Christian Gottlob Neefe (; 5 February 1748 – 28 January 1798) was a German

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

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 ...

and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

. He was known as one of the first teachers of

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Life and career

Neefe was born in

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

. He received a musical education and started to compose at the age of 12. He studied law at

Leipzig University Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

, but subsequently returned to music to become a pupil of the composer

Johann Adam Hiller Johann Adam Hiller (25 December 1728 – 16 June 1804) was a German composer, conducting, conductor and writer on music, regarded as the creator of the Singspiel, an early form of German opera. In many of these operas he collaborated with the poet ...

under whose guidance he wrote his first comic operas. In 1776 Neefe joined the

Seyler theatrical company The Seyler Theatre Company, also known as the Seyler Company (German: ''Seylersche Schauspiel-Gesellschaft'', sometimes ''Seylersche Truppe''), was a travelling theatrical company founded in 1769 by Abel Seyler. It was one of the most famous and am ...

Abel Seyler Abel Seyler (23 August 1730, Liestal – 25 April 1800, Rellingen) was a Swiss-born theatre director and former merchant banker, who was regarded as one of the great theatre principals of 18th century Europe. He played a pivotal role in the dev ...

(then) in Dresden, and inherited the position of musical director from his mentor, Hiller. He later became court organist in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

and was the principal piano teacher of

. He helped Beethoven produce some of his first works. His best known work was a

Singspiel A Singspiel (; plural: ; ) is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera. It is characterized by spoken dialogue, which is alternated with ensembles, songs, ballads, and arias which were often strophic, or folk- ...

called ''Adelheit von Veltheim'' (1780). In Bonn, Neefe became prefect of the local chapter of the

Illuminati The Illuminati (; plural of Latin ''illuminatus'', 'enlightened') is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on 1 ...

, the .''Freimaurer-Akten'', Bonn, group 5: "Die Brüder des Bonner Illuminatenordens betreffende Papiere", part 4
"Tabelle Tabelle (...) über die Insinuation des Amtskellers Uxfxbx zu Mainz"
( Adam Umpfenbach), manuscript by Glaukus (i.e. Christian Gottlob Neefe), Stagira, 30 Dimeh 1152 (i.e. 30 October 1782),

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

He died in

Dessau Dessau is a district of the independent city of Dessau-Roßlau in Saxony-Anhalt at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the ''States of Germany, Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Until 1 July 2007, it was an independent ...

Works

Operas

Other works

*''Oden von Klopstock'': Serenade for piano and voice.

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish language, Danish and ; ; ) is an independent city, independent town in the far north of the Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. After Kiel and Lübeck, it is the third-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg's ...

1776 *Variations on the Priestermarsch aus der Zauberflöte *Twelve

piano sonata A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement (Liszt, Scriabin, Medtner, Berg), others with two movemen ...

s *Rondo in C major

References

External links

*
Operone Neefe page, accessed 13 November 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neefe, Christian Gottlob 1748 births 1798 deaths German opera composers German male opera composers Musicians from Chemnitz Seyler theatrical company 18th-century German classical composers 18th-century German male musicians Leipzig University alumni