Philipp Fahrbach Sr. (25 October 1815 – 31 March 1885) was an Austrian musician. He was in the orchestra of

Johann Strauss I Johann Baptist Strauss I (; ; 14 March 1804 – 25 September 1849), also known as Johann Strauss Sr., the Elder or the Father (), was an Austrian composer of the Romantic music, Romantic Period. He was famous for his light music, namely waltzes, ...

in Vienna, and later led his own ensemble which followed the tradition of the Strauss orchestra; he composed dance music and marches. He was also director of a military band.

Life

Fahrbach was born in 1815 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. ...

, son of Georg Leonhardt Fahrbach and his wife Karoline ''née'' Koberger. His brothers Joseph (1804–1883) and Friedrich (1809–1867) were musicians, and they gave Philipp early musical training. Aged about 14, he joined the orchestra of

, playing flute; Strauss sometimes consulted him about the instrumentation of his works."Fahrbach, Familie"
''Oesterreiches Musiklexikon Online''. Retrieved 21 April 2022. In 1835, he formed his own orchestra. In 1838, when Johann Strauss I was away from Vienna during ''

Fasching A variety of customs and traditions are associated with Carnival celebrations in the German-speaking countries of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. They can vary considerably from country to country, but also from one small region to another. T ...

'', Fahrbach's orchestra benefited from his absence and became popular. From that year, his orchestra often played at royal court balls. From 1841 to 1846, he was conductor with an infantry regiment; on leaving, he formed again his own ensemble. From 1852, after the death of the elder Johann Strauss, his orchestra alternated with the Strauss orchestra at court balls."The Fahrbach Family"
''The Johann Strauss Society of Great Britain''. Retrieved 21 April 2022. In 1856, he returned to conducting the band of an infantry regiment, leaving in 1865. He then formed an ensemble, which became the resident orchestra at ''

Café Sperl Café Sperl is a traditional Viennese café located at Gumpendorfer Straße 11 in the Mariahilf sixth district of Vienna, Austria. The café is on the Austrian Register of Historic Places. History Jacob Ronacher founded the cafe as ''Café Ron ...

''. Fahrbach died in Vienna in 1885. His son Philipp Fahrbach Jr. (1843–1894) was a musician; he conducted his father's orchestra, and was a military bandmaster. He composed popular dance music and marches.

Writings and compositions

In the 1840s, Fahrbach contributed regularly to the ''Allgemeine Wiener Musik-Zeitung''; topics included dance music and military music. He composed about 400 Viennese dances and marches. He wrote two operas: ''Der Liebe Opfer'' (1844) and ''Das Schwert des Königs'' (1845); also ''

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- ...

e'' and church music.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fahrbach Sr., Philipp 1815 births 1885 deaths Composers from Austria-Hungary Composers from the Austrian Empire Composers from Vienna