Jean-Frédéric Edelmann (born Johann Friedrich Edelmann; 5 May 1749 – 17 July 1794) was a French classical

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. He was born in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

to a Protestant family of Alsatian descent. After studying law and music, he moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1774 where he played and taught the piano. It is possible that Edelmann worked for some time in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. During the French Revolution he was appointed administrator of the

Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin () is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its lower altitude among the two French Rhine departments: it is downstream of the Haut-Rhin (Upper Rhine) de ...

. In late May 1794 he was arrested after a false accusation of treason (he was in fact an opposer of the terroristic policy and paid the hatred of Saint-Just). Sentenced to death by the

Revolutionary Tribunal The Revolutionary Tribunal (; unofficially Popular Tribunal) was a court instituted by the National Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders. In October 1793, it became one of the most powerful engines of ...

on 17 July 1794 (29th Messidor), he was executed the same day by guillotine in Place de la Barrière du Trône together with his brother Louis, other two Strasbourg citizens, and the sixteen Carmelite nuns of Compiègne (only eleven days before the fall of Robespierre). His work was praised by

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

and

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

. Edelmann composed two operas, an oratorio and various pieces of chamber music.

Works list

Published works

* Op. 1 No. 1 \ Keyboard Sonata in E flat major * Op. 1 No. 2 \ Keyboard Sonata in E major * Op. 1 No. 3 \ Keyboard Sonata in D major * Op. 1 No. 4 \ Keyboard Sonata in A major * Op. 1 No. 5 \ Keyboard Sonata in D major * Op. 1 No. 6 \ Keyboard Sonata in F sharp major * Op. 2 No. 1 \ Keyboard Sonata in C major * Op. 2 No. 2 \ Keyboard Sonata in F major * Op. 2 No. 3 \ Keyboard Sonata in C major * Op. 2 No. 4 \ Keyboard Sonata in G major * Op. 2 No. 5 \ Keyboard Sonata in E major * Op. 2 No. 6 \ Keyboard Sonata in B flat major * Op. 3 No. 1 \ Keyboard Sonata in E flat minor * Op. 3 No. 2 \ Keyboard Sonata in F major * Op. 4 \ Keyboard Concerto in D major * Op. 5 No. 1 \ Keyboard Sonata in A major * Op. 5 No. 2 \ Keyboard Sonata in G minor * Op. 5 No. 3 \ Keyboard Sonata in C minor * Op. 5 No. 4 \ Keyboard Sonata in D minor * Op. 6 No. 1 \ Keyboard Sonata in G minor * Op. 6 No. 2 \ Keyboard Sonata in D minor * Op. 6 No. 3 \ Keyboard Sonata in C major * Op. 7 No. 1 \ Keyboard Sonata in E flat major * Op. 7 No. 2 \ Keyboard Sonata in G minor * Op. 8 No. 1 \ Keyboard Sonata in C minor * Op. 8 No. 2 \ Keyboard Sonata in E minor (Mlle Edelmann) * Op. 8 No. 3 \ Keyboard Sonata in D major * Op. 9 No. 1 \ Keyboard Quartet in E flat major * Op. 9 No. 2 \ Keyboard Quartet in C minor * Op. 9 No. 3 \ Keyboard Quartet in G minor * Op. 9 No. 4 \ Keyboard Quartet in D major * Op. 10 No. 1 \ Keyboard Sonata in F minor * Op. 10 No. 2 \ Keyboard Sonata in E flat major * Op. 10 No. 3 \ Keyboard Sonata in C minor * Op. 10 No. 4 \ Keyboard Sonata in E major * Op. 11 \ Opera ''La bergère des Alpes'' (Paris, Tuileries 20 July 1781) * Op. 12 \ Keyboard Concerto in A minor * Op. 13 No. 1 \ Keyboard Quartet in C major * Op. 13 No. 2 \ Keyboard Quartet in B flat major * Op. 13 No. 3 \ Keyboard Quartet in C minor * Op. 13 No. 4 \ Keyboard Quartet in D major * Op. 14 No. 1 \ Keyboard Concerto in F minor * Op. 14 No. 2 \ Keyboard Concerto in F major * Op. 14 No. 3 \ Keyboard Concerto in E major * Op. 15 No. 1 \ Keyboard Quartet in A major "Le rendez-vous" * Op. 15 No. 2 \ Keyboard Quartet in E major "La toilette de Vénus" * Op. 15 No. 3 \ Keyboard Quartet in G minor "Les regrets d'Herminie" * Op. 15 No. 4 \ Keyboard Quartet in E flat major "La partie de chasse" * Op. 16 \ Airs for keyboard

Unpublished works

* Oratorio ''Esther'' (Paris,

Concert Spirituel The Concert Spirituel () was one of the first public concert series in existence. The concerts began in Paris in 1725 and ended in 1790. Later, concerts or series of concerts with the same name occurred in multiple places including Paris, Vienna ...

, 8 April 1781) lost * Opera ''Ariane dans l’isle de Naxos'' (Paris, Opéra, 24 Sept 1782) * Ballet ''Feu'' (Paris, Opéra, 24 Sept 1782) * Opera ''Diane et l’amour''

References

*Rita Benton: "Jean-Frédéric Edelmann, a Musical Victim of the French Revolution", ''Musical Quarterly'', l (1964), 165–187 *Rita Benton: "The Instrumental Music of Jean-Frédéric Edelmann: a Thematic Catalogue and List of Early Editions", ''Fontes Artis Musicae'', xi (1964), 79–88 *Sylvie Pécot-Douatte: ''A la recherche d'Edelmann le musicien guillotiné'', l'Harmattan, Paris (2001)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edelmann, Jean Frederic French Classical-period composers Musicians from Strasbourg 1749 births 1794 deaths 18th-century French classical composers French people executed by guillotine during the French Revolution French opera composers French male opera composers 18th-century French male musicians