Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (1736 – 1809) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist, and one of the teachers of Ludwig van Beethoven. He was friendly with Haydn and Mozart. He was born at Klosterneuburg, near Vienna. He originally studied music at Melk Abbey and philosophy at a Benedictine seminary in Vienna, and became one of the most learned and skillful contrapuntists of his age. Albrechtsberger's earliest classmates included Michael Haydn and Franz Joseph Aumann. After being employed as organist at Raab in 1755 and Maria Taferl in 1757, he was appointed Thurnermeister back at Melk Abbey. In 1772 he was appointed organist to the court of Vienna, and in 1792 Kapellmeister of St. Stephen's Cathedral.

His fame as a theorist attracted to him in the Austrian capital a large number of pupils, some of whom afterwards became eminent musicians. Among these were Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Ignaz Moscheles, Josef Weigl, Ludwig-Wilhelm Tepper de Ferguson, Antonio Casimir Cartellieri, Ludwig van Beethoven, Anton Reicha and Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart. See: List of music students by teacher: A to B#Johann Georg Albrechtsberger. Beethoven had arrived in Vienna in 1792 to study with Joseph Haydn, but quickly became infuriated when his work was not being given attention or corrected. Haydn recommended his friend Albrechtsberger, with whom Beethoven then studied harmony and counterpoint. On completion of his studies, the young student noted, "Patience, diligence, persistence, and sincerity will lead to success", which reflects upon Albrechtsberger's own compositional philosophy.

Albrechtsberger is a rare example of an immensely prolific composer and celebrated performer who whose work as an inspired teacher overshadowed his own musical accomplishments. This was a time of transition the Baroque style to the Classical world of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. Essentially, Albrechtsberger is more esteemed for the standards he set than for his large (over 600 works) oeuvre. According to Haydn, Albrechtsberger was the best composition teacher in Vienna; he was a friend of Mozart, and Beethoven studied with him from 1794 to 1795.

From the age of seven, Albrechtsberger was a choirboy with the Augustinians in Klosterneuburg, where he studied organ and composition. In 1765, he settled in Vienna and, after a series of posts as organist, became Assistant Kapellmeister at St. Stephen's Cathedral in 1791, On Mozart's recommendation he was made kapellmeister in 1793.

From 1772 onwards, Albrechtsberger composed 284 church works, 278 keyboard works (mainly organ) and over 240 for other instrumental combinations. The instrumental compositions, both sacred and secular, helped build a bridge between earlier polyphonic and later styles. The vocal works, including oratorios, are developed in original ways from Baroque church sonatas.

Albrechtsberger's influence as a teacher extended to the great Austrian composers of his time. His ideas were presented in his famous Treatise on Composition (1790), a clearly written and accessible work in which he formulated eighteenth-century theory. His arrangements of the works of many important composers, from Palestrina to Mozart, link, so to speak, the Renaissance with Classicism.

Source: AllMusic (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/johann-georg-albrechts berger-mn0001513859/biography).

Although originally written for Violin & Continuo, I created this Interpretation of the Prelude and Fugue (No. 1) in C Major for Piano.