Ignaz Jakob Holzbauer (18 September 1711 – 7 April 1783) was an Austrian composer of

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The ...

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 ...

s, and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

, and a member of the

Mannheim school Mannheim school refers to both the orchestral techniques pioneered by the court orchestra of the Elector Palatine in Mannheim in the latter half of the 18th century and the group of composers of the early classical period, who composed for the or ...

. His aesthetic style is in line with that of the ''

Sturm und Drang (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto-Romanticism, Romantic movement in German literature and Music of Germany, music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity an ...

'' "movement" of German art and literature.

Biography

Holzbauer was born in

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. ...

. Despite the opposition of his parents, who intended him for the law, he studied music, and in 1745 became

kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

to Count Rottal and at the Court Theatre of Vienna. Later he was kapellmeister at

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, Germany. His operas include ''Il figlio delle selve'', which was the opening performance of the

Schlosstheater Schwetzingen Schlosstheater Schwetzingen (Schwetzingen palace theater) is a court theater in Schwetzingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The historic building, opened in 1753, is part of Schloss Schwetzingen and since 1952 the principal venue of the Schwetzi ...

in 1753. Its success led to a job offer from the court at Mannheim, Germany, where he stayed for the rest of his life, continuing to compose and to teach, his students including Johann Anton Friedrich Fleischmann (1766–1798), the

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

, and

Carl Stamitz Carl Philipp Stamitz (; baptized 8 May 17459 November 1801) was a German composer of partial Czech ancestry. He was the most prominent representative of the second generation of the Mannheim School. He was the eldest son of Johann Stamitz, a vio ...

. Holzbauer died in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

, having been entirely deaf for some years. His opera '' Günther von Schwarzburg'', based on the life of the eponymous

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

(and describe
here
, was an early German national opera, a performance of which

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 ...

and his sister attended, through which they met Anton Raaff, who was later to premiere a role in ''

Idomeneo (Italian for ''Idomeneus, King of Crete, or, Ilia and Idamante''; usually referred to simply as ''Idomeneo'', Köchel catalogue, K. 366) is an Italian-language opera seria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Vares ...

.'' This opera has recently been recorded on the label cpo. Holzbauer wrote 196 symphonies. Mozart also composed nine

numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

for insertion in a '' Miserere'' by Holzbauer on commission by the Parisian

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 ...

in 1778, but they have been lost. They have been given the catalog number KV 297a in the list of Mozart's works.

Operas

*''Lucio Papirio'' (

dramma per musica The phrase ''dramma per musica'' (also spelled ''drama per musica''; Italian language, Italian, literally: 'play (or drama) for music', plural: ''drammi per musica'') is commonly found after the title in Italian opera librettos beginning in the ...

, libretto by

Apostolo Zeno Apostolo Zeno (11 December 1668 – 11 November 1750) was a Venetian poet, librettist, journalist, and man of letters. Early life Apostolo Zeno was born in Venice to a Kingdom of Candia#Establishment_of_Venetian_rule, colonial branch of the ...

, 1737, Holleschau) *''Sesostri, re d'Egitto'' (dramma per musica, libretto by Zeno, 1738, Holleschau) *''Vologeso'' (dramma per musica, libretto by Zeno, 1739, Holleschau) *''Hypermnestra'' (German opera, libretto by Johann Leopold van Ghelen, 1741, Vienna) *'' La fata meravigliosa'' (

dramma giocoso ''Dramma giocoso'' (Italian, literally: drama with jokes; plural: ''drammi giocosi'') is a genre of opera common in the mid-18th century. The term is a contraction of ''dramma giocoso per musica'' and describes the opera's libretto (text). The g ...

per musica, 1748, Vienna) *'' Il figlio delle selve'' (favola pastorale per musica, libretto by

Carlo Sigismondo Capece Carlo Sigismondo Capece (21 June 1652 in Rome – 12 March 1728 in Polistena) was an Italian dramatist and librettist. Capece was court poet to Queen Maria Casimira of Poland, who was living in exile in Rome, and is best remembered today for the l ...

, 1753, Schwetzingen) *''L'isola disabitata'' (azione per musica, libretto by

Pietro Metastasio Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and Libretto, librettist, considered the most important writer of ''opera seria'' libretti. Early ...

, 1754, Schwetzingen) *''L'Isspile'' (dramma per musica, libretto by Metastasio, 1754, Mannheim) *'' Il Don Chisciotte'' (opera semiridicola, libretto by Zeno, 1755, Schwetzingen) *''I cinesi'' ( componimento drammatico per musica, libretto by Metastasio and Mattia Verazi, 1756, Schwetzingen) *''Le nozze d'Arianna'' (

festa teatrale The term ''festa teatrale'' (Italian: , plural: ''feste teatrali'' ) refers to a genre of drama, and of opera in particular. The genre cannot be rigidly defined, and in any case ''feste teatrali'' tend to be split into two different sets: ''feste ...

per musica, libretto by Verazi, 1756, Schwetzingen) *''La clemenza di Tito'' (dramma per musica, libretto by Metastasio and Verazi, 1757, Mannheim) *''Nitteti'' (dramma per musica, libretto by Metastasio, 1758, Mannheim) *'' Alessandro nell'Indie'' (dramma per musica, libretto by Metastasio, 1759,

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

) *''Ippolito ed Aricia'' (dramma per musica, libretto by

Carlo Innocenzo Frugoni Carlo Innocenzo Frugoni (21 November 1692 – 20 December 1768) was an Italian poet and librettist. As a poet Frugoni was one of the best of the school of the Arcadian Academy, and his lyrics and pastorals had great facility and elegance. His coll ...

and Verazi, 1759, Mannheim) *'' Günther von Schwarzburg'' (

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- ...

, libretto by Anton Klein, 1777, Mannheim) *''La morte di Didone (revised as Tod der Dido)'' (singspiel, based on a libretto by Metastasio, 1779, Mannheim) *''Tancredi'' (dramma per musica, 1783,

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

)

Orchestral Works (partial list)

*Flute Concerto in A major *Flute Concerto in E minor *Flute Concerto No. 1 in D major *Flute Concerto No. 2 in D major *Oboe Concerto in D minor *Symphony in D minor *Symphony in G major *Symphony in A major, Op. 2, No. 4 *Symphony in E♭ major, Op. 3, No. 1 *Symphony in D major, Op. 3, No. 4

Choral Works (partial list)

*Missa in C major *Missa Brevissima

Pupils

* Maddalena Allegranti (1754-1829), Opera singer

Notes

References

Announcement of a 2007 concert with a sinfonia concertante by Holzbauer

External links

*
Lawrence Bennett
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holzbauer, Ignaz 1711 births 1783 deaths 18th-century German classical composers 18th-century German male musicians German Classical-period composers German opera composers German male opera composers Deaf classical musicians German deaf people