Franz Xaver Gebauer (c.1784 – 13 December 1822), born in

Prussian Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

, was an organist, composer of church music, and choirmaster and music director of the

Augustinian Church, Vienna The Augustinian Church () in Vienna is a parish church located on Josefsplatz, next to the Hofburg, the winter palace of the Habsburg dynasty in Vienna. Originally built in the 14th century as the parish church of the imperial court of the Habsb ...

. Before his early death he organised the 'Concerts Spirituels' which promoted German music in Vienna at a time when Italian opera was particularly popular.

Life

left, Gebauer was organist in Franckstein ( Ząbkowice Śląskie) Franz Xaver Gebauer was born in Eckersdorf, County of Glatz,

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

(now Bożków, Kłodzko County,

Lower Silesian Voivodeship Lower Silesian Voivodeship (, ) in southwestern Poland, is one of the 16 Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divided. It covers an area of and has a total population of 2,899,986. It is one of the wealthiest ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

.Bożków was located in the lands of the Count of Glatz (now

County of Kladsko The County of Kladsko (, , ) was a historical administrative unit within Bohemia as a part of the Kingdom of Bohemia and later in the Kingdom of Prussia with its capital at Kłodzko (Kladsko) on the Nysa river. The territory comprises the Kło ...

), which until 1742 was a

suzerain A suzerain (, from Old French "above" + "supreme, chief") is a person, state (polity)">state or polity who has supremacy and dominant influence over the foreign policy and economic relations of another subordinate party or polity, but allows i ...

polity A polity is a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of political Institutionalisation, institutionalized social relations, and have a capacity to mobilize resources. A polity can be any group of people org ...

within the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

-ruled

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a History of the Czech lands in the High Middle Ages, medieval and History of the Czech lands, early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the pr ...

; Empress Maria Teresa lost the territory to an invading Prussian army, and Glatz was formally annexed by the

Treaty of Breslau The Treaty of Breslau was a preliminary peace agreement signed on 11 June 1742 following long negotiations at the Silesian capital Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland) by emissaries of Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria and King Frederick II of Pru ...

. ''See also''

Lands of the Bohemian Crown The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were the states in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval and early modern periods with feudalism, feudal obligations to the List of Bohemian monarchs, Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted o ...

. He was the son of a teacher and organist who gave him his first music lessons. After further training in Breslau (now Wrocław) - about north of Glatz - he worked first as an organist in Franckstein in

.An 18th century map of Glatz County shows Glatz (Kladsko) in the centre, Eckersdorf to the NW just in the NeuRoda district, and Franckstein to the NE, just by the title

cartouche upalt=A stone face carved with coloured hieroglyphics. Two cartouches - ovoid shapes with hieroglyphics inside - are visible at the bottom., Birth and throne cartouches of Pharaoh KV17.html" ;"title="Seti I, from KV17">Seti I, from KV17 at the ...

. In 1810 he went to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, where he soon became known for his performances on the "mouth harp" (i.e.

Jew's harp The Jew's harp, also known as jaw harp, juice harp, or mouth harp, is a lamellophone instrument, consisting of a flexible metal or bamboo tongue or reed attached to a frame. Despite the colloquial name, the Jew's harp most likely originated in ...

). In addition, he played the

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

and gave music lessons. In 1816 he was engaged as choral conductor and music director at the

(the 'Hofpfarr Kirche' or Court parish church). He was a founding member in 1812 of the Vienna

Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde The (), also known as the (German for 'Viennese Music Association'), is an Austrian music organization that was founded in 1812 by Beethoven’s friend Joseph Sonnleithner, general secretary of the Court Theatre in Vienna, Austria. Overview ...

until its dissolution in 1848.Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, Band 6
December 1822, Issue 103, pp. 821-2 F. X. Gebauer "held intercourse with Beethoven in a free and easy way without ever exciting the composer's anger." Beethoven punningly refers to him as the "Geh' Bauer" ("Go, peasant') in a letter.

'Concerts spirituels'

The 'Mehlgrube', New Market, Vienna, in 1715 Together with his friend Ferdinand Piringer he founded in 1819 the "Concerts spirituels" in the in the . These were concert seasons which promoted music by German-speaking composers, in competition against the then current craze for

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano p ...

. The concerts began before the Italian season in March, with which even Piringer was taken: in a letter to

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 ...

he wrote, "To-day is the saddest in the Viennese calendar, for yesterday was the last of the Italian opera."The last sentence in Piringer's letter refers to the enthusiasm created by Rossini's operas. Schindler has much to say about it: in the year 1823, he remarks, "the little respect left for German vocal music had vanished." Piringer is often mentioned in the Conversation Books
Beethoven's Letters etc.
/ref> Beethoven's music figured prominently: during the first two seasons of the 'Concerts Spirituels' of 1820–21 and 1821–22 his eight completed symphonies were performed (the 9th was finished in 1824); Leopoldine Blahetka, aged about 11, played the B flat Concerto on 3 April 1820; and the cantatas '' Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt'' and '' Christ on the Mount of Olives'', as well as the Mass in C were given. The choir was thought to be much better than the orchestra; the first concerts seem to have been little more than 'run-throughs' with a band of dedicated amateurs (' dilettanti') scraping their way at sight through the works of Beethoven, who referred to the concerts in his conversation books. Gebauer wrote a number of songs, which were published; other some compositions of e.g. sacred music remained in MS.

Death

Franz Xaver Gebauer died in Vienna at half past midnight on 13 December 1822 of a haemorrhage of the lungs, in his 38th year."...starb am 13. Dezember a.c.um halb ein Uhr früh, im acht und dreyssigsten Jahre am Lungenblutsturtz
Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, Band 6
December 1822, Issue 103, pp. 821-2 (in German): implies he was born after 13 December 1784. The effort of an unaccustomed mountain climb and the rigorous climate on his last trip to Switzerland may have contributed to his early death. Mozart's ''Requiem'', which he venerated highly, was performed in his honour by the choir he founded under Ferdinand Piringer. Piringer took over the 'Concerts spirituels'Ferdinand Piringer
/ref> along with Karl Holz (violinist in the

Schuppanzigh Quartet The Schuppanzigh Quartet was a string quartet formed in Vienna in the 1790s by the violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh. It continued, with breaks and changes of membership, for many years. Schuppanzigh was a close friend and admirer of Ludwig van Beethove ...

) and the tenor Ludwig Titze, with Eduard Lannoy as conductor.

References

;Notes ;Citations ;Sources * Eduard Bernsdorf (ed.)
''Neues Universal-Lexikon der Tonkunst.'' Band 2, 1857, Seite 122
(In German)

''Österreiche Lexicon'' (in German). AEIOU. Retrieved 9 November 2015. * Eduard Hanslick
''Geschichte des Concertwesens in Wien.'' Band 1, 1869, p. 185
(In German) *&nbs
Volume 1Volume 2

Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, Band 6, December 1822, Issue 103
pp. 821–2 (Obituary) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gebauer, Franz Xaver 1784 births 1822 deaths German conductors (music) German male conductors (music) German organists German male organists German Romantic composers People from Prussian Silesia People from Kłodzko County 19th-century German musicians 19th-century German male musicians 19th-century German organists