Johann Simon Mayr (1763-1845)
- Messa (do minore) a 4 (1823)
Performers: Marina Ulewicz (soprano); Christa Mayer (mezzo-soprano); Thomas Cooley (tenor); Thomas Gropper (bass);
Vokalensemble Ingolstadt; Georgisches Kammerorchester Ingolstadt; Franz Hauk (conductor)
Further info: Mayr - Missa in c-moll
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German composer, teacher and writer on music. The second child of Josef
Mayr, a schoolteacher and organist, and Maria Anna Prantmayer, a
brewer’s daughter from Augsburg, he received his early musical education
from his father. In 1774 he entered the Jesuit college in Ingolstadt,
and in 1781 he began to study law and theology at the University of
Ingolstadt, where he taught himself various orchestral instruments and
supported himself by playing the organ. In 1787 a Swiss Freiherr, Thomas
von Bassus, took him to Italy to further his musical education; in 1789
he commenced studies with Carlo Lenzi in Bergamo; he then was sent to
Ferdinando Bertoni in Venice. He began his career as a composer of
sacred music; his oratorios were performed in Venice. After the death of
his patron in 1793, he was encouraged by Niccolò Piccinni and Peter von
Winter to compose operas. His first opera, 'Saffo o sia I riti d'Apollo
Leucadio', was performed in Venice in 1794. He gained renown with his
opera 'Ginevra di Scozia' (Trieste, 1801), and it remained a favorite
with audiences; also successful were his operas 'La rosa bianca e la
rosa rossa' (Genoa, 1813) and 'Medea in Corinto' (Naples, 1813). In 1802
he became maestro di cappella at Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo, and
in 1805 he reorganized the choir school of the Cathedral as the Lezioni
Caritatevoli di Musica and assumed its directorship. Intractable
cataracts, which led to total blindness in 1826, forced him to limit his
activities to organ playing. In 1822 he founded the Societa Filarmonica
of Bergamo. As a composer, his operas, while reflecting the late
Neapolitan school, are noteworthy for their harmonization and
orchestration, which are derived from the German tradition. After 1815
he devoted most of his time to composing sacred music, which totals some
600 works in all. He was also an eminent pedagogue and Gaetano
Donizetti was among his pupils. Johann Simon Mayr was a leading figure
in the development of opera seria in the last decade of the 18th Century
and the first two decades of the 19th Century.
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