Florian Leopold Gassmann (1729 – 1774) was a
German-speaking Bohemian opera composer of the
transitional period between the baroque and classical
eras. He was one of the principal composers of dramma
giocoso immediately before Mozart. He was born in
Brüx, Bohemia, and was most likely trained by Johann
Woborschil, the local chorus master. His father was a
goldsmith who may well have opposed his son's choice of
a musical career.
From 1757 until 1762, he wrote an opera every year for
th...(+)
Florian Leopold Gassmann (1729 – 1774) was a
German-speaking Bohemian opera composer of the
transitional period between the baroque and classical
eras. He was one of the principal composers of dramma
giocoso immediately before Mozart. He was born in
Brüx, Bohemia, and was most likely trained by Johann
Woborschil, the local chorus master. His father was a
goldsmith who may well have opposed his son's choice of
a musical career.
From 1757 until 1762, he wrote an opera every year for
the carnival season in Venice, and was also appointed
choirmaster in the girls’ conservatory in Venice in
1757. Many of the librettos he set were by the renowned
Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni. In 1763 he was
called to Vienna as court ballet composer, and was held
in great affection by Emperor Joseph II. In 1764 he was
appointed chamber composer to the Emperor, and in 1772
court conductor. In 1766 Gassmann met up-and-coming
young Antonio Salieri in Venice, invited him to return
with him to Vienna and taught him composition using
Johann Joseph Fux’s textbook Gradus ad Parnassum.
Salieri remained in Vienna, and succeeded Gassmann as
chamber composer to the Emperor on the latter's death
in 1774. Another Italian composer, Giuseppe Bonno,
succeeded Gassmann as court conductor. In 1771,
Gassmann founded the Tonkünstler-Societät (Society of
Musical Artists), which was the first group in Vienna
to give concerts for the general public, and for the
benefit of its members' widows and orphans. He wrote
his oratorio La Betulia liberata for that purpose. In
1774, he died in Vienna from long-term consequences of
a carriage accident sustained on his final visit to
Italy.
Gassmann's two daughters, Anna Fuchs and Therese
Rosenbaum, were both famous singers trained by Salieri;
the younger, Therese, made a particular name for
herself as a Mozart interpreter. Charles Burney, in one
of his published accounts of his many European tours
surveying the musical scene, recalls, on a visit to
Joseph II and his court, meeting Gassmann and finding
him very forthcoming. Among the manuscripts Gassmann
showed him, he reserved most of his praise for his
chamber works. Burney was either not exposed to, or
said nothing about, Gassmann's orchestral music. Johann
Baptist Wanhal is described by author Daniel Heartz as
Gassmann's "protégé".
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florian_Leopold_Gassmann
).
Although originally composed for String Trio, I created
this Interpretation of the Fuga No. 1 in G Major for
Woodwind Trio (Flute, Oboe & Bassoon).
SHEET MUSIC