Un portal on escoltar i gaudir de l'art musical dels segles XVI, XVII, XVIII i XIX. Compartir la bellesa de la música és l'objectiu d'aquest espai i fer-ho donant a conèixer obres de compositors molt o poc coneguts és el mètode.
Albericus Hirschberger (1709-1745)
- Concerto I (C-Dur) aus Philomela Cisterciensis ex valle Bernardina
Raittenhaslacensi In Orbem evolans, tàm in Urbe, quàm Rure Dei Laudem
ter tremulâ Voce decantatura, id est Opus tripartitum constans Sex
Missis, totidémque Offertoriis, ac Concertis, adjuncto Te Deum, &c
(1743)
Performers: Kammerorchester Musica Bavarica; Alois Kirchbеrgеr
(conductor)
German priest and composer. In 1727 he entered the Cistercian abbey of
Raitenhaslach in Upper Bavaria, where he was ordained a priest in 1734.
In 1731 he settled at the Benedictine monasteries of Rott am Inn
(1732-33) where he received music lessons. Few years later, he was
appointed music director in Raitenhaslach in a post he held until 1743.
As a composer, despite he wrote many works, he was mainly known by his
collection 'Philomela Cisterciensis ex valle Bernardina Raitenhaslacensi
in orbem evolans' (1743) which includes 6 masses, 1 Te Deum, 11 church
sonatas (concertos), 1 pastorello as well as other minor sacred pieces.
The masses included in that collection were highly praised and were
reprinted several times. He was family-related to the organists Johann
Amand Hirschberger (1678-1727), Anton Hirschberger (1700-1736) and Anton
Claudius Hirschberger (1734-1810).
Bohemian composer, choirmaster and organist. Son of the composer
Ferdinand Doubravský (1747-1829), he received music lessons from his
father. In 1820 he was appointed organist of the St. Mikuláš church in
Lomnice nad Popelkou in a post he probably held the rest of his life. He
was also active there as teacher, composer and music director. As a
composer, he mainly wrote sacred music, among them, 73 masses, 13
requiems, 5 Stabat Mater, 11 Te Deum, Litanies. Apparently, he also
composed 4 symphonies and a violin concerto but all of them are
currently lost.
Spanish composer and instrumentist. Nothing is known about his year of
birth and youth. By 1725 he was documented as timpanist in the Real
Caballería (Royal Cavalry) located in Madrid. In 1736 he was documented
as trumpetist there. In 1749 he was appointed, by Fernando VI,
trumpetist in the Royal Chapel of Madrid in a post he held at least
until 1762. After that year his trace was lost and some sources
indicated he had moved to New Spain but no evidences extant. This was
due to the fact his 'Sinfonía en Re mayor' was found in the school
archive of the Santa Rosa, Michoacán (México).
German violinist and composer. He received his first lessons as a
choirboy and when he was 12 studied violin in the Baden court. In 1750
he entered the Benedictine monastery in Ettenheimmünster, where he met
and studied with Johann Stamitz. He later joined him in Mannheim and
received further lessons from Leopold Mozart. After completing
theological studies, he was ordained priest in 1759 and later held many
positions in the monastery, including those of choir director (1761-73)
and prior (1781). As a composer, he mainly wrote sacred music, among
them, the collections 'XXXII hymni vespertini' (1764), 'XV offertoria'
(1766), 'Geistliche Arien' (1769) and a Missa de nativitate. In his
later years he was praised as one of the best violinists and church
composers in the Upper Rhine valley.
Bohemian composer and 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. He composed exclusively
instrumental works, mostly for strings: violin sonatas, duos, string
trios, quartets and violin concertos, as well as sinfonias and
divertimentos, where he also used wind instruments. In his time he was a
very successful composer, as is indicated by the number of works he
published and their numerous re-editions. Most of his works were
published between 1770 and 1777 in London, Paris, Amsterdam, The Hague
and Berlin.
Austrian composer and choirmaster, son of the composer and violinist
Josef Malzat (1723-1760). He attended the grammar school in
Kremsmünster, where he was a chorister and possibly also a cellist. He
was subsequently a teacher in the abbeys of Stams in the Tyrol (1778–80)
and Lambach in Upper Austria (1781), a member of the church choir in
Bozen (now Bolzano) (1780–81), household musician in Schwaz (1784) and
finally choirmaster in the university church in Innsbruck (1786–7). His
instrumental works in particular enjoyed wide distribution and were
advertised by Traeg in Vienna as late as 1799. 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. His brother Ignaz Malzat (1757-1804) was
an oboist and composer active as principal oboe at the court of the
Prince-Archbishop of Passau.
French violinist, harpsichordist, conductor and composer. Son of Jean
Rebel (c.1636-1692), he showed talent for music and began playing the
violin at an early age, winning the approbation of the King and
Jean-Baptiste Lully when he was only 8. He then became his pupil in
violin and composition. From 18 August 1705 he was one of the 24 Violons
du Roi and then became batteur de mesure in that ensemble and in the
Opéra orchestra. On 30 March 1718 he obtained from Michel-Richard de
Lalande rights of reversion to the post of chamber composer to the king,
and he duly succeeded his brother-in-law in this post on Lalande's
death. He also was active at the Academic Royale de Musique in various
capacities, being made its 'maitre de musique' (1716) and also conducted
at the Concert Spirituel (1734-35). As he grew older he gradually gave
up his various posts in favour of his son, the composer and violinist
François Rebel [le fils] (1701-1775). He was held in high regard by his
contemporaries. His last work, 'Les Elémens, simphonie nouvelle'
(c.1737), preceded by a movement called Cahos (‘Chaos’), served as an
introduction to the suite of dances making up Les elemens. Its harmonic
daring, its orchestral colouring and the originality of its conception
make 'Cahos' a masterpiece of 18th Century French instrumental music.
His sister Anne-Renée Rebel (1663-1722) was a singer and she married
Michel-Richard de Lalande.
English composer, organist and singer, second son of William Hayes
(1708-1777) and brother of William Hayes Jr. (1741-1790). 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. He was a prolific composer of
catches, glees, and such. His works include 48 anthems, over 30 songs,
16 Psalms, 16 odes, two oratorios, the aforementioned masque, two
services, six keyboard concertos (1769), and six violin sonatas. As a
composer, his natural language was a mixture of galant and early
classical idioms allied with a characteristically English preference for
simple, symmetrically phrased melodies and an assured technique founded
upon a thorough acquaintance with the works of Handel. His six keyboard
concertos (1769) were the first published in England to offer the
option of performance on the fortepiano, and beginning with the masque
'Telemachus' (1763) his large-scale works often included parts for
clarinets.
Portuguese composer and violinist. The son of a Genoese-born violinist,
he 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 '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 and two symphonies. Other
members of the Avondano family, all active in the Real Câmara, include
his brother António José Avondano (c.1715-1783) and his son Joaquim
Pedro Avondano (c.1760-1804), João Francisco Avondano (1713-1794),
Joaquim António Avondano (?-1828) and João Baptista Andre Avondano (fl.
1769-1801), who published a set of Quattro sonate e due duetti for two
cellos (c.1784) and was a pupil of Jean Pierre Duport.
German composer. He was one of the most significant German contemporaries of Bach, and his orchestral works are characteristic of the transition from the late Baroque style to the Classicism of Haydn and Mozart. Fasch was descended from a line of Lutheran Kantors and theologians. His earliest musical studies were as a boy soprano in Suhl and Weissenfels, and at 13 he was enlisted by J.P. Kuhnau for the Leipzig Thomasschule; his first compositions followed the style of his friend Telemann. While a student at the University of Leipzig he founded a collegium musicum which rivalled the eminence of the Thomasschule in the city's musical life. In this cosmopolitan city he encountered the concertos of Vivaldi, which greatly influenced his whole generation. Although he had no regular instruction in composition, he soon became so well known as a composer that his sovereign Duke Moritz Wilhelm of Saxe-Zeitz commissioned him to write operas for the Naumburg Peter-Paul festivals in 1711 and 1712. For purposes of study Fasch undertook a long journey through several courts and cities, eventually arriving at Darmstadt, where he studied composition with Graupner and Grünewald. He then held several positions, including those of violinist in Bayreuth (1714), court secretary and organist in Greiz (until 1721) and Kapellmeister to the Bohemian Count Wenzel Morzin in Prague, whose accomplished chapel orchestra earned Vivaldi’s praise. In 1722 Fasch reluctantly accepted the position of court Kapellmeister in Zerbst. In the same year he was twice invited to apply for the position of Thomaskantor in Leipzig, but withdrew from the competition shortly after Telemann did so, deciding that it was too soon to leave Zerbst.
In 1727 he spent some time at the Saxon court in Dresden, where his friends Pisendel and Heinichen were in charge of orchestral music and the Catholic chapel respectively. Heinichen's death in 1729 is a 'terminus ante quem' for several of Fasch's surviving liturgical pieces, which were performed by the chapel choir under Heinichen, who noted the duration of pieces on the manuscripts (as well as rewriting sections, which Pfeiffer has taken as an indication that the Dresden experience was another learning venture). Surviving correspondence, particularly with Nikolaus Ludwig, Reichsgraf von Zinzendorf, head of the Pietist Brotherhood in Herrnhut, reveals Fasch's unhappiness in strictly Lutheran Zerbst. Only one further application for a formal position is recorded (Freiberg, 1755), but it was unsuccessful, and Fasch remained at Zerbst for the rest of his life. During his 36 years there Fasch was primarily occupied with the composition of church cantatas and festival music for the count. His fame as a composer spread far beyond Saxony: his works were familiar to numerous courts and city churches, from Hamburg (where in 1733 Telemann performed a cycle of his church cantatas) to as far afield as Prague and Vienna. He enjoyed especially close relations with the famed Hofkapelle in Dresden, at which the Kapellmeister Pisendel performed many of his concertos (to some extent in arrangements), and likewise with the court at Cöthen, which attracted him by its Pietist leanings. Through his son C.F.C. Fasch, harpsichordist at the court of Frederick the Great in Berlin from 1756, he was connected with C.P.E. Bach.
Dutch composer and pianist, brother of Josephus Andreas Fodor
(1751-1828) and Carel Emanuel Fodor (1759-?). Born into a musical
family, he studied in Mannheim and Paris before returning to Amsterdam
in 1795. In 1798 he married Geertruida Tersteeg. At the death of
Bartholomeus Ruloffs in 1801 he was named conductor of the orchestra of
Felix Meritis, which he was to lead for twenty-five years. In the
following year he was nominated to the position of the orchestra
Eruditio Musica. In 1808 Louis Bonaparte appointed him to head the
Instituut voor Wetenschappen, Literatuur en Schone Kunsten, precursor of
the Koninklijke Nederlandse Academie van Wetenschappen, the Royal
Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1811 he established, with
Johann Wilhelm Wilms and some others the series of Tuesday concerts. He
became one of the leaders of Dutch musical society, writing works that
reflect early 19th century Romantic forms. His music includes several
symphonies, eight concertos for fortepiano, an opera, numerous songs in
Dutch and a large number of chamber works.
Austrian composer and organist. Almost nothing is known about his youth
until he was documented as organist at the Benedictine abbey of Göttweig
in 1736, a post he held until 1746. That year he was appointed choral
director of St Veit, Krems an der Donau (1746-1753) while he was
studying philosophy and theology. In 1752 he was ordained priest and a
year later he was appointed to the charge of the Chapel of All Saints at
Stein an der Donau, in a post he held the rest of his life. As a
composer, he show the influence of his fellows Johann Joseph Fux and
Antonio Caldara, both active in Vienna, but evolving to early Classical
style in his later works. Despite he focused on sacred music, among
them, masses (the foremost was his Große Orgelmesse in C, 1761),
requiems, and many liturgical pieces, he also wrote instrumental music
very close to Georg Christoph Wagenseil and Georg Matthias Monn on style
terms.
Bohemian composer and violinist. He received his earliest musical
instruction from Lukas Lorenz, the Deutschbrod teacher with whom Johann
Stamitz is alleged to have studied. After attending school in Vysoká, he
furthered his musical education in Prague and then, at the age of 17,
in Vienna. There he received violin instruction from the Royal Court
musicians Franz Josef Timmer and Johann Otto Rosetter, and flute lessons
with Johann Franz Piarelli. In 1729 he met the violinist and composer
Franz Benda and as both were equally dissatisfied with their positions
they left Vienna abruptly and fled to Poland. In Warsaw he took up a
concertmaster post of the Jakub Suchorzewski's orchestra. In 1733 he
followed Franz Benda to the Royal Polish Chapel at the Saxon Court in
Warsaw. On the accession of August II in 1733 both musicians transferred
to the Dresden Hofkapelle. Their appointment was, however, of short
duration, for in 1734 he followed Benda in accepting a summons to the
chapel of Crown Prince Frederick at Ruppin. Zarth remained in
Frederick’s service for over 20 years, moving with the rest of the
chapel to Rheinsberg in 1736 and then to Berlin after Frederick’s
accession in 1740. It was not until 1757 or 1758 that the careers of
Benda and Zarth diverged: while Benda remained in Berlin, Zarth took up a
post at Mannheim, the city where he remained the rest of his life.
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
quartets, 12 Lieder, 12 flute duets, over 60 works for keyboard, and
several other smaller chamber works.
Bohemian composer and keyboardist. Like his brother Lambert Mašek
(1761-1826), he received his first musical education from his father,
Tomás Mašek, a village cantor, before moving to Prague, where his
teachers included Frantisek 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.
French composer and singer. He studied violin with Charles Chabran and
piano with Jan Ladislav Dussek in Paris. In 1789, he was appointed
concertmaster at the court of Heinrich of Prussia in Rheinsberg,
replacing Johann Abraham Peter Schulz. He worked in Rheinsberg for four
years while studying harmonies under Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch. In
1792 he was banished from Rheinsberg because he interrupted a Sunday
service by riding into church on horseback. After working as a touring
violinist in Germany and Poland he went to Stockholm in 1793, where he
joined the opera orchestra as a violinist. In 1795 he became a member of
the Swedish Academy of Music. In 1799, he fell out of favor with king
Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden by praising Napoleon and he was banished from
Sweden and settled in Copenhagen. There he joined the opera orchestra as
a violinist. A highpoint in his stage career was the première of his
'Ungdom og galskab' (1806), for which he composed the music and sang the
role of Ritmester Rose. In 1809 he sang the first act of this opera
with his pupil Crown Princess Charlotte Frederika at Amalienborg Palace;
but scandal broke out later in the year when he was discovered in bed
with the princess and had to leave Denmark at two hours’ notice. He went
to Paris, but with the election of Napoleon’s commander Jean Baptiste
Bernadotte to the Swedish throne he was able to return to Stockholm. He
became court violinist and singer and from 1812 conductor. In 1814 he
became titular professor of the Swedish Academy of Music. As a composer,
he wrote several stage works, symphonic works, concertos, chamber music
as well as songs, ballets and a Requiem.
French composer, harpsichordist and organist. Nothing is known of his
early musical training or how he came to Paris. He is thought to have
been a pupil of Jacques Champion de Chambonnières. After serving in the
position of first organist to the Duke of Orleans and to the Jacobins in
the rue St. Honore in Paris, he was made 'ordinaire de la chambre du
Roy pour le clavecin' by Louis XIV in 1662, a post he held until at
least 1668. After 1679 D'Anglebert was also in the service of the
Dauphine Marie-Anne de Bavière, Duchess of Burgundy. As a composer, he
was mainly known by his 'Pieces de clavecin avec la maniere de les
jouer' (Paris, 1689), which contains 4 dance suites, 5 organ fugues,
transcriptions of popular tunes, arrangements of works by Lully, a
treatise on keyboard harmony, and a table of ornaments, with many new
signs that were widely accepted. The volum stands as a major source for
the French Baroque style. His son, Jean-Baptiste Henri D'Anglebert
(1661-1735), succeeded him at the French court.
