Josef Antonín Štěpán or Joseph Anton Steffan ( – ) was a

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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

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

ist. Steffan was born in Kopidlno, near Hradec Králové, Bohemia in March 1726, the son of a schoolmaster and church organist. He received his first musical lessons from his father. In 1741 he fled from the

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n army to

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. There, taken in the household of Count Schlick, he became a student of Georg Christoph Wagenseil. As one of the most respectable harpsichordist in Vienna he became the piano teacher of Maria Carolina and

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. In 1775, he contracted an eye disease which left him almost blind. He gave up his position at the court, but continued to compose. Almost forgotten he died in Vienna in April 1797.

Works

Steffan's compositional output includes sacred works and chamber music (especially piano music). In particular he wrote caprices, harpsichord sonatas and concertos. Specific works include: * 6 caprices for piano * 6 concertos for harpsichord and harp with violin, cello, flutes and horns, Op. 3, No. 1-6 * 11 variations on an aria by Johann Christian Bach * Collection of German songs for the piano * Concerto for two alto recorders and basso continuo in F major * Divertimenti, Op. 1, Nos. 1-6 * Divertimento for two pianos, two violins and bass in E flat major (originally attributed to Haydn, Hob: XIV: Es1) * Divertimento in B-flat major * Minuets for piano * Piano Concerto in B-flat major * Piano Trio in C major * Sonata in A major * Sonata in B-flat major * Sonata in D major * Sonata in E major * Sonata in G major

References

*Picton, Howard J.: ''The Life and Works of Joseph Anton Steffan (1726 - 1797): with special reference to his keyboard concertos.'' 2 volumes. Garland Pub. 1989.

External links

* 1726 births 1797 deaths Blind classical musicians 18th-century Austrian composers Austrian Classical-period composers Austrian male classical composers Czech male classical composers German Bohemian people People from Jičín District Pupils of Georg Christoph Wagenseil 18th-century classical composers 18th-century Austrian male musicians Czech people with disabilities Austrian blind people {{CzechRepublic-composer-stub