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 ...(+)
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.
SHEET MUSIC