Karl Ludwig Drobisch (24 December 1803 – 20 August 1854) was a German composer, music theorist and church musician. He wrote an

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

about

Saint Boniface Boniface, OSB (born Wynfreth; 675 –5 June 754) was an English Benedictines, Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...

, but it was not successful, which made him turn to composing sacred music including 18

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

es.

Biography

Karl Ludwig Drobisch was born on 24 December 1803 in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

to Karl Wilhelm Drobisch, a Leipzig city clerk, and his second wife, Renata Dorothee Wilhelmine Klotz. He was the younger brother of

Moritz Wilhelm Drobisch Moritz Wilhelm Drobisch (16 August 1802 – 30 September 1896) was a German mathematician, logician, psychologist and philosopher. His brother was the composer Karl Ludwig Drobisch (1803–1854). Life Drobisch studied mathematics and philosophy ...

. The father served as the boys' teacher from a young age, and they were able to read and write, as well as perform rudimentary mathematics, before they entered the Nikolai Primary School in Leipzig. Karl and Moritz enjoyed astronomy and together calculated

lunar phase A lunar phase or Moon phase is the apparent shape of the Moon's directly sunlit portion as viewed from the Earth. Because the Moon is tidally locked with the Earth, the same hemisphere is always facing the Earth. In common usage, the four maj ...

s and planetary movement. Karl attended secondary school at the highly-esteemed Fürstenschule St. Augustin zu Grimma starting in 1817. He commenced studies 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 ...

in 1821. It was here that he undertook the serious study of music theory under organist J. A. Dröbs. In 1826 Drobisch wrote the

''Bonifazius, der Apostel der Deutschen'', which was among the first of numerous German oratorios on the subject of

. The oratorio was not successful, and he traveled to Munich to study at the libraries there. He left Munich in 1837 and took the position of music director at the Church of St. Anne in

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

. He was not employed there long, soon resigning in order to entirely focus on composing. Drobisch died 20 August 1854 in Augsburg.

Compositions

Drobisch wrote one oratorio in 1825–1826, which was not successful. Following this his style changed, and he focused on works of a purer religious nature, including 18 masses as well as graduals, offertories and psalm settings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drobisch, Karl Ludwig 1803 births 1854 deaths German Romantic composers German male classical composers Oratorio composers 19th-century German male musicians Leipzig University alumni