Johann Heinrich Walch (1776–1855), was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

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 ...

, chamber musician and choral master at the court of the Dukes of Saxe-Coburg.

Life

Walch acted in various capacities for

Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (full name: ''Emil Leopold August'') (23 November 1772 — 17 May 1822), was a Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, and the author of one of the first modern novels to treat of homoerotic love. He was the maternal ...

, and after his death for

Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Ernest I (; 2 January 178429 January 1844) served as the last sovereign duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (as Ernest III) from 1806 to 1826 and the first sovereign duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1826 to 1844. He was the father of Prince Albert, ...

, the father of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

's husband

Albert, Prince Consort Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the husband of Queen Victoria. As such, he was consort of the British monarch from their marriage on 10 February 1840 until his ...

Works

Walch composed many well-known

marches In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a state's "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diffe ...

, some of which have long been wrongly attributed 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 ...

and the Prince Consort, Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Many marches supposedly written by Prince Albert for cavalry regiments are actually by Walch, including the regimental quick march of the

Somerset Light Infantry The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, which served under various titles from 1685 to 1959. In 1959, the regiment was amalgamated with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry to form the Som ...

References

Sources

* Werner Probst, "Johann Heinrich Walch komponierte den bekannten Trauermarsch von Beethoven" in ''Mitteilungsblatt des Arbeitskreises Militärmusik'' ( German Society for Military Studies, 21st Year, No. 2, June 1998), pp. 98–105

External links

* ''Beethoven Funeral March No 1'' played during * ''Beethoven Funeral March No 1'' played during * ''Beethoven Funeral March No 1'' played during {{DEFAULTSORT:Walch, Johann Heinrich German Romantic composers Military music composers German conductors (music) German male conductors (music) 1776 births 1855 deaths