Joseph Mainzer
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Joseph Mainzer (21 October 1801 – 10 November 1851) was a German music teacher, who spent the last period of his life in the United Kingdom, promoting a vision of choral singing for the masses, as part of the singing-class movement.


Life

Born at
Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...
21 October 1801, Mainzer was educated in the maîtrise of
Trier Cathedral The High Cathedral of Saint Peter in Trier (), or Trier Cathedral (), is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the oldest cathedral in Germany and the largest religious structure in Trier, notable for its long l ...
, and learned several musical instruments. He worked subsequently in the
Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...
coal mines with the view of becoming an engineer; and after a time was ordained a Catholic priest in 1826, afterwards being made an
abbé ''Abbé'' (from Latin , in turn from Greek , , from Aramaic ''abba'', a title of honour, literally meaning "the father, my father", emphatic state of ''abh'', "father") is the French word for an abbot. It is also the title used for lower-ranki ...
. He was appointed singing-master to the college at Trier. Mainzer left Germany on account of his political opinions, and in 1833 went to
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
. There he wrote an opera, and acted as musical editor of ''L'Artiste''. Moving to Paris, he taught popular singing classes and contributed musical articles to journals. In 1839 Mainzer went to the United Kingdom, and in 1841 he competed unsuccessfully for the music chair at the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
. He was in Edinburgh till about 1848, when he left for Manchester. There he died, 10 November 1851.


Works

Mainzer's best-known work was ''Singing for the Million'', London, 1841. It passed through many editions, and its title was taken by
Thomas Hood Thomas Hood (23 May 1799 – 3 May 1845) was an English poet, author and humorist, best known for poems such as "The Bridge of Sighs (poem), The Bridge of Sighs" and "The Song of the Shirt". Hood wrote regularly for ''The London Magazine'', '' ...
as the subject of a humorous poem. The system was the French method of
solfège In music, solfège (British English or American English , ) or solfeggio (; ), also called sol-fa, solfa, solfeo, among many names, is a mnemonic used in teaching aural skills, Pitch (music), pitch and sight-reading of Western classical music, W ...
with absolute pitch: Mainzer himself had success with it. His other works include: * ''Singschule: oder Praktische Anweisung zum Gesange'', Trier, 1831. * ''Treatise on Musical Grammar and the Principles of Harmony'' London, 1843. * ''The Gaelic Psalm Tunes of Ross-shire and the Neighbouring Counties'', Edinburgh, 1844, mostly recorders from the singing of the traditional teachers. * ''The Standard Psalmody of Scotland'', Edinburgh, 1845, based on the old tunes in
John Knox John Knox ( – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Church of Scotland. Born in Giffordgate, a street in Haddington, East Lot ...
's ''Psalter''. * ''Music and Education'', London, 1848. ''Mainzer's Musical Times'', which he founded, was the basis of ''
The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' was an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer's Musical Times and Singing Circular'', but in 1844 he sold it to Alfr ...
'', still published. His musical compositions were largely ephemeral.


Notes


External links

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Mainzer, Joseph 1801 births 1851 deaths German music educators 19th-century German Roman Catholic priests German emigrants to the United Kingdom 19th-century German male musicians