ROSSINI, Gioacchino (1792-1868) - Giovanna d'Arco (1832)

Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) - Giovanna d'Arco (1832)

Performers: Jiřina Mаrkοvá (soprano); Orchestre du Philharmonique de Prague; Edoardo Brіzіo (1927-2010, conductor)

Painting: Julien Léopold Boilly (1796-1874) - Gioachino Antonio Rossini (c.1828)

Further info: Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) - Messa di Milano

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Gioachino (Antonio) Rossini

(Pesaro, 29 February 1792 - Passy, 13 November 1868)

Italian composer. He was an only child to parents Giuseppe Rossino (1758-1839), a trumpeter and horn player, and Anna Guidarini (1771-1827), a seamstress by trade but later becoming a singer. Giuseppe a feckless father, was imprisoned at least twice, leaving much of Gioachino’s upbringing to his mother Anna, it was when he was six that Anna embarked on a professional singing career in comic opera with some considerable success. As a result of this, Rossini spent his entire childhood in and around the theatre with singing and playing coming naturally to him. When the family moved to Lugo in 1802, Rossini began studying music with a local priest and was inspired by his collection of Mozart and Haydn. A quick learner, by the age of 12 he had composed six sonatas and two years later he joined Bologna’s Philharmonic School and composed his first opera, Demetrio e Polibio (1806). Rossini staged his first opera in 1810 to great success and financial reward and this was quickly followed by three more operas in addition to directing Haydn’s The Seasons in Bologna. In 1812, his two-act comedy La pietra del paragone ran for 53 performances at La Scala in Milan bringing him more financial benefits. In 1815, Rossini moved to Naples, once the operatic capital of Europe, to become director of music for the royal theatres. He quickly won audiences favour and re-used a lot of his earlier work which was unfamiliar in the city. Due to his success in Naples, Rossini was able to write more regularly, and it was during this time that he wrote some of his most famous works including; Il barbiere di siviglia (1816) which was subsequently revived in Bologna and Otello (1816).

Anti-monarchy sentiment in Naples unsettled Rossini and in 1822 he travelled to Vienna with his new wife, Isabella Colbran where he was received with such enthusiasm that biographers have termed it “Rossini fever”. London followed with a welcome from King George IV, however despite being lucrative Rossini soon returned to Paris after signing a contract with the French Embassy. His Parisian seasons between 1823 and 1829 consolidated his achievements at home with spectacularly grand works such as Le Comte Ory (1828) and William Tell (1829). After 39 operas in 19 years, Rossini felt with Tell he had reached not only the culmination of his career but also a natural resting point, and therefore retired from operatic composition. He did not stop composing altogether – one of the delights of his retirement years is his Petite messe solenelle, an ironic title for a sacred work that is neither small nor solemn. Rossini’s health complications were also a factor in his choice to retire at the age of 37 as he suffered from both urethritis and arthritis as well as bouts of depression and possibly bipolar disorder. He was also profoundly affected by the death of his mother Anna, followed by the death of his father and wife, Colbran and by the 1850s his mental and physical health had significantly deteriorated. In 1855, he returned to Paris for medical care and for a time recovered well and began composing. As a man of significant wealth and fame and known for his humour he established an internally renowned salon (gathering of people by a host) and for these salons he wrote more than 150 compositions, referring to them as the ‘sins of old age’.

STRAUSS, Franz Joseph (1822-1905) - Concert für Waldhorn (1865)

Franz Joseph Strauss (1822-1905) - Concert (c-moll) für Waldhorn ... Op. 8 (1865)

Performers: Barry Tuckwеll (1931-2020, horn); London Symphony Orchestra; István Kеrtész (1929-1973, conductor)

Drawing: Pierre Albert Leroux (1890-1959) - 24 Regt de Tirailleurs Tunisiens (1939)

Further info: Franz Joseph Strauss (1822-1905) - Musik für Horn und Klavier

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Franz Joseph Strauss

(Parkstein, 26 February 1822 - Munich, 31 May 1905)

German horn player and composer, father of Richard Strauss (1864-1949). He was the illegitimate son of the police officer Johann Urbann Strauss and of Maria Walter. He was recognised by his father. When he was only fifteen years old he became a guitar player at the Hofkapelle of Duke Maximilian. Soon he became a solo hornist at the opera orchestra and after that he was engaged as a hornist at the Royal Bavarian Court Orchestra, a post he held until his retirement in 1889. When he was 32 years old his first wife and his two children died of cholera. In 1863 he married again. His second wife was Josephine Pschorr, the daughter of the brewer Georg Pschorr. In 1864 their son Richard Strauss was born. In 1871 he became a professor at the Academy in Munich. In 1875 he was elected conductor of the amateur orchestra, the "Wilde Gung'l", a post he held for 21 years. As a composer, he wrote a Concert für Waldhorn, Op.8 (1865), a Nocturne, Op.7 and Empfindungen am Meere for Horn and Piano Op.12, and 17 Konzertetuden and Ubungenfur Naturhorn. His musical taste was very conservative and among his most admired composers were Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Although a violent opponent of Wagner, the master valued him highly, and entrusted to him at the premieres of 'Tristan und Isolde', 'Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg', and 'Parsifal'.

SCHURMANN, Georg Caspar (c.1672-1751) - Auff! Jauchzet, lobsinget dem König der Ehren (1724)

Georg Caspar Schürmann (c.1672-1751) - Auff! Jauchzet, lobsinget dem König der Ehren (1724)

Performers: Marie Luise Werneburg (soprano); Verena Gropper (soprano); David Erler (alto);

Hans Jörg Mammel (tenor); Wolf Matthias Friedrich (bass);

Weser-Renaissance Bremen; Manfred Cordes (conductor)

Drawing: Aureliano Milani (1675-1749) - An angel playing a trumpet

Further info: Georg Caspar Schürmann (c.1672-1751)

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Georg Caspar Schürmann [Schurmann, Scheuermann]

(Idensen, nr Hanover, c.1672 - Wolfenbüttel, 25 February 1751)

German composer. According to Walther, he was the son of Statius Caspar Schürmann (?-1678), who went to Idensen in 1666. He studied music, including voice, in his native Lower Saxony. By 1693, he went to Hamburg, where he became a male alto at the Opera and in various churches when he was 20; after appearing with the Hamburg Opera at the Braunschweig court of Duke Anton Ulrich of Braunschweig-Lüneburg in 1697, the duke engaged him as solo alto to the court; was also active as a conductor at the Opera and at the court church. After the duke sent him to Italy for further training (1701-02?), he was loaned to the Meiningen court as Kapellmeister and composer; in 1707 he resumed his association with the Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel court, where he was active as a composer and conductor for the remainder of his life. Schurmann was a leading opera composer during the Baroque era. It is regrettable that of the more than 30 operas, only 3 of which survived in their entirety after their Braunschweig premieres: Heinrich der Vogler (part I, Aug. 1, 1718; part II, Jan. 11, 1721), Die getreue Alceste (1719), and Ludovicus Pius, oder Ludewig der Fromme (1726). He was also a noted composer of sacred music. Georg Caspar Schürmann, together with Johann Georg Conradi, Johann Sigismund Kusser, Reinhard Keiser and Georg Philipp Telemann, was an outstanding contributor to the history of German Baroque opera and he may have played a significant role in the style’s development in Germany during the first half of the 18th century.

BARTH, Christian Frederik (1787-1861) - Concerto pour Hautbois (c.1823)

Christian Frederik Barth (1787-1861) - Concerto pour Hautbois, oeuvre 12 (c.1823)

Performers: Alexey Bаlаshov (oboe); Symphonic Orchestra of the Khаkаss Republican Philarmonic society;

Vyacheslav Inkіzhеkov (conductor)

Painting: Constant Joseph Desbordes (1761-1827) - Portrait de la famille Paulée ou le chariot brisé

Further info: Christian Frederik Barth (1787-1861)

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Christian Frederik Barth

(Copenhagen, 24 February 1787 - Middelfart, Fyn, 17 July 1861)

Danish oboist and composer, son of Christian Samuel Barth (1735-1809). He came from a dynasty of oboists and was probably one of the most important. He was a pupil of his father and at the age of 15 he joined the royal orchestra in Copenhagen. In 1804 he won a scholarship and settled in Berlin, where he fastly was praised as oboist. On his return to Copenhagen, then 18 years old, was appointed principal oboist, and on frequent concert tours in Europe soon won international fame as one of the greatest artists on his instrument. As a composer, he was mainly known by his set of five oboe concertos. He also wrote a Rondeau suisse for oboe and orchestra in E, a Grande sinfonie for wind instruments and several overtures as well as many chamber music for oboe. He retired from the royal orchestra in 1841 and was not involved with music for the last 20 years of his life. His brother Philip Barth (1774-1804) was also oboist and composer, and member of the royal orchestra in Copenhagen.

AUFSCHNAITER, Benedikt Anton (1665-1742) - Parthia Della Cortesia

Benedikt Anton Aufschnaiter (1665-1742) - Concerto ô Parthia, Della Cortesia â 9

Performers: Concerto Armonico; Bernhard Siеbеrеr (conductor)

Painting: Giuseppe Pinacci (1642-1718) - The troops of the Grand Duke Cosimo III in combat

Further info: Benedikt Anton Aufschnaiter (1665-1742) - Missa Sancti Francisci (1712)

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Benedict Anton Aufschnaiter [Aufschneider, Auffschnaidter]

(Kitzbühel, bap. 21 February 1665 - Passau, bur. 24 January 1742)

Austrian composer. His main appointment was in Passau, where he succeeded Georg Muffat as court Kapellmeister in 1705. He spent his early years in Vienna, where he may have been a pupil of Johannes Ebner (a member of the well-known family of organ players and son of Wolfgang Ebner) whom he declared his model. Apparently he came into contact with members of the Viennese nobility, and he may have been employed at a court. In a letter of 1724 to Prince-Bishop Lamberg, while complaining about the quality of the violinists in Passau, Aufschnaiter claimed to have had in Vienna, where he spent many years, ‘16–18 excellent musicians’ at his disposal. His op.1 (of which no copy is extant) was dedicated to Count Ferdinand Ernst von Trautmannsdorf, who may have been his employer. In 1695 his op.2 appeared in Nuremberg with a dedication to Archduke Joseph (later Emperor Joseph I). Under the title Concors discordia it contains six orchestral suites which show Italian concerto grosso structure but also an apparent French influence; they probably followed the example of Georg Muffat. All that is known of op.3 is that it was dedicated to Emperor Leopold I; no copy is extant. Op.4 consists of eight church sonatas published under the title Dulcis fidium harmonia symphoniis ecclesiasticis concinnata, which appeared in 1703 and were dedicated to the four early fathers of the church and the four evangelists. These are orchestral sonatas for two solo violins (which have complicated double stops), two violins ad libitum, viola, violone and organ; they may have been inspired by Heinrich Biber’s works. From 1705, when he became Kapellmeister at Passau, Aufschnaiter was active as a composer of church music (although he was not officially appointed cathedral Kapellmeister as Muffat had been). His opp.5 and 8 comprise vespers for four voices, strings and continuo instruments (1709, 1728), his op.6 five masses (1712) and his op.7 offertories with two solo violas (1719). In all his church works Aufschnaiter favours a more traditional style similar to the Roman cantata style; there are fewer demanding violin passages and double stops than in his earlier works, and he prefers to please with melodic charm. In his theoretical writings he emphasizes the difference between church, chamber and theatre music.

SCHAFFRATH, Christoph (1709-1763) - Concerto â 5 (c.1750)

Christoph Schaffrath (1709-1763) - Concerto (orgel, a-moll) â 5 (c.1750)

Performers: Ton Koopman (organ); Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra

Painting: Carl Traugott Fechhelm (1748-1819) - Blick vom Schlossplatz in die Königstraße (1788)

Further info: Christoph Schaffrath (1709-1763) - Duetto in B flat major

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Christoph Schaffrath [Schafrath, Schafrat, Schaffroth et al.]

(Hohenstein, 1709 - Berlin, 17 February 1763)

German theoretician, keyboardist and composer. According to early biographical information, he 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, he wrote in a mixture of galant and the older contrapuntal styles, though his formats often use contrasting themes and triplet figurations. 

RINCK, Johann Christian Heinrich (1770-1846) - Cantate für das Erntefest

Johann Christian Heinrich Rinck (1770-1846) - Cantate 'Gott sorgt für uns o singt ihm Dank' für das Erntefest für Sopran, Alt, Tenor und Bass. nebst obligater Orgelbegleitung, Op.98 (c.1830)

Performers: Petеr Scholl (organ); Collegium Vocale Siеgen; Ulrich Stotzеl (conductor)

Painting: John Bagnold Burgess (1830-1897) - Choir practice (1894)

Further info: Johann Christian Heinrich Rinck (1770-1846) - Weihnachts Kantate, Op.73

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Johann Christian Heinrich Rinck [Rink]

(Elgersburg, 18 February 1770 - Darmstadt, 7 August 1846)

German organist and composer. He studied first with local masters and later he received his most important musical training in Erfurt from Johann Christian Kittel, a former pupil of Bach, from 1786 to 1789. In 1790 he became town organist at Giessen, in a post he held until 1805, before settling in Darmstadt. There he remained the rest of his life as organist and teacher at the music school (from 1805); then became court organist in 1813, and finally chamber musician in 1817. He was praised as a teacher throughout Germany and Darmstadt became a centre for aspiring organists. Among his pupils were Charles Hallé, Friedrich Kühmstedt, Joseph Mainzer and the brothers Wilhelm and Carl Amand Mangold. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Giessen in 1840. As a composer, he mainly wrote organ works, among them, many collections of chorale preludes. He also wrote instructional works, waltzes and variations for the piano, two masses, motets, cantatas, and much unpublished instrumental music. He published his own autobiography (Breslau, 1833).

RODE, Jacques Pierre (1774-1830) - Dixième Concerto pour le Violon

Jacques Pierre Rode (1774-1830) - Dixième Concerto (en si mineur) pour le Violon, Op.19 (c.1807), IPR 24

Performers: Friedemann Eіchhοrn (violin); South West German Radio Orchestra; Nicolás Pаsquеt (conductor)

Painting: Jacques Antoine Marie Lemoine (attr. to) (1751-1824) - Portrait of a violinist, possibly Pierre Rode (c.1805)

Further info: Pierre Rode (1774-1830) - Violin Concerto No.3, Op.5 (1798)

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Jacques Pierre (Joseph) Rode

(Bordeaux, 16 February 1774 - Château de Bourbon, nr Damazon, 25 November 1830)

French violinist and composer. He studied violin with Andre-Joseph Fauvel (1780-88), making his first public appearance at age 12 in Bordeaux. He then was taken to Paris by Fauvel and became a pupil of Giovanni Battista Viotti (1787). He made his first appearance there as soloist in Viotti's 13th Concerto (1790), and introduced Viotti's 17th and 18th concertos to the Parisian public (1792). He was also a violinist in the orchestra of the Theatre de Monsieur (1789-92). In 1795 he was appointed professor of violin at the Paris Conservatory, but immediately embarked on a tour of Holland and Germany; also appeared in London, but was exiled (along with Viotti) for political reasons in 1798. He returned to Paris in 1799 and resumed his duties at the Conservatory; also served as solo violin at the Opera. He became solo violinist to Napoleon in 1800, and brought out his extraordinarily successful 7th Violin Concerto. While on his way to Russia in 1803, he played throughout Germany; served as solo violinist to Czar Alexander I in St. Petersburg (1804-08). He scored an enormous success in Russia, but after his return to Paris his playing declined. In 1811-12 he toured Europe, and while in Vienna he performed Beethoven's Violin Sonata, op.96 (a score written expressly for him) with Archduke Rudolph (1812). He returned to France in 1819, but made only a few unsuccessful appearances in subsequent seasons; a disastrous appearance in Paris in 1828 caused him to abandon the concert stage. At the apex of his career, he was acclaimed as the foremost representative of the French violin school. He was also esteemed as a composer. In addition to 13 notable violin concertos, he composed 12 string quartets (so-called ‘quatuors brilliants’ with a dominant first violin part), 24 duos for 2 Violins, 24 caprices, airs varies, etc. With Pierre Baillot and Rodolphe Kreutzer, he wrote the violin method for the Conservatory (1803).

KUSSER, Johann Sigismund (1660-1727) - Ouverture des 'Festin des Muses'

Johann Sigismund Kusser (1660-1727) - Ouverture (VI, C-Dur) des 'Festin des Muses' (1700)

Performers: Musica antiqua KöIn; Reinhard Goеbеl (conductor)

Drawing: Georg Braun (1541-1622) & Franz Hogenberg (1539-1590) - Pressburg

Further info: Johann Sigismund Kusser (1660-1727)

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Johann (Jean, John) Sigismund (Sigismond) Kusser [Cousser]

(Pressburg [now Bratislava], bap. 13 February 1660 - Dublin, December 1727)

German composer of Hungarian parentage, active in Germany, England and Ireland. He received his early musical training from his father, Johann Kusser (1626-1675), a minister and organist. He lived in Stuttgart as a boy, then spent 8 years in Paris (1674-82), where he became a pupil of Jean Baptiste Lully. He subsequently was a violin teacher at the Ansbach court (1682-83), becoming opera Kapellmeister in Braunschweig in 1690. In 1695 he became co-director of the Hamburg Opera, but left the next year and was active in Nuremberg and Augsburg as an opera composer. He was again in Stuttgart from 1700 to 1704 as Ober-Kapellmeister. In 1705 he appeared in London, and in 1709 settled in Dublin, where he was made Chappel-Master of Trinity College in 1717 and Master of the Musick "attending his Majesty's State in Ireland" in 1717. He was greatly esteemed as an operatic conductor. Johann Mattheson, in his 'Volkommener Capellmeister', holds him up as a model of efficiency. Kusser is historically significant for being the mediator between the French and the German styles of composition, and the first to use Lully's methods and forms in German instrumental music. Lully's influence is shown in Kusser's set of 6 suites for Strings, 'Composition de musique suivant la methode française' (Stuttgart, 1682). His extant music includes four sets of orchestral suites, the 1711 birthday ode, the 1713 serenata and collections of arias from his operas Erindo and Ariadne. 

SORS, Fernando (1778-1839) - Sinfonia 'Il Telemaco nell'isola di Calipso'

Fernando Sors (1778-1839) - Sinfonia 'Il Telemaco nell'isola di Calipso' (1796)

Performers: Orquestra de Cambra del Garraf; Joan Lluís Morаledа (conductor)

Engraving: Deroy & Becquet (19th Century) - Barcelona; muralla del mar

Further info: Fernando Sors (1778-1839) - Obertures i Simfonies

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(Joseph) Fernando (Macari) Sors [Sor]

(Barcelona, 13 February 1778 - Paris, 10 July 1839)

Spanish composer and guitarist. At the age of 11 he entered the school of the monastery of Montserrat, where he studied music under the direction of Anselmo Viola. He wrote a Mass, then attended the Barcelona military academy. His opera 'Telemaco nell'isola de Calipso' was premiered at the Teatro de la Santa Cruz (Barcelona, 1796). In 1799 he went to Madrid, subsequently holding administrative sinecures in Barcelona (from 1808); also was active in the battle against France, but about 1810 accepted an administrative post under the French. When Bonapartist rule was defeated in Spain in 1813, he fled to Paris. There he met Cherubini, Mehul, and others, who urged him to give concerts as a guitarist, and he soon acquired fame. His ballet Cendrillon (London, 1822) became quite popular and was given more than 100 times at the Paris Opera; it was heard at the gala opening of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow in 1823. He was active in Russia from 1823; wrote funeral music for the obsequies of Czar Alexander I in 1825. He returned to Paris via London in 1826, and subsequently devoted himself to performing and teaching. Fernando Sors achieved fame as a concert performer on the guitar and is best known for his more than 65 compositions for that instrument, which form an important part of the classical guitar repertory. He took from Moretti the idea of playing on the guitar not merely chords but music in parts, and acknowledged his debt to Haydn and Mozart in matters of style.

DE SALAZAR, Juan García (1639-1710) - Missa de Requiem

Juan García de Salazar (1639-1710) - Missa de Requiem (en Fa mayor) a 4

Performers: Coro de camara 'Sebastian Durón'; Instrumental ensemble; José María Bаrquín (conductor)

Painting: Alessandro Vitali (1580-1650) - The Crucifixion with Saints Sebastian, John the Evangelist and the Virgin Mary

Further info: Juan García de Salazar (1639-1710) - In Dominica Palmarum

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Juan García de Salazar

(Tuesta, Alava, bap. 12 February 1639 - Zamora, 8 July 1710)

Spanish composer. He remained in his own immediate family environment until at least 1650. He was a choirboy at Burgos Cathedral, where he studied composition with the maestro de capilla Francisco Ruiz Samaniego. In 1660 he was appointed vice-principal of the choir school there, under Ruiz Samaniego direction. After short stays as maestro de capilla first at the collegiate church of Zamora in 1661, then (from 1663) at the cathedral of Burgo de Osma, he entered and won the public examination for the same post at Zamora Cathedral, where he remained from 1668 until his death in that city on July 1710. Only a few of his numerous settings of Spanish texts, and of his compositions in modern style, are extant, but several a cappella works survive. They consist of masses, hymns, motets etc., all in the stile antico and yet full of expression and often quite modern in idiom. They show him to have been a skilful contrapuntist. His musical language appears to be directly indebted to the great Spanish polyphonists of the seventeenth century; moreover, his personality and career pattern situate him in a cultural setting similar to theirs.

RIGEL, Henri-Joseph (1741-1799) - Simphonie à plusieurs instruments

Henri-Joseph Rigel (1741-1799) - Simphonie (No.14) à plusieurs instruments

Performers: Croаtiаn Baroque ensemble; Hеrvé Niquеt (conductor)

Painting: Johann Georg Pforr (1745-1798) - Tallandschaft mit einer steinernen Brücke, auf deren

Brüstung eine antike Skulptur aufgestellt ist

Further info: Henri-Joseph Rigel (1741-1799) - Symphonies

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Henri-Joseph Rigel [Riegel]

(Wertheim, 9 February 1741 - Paris, 2 May 1799)

German teacher and composer. Son of Georg Caspar Riegel, an intendant for Prince Löwenstein, he studied with Franz Xaver Richter in Mannheim and with Niccolò Jommelli in Stuttgart. In 1767 he went to Paris, and from 1783 to 1788 he belonged to a group of composers associated with the Concert Spirituel. On the title page of several of his works published in Paris his name appears as Rigel, and this gallicized form was adopted by his sons, the composers and pianists Henri-Jean Rigel (1772-1852) and Louis Rigel (1769-1811). Henri-Joseph Rigel was one of the earliest composers to write ensemble music with piano, published as "symphonies" for 2 Violins, Cello, 2 Horns, and Piano. He was a fairly voluminous composer. He wrote several short operas in the manner of the German Singspiel, all of which were produced in Paris unless otherwise given: Le Savetier et le financier (Marly, 1778), L'Automate (1781), Rosanie (1780), Blanche et Vermeille (1781), Lucas et Babet (1787), Les Amours du Gros-Caillou (1786), and Alix de Beaucaire (Montansier, 1791). His other works include 6 symphonies, keyboard concertos, 6 string quartets, several Sonates de clavecin en quattuor, a number of piano sonatas, some with violin obbligato, and 3 Sonates en symphonies for Piano. During the revolutionary period in France, he composed various pieces celebrating the events. He was one of the most respected musicians in Paris during the last quarter of the 18th century. His contemporaries praised the excellence of his teaching as well as the quality of his compositions. His brother Anton Riegel (c.1745-c.1807) was also a teacher and composer mainly known by his accompanied keyboard sonatas and chamber works.

EYBLER, Joseph Leopold (1765-1846) - Concerto per il Clarinetto (c.1798)

Joseph Leopold Eybler (1765-1846) - Concerto (B-Dur) per il Clarinetto (c.1798), HV 160

Performers: Peter Rаbl (clarinet); Concіlіum Musicum Wien; Paul Angеrеr (1927-2017, conductor)

Drawing: Georg Emanuel Opitz (1775-1841) - Die Königl. Dänische Armée Revue in Copenhagen

Further info: Joseph Leopold Eybler (1765-1846) - Benedicam Dominum (1829)

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Joseph (Josef) Leopold [Edler von] Eybler

(Schwechat, Vienna, 8 February 1765 - Vienna, 24 July 1846)

Austrian composer. After early musical studies with his father, a choir director and schoolteacher in Schwechat, he enrolled at St. Stephen’s choir school, where his distantly related cousins Joseph and Michael Haydn had studied. From 1776 to 1779 he also took lessons in composition from Johann Georg Albrechtsberger. In 1782 the choir school was temporarily dissolved and he began legal studies at the university but when a fire destroyed his family home he had to earn his living as a musician. During several difficult years of apprenticeship Joseph Haydn helped him. He was also befriended by Mozart, who commissioned him to help coach the singers for the first performance of Così fan tutte. Towards the end of his life, Mozart came into even closer contact with Eybler, and seems to have greatly valued his honesty, modesty and devotion. Eybler later wrote: ‘I had the good fortune to keep his friendship without reservation until he died, and carried him, put him to bed and helped to nurse him during his last painful illness’. In 1792 he became choir director at the Carmelite Church, and two years later obtained a position at the Schottenkloster, retaining the post for 30 years. In 1803 at Empress Maria Theresa request he wrote his Requiem in c-moll. It was perhaps the success of this work which led to his appointment in 1804 as deputy Hofkapellmeister under Salieri. After Salieri's retirement in 1824 he succeeded him as Hofkapellmeister. In 1833 he ironically suffered a stroke while conducting Mozart's Requiem which left him unable to continue his duties at court. He spent his final years with his family, receiving numerous honours and being raised to the nobility by the emperor in 1835. As a composer, his works include two operas, 33 Masses, 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 characterized by bold harmonies and a sense of drama expressed in orchestral color. 

NEEFE, Christian Gottlob (1748-1798) - Sonata in d-moll (1773)

Christian Gottlob Neefe (1748-1798) - Sonata in d-moll (1773)

Performers: Oliver Drеchsеl (clavichord)

Painting: Unbekannt - Blick nach Chemnitz (c.1840)

Further info: Christian Gottlob Neefe (1748-1798) - Twelve Keyboard Sonatas

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Christian Gottlob Neefe

(Chemnitz, 5 February 1748 - Dessau, 26 January 1798)

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, 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 became music director of the Dessau theatre at the end of 1796, but fell seriously ill and died soon afterwards. As a composer he 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.

ALBRECHTSBERGER, Johann Georg (1736-1809) - Missa in C pro coronatione (1792)

Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (1736-1809) - Missa in C pro coronatione 'Krönungsmesse' (1792)

Performers: Canto Arrianis; Concerto Sacro; Ingmar Beck (conductor)

Drawing: Anoniem - Krönung Leopolds II. zum König von Böhmen am 6. September 1791

Further info: Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (1736-1809) - Concertino in D a 5 (1769)

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Johann Georg Albrechtsberger

(Klosterneuburg, 3 February 1736 - Vienna, 7 March 1809)

Austrian composer, organist and teacher. The son of an innkeeper, he sang in local church choirs until 1749, when he became a chorister 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 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, he 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. 

MARCHAND, Louis (1669-1732) - Suite en ré (1699)

Louis Marchand (1669-1732) - Suite en ré mineur (1699)

Performers: Kenneth Gilbert (1931-2020, clavecin)

Painting: Isaac de Moucheron (1667-1744) - Waterpartij met beelden en gebouwen in een park

Further info: Louis Marchand (1669-1732) - Livre Posthume (1740)

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Louis Marchand

(Lyons, 2 February 1669 - Paris, 17 February 1732)

French harpsichordist, organist and composer. Son of Jean Marchand, at the age of 14, he was made organist at Nevers Cathedral. He went to Paris in 1689, and in 1691 he received the post of organist of the Jesuit church in the rue St. Jacques; he was also organist at other Parisian churches. In 1708 he was named an 'organiste du roi', in which capacity he earned a considerable reputation, and in 1713 he made a major tour of Germany. Marchand's name is historically connected with that of Bach because both were scheduled to meet in open competition in Dresden in 1717. Only German sources describe this unflattering episode in Marchand’s career (principally F.W. Marpurg, J.A. Birnbaum and Jacob Adlung); all agree that Marchand slipped away before the arrival of the celebrated Weimar organist. According to Titon du Tillet, either through tact or ignorance, was of the opinion that Marchand’s return to Paris shortly after the Dresden débâcle was due to homesickness. On his return he was taken in by the Cordeliers, whose organist he remained until the end of his days. His importance as a composer rests on his extant keyboard music. All of it dates from early in his career. He also wrote the opera 'Pyrame et Thisbé' (lost), the cantata 'Alcione' and 3 cantiques spirituels. He is not related with the composer and theorist Louis-Joseph Marchand (1692-1774).