Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (1736-1809)
- Missa in C pro coronatione 'Krönungsmesse' (1792)
Performers: Canto Arrianis; Concerto Sacro; Ingmar Beck (conductor)
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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.
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