Joannes Carolus Diters von Dittersdorf (1739-1799)
- Sinfonia in A (c.1788)
Performers: Arsatius Consort
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Austrian composer and violinist. After promising early success in
Vienna, he settled for a modest career as a provincial Kapellmeister and
administrator. He composed voluminously despite the official
responsibilities that occupied him for much of his life, and his
generally high standard of craftsmanship earned him recognition as a
leading figure of the Viennese Classical school. Born to Paul Ditters,
costumier at the imperial court and theatre in Vienna, and his wife Anna
(née Vandelin), Ditters enjoyed the benefits of a Jesuit school
education, private tutoring and, from the age of seven, violin lessons.
About 1750 he began studies with the violinist J.P. Ziegler, and before
long he was accepted into the orchestra of the Schottenkirche. Soon
afterwards he was recruited as a Kammerknabe by Prince Joseph Friedrich
von Sachsen-Hildburghausen, whose Kapelle was one of the best in Vienna;
from 1 March 1751 he played in the orchestra, performed menial duties,
and was instructed in music and other subjects. With the violinist Trani
he learnt Italian works and was groomed as a soloist, while Giuseppe
Bonno taught him Fuxian counterpoint and composition. By the late 1750s
Ditters had earned a reputation as a composer of instrumental music and
had begun to receive commissions for symphonies and concertos. Then 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.
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. 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 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, four sinfonia
concertantes, 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.
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