dictionary. This section is intended to give a partial overview of items that may be available, often in languages other than English, on composers whose life and works are less well known, at least in the English-speaking world. Given that the main purpose of this bibliography is to have material that is accessible, criteria have been set for what has not been included. As noted in the preface, this dictionary is not intended to augment or supplant larger lexica or dictionaries, such as The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians or Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, both of which have extensive and updatable online databases, as well as multiple published hardback volumes. These cover the vast scope of music in all of its aspects and have articles on the majority of the terms and people in this dictionary that include lists of works, as well as an expanded bibliography far beyond what this ready reference work can or is supposed to accomplish. There are also similar works in other languages, such as the Diccionario de la música y los músicos, Sohlmans Musiklexikon, or Enciclopedia dello Spectacolo, which may also contain substantial entries. These depend largely upon the ability of the reader in that tongue. In addition, a main database such as RILM: Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale, available also in print for earlier years from 1967, and the RISM: Répertoire International des Sources Musicale whose collection of materials began in 1960, offer good sources of information, the former containing literature that can be searched electronically and the latter, also searchable, for the music itself. These should be the obvious places for readers to go to find detailed information and therefore have been omitted. Dissertations, with a few exceptions, have also been omitted, largely because of issues of accessibility for the general reader. There are exceptions, of course, but these occur particularly in those places where the dissertations are well known, widely circulated, and have achieved some recognition beyond their thesis committees and a few other interested parties. While the New Grove and other resources do list dissertations, their accessibility can be decidedly limited without special effort, and earlier efforts at publishing selected works through UMI Research Press, a highly worthwhile and useful project, have not occurred for many years. Online resources, though prevalent and seemingly omnipresent in this day and age of instantaneous access, have likewise not been included. Though some of these are every bit as scholarly and informative as print sources (often being authored by acknowledged experts in the field), and in terms of accessibility are widely available
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through search engines, the information is to a large extent still unverifiable, with the depth and quality variable. One only has to view a number of Wikipedia articles on individual composers to discover that entries there vary widely from language to language, from person to person, and even internally within the article. For example, the entry for Ukrainian composer Artemy Vedel (1767–1808) has but two lines in English, Croatian, Slovenian, and Danish, but three paragraphs in Russian and an extensive article and expansive bibliography in Ukrainian. Unless one is familiar with the last two languages, there appears to be almost nothing available on this composer if one is limited to the four more central European languages, and the more expansive articles, all carefully documented, require knowledge of the Cyrillic alphabet even to begin to access. On the other end of the spectrum, one can find extremely interesting sites, such as Atrium, base de dados de compositors portugueses, which not only contains summary biographical and works data, but links to video performances of specific works, mostly done locally in Portugal by some extremely dedicated and often quite professional groups. If you want to know how an 18th-century modhina sounds, this would probably be one’s first stop in the search. This database gives an added visual and aural dimension that a bibliography simply cannot match. Unfortunately, such sites have a disturbing tendency to appear or disappear with no warning or to be superseded by others, so the decision was made not to include such websites. Finally, this volume omits a discography, since recordings often go out of print rapidly, and though copies can be obtained from warehouse distributors such as Amazon or Classic Music (or be found online in streaming sites such as the Naxos Music Library), their availability or accessibility is extremely variable in this day of music streaming, file downloading to portable music devices, and on-demand video sites such as YouTube. If one desires to find works available by any of the composers listed herein, then one should take advantage of catalogs such as Gramophone, Schwann, or Bielefelder, or simply do a search on YouTube. As with the websites, though, the principal caveat is that the performance standards vary widely, from extremely amateurish to selections from professional recordings, for which one might want to address copyright issues if downloading. Given this discussion on what has not been included in this bibliography, it should be reiterated that the amount of resources for music of the Classical period is truly vast, with information being available in all mediated forms, from print to the web. This is by no means equally distributed, for in some cases composers, styles, and works are treated only tangentially, often as ancillary to another subject. Adding to this that many composers are mainly known locally today as part of, for instance, the history of an individual town or monastery, and that some of the materials appear in less well-known languages, such as Polish, Ukrainian, Catalan, or Norwegian, the bibliographic resources may be somewhat thin. Places to find rich troves of further bibliographic references are first and foremost the various lexica. Although not always up to date, the Oxford Music Online, which includes the online version of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, contains valuable reference materials in the bibliographies attached to each article or groups of articles. For example, in the article on Maximilian Stadler by Robert Freeman there are about 20 various sources dating from 1818 to about 1991, with an icon to search further on RILM. Although
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one might find this a bit dated in print, the bookmark can pull up more recent publications. The same can be said for other lexica in other languages. Within the general histories of music, the availability of bibliographic resources is variable, ranging from none in Charles Burney’s published travelogues to extensive though directed references in Daniel Heartz’s three-volume series. Conversely, some texts, such as Philip Downs’s Classical Music, admittedly dated at this point in time, have only the most basic bibliography attached. The results are, therefore, quite variable as to where one might find information in some of the more general historical studies. The same cannot, however, be said for major composers, especially such iconic figures such as Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven. For both of the first two figures, even during the last decade of the 18th and first decade of the 19th century works of biographical importance began, such as the Haydn biographies by Georg August Griesinger and Albert Dies, both of whose largely anecdotal books were based upon visits with the composer himself. For Mozart, Franz Xaver Niemetschek’s 1798 biography began what must be a veritable torrent of biographical studies, ranging from a work by Constanze Mozart’s second husband, Georg Nissen, a Danish diplomat, to biographical travel diaries by Vincent and Mary Novello from 1829 to Otto Jahn’s 1856–1859 four-volume series that was completed not too long before Ludwig Ritter von Köchel’s seminal thematic catalog. Thereafter followed similar works by Hermann Abert, Georges Saint-Foix and Theodore Wyzewa, Alfred Einstein, and others at the beginning of the 20th century up to the present time, where Mozart’s bibliography, summarized in H. C. Robbins Landon’s The Mozart Compendium (and in running additions by the International Stiftung Mozarteum and the Mozart Society of America, among others), has easily outpaced virtually any other composer. Haydn, in contrast, has not developed as numerically, even though Carl Ferdinand Pohl’s three-volume biography appeared close to that of Jahn. For Beethoven, his amanuensis, Anton Schindler, wrote a piece in 1840 that has been somewhat compromised historically, but Alexander Thayer’s three-volume biography of 1866–1879 began a trend that, like Mozart, has grown over the course of a century and a half. These too have explored the multifaceted world of this composer and in turn have spawn specialized studies, such as the never-ending mystery of his “unsterbliche Geliebte” by authors such as Harry Goldschmidt or Siegmund Kaznelson, among others. Given the variety and scope of this vast literature, it would be far beyond the ability of a general dictionary bibliography to accommodate it. In conclusion, it is hoped that the reader will find important beginnings in this broad and representative bibliography that will lead to further exploration. The crosssection demonstrates that there is considerable ongoing research into the music of the period and the people who created it.
GENERAL HISTORIES, GENRE STUDIES, AND ANALYSES OF CLASSICAL PERIOD MUSIC Blume, Friedrich. Classic and Romantic Music: A Comprehensive Survey. New York: Norton, 1970.
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Burney, Charles. The Present State of Music in France and Italy. London: T. Becket, 1775; facsimile edition, New York: Broude Brothers, 1969; modern edition edited by Percy Scholes, Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1979. ———. The Present State of Music in Germany, the Netherlands, and United Provinces. London: T. Becket, 1775; facsimile edition, New York: Broude Brothers, 1969; modern edition edited by Percy Scholes, Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1979. DelDonna, Anthony, and Pierpaolo Polzonetti, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Eighteenth-Century Opera. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Downs, Philip. Classical Music: The Era of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. New York: Norton, 1992. Fubini, Enrico. Music and Culture in Eighteenth-Century Europe. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994. Griffiths, Paul. The String Quartet: A History. London: Thames and Hudson, 2003. Heartz, Daniel. Haydn, Mozart, and the Viennese School. New York: Norton, 1995. ———. Music in European Capitals: The Galant Style 1720–1780. New York: Norton, 2003. Keefe, Simon, ed. The Cambridge History of Music: Eighteenth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Larsen, Jens Peter. Handel, Haydn and the Viennese Classical Style. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press, 1988. New Oxford History of Music. Vol. 5, Opera and Church Music 1630–1750; Vol. 6, Concert Music 1630–1750; Vol. 7, The Age of Enlightenment 1745–1790; Vol. 8, The Age of Beethoven 1790–1830. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975–1993. Newman, William. The Sonata in the Classical Era. New York: Norton, 1972. Pauly, Reinhard. Music in the Classic Period. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1965–. Pestelli, Giorgio. The Age of Mozart and Beethoven. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984. Ratner, Leonard. Classical Music: Expression, Form, and Style. New York: Schirmer, 1980. Rosen, Charles. The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven. New York: Norton, 1971. Rushton, Julian. Classical Music: A Concise History from Gluck to Beethoven. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1986. Smither, Howard. A History of the Oratorio. Vol. 3, The Oratorio in the Classical Era. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1987. Zaslaw, Neal, ed. The Classical Era: From the 1740s to the End of the 18th Century. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1989.
GUIDES TO RESEARCH Foster, Donald. Jean-Philippe Rameau: A Guide to Research. New York: Garland, 1989.
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Grave, Floyd, and Margaret Grave. Franz Joseph Haydn: A Guide to Research. New York: Garland, 1990. Hastings, Baird. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: A Guide to Research. New York: Garland, 1989. Howard, Patricia. Christoph Willibald von Gluck: A Guide to Research. 2nd ed. New York: Garland, 2003. Mozart Bibliographie 1986–1991. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1992. Paymer, Marvin, and Hermine Williams. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi: A Guide to Research. New York: Garland, 1989. Powers, Doris. C. P. E. Bach: A Guide to Research. New York: Garland, 2002. Vidale, Carole. Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti: A Guide to Research. New York: Garland, 1993.
THEMATIC CATALOGS OF COMPOSERS Amoroso, Gian Francesco, and Ana Spasic. Antonio Bonazzi, Catalogo Tematico. Milan: Famiglia Bellini, 2011. Augsbach, Horst. Johann Joachim Quantz: Thematisch-systematisch Werkverzeichnis. Stuttgart: CarusVerlag, 1997. Uses QV numbers. Badley, Allan. The Concertos of Leopold Hofmann (1738–1793). PhD dissertation, University of Auckland, 1986. Uses Badley numbers; full thematic catalog in preparation for Pendragon Press. Bengtsson, Ingmar. Johan Helmich Roman och hans instrumentalmusik. Uppsala: Almqvist och Wiksell, 1955. Uses BeRI numbers. Benton, Rita. Ignace Pleyel: A Thematic Catalogue of His Compositions. Stuyvesant, N.Y.: Pendragon Press, 1977. Uses Ben numbers. ———. “The Instrumental Music of Jean-Frédéric Edelmann: A Thematic Catalogue and List of Early Editions.” Fontes Artis Musiæ 11 (1964): 79–88. Brown, A. Peter. Carlo d’Ordonez (1734–1786): A Thematic Catalogue. Detroit, Mich.: Information Coordinators, 1978. Uses Brown numbers. Bryan, Paul. Johann Wanhal, Viennese Symphonist: His Life and His Musical Environment. Stuyvesant, N.Y.: Pendragon Press, 1997. Uses Bryan or B numbers. De Catanzaro, Christine, and Werner Rainer. Anton Cajetan Adlgasser (1729–1777): A Thematic Catalogue of His Works. Stuyvesant, N.Y.: Pendragon Press, 2000. Duda, Erich. Die musikalische Werke Franz Xaver Süßmayers: Thematisches Werkverzeichnis mit ausführliche Quellenangaben und Skizzen der Wasserzeichen. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2000. Uses SmWV numbers. Dunning, Albert. Pietro Locatelli: Catalogo tematico, lettere, documenti & iconografia. London and New York: Schott, 2001. Edwards, Owain. English Eighteenth-Century Concertos: An Inventory and Thematic Catalogue. Stuyvesant, N.Y.: Pendragon Press, 2005. Eisen, Cliff. Leopold-Mozart-Werkverzeichnis. Augsburg: Wissner, 2010. Uses LMV or Eisen numbers.
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Enßlin, Wolfram. Chronologisch-thematisches Verzeichnis der Werke Fernando Paërs. Band 1, Die Opern. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag, 2004. Uses E (Enßlin) numbers. Evans, Arthur, and Robert Dearling. Josef Mysliveček (1737–1781): A Thematic Catalogue of His Instrumental and Orchestral Works. Munich: Emil Katzbichler, 1999. Falck, Martin. Wilhelm Friedemann Bach: Sein Leben und seine Werke. Leipzig: C. F. Kahnt, 1919. Uses F numbers. Feininger, Laurence. Catalogus thematicus et bibliographicus Joannis de Georgiis operum sacrarum omnium. 3 vols. Trent: Provincia autonoma di Trento, Servizio benilibrari e archivistici, 1962–1971. Freeman, Robert. Franz Schneider (1732–1812): A Thematic Catalogue of His Works. Stuyvesant, N.Y.: Pendragon Press, 1979. Gérard, Yves. Catalogue of the Works of Luigi Boccherini. London: Oxford University Press, 1969. Uses G numbers. Gustafson, Bruce. “The Music of Madame Brillon: A Unified Manuscript Collection from Benjamin Franklin’s Circle.” Notes 43 (1987): 522–43. Häfner, Klaus. Thematisches Verzeichnis der Werke von Johann Melchior Molter. Not yet published, but uses MWV numbers that are in general circulation. Helm, E. Eugene. Thematic Catalogue of the Works of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1989. Uses H numbers. Herrmann, Hildegard. Thematisches Verzeichnis der Werke von Joseph Eybler. Munich: Emil Katzbichler, 1976. Uses HV numbers. Hewel, Christoph. Graun Werkverzeichnis (GraunWV). Beeskow: Ortus, 2006. GraunWV numbers, with subcategories CHG (Carl Heinrich Graun) and JGG (Johann Gottlieb Graun). Hill, George Robert. A Thematic Catalogue of the Instrumental Music of Florian Leopold Gassmann. Hackensack, N.J.: J. Boonin, 1976. Hoboken, Anthony van. Joseph Haydn: thematisch-bibliographisches Werkverzeichnis. 3 vols. Mainz: Schott, 1957–1978. Uses Hob numbers. Hoffmann, Ulrika, and Michael Robinson. Giovanni Paisiello: A Thematic Catalogue of His Works. 2 vols. Stuyvesant, N.Y.: Pendragon Press, 1991–1994. Holm, Anna Lena. Tematiska förteckning över J. H. Romans Vokalwerk (HRV). Stockholm: Musikaliska Akademiens Bibliotek, 1994. Uses HRV numbers. Hoskins, Robert. The Theatre Music of Samuel Arnold: A Thematic Index. Warren, Mich.: Harmonie Park Press, 1998. Inzaghi, Luigi, and Luigi Alberto Bianchi. Alessandro Rolla: Catalogo tematico delle opere. Milan: Nuove Edizioni, 1981. Uses IB numbers. Ivanov, Vasily F. Dmytro Bortnyans’ky. Kiev: Muzika Ukraina, 1980. Jenkins, Newell, and Bathia Churgin. Thematic Catalogue of the Works of Giovanni Battista Sammartini. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1976. With updates in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Uses JC numbers. Kaul, Otto. “Thematisches Verzeichnis der Instrumentalwerke von Anton Rosetti.” In Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Bayern. Vols. xxii, Jg.xii/1 (1912, 2/1968): lxi–lxxxix. Uses K numbers.
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Klafsky, Anton Maria. Michael Haydn als Kirchenkomponist. Vienna: Universal, 1915. Includes a catalog of sacred music using K numbers. Knape, Walter. Bibliographisch-thematisches Verzeichnis der Kompositionen von Karl Friedrich Abel. Cuxhaven: Walther Knape, 1972. Uses K or WK numbers. Komma, Karl. Johann Zach und die tschechischen Musiker im deutschen Umbruch des 18. Jahrhunderts. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1938. Uses K numbers. Krebs, Carl. Dittersdorfiana. Berlin: Brüder Pätel, 1900; New York: Da Capo Press, 1972. 7th updated edition of original 1900 publication. Catalog list uses K numbers. Kroeger, Karl. Catalogue of the Musical Works of William Billings. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1991. Labrador, Germán. Gaetano Brunetti (1744–1798): Catálogo critic, temático y cronológico. Madrid: SEDOM, 2005. Uses L numbers. Lee, Douglas. Franz Benda (1709–1786): A Thematic Catalogue of His Works. Stuyvesant, N.Y.: Pendragon Press, 1984. Uses L or Lee numbers. ———. The Works of Christoph Nichelmann: A Thematic Index. Detroit, Mich.: Information Coordinators, 1971. Uses L or Lee numbers. Mattos, Cleofe Person de. Catálogo tematico da obras do Padre José Mauricio Nunes Garcia. Rio de Janeiro: Ministério da Educção e Cultura, 1970. Milligan, Thomas, and Gerald Graue. Johann Baptist Cramer (1771–1854): A Thematic Catalogue of His Works. Stuyvesant, N.Y.: Pendragon Press, 1994. Mongrédien, Jean. Jean-François Leseur (1760–1837): Catalogue thématique de l’oeuvre complète. Stuyvesant, N.Y.: Pendragon Press, 1980. Montanari, Hugo. Bartolomeo Campagnoli. Pieve di Centro: n.p., 1969. Murray, Sterling E. The Music of Antonio Rosetti (Anton Rösler), ca. 1750–1792: A Thematic Catalog. Warren, Mich.: Harmonie Park Press, 1997. Uses Murray numbers. Nordenfelt-Åberg, Eva. Hinirich Philip Johnsen. Stockholm: Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien, 1982. Parkinson, John. An Index to the Vocal Works of Thomas Augustine Arne and Michael Arne. Detroit, Mich.: Information Coordinators, 1972. Paymer, Marvin. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi: A Thematic Catalogue of the Opera Omnia. Stuyvesant, N.Y.: Pendragon Press, 1977. Perger, Lothar. Thematisches Verzeichnis der Instrumentalwerke von Michael Haydn: Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich 29. Vienna: Universal, 1907. Thematic catalog appended to a collection of Michael Haydn’s instrumental compositions; uses P numbers. Peters, Edith. Georg Anton Kreußer: Ein Mainzer Instrumentalkomponist der Klassik. Munich: Emil Katzbichler, 1975. Uses P numbers. Rheinländer, Claus. Josef Fiala: Thematisch-systematisches Werkverzeichnis. Puchheim: Edition Engel, 1993. Uses FWV numbers. Rice, Paul. The Solo Cantata in Eighteenth-Century Britain: A Thematic Catalogue. Detroit, Mich.: Harmonie Park Press, 2003. Schölz-Michelitsch, Helga. Das Klavierwerk von Christoph Georg Wagenseil: Thematischer Katalog. Graz: Böhlau, 1966. Uses WV [Wagenseil Verzeichnis] numbers.
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———. Das Orchester- und Kammermusikverk von Christoph Georg Wagenseil: Thematischer Katalog. Graz: Böhlau, 1972. Uses WV [Wagenseil Verzeichnis] numbers. Seyfried, Bettina von. Ignaz Ritter von Seyfried: Thematisch-bibliographisches Verzeichnis—Aspekte der Biographie und des Werkes. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1990. Sherman, Charles, and T. Donley Thomas. Johann Michael Haydn (1737–1806): A Chronological Thematic Catalogue of His Works. Stuyvesant, N.Y.: Pendragon Press, 1993. Uses MH numbers. Sivan, Abigail Benton, and Jeanne Halley. Ignaz Pleyel: A Thematic Catalogue of His Works. Stuyvesant, N.Y.: Pendragon Press, 1977. Uses Ben numbers; updated version of the catalog by Rita Benton. Šotolová, Olga. Antonín Rejcha: A Biography and Thematic Catalogue. Prague: Supraphon, 1990. Tyson, Alan. Muzio Clementi: Thematic Catalogue. Tutzing: Hans Schneider, 1967. Unverricht, Hubert. Die beiden Hoffstetter: Zwei Komponisten-Porträts mit Werkverzeichnissen. Mainz: B. Schotts Söhne, 1968. Valder-Knechtiges, Claudia. “Verzeichnis der Instrumentalwerke von Andreas Luchesi.” Mitteilungen der Arbeitsgemeinschaft für rheinische Musikgeschichte 76 (1989): 95–105. Van Boer, Bertil. Joseph Martin Kraus (1756–1792): A Systematic-Thematic Catalogue of His Musical Works and Source Study. Stuyvesant, N.Y.: Pendragon Press, 1998. Uses VB numbers. Van Rompaey, Willy. Pieter van Maldere, 1729–1768: Thematische Catalogus van de Instrumentale Werken med Voorbeelden in Partituurvorm. Aartselaar: printed by author, 1990. Uses VM numbers. Viano, Richard. “Jean-Baptiste Bréval (1753–1823). Life, Milieu, and Chamber Works with Editions of Ten Compositions and Thematic Catalogue.” PhD dissertation, City University of New York, 1983. Warburton, Ernest. See The Collected Works of Johann Christian Bach. Weinmann, Alexander. Johann Georg Albrechtsberger: Thematischer Katalog seiner weltlichen Kompositionen. Vienna: Krenn, 1987. Ostensibly with W numbers. ———. Themen-Verzeichnis der Kompositionen von Johann Baptiste Wanhal. Vienna: L. Krenn, 1988. White, Chappell. Giovanni Battista Viotti (1754–1824): A Thematic Catalogue of His Works. Stuyvesant, N.Y.: Pendragon Press, 1985. Uses White numbers. Wohlfahrt, Hansdieter. “Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach: Werkverzeichnis.” Schaumberg-Lippe Mitteilungen 16 (1964): 27–32. Wotquenne, Alfred. Catalogue thématique des oeuvres de Christoph Willibald von Gluck. Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel, 1904; with supplements. Uses W or Wq numbers. ———. Thematisches Verzeichnis der Werke Carl Philipp Emanuel Bachs. Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel, 1905. Uses Wq numbers. Zimmerschied, Dieter. Thematisches Verzeichnis der Werke von Johann Nepomuk Hummel. Hofheim: F. Hofmeister, 1971. Uses Op and WoO numbers.
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COMPLETE WORKS André Ernest Modeste Grétry: Collection complète des oeuvres. Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel, 1884–1936. Carl Michael Bellmans Skrifter. 17 vols. Stockholm: Bellmanssällskapet, 1921–2002. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: The Complete Works. 55 vols. Cambridge, Mass.: Packard Humanities Institute, 2006– . Christoph Willibald von Gluck: Sämtliche Werke. 57 vols. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1951– . The Collected Works of Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782). 48 vols. Edited by Ernest Warburton. New York: Garland, 1984–1999. Vol. 48 contains a thematic catalog using W numbers. Collected Works of Johann Daniel Berlin (1714–1787). 1 vol. Edited by Bjarne Kortsen. Bergen: Edition Norvegica, 1974. The Complete Works of William Billings. 4 vols. Edited by Karl Kroeger. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1981–1990. Composities van Belle van Zuylen. Ed. Marius Flothuis. Amsterdam: Donemus, 1983. Gaspard Fritz: Oeuvres complètes. Vol. 2. Musiques à Genève, 1994. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi: Complete Works. 18 vols. Stuyvesant, N.Y.: Pendragon Press, 1977– . Jean-Philippe Rameau: Opera omnia. 45 vols. Paris: Billaudot, 1992–2003; Paris: Société Jean-Philippe Rameau, 2003– . Johann Gottfried Eckard: Oeuvres complètes. Edited by Eduard Reeser. Amsterdam: Heuwekemeijer, 1956. Joseph Haydn Werke. 111 vols. Munich: Henle, 1958– . Le opere di Giuseppe Tartini. 21 vols. Edited by Edoardo Farina and Claudio Scimone. Milan: Carisch, 1971– . Music of the New American Nation. 15 vols. Edited by Karl Kroeger, et al. New York: Garland, 1996–1999. Collected/Selected works of Samuel Babcock, Supply Belcher, David Belknap, Ashael Benham, Nathan Billings, Oliver Brownson, Amos Bull, Solomon Chandler, Eliakim Doolittle, Lewis Edson Sr., Jacob French, Alexander Gillet, Oliver Holden, Samuel Holyoke, Jacob Kimball, Elias Mann, Justin Morgan, Timothy Olstead, Joseph Stone, Elisha West, Abraham Wood, and Merit Woodruff. Neue Mozart Ausgabe. 124 vols. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1956–2007. Stephen Jenks: Collected Works. Madison, Wisc.: A-R Editions, 1995. Wilhelm Friedemann Bach: Gesammelte Werke. 11 vols. Stuttgart: Carus Verlag, 2009– .
BIOGRAPHICAL OR GENERAL STUDIES Allitt, John Stewart. Giovanni Simone Mayr: Vita, musica, pensiero. Villa di Serio (Bergamo): Villadiseriane, 1995.
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Schafhäutl, Karl Emil von. Abt Georg Joseph Vogler. Augsburg: M. Hüttler, 1888. Scharnagl, August. Johann Franz Xaver Sterkel. Würzburg: K. Triltsch, 1943. Schetky, Laurance Oliphant. The Schetky Family: A Compilation of Letters, Memoirs, and Historical Data. Portland, Ore.: Portland Publishing House, 1942. Schlegel, Franz. Justinus Heinrich Knecht. Biberach: Stadtarchiv, 1980. Schölz-Michelitsch, Helga. Christoph Georg Wagenseil: Hofkomponist und Hofklaviermeister der Kaiserin Maria Theresia. Vienna: Braunmüller, 1980. Schreiber, Karl Friedrich. Joseph Martin Kraus Biographie. 2nd ed. Buchen: Bezirskmuseum, 2006. Schulenberg, David. The Music of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. Rochester, N.Y.: University of Rochester Press, 2010. Schwab, Heinrich. Friedrich Ludwig Aemilius Kunzen (1761–1817): Stationen seines Lebens und Wirkens. Heide: n.p., 1995. Contains a works list. Sheldon, David. “The Concept Galant in the 18th Century.” Journal of Musicological Research 9 (1989): 89–108. ———. “The Galant Style Revisited and Re-evaluated.” Acta Musicologica 47 (1975): 240–70. Smidak, Emil. Joseph Boulogne, nommé le Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Lucerne: Avenira, 1996. Contains a thematic catalog. Sonneck, Oscar G. Early Concert Life in America (1731–1800). New York: Da Capo Press, 1978. Stellan Mörner, Carl Gabriel. Johan Wikmanson und die Brüder Silverstolpe. Stockholm: Isaac Markus Boktryckeriet, 1952. Stevenson, Robert. “Esteban Salas y Castro (1725–1803): Cuba’s Consummate Cathedral Composer.” Inter-American Music Review 15 (1996): 73–102. ———. “Ignacio Jerusalem (1707–1789): Italian Parvenu in Eighteenth-Century Mexico.” Inter-American Music Review 16 (1997): 57–61. Strohm, Reinhard. Die italienische Oper im 18. Jahrhundert. Wilhelmshaven: Heinrichshofen, 1979. ———, ed. The Eighteenth-Century Diaspora of Italian Music and Musicians. Turnhout: Brepols, 2001. Suchalla, Ernst. Die Orchestersinfonien Carl Philipp Emanuel Bachs nebst einem thematischen Verzeichnis seiner Orchesterwerke. Augsburg: n.p., 1968. ———, ed. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Briefe und Dokumenten. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1994. Sýkora, Václav. František Xaver Dušek: Život a dílo. Prague: Státní nakl. Krásne literaty, hudby umění, 1958. Temperley, Nicholas, and Stephen Banfield, eds. Music and the Wesleys. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2010. Terry, Charles Sanford. Johann Christian Bach. 2nd ed., with foreword by H. C. Robbins Landon. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1980. Uses T numbers in a works list. Thibaut, Walter. François-Joseph Gossec, chanteur de la Révolution française. Gilly: Institute Jules Destrée, 1970.
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About the Author
Bertil van Boer is professor of music history and theory at Western Washington University. He has been conductor of Opera Kansas and also taught at Brigham Young University and Wichita State University. His PhD is from the University of Uppsala in Sweden, where his dissertation was on the sacred music and symphonies of Joseph Martin Kraus. He has contributed to the A-R Recent Researches in Music of the Classical Period series as well as a volume of the Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Complete Works. His reference works include the Systematic-Thematic Catalogue of the Works of Joseph Martin Kraus, as well as articles published in Journal of Musicology, Svenskt tidskrift för musikforskning, Journal of Musicological Research, EighteenthCentury Music, and Fontes Artis musicae. He has edited music for performance for Naxos Records, including music of the 18th-century American overture, Swedish music of the Gustavian period, and symphonic music of Malta. He has contributed numerous articles to the New Grove Dictionary of Music and the New Grove Dictionary of Opera, as well as the forthcoming history of the 18th-century symphony. He was one of the founding members and past president of the Society for Eighteenth-Century Music.
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