Johann Georg

Albrechtsberger

Johann Georg Albrechtsberger portrait by Leopold

Kupelwieser
Kupelwieser

Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (3

February 1736 – 7 March 1809)[1] was an
Austrian composer, organist, and music
theorist and one of the teachers of Ludwig
van Beethoven.

Biography
Albrechtsberger was born at
Klosterneuburg, near Vienna. He originally
studied music at Melk Abbey and
philosophy at a Benedictine seminary in
Vienna and became one of the most
learned and skillful contrapuntists of his
age. Albrechtsberger's earliest classmates
included Michael Haydn and Franz Joseph
Aumann.[2] After being employed as
organist at Raab in 1755 and Maria Taferl
in 1757, he was appointed Thurnermeister
back at Melk Abbey. In 1772 he was
appointed organist to the court of Vienna,
and in 1792 Kapellmeister of St. Stephen's
Cathedral.

His fame as a theorist attracted to him in

the Austrian capital a large number of
pupils, some of whom afterwards became
eminent musicians. Among these were
Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Ignaz
Moscheles, Josef Weigl (1766–1846),
Ludwig-Wilhelm Tepper de Ferguson
(1768 – after 1824), Antonio Casimir
Cartellieri, Ludwig van Beethoven, Anton
Reicha and Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart.
See: List of music students by teacher: A
to B#Johann Georg Albrechtsberger.
Beethoven had arrived in Vienna in 1792 to
study with Joseph Haydn but quickly
became infuriated when his work was not
being given attention or corrected. Haydn
recommended his friend Albrechtsberger,
with whom Beethoven then studied
harmony and counterpoint.[3] On
completion of his studies, the young
student noted, "Patience, diligence,
persistence, and sincerity will lead to
success," which reflects upon
Albrechtsberger's own compositional
philosophy.

When Beethoven was finished studying

with Albrechtsberger he decided to get a
few more tips and pointers, so to speak,
from Haydn. From there Beethoven
possibly studied with Antonio Salieri, but
this is unknown as a fact. It is also quite
possible that Beethoven went off on his
own to make a living, and only then
returned after he had a stable career.

Albrechtsberger died in Vienna; his grave

is in St. Marx cemetery.

Compositions

A folio from VII Canoni a piu voci in partitura, by

Albrechtsberger, written in his own hand.
His published compositions consist of
preludes, fugues and sonatas for the piano
and organ, string quartets, etc.; but the
greater proportion of his works, vocal and
instrumental, exists only in manuscript.
They are in the library of the Vienna
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. Around
1765, he wrote at least seven concerti for
jaw harp and strings (three survive in the
Hungarian National Library in Budapest).
They are pleasant, well written works in
the galant style. One of his most notable
works is his Concerto for Alto Trombone
and Orchestra in B ♭ Major. As the
trombone has few works dating back to
the classical period, his concerto is often
highlighted by the trombone community.
He also wrote a Concerto for the Mandola,
Op. 27, written positively about in the 1914
book The Guitar and Mandolin.[4]

Probably the most valuable service he

rendered to music was in his theoretical
works. In 1790 he published at Leipzig a
treatise on composition, of which a third
edition appeared in 1821. A collection of
his writings on harmony, in three volumes,
was published under the care of his pupil
Ignaz von Seyfried (1776–1841) in 1826.
An English version of this was published
by Novello in 1855. His compositional
style derives from Johann Joseph Fux's
counterpoint, who was Kapellmeister at St
Stephen's Cathedral 1713-1741, a position
that Albrechtsberger would hold 52 years
later.

A continuous thread can be traced from

his teaching through that of his pupil
Reicha, who went on to become the first
Professor of Counterpoint and Fugue at
the Paris Conservatoire from 1818 to his
death in 1836, and who in turn reached a
wide audience through both his own
teaching and his theoretical writings,
which were standard reference at the
Conservatoire for most of the 19th century
and translated into German by Czerny.

References
1. Randel, Don Michael, ed. (1996).
"Albrechtsberger, Johann Georg". The
Harvard biographical dictionary of
music . Cambridge, Massachusetts:
Belknap Press of Harvard Univ. Press.
p. 12. ISBN 0-674-37299-9.
2. p. 556, Anderson (1982) Robert. 123
"Mostly unknown" 1674 The Musical
 Times August
3. p. 82, Lockwood (2005) Lewis. New
York Beethoven: The Music and the
Life W. W. Norton & Company
4. The guitar and mandolin : biographies
of celebrated players and composers
for these instruments, by Philip J.
Bone

Sources
 This article incorporates text from a
publication now in the public
domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911).
"Albrechtsberger, Johann Georg".
 Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.).
Cambridge University Press.

External links

Wikisource has the text of the 1911

Encyclopædia Britannica article
Albrechtsberger, Johann Georg.

Catholic Encyclopedia article

Free scores by Johann Georg
Albrechtsberger in the Choral Public
Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
Free scores by Johann Georg
Albrechtsberger at the International
 Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)

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