The Rösler-Rosetti Problem: A Confusion of Pseudonym and Mistaken Identity

Author(s): Sterling E. Murray

Source: Music & Letters, Vol. 57, No. 2 (Apr., 1976), pp. 130-143
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/734980 .
Accessed: 10/07/2014 05:02

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Oxford University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Music
&Letters.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 80.193.102.218 on Thu, 10 Jul 2014 05:02:31 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 THE ROSLER-ROSETTI PROBLEM:
A CONFUSION OF PSEUDONYM AND
MISTAKEN IDENTITY
BY STERLING E. MURRAY

MISATTRIBUTION has posed a persistentstumblingblock forstudents

of late eighteenth-century music.1 Scholars are still wrestlingwith
the knottyproblems of identificationwhich surround not only well-
known musical families of the period, like the Bachs, Mozarts,
Haydns, Stamitzes, and Sammartinis, but also the lesser-known-
and sometimes larger-families like the Bendas, Grauns, Midas,
Toeschis, Cannabichs, and Wranitzkys.Not all problemsof mistaken
identity concern family tangles. An eighteenth-centurycomposer
or performerwith a common nanmewas likely to have at least one
non-related double. The prolificBohemian composer Franz Xaver
Pokorny (I728-94) shared his last name with no less than eleven
other musicians of his day. Compounding the confusionis the fact
that some musicians adopted a pseudonym, like the Bohemian
composer and horn virtuosoJohann Wenzel Stich (I746-I803), who
won tremendous acclaim as a performerunder the pseudonym
Giovanni Punto. When both the problems of mistaken identity,
resultingfromtwo or more musicians sharing the same name, and
the adoption of an alias are combined, a frustratingmaze of con-
flictinginformationresults.Such are the problems surroundingthe
lifeand music ofthe Bohemian composerAntonio Rosetti (I 750-92) 2.
Rosetti was born Franz Anton Rosler (Rossler) in Leitmeritz,
Bohemia. Under this name he received his early education and
musical trainingin the Jesuit seminariesof his native land. He was
originally intended for the priesthood, but before completing his
vows and being ordained he abandoned the religiouslife to become
a professional musician. Eighteenth-centuryBohemia produced
more talented musicians than its nobility could sustain, and many
left their homeland in search of success elsewhere. Realizing the
greater opportunities offered musicians outside Bohemia, Rosetti
emigratedto Germany. He was in his early twentieswhen he joined
the small Bavarian Hofkapelleof Kraft Ernst, Prince of Oettingen-
1 For one discussionof thisproblem see Jan LaRue, 'Major and Minor Mysteries
of Identificationin the i8th-CenturySymphony',jrournalof theAmerican Musicological
xiii (I960),
Society, I8I-96.
2The informationpresentedhere is based in part on SterlingE. Murray,Antonio
Ph.D. dissertation,Universityof Michigan, I973
Rosetti(1750-1792) and his Symphonies,
(UniversityMicrofilms,I973), and Horace Fitzpatrick,'Antonio Rosetti', Music &
xliii(I962),
Letters, 234-47.

I30

This content downloaded from 80.193.102.218 on Thu, 10 Jul 2014 05:02:31 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Wallerstein. Afterthis the Bohemian composer referredto himself
as Antonio Rosetti. Occasionally referenceswere made to him as
Rosler, but the majorityof contemporaneous documents known to
the presentauthor agree with the Italian formof his name, although
preserved with a lack of orthographic consistency typical of the
period: Rosetty,Rossetti,Rosti, Rosety, Roseta, and Rosette.
Beginning as a house servant and double-bass player, Rosetti
rose quickly to the position of Kapellmeister and court composer.
Under Kraft Ernst's patronage and Rosetti's musical supervision
the Wallerstein Hofkapelleimproved steadily, and soon its precision
and nuance of expressionwere acknowledged throughoutGermany.
But while Wallerstein was fertileground for musical growth,court
positions provided little financial reward. Rosetti found it difficult
to support his family,and in 1789 afterrepeated requests forsalary
increments(most of which were denied) he relinquished his WValler-
stein post to become Kapellmeister of the Duke of Mecklenburg-
Schwerin at Ludwigslust in northernGermany. Under the duke's
patronage Rosetti's financial situation improved significantlyand
his lifebecame easier. But his health had weakened during his years
in Wallerstein,and afteronly four years in his new position Rosetti
died at the age of 42.
Rosetti was an almost exact contemporary of Mozart, and
his compositions parallel the mature works of his more fainous
contemporary. A versatile and prolific composer, in his short
lifetime Rosetti wrote over 200 compositions, embracing most of
the chiefinstrumentaland vocal genres popular in his day with the
exception of opera seria.3 The majorityof his vocal worksare settings
of religious texts,including oratorios,Masses and numerous miscel-
laneous church compositions.Rosetti's music was composed accord-
ing to the demands of his patrons and fashioned afterthe resources
at their courts. Thus, since Prince Kraft Ernst did not maintain a
permanent theatre or a large choral ensemble at Wallerstein,
Rosetti composed no stage works and few large choral compositions
in the years between I773 and I789. Aftermoving to Mecklenburg-
Schwerin he worked for a court which favoured vocal music, but
where opera had only recently been reinstituted.Only two stage
works date from Rosetti's four years at Ludwigslust, both of them
insignificantcompositions belonging to the miscellaneous category
of occasional pieces. Most of Rosetti's music is instrumental,with
concertos and symphonies assuming the primary position. Pre-
dominalntlyfor wind instruments,Rosetti's concertos include four-
teen forflute,nine for oboe, fivefor clarinet, eight for bassoon and
fourteenforhorn. These compositionsare noteworthycontributions

a Manuscriptand printedversionsofRosetti'scompositionsare scatteredthroughout

European and Americanlibrariesand archives.Completesource locationscan be found
in Thematisches
Verzeichnis
de) Instrumentalwerke
vonAntonRosetti,ed. Oskar Kaul and Hans
Schmid, Wiesbaden, I968.

I3I

This content downloaded from 80.193.102.218 on Thu, 10 Jul 2014 05:02:31 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
to the repertoryof the wind concerto, which has been largely
neglectedin modern-dayperformanceand research. Completing the
tally of concertos are three for keyboard instruments,seven for
fortwo hornsand one fortwo violins.
concertantes
violin, six simphonies
Rosetti's interest in wind instrumentsis also reflected in his 22
partitas (Parthien).Whereas the larger compositionslean toward the
crisp colour of wind instruments,Rosetti favoured the more basic
stringand keyboard sonoritiesin his chamber music, which includes
nine string quartets, 26 unaccompanied and seven accompanied
keyboard sonatas, as well as numerous miscellaneous compositions
for keyboard solo or small ensembles with or without keyboard. At
present, approximately 36 symphonies can be attributed safely to
Rosetti. These works form the mainstay of Rosetti's instrumental
music. In addition, there are a few compositions of symphonic
dimensions, but cast in chamber music forms; these include two
serenades, a notturno, and various orchestral minuets.
Rosetti's adoption of an Italian name led some of his contem-
poraries to mistake him for a native of that country. Christian
Friedrich Daniel Schubart, who was an ardent admirer of the
Wallerstein ensemble, wrote: 'Rosetti is the firstItalian to have
succeeded in settingGerman poetryto music',4 and an essay on the
programmatic symphony in the AllgemeinemusikalischeZeitung
claimed that 'Dittersdorfin Germany and Rosetti in Italy were the
firstto attempt this sort of composition'.5The inevitable confusion
which resultedfromRosler being known also as Rosetti was further
compounded by the presence on the European musical scene of
several musicians who shared one or other of the Bohemian com-
poser's surnames. Ernst Ludwig Gerber recorded four other
Rosettis active in Europe in the late eighteenthcenturyin addition
to the Wallerstein Kapellmeister:

. . . at the presenttimethereare no less than fivevirtuososof this

name, some of whom are probablyalso composers.The second is
Antonio Rosetti of Milan, the third,Russitschka,a Bohemian,
whose name is a diminutiveof 'rose', forwhich reason he is also
called Rosetti;thefourth,a harpist,was on tourin 1794 underthis
name. Finally, the fifthwas a Rosler who travelled Germany,
apparentlyas WallersteinKapellmeister,under Rosetti'sChristian
nameand surnamewhilethetrueRosettiwas in factin Paris.6

THE MILANESE ROSETTI

Most of these musicians were active primarily as performers.
The most problematic is Gerber's second Rosetti, an Italian com-
poser of operas and ballets born in Milan in I 744 More than one
ed. Ludwig Schubart,Vienna, i8o6, p. i68.
4Aesthetikder Tonkunst,
Zeitung,ii (I799-i800),
5Allgemeine musikalische 748, as cited in AntonRosetti:
Ausgewahlte Sinfonien, ed. Oskar Kaul ('Denkmaler der Tonkunst in Bayern', xxii
(Jg. xii/i)), Leipzig, I9I2 (rev. edn., Wiesbaden, I968), p. ix.
Lexikon
6 Neueshistorisch-biographisches Leipzig, I 8 I 2-I 4, iii. 922.
derTonkiinstler,

I 32

This content downloaded from 80.193.102.218 on Thu, 10 Jul 2014 05:02:31 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
lexicographer has mistaken the Italian Antonio Rosetti for the
Bohemian composer. Gerber himselfmade this error in the first
edition of his Tonkuinstler-Lexikon,
where he identifiedthe Wallerstein
Rosetti as 'born in Milan around 1744'. 8 Gerber corrected his
mistake in the second edition," but in,the meantime it had been
recorded in the French dictionary of Choron and Fayolle, first
published in i8io-ii,10 and reappeared in the second printingof
that work six years later. In fact, Gerber's initial mistake was
perpetuated through the nineteenth century,appearing as late as
I893 in a biographical sketchof Rosetti by Otto Kade.11
Little is known about the Milanese Rosetti except that he was
primarilya composer of stage workspopular in the 178os in Venice,
Naples, and Milan. 12 The Italian Rosetti's most important operas
were Olimpiade,based on a text by Metastasio and composed in
I 778, I quaqueriand II piu bel dono,inutile,both composed for the
Venetian carnival of I779.13 A duettinofor soprano and tenor from
the last opera, entitled 'Or che per te sospiro', was published in
Venice by Alessandri e Scataglia.14 The Italian Rosetti was also the
composer of the opera II GrandCid which is sometimesattributedto
15 This work received its firstperform-
the Wallerstein Kapellmeister.
ance at Teatro San Carlo, Naples, on I2 January I780, with Rosa
Agostino, Gaetano Scavelli and Domenico Bedini in the leading
roles.16 In addition to operas, some other substantial stage works
have survivedattributedto 'Antonio Rossetti'. Most are pantomime
ballets performedin connection with full-lengthoperas by other
composers. Evidence of the performancesof three such works at the
Teatro San Carlo has survived.17In May 1784 Rosetti contributed
the music to a 'ballo eroica in tre atti' by Domenica LeFevre
entitled II ritornodi Rinaldo,pressoArmidaor La vendetta di Armida
vinta dall'amore,which was performed along with Biachi's Cajo
Mario. In the late summerof that same year Rosetti again collabor-
ated with LeFevre to produce Columbonell'Indie,a 'ballo tragico
pantominico in cinique atti', performedwith L'Artenice, and exactly

I Felix Joseph Lipowskyin his Baierisches Musik-Lexikon (Munich, i8 iI) identifies

Rosettias 'born in Leitmeritz,Bohemia, in 1744' (p. 325).
8 Historisch-biographisches
LexikonderTonkiinstler, Leipzig, I 790-92, ii. 324.
NeuesLexikon,iii. 920.
10 Alexander E. Choron and F. J. M. Fayolle, Dictionnaire historiquedes musiciens,
artistesetamateurs,morts
ou vivans,Paris, I8I0-I I, ii. 237-8.
'I Die Musikalien-Sammlung des grossherzoglich Mecklenburg-Schweriner Furstenhauses
aus
denletzten zweijaahrhunderten,
Schwerin,I893-9, ii. i68.
12 Carlo Schmidl, Dizionario universale dei musicisti,Milan, I928-9, supplemento,
pp. 663-4.
13 Oscar G. T. Sonneck,Catalogue of OperaLibrettosPrinted Beforei8oo, Washington,
D.C., I9I4 (reprinted,New York, I967), pp. 172, 242, 706, 8I9, 879, 9I0.
14 Copies of this edition are located in the conservatory librariesin Bologna and
Venice (fondoCorrern. ioo) and in the BritishLibrary.
15 See prefaceto F. A. Rossler-Rosetti,Notturno in D-dur,ed. Jan Racek ('Musica
Antiqua Bohemica',xxxii), Prague, 1957, p. ix.
16Francesco Florimo,La Scuolamusicale di Napoli e i suoiconservatorii,
Bologna, 1882,
iv. 246-7.
17 Ibid.

'33

This content downloaded from 80.193.102.218 on Thu, 10 Jul 2014 05:02:31 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
one year later Don Petroinfantedi Portogallowith Antonio Sacchini's
Lulla Vero.The Sinfonia in A major to the ballo Alessandronell'Indie
(1785), scored for two oboes, two clarinets, two horns and strings,
has survivedin the libraryof the Milan conservatory.This overture
is sometimes cited as a concert symphony by the Wallerstein
Rosetti, but it is more probably an opera overtureby the Milanese
composer.18
The Estense library of Modena preserves-in addition to
mnanuscripts for five symphonies by the Bohemian Kapellmeister-
a cantata Al sospiratolido for soprano accompanied by two violins,
two horns,oboe and bass, and a Missa pro defunctis which may also
be the work of the Milanese composer.19The libraryof the Istituto
Musicale Nicola Paganini in Genoa includes in its collection an
aria, 'Oh portento, oh stupor', from the opera Sogno di Rinaldo
(Lucca, I 778) and a cantata Armidebased on a text by Petro
Benedetti.20These two works may also have been composed by the
Italian Rosetti.
Before precise attributionof any of these compositions can be
claimed, a thoroughstudyof diplomatic evidence as well as stylistic
criteriais needed. While such an authenticationis not the purpose
of this study, it might be helpful to point out certain superficial
distinctionsbetween the Rosettis of Italy and Germany. While the
Milanese Rosetti composed predominantly in vocal and dance
forms-opera, cantata, and ballet-these categories play only a
minimal role in the Bohemian composer's output. Moreover, of the
few large vocal compositionswhich can safely be attributedto the
Bohemian composer none is based on an Italian text.21The Italian
Rosetti also consistentlyappears to have signed his name using
two s's, though the casual attitude of eighteenth-century
composers
and copyiststowards such mattersmeans that the mere spelling of a
name cannot be accepted as irrefutableevidence of authorship.
Yet another composer named Rosetti turns up in the early
nineteenth century. In the early I8oos two publications were
issued by Jean. Ricordi in Milan, attributed to a Barone Antoine
Rossetti:

18 The titlepage of the score reads: 'Sinfonia/conpiu stromentiobligati/DelSigr.

D. Antonio Rosetti/Balloa di 4/gbre I785. Alessandro nell' Indie/Proprietadella
Litographia Partelli'. It is a one-movementcomposition,which ends on a dominant
chord.
19 Associazione italiani,cittadi A-fodena,
dei musicologi Estense,ed. Pio Lodi,
R. biblioteca
Bologna, 1967, p. 257.
20 Bibliotecadell' IstitutoMusicale 'Nicolo Paganini', Catalogodel fondo antico, cd.
Salvatore Pintacuda, Milan, i966, pp. 388-9.
21 The onlyextantcomposition withan Italian textknownto the presentauthoris a
concertaria, 'Non vidi alma', forbass voice and orchestraof two hornsand strings.This
compositionis dated 26 July 1786, and the manuscriptpartsin the FurstlichOettingen-
Wallerstein'scheI-ofbibliothekund Kunstsammlung(Schloss Harburg, Harburg uber
Donauworth, Bavaria) bear the inscription'Del SignoreAnt: Rossetti/a Wallerstein/
DescripsitAloysiosHarder'. Another Italian aria is mentionedin a letterwrittento
Rosetti from one Herr Loesch, 'Conseiller Secretaire intime de S. S. S. Msgrs le
Marggrave,Regnant de Brandeb[ourg]',on 4 June 1780.

'34

This content downloaded from 80.193.102.218 on Thu, 10 Jul 2014 05:02:31 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Variations pour le Forte-pianocomposees et dediees a madame
le Baronne Angelique de Turkheimpar le Bn. Antoine Rossetti.
Milano: Jean Ricordi [plate-numberI8 i].
Danses alemandesa quatre mains pour le pianofortedediees a son
ami Eduard le Comtede Lambergpar le BaronA. Rossetti.Milano:
Jean Ricordi [plate-numberi82].22

Since Giovanni Ricordi (1785-I853), the founder of the great

Italian printing house, did not begin his business in Milan until
i8o8, these editions date from the period between i8o8 and I853.
In a study of plate-numbersforthe purpose of dating early Ricordi
Publications, Thomas Heck suggeststhat the numbers in the I8os
date from the period I8I4-I5.23 The location of the publisher
might at firstsuggest that Baron Rossetti was none other than the
Milanese opera composer. In I815 Antonio Rossetti would have
been 7I years old, and while it is possible that these works were
products of the Milanese septuagenarian's pen, such a theoryis not
documented. In any event, these keyboard pieces are definitely
not the workof the WallersteinKapellmeister.

RUSSITSCHKA (also RUZICKA)

Of Gerber's third Rosetti, the Bohemian Russitschka, nothing
furtheris known, except that the same person is mentioned in
Bossler's MusikalischeKorrespondenz
of 9 May I792:

. . . there is in addition a certain Bohemian, Herr Russitschka,

[meaning] a littleyoung rose, who has also been taken for Herr
Rosetti.24

The accounts of this musician provided by Gerber and Bossler are

so similar that it seems probable one derived his informationfrom
the other.

ROSETTI THE HARPIST

Gerber's fourthRosetti, the harpist,mightbe FriedrichWilhelm
Rosetti, a chamber musician to the Prince of Thurn und Taxis.
Friedrich Rosetti was born in I 763 in Berlin, the son of a court
musician. 25 In 1794 he was employed by the Taxis Hofkapelle.
2.

Aftera disagreementwith Baron von Schacht, the music-intendant,

Rosetti absconded with a harp which belonged to the Taxis princess.
He was apprehended in Magdeburg and the harp was returned,
but nothingfurtheris known of him.
22
I am indebted to Claudio Sartoriforthisinformation.
23
'Ricordi Plate Numbersin the Earlier igth Century: A Chronological Survey',
CurrentMusicology,x (1970), 119.
24 Quoted
byKaul,Denkmaler derTonkunstinBayern,
xxii,p. x.
25 GottfriedHuber, 'Zur Geschichteder Musik am fuirstlichThurn und Taxis'schen
Hofe', MS N43 in the Thurn und Taxis Hofbibliothek,Regensburg(dated 1914).

135

This content downloaded from 80.193.102.218 on Thu, 10 Jul 2014 05:02:31 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Another harpist, by the name of Rasetti, was active in Paris in
the I780S. The Tablettesde renommeie des musiciensidentifieshim as
'Rasetti, Maitre de Harpe, a fait plusieurs Sonates & Pieces de
Clavecin, d'un style agreable recherche'.26This musician should
not be confused with the pianist Amadeo Razetti (Rasetti), who
was also in Paris at the same time. The latter was born in Turin in
1754, the son of a violinist.27His father brought him to Paris in
I 760 to studywith Muzio Clementi,and the young pianist remained
in the French capital until his death in I799.28 He was known as a
composer as well as performer.
The Tablettesalso list two other musicians named Rosetti:

Rosetti,a fait des Quatuor, Sonates & Concerto pour la Flute

& Cor-de-chasse,& plusieursSymphoniespour le ConcertSpirituel,
qui ont ete executesavec succes.
Rosetti,excellentViolon, a faitplusieursQuatuor, Sonates,Concerto
poul' ces instrumensla Flute & le Cor-de-Chasse.

The firstoftheseis definitelythe composerto the PrinceofOettingen-

Wallerstein. The second entry, which is listed under the rubric
'Compositeurs Virtuoses,Amateurs et Maitres de Musique pour les
instrumensa cordes et a chevalet', may referto the same composer,
although the Wallerstein Rosetti is not known to have been a
violinist.

JOSEPH ROSLER
A reasonable candidate forthe last subject on Gerber's list is the
Hungarian composer Joseph R6sler, whose compositionsare some-
times confused with those of the Wallerstein composer. Rosler was
born in Schemnitz in Hungary on 22August I773.29 Although his
fatherprovided R6sler's early training in music, he did not want
his son to make music a profession,and consequently the young
Rosler was sent to Prague to study philosophy. He was determined
to make music his career, however, and continued to pursue his
musical studies without his father's approval. In I 795 he was
appointed musical director of Guardasoni's opera -company in
Prague. Beforelong Rosler was composing operas of his own forthe
company's repertory.In I796 he wrote two pantomimes,II cornetto
magicoand II sarto Vez Vez, and a year later three operas, Psichee
26 Tablettes de renommeedesmusiciens, compositeurs,
auteurs, amateurs
virtuoses, et maitresde
musique lesplusconnus
vocaleetinstrumentale, enchaquegenre,Paris, 1785.
27 Michel Brenet (Les Concerts en francesous l'ancienrigime,Paris, 1900, p. 378)
mentionsa Pierre-Antoine Amadee Razetti (or Rasetti) who was made a memberof the
24 violinsof the French kingon I9 December 1760. This musicianmay be the fatherof
Amadeo Razetti. On theirvisit to Paris in 1764 the Mozart familymet a 'Mr. Rosetti,
Musicien de l'opera' (Mozart: BriefeundAufzeichungen, ed. Wilhelm A. Bauer and Otto
E. Deutsch, Kassel &c., I962-75, i. I44). This musician is listed in the Almanachdes
as 'Razetti' as a violinistin the Academie Royale de Musique from1762 until
Spectacles
1769.
28 Fetis,Biographie
Frangois-Joseph Paris, I866-70, vii. 193.
desmusiciens,
universelle
29 JaroslavBulga, 'R6sler,Joseph',MGG, xi. 624-5.

I36

This content downloaded from 80.193.102.218 on Thu, 10 Jul 2014 05:02:31 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Amore,La pace a Klentschand La pastorelladellealpi.30 Among Rosler's
otherimportantworkscomposed while he served as musical director
for the Prague opera company were two cantatas: Cantata bei
Gelegenheit der Vermdhlung der GrafinIsabella von Rotenhanmit dem
GrafenChotek(I 799) and Cantataauf Mozarts Tod (I 798).
In I805 Rosler accepted the more prestigious position of
Kapellmeisterto the Hoftheater in Vienna. Two years later he
composed his best opera, Elisene,PrinzessinvonBulgarien,on a libretto
by I. F. Castelli based on L. C. Caigniez's melodrama La For6t
d'Hamanstadt(i805).3" It was firstproduced in Prague and then
repeated at the Viennese court theatre on io March I809. During
this time Rosler became acquainted with Prince Joseph Lobkowitz,
who asked the young opera composer to join his Kapelle. Sources
are not in agreement as to when this happened; Fetis places
Rosler's appointment in i 805 and Gerber two years later. The
same confusionsurroundsthe date of the composer's death. Accord-
ing to Fetis, Rosler contracted an illness while on a trip with the
prince to Bohemia in i8io, which eventually led to his death on
25 July I8I2. Gerber mentions nothing of the illness and simply
states that Rosler died on 25 January I812.
Around i8oo Rosler compiled an index of his compositions.
A copy of this manuscript is housed today in Vienna in the
Gesellschaftder Musikfreundeunder the title 'Repertorio di tutte
le mie composizioni incominciando dall'anno I796, Parte prima'.
According to thisindex, most of R6sler's compositionsare forvoice,
althoughhis completeworksinclude threesymphonies(Op. I2 in
E flat, Op. 13 in C and Op. 14 in D) and a piano concerto, all
printedby Andre of Offenbach-am-Main. Several of the Wallerstein
Rosetti's works were also published by Andre, including two
Op. 13, issuedin I 794.
symphonies,
Gerber concludes his article on Rosler with an interesting
comment which at once draws the Hungarian and Bohemian
composers closer together and helps to distinguishthem: 'At his
funeral, which was attended by the most eminent composers and
musicians of Prague, Rosetti's Requiem was performed'.32 The
Wallerstein Rosetti made several settingsof the Requiem Mass, the
most famous being the work composed forthe Prague commemora-
tion of Mozart's death held in St. Nikolaus' churchon 14 December
1791. Unfortunately,all that remains of this composition is the
title page in the Schwerin WissenschaftlicheAllgemeinbibliothek,
making it impossible to identifythe specificMass Rosetti provided
for these ceremonies. The work was well received and favourably
reviewed in the MusikalischeKorrespondenz (December 1791) and the

30 'R6sler, Joseph',
Biographisches
Lexikondes Kaiserthums
Oesterreich,
ed. Constantin
Wurzbach, Vienna I856-9I, XXi. 242-5.
31 Alfred Loewenberg, Annals
ofOpera,r597-1940, 2nded.,Geneva,1955, i. 604.
iii. 900.
32 Netes Lexikon,

'37

This content downloaded from 80.193.102.218 on Thu, 10 Jul 2014 05:02:31 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Wiener-Zeitung
(24 December 1791). Perhaps this was the work
performedat Joseph Rosler's funeral 21 years later.
The Bohemian lexicographer Gottfried Dlabacz mentions
another R6sler:
Rossler,theprincipalviolinistat themetropolitan churchof St. Veit
in Prague. He was a secularpriestin the diocese of Leitmeritzand
died in Prague about twentyyearsago. He leftthe reputationof a
virtuouspriestand a remarkableviolinist.33

The Wallerstein Rosetti is known to have spent some time in

Prague, to have been from Leitmeritz and at least prepared for
ordination, and to have been a close friendof the violinistJoseph
Strobach (I 731-94), who held various positionsin several of Prague's
churchesand is reputed to have been a stronginfluenceon Rosetti's
decision to leave the seminary.Perhaps Dlabacz's article on Rossler
describes Rosetti's activitiesin Prague while he was studyingforthe
priesthood(I 763-73) . If thisis true,it is the only mentionof Rosetti's
having been a violinist,but as musical instructioninJesuitseminaries
was quite thorough and normally included instructionon several
musical instrumentssuch a possibilityis not unreasonable.

THE ESTERHAZY ROSETTI

Although not mentioned by Gerber, the musician to have
caused the modern scholar the most serious confusionis a violinist
named Antonio Rosetti who was employed by Prince Nicolaus
Esterhazy. It is a strange coincidence which caused this confusion.
In 1776 Rosetti's patron, the Prince of Oettingen-Wallerstein,lost
his firstwifein childbirth.During the subsequent period of mourning
(I 776-9) the prince would hear no music and granted his musicians
permissionto leave court on concert tours. It is not known whether
Rosetti requested a leave of absence, but precisely during this
period an Antonio Rosetti firstappeared on the EsterhAzypayroll.
First mention of the violinistoccurs in the 1776 membershiplists of
Chor-undKammermusik:
the Hocklfurstliche
Rosetti
Anton Violinista
Ist vermogIntimatdd" EszterhAzden 29tenApr. i--6 und zwar a ia
Apr. anni praefati anzufangen auf 2 Jahr mit nachfolgender
Conventionaufgenommen.
Im baaren jahrlich .. .. .. .. 400 f.
Quartier Geld .. .. .. .. .. 30 f.
Kertzen .. .. .. .. .. .. 24 Pfund
Holtz .. .. .. .. .. .. 3 Klafter
AlleJahreine Uniformeentwederaufdem Wintteroder Somer.
I78I. Ende Martyauss Dienstgetretten.s"

historisches
as Allgemeines fur Bdhmenundzum Theilauchfur Mahrenund
Kunstkerlexikon
Prague,I815,
Schksien, iii. 588.
s" JAnosHarich, 'Das Opermensemble zu Eszterh.za im Jahr 1780', HaydnJahrbuch,
vii (I970), ioo. See also by the same author, 'Das Haydn-Orchesterim Jahr 1780',
Haydn Jahrbuch,viii(I97I), 19, 59-60.

I38

This content downloaded from 80.193.102.218 on Thu, 10 Jul 2014 05:02:31 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
On ChristmasDay 1777 his periodof employment was extended
for threemore yearson the same terms.Rosettileftthe prince's
servicein March I 781.
The Haydn scholarC. F. Pohl was probablyresponsible forthe
confusionof the Esterhazyand Wallersteinmusicianswhich still
prevailedas late as 197I . In his Haydn biographyPohl first
equated the Eszterhazaviolinistwiththe WallersteinKapellmeister.
Addingfurther to theconfusion,Pohlidentified
Rosettias a pupilof
Haydn.3 The Wallerstein Kapellmeister
was never a direct pupil of
Haydn (althoughhe was quite familiarwiththe older composer's
music),and documentary evidenceestablishesclearlythat he was
also notthesame musicianwho was in theemployoftheEsterhazy
familyfrom1777 to 178I. The presenceof the violinistRosettiat
Eszterhazacan be documentedforthe followingperiods:January
1776,1777, February1778, and I779." Duringthesame periodthe
WallersteinRosettiwas active in Wallerstein.In tryingto resolve
thisconfusionOscar Kaul provideda list of irrefutablereferences
to Rosetti'spresencein Wallersteinduringthisperiod,whichthe
presentauthorhas enlargedwithreferencesfromothersources:

1776 Completedthe Requiem for PrincessMaria Theresa on

25 March
Two receiptsfromtheHofkassa signedbyRosetti
nameentered
1777 Rosetti's in themarriage registerin Wallerstein
(28January)
Birthoffirst
child(I 7 April)
Petition
totheprincefronm Rosetti(9 December)
ThreereceiptsfromtheHqfkassa signedbyRosetti
1778 CompletionofOboe Concertoin D (February)
Lettersaddressedto Rosettiat Wallerstein (26 February,
8 May,24 July,4 August)
FivereceiptsfromtheHofkassa signedby Rosetti
1779 Birthofsecondchild(i May)
CompletionofHornConcerto in E flat(July)
CompletionofSinfonia inD (April)
Two receiptsfromtheHofkassa signedbyRosetti3"

A comparisonof the whereaboutsof these two musiciansduring

the periodunderconsideration
clearlydemonstrates
thatPohl was
mistaken.Furthermore,PrinceKraftErnstwas quite consciousof
35 Harich writes:'Afterleaving the prince's serviceRosettibecame musical director
and later (I 789) Kapellmeister to Prince Ottingen-Wallerstein'('Das Haydn-Orchester',
pp. I9, 60). Rosettiwas nevermusical directorat the Wallersteincourtand he held the
positionofKapellmeister as earlyas I 786. He leftWallersteinin 1789.
J
josepk Haydn,ii (Leipzig, I 882), 207, 214.
7 The EszterhfizaRosetti played a concertoat courtin I 778
accordingto H. M.
Horanyi, Das Esterhazy'sche Feenreich,Budapest, I959, p. 241, as cited in Fitzpatrick,
'AntonioRosetti',p. 240. Documentationfortheotherperiodscan be foundin manuscript
references on copies ofoperas in the Esterh.zymusic collection.
38 Kaul, loc. cit., p. xviii (reproducedin Fitzpatrick,'AntonioRosetti',pp. 240-4),
supplementedby referencesfromAnton Diemand, 'JosefHaydn und der Wallersteiner
Hof', ZeitschriJfdeshistorischenVereinsfurSchwaben undNeuburg,xliv (I 92 1), I-40, and Oskar
Kaul, Die Vokalwerke Rosettis, Cologne, I 9 I I.

I39

This content downloaded from 80.193.102.218 on Thu, 10 Jul 2014 05:02:31 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Rosetti's value to his musical establishment,and even during those
grief-stricken days he wanted to insure that his better musicians
would not leave court permanently.In June 1776 Rosetti had been
granted a salary increase and was also promised the position of
Chorregent when that post fellvacant. These measures were certainly
intended to keep Rosetti at court. Consideringthe financial difficul-
ties Rosetti had been sufferingup to then, it seems unlikelythat he
would consider leaving court and antagonizing his patron at this
time.
The Eszterhaza Rosetti played principal second violin in the
court orchestrafrom 1776 to at least I779, when he was promoted
to firstviolin; he continued on the first part until leaving the
orchestra.39Rosetti's tenure at Eszterhaza was not a particularly
calm one. On several occasions he was found guilty of breach of
discipline for leaving court without the prince's permission.40 The
violinist's faults were continually overlooked by the prince until
March I78I, when he was finally released from the Eszterhaza
service. The fact that Rosetti was playing elsewhereformoney while
in the prince's employ may have been the cause for his eventual
dismissal.BeforethisHaydn may have intercededforRosetti,whom
he evidentlyconsidered a valuable member of the ensemble.4
It is quite possible that the Eszterhaza violinistcame to Haydn's
orchestra from the ensemble of Count Althan in Vienna. In I766
a report on the imperial court and theatre music appeared in
Johann Adam Hiller's Wochentliche Nachrichten, listing among the
violinistsan 'Anton Rosetti, Grafl. althanischerKammermusikus'.42
Haydn, who had recentlybeen promoted to Kapellmeister, may have
heard this Rosetti on one of his occasional trips to Vienna and
decided that the prince would do well to offerhim a position. Gerber
confusedthis musician with the Wallerstein Kapellmeister in the first
edition of his dictionary,4 and the mistake also appeared in later
lexicons. Whether the Rosetti mentioned in Hiller's weekly and the
violinistemployed at Eszterhaza were one and the same is still not
determined, but the Hiller Rosetti is certainly not the same as the

3" The name Anton Rosettiappears on the following manuscriptviolin parts in the
Eszterhaza music collection: (a) Gassmann, L'amoreartigiano(1 777), Violin II: 'S.
Rossetti'; (b) Paisiello, Le Duc Contesse(I779), Violin II: 'Sigre Rosetti'; (c) Anfossi,
Le Metilderitrovata (L'incognitapersequitata) (I779), Violin I: 'Sig. Rosetti'. Referencesto
thesesources can be found in Denes Bartha and LAszl6 Somfai,Haydnals Opernkapell-
Budapest, 1960.
meister,
40 See Haydnjaahrbuch, vii. i65, viii. I1 7.
41 Occasionallyone encounters the epithet'IllustrissimoSigre Rosetti'on holograph
manuscriptsin the Eszterhazacourtcollection.See Georg Feder, 'ManuscriptSources of
Haydn's Worksand Their Distribution',Haydnjahrbuch,iv (I968), i io-i I.
42 W&chentlic/e Nachrichten und Anmerkungen die Musik betreffend,Leipzig, 1776-9
(reprinted,Hildesheim,1970), p. IOI. This musicianis also confusedwiththeWallerstein
Kapellmeister,although usually in contextsdifferentfromthe Eszterhiza violinist.To
furtherconfusethe issue,one dictionaryclaims that the Milanese Rosettiwas the same
musicianwho played in Haydn's orchestraat Eszterhiza (Enciclopedia dellamusica,Milan,
1964,iv. 58).
43 Lexikon, ii. 324.

I40

This content downloaded from 80.193.102.218 on Thu, 10 Jul 2014 05:02:31 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Bohemian Kapellmeister to the Prince of Oettingen-Wallerstein.In
1766 the Wallerstein composer was still a seminary student in
Kuttenberg Abbey near Prague.44
Like his Bohemian namesake, the Esterhazy Rosetti was also a
composer. Although none of his music is preserved in the court
music collection,45 a printedset of six violin duets is preservedin the
OffentlicheBibliothek der Universitat Basel, the Gesellschaft der
Musikfreundein Vienna and the libraryof the Paris Conservatoire.
There is also a manuscript copy in the Rheda Schlossbibliothek
collection now housed in the library of Munster University. The
title page of the duets identifiesthe composer as a musician of the
Esterhazy Hofkapelle:

Sei Duetti/Per Violino Primo e Secondo/NuovamenteComposti/

Dal Sigr Antonio Rossetti/CelebreVirtuoseDella Musica /Apresso
S: A: Sigre/PrincipleEsterhasi/Vienne, ChristophToricella [plate-
number2].

The edition was firstissued by Toricella in I78I, and five years

later, when the firm of Artaria acquired all of Toricella's plates,
it was republishedwith the new plate-number133. In the meantime,
Toricella's print had been listed in Breitkopf'sthematic catalogue
of 1782-4. The duets were apparently popular, as they were later
republished in Paris by J. B. Naderman under the title Six duos
facilespour violons(plate-number 525). This is the only publication
the presentauthor has been able to attributesafelyto the violinistof
Haydn's orchestra,although it is possible that the 'Quadri a Diversi
Stromenticoncertanti'which appeared in the Breitkopfcatalogues of
1762-3 and the 1765 supplement, as well as the two cassations for
two horns,two violins, fluteand bass listed by Breitkopfin 1768,
were also products of Haydn's violinist. Considering that most of
this activity was taking place in the I76os (when the Wallerstein
composer was between the ages of ten and twenty),it might also
be feasible to ascribe another publication to the Eszterhaza Rosetti.
Between 1760 and 1764 the French music publisherJean Baptist
Venier issued a seriesoffourteenSinfonie a piu stromenti
composta
da vari
autori.As Op. 4 of this set Venier announced the publication of a
set of six symphoniesby Andrei, Perez, Gallimberto [Galimberti],
Sammartini,Jommelliand Rossetti. The date is rightfor this to be
the work of the Esterhazy composer, but the nature of the publica-
tion (mostly Italian opera sinfonie)suggests an Italian composer-
perhaps the Milan Rosetti. In any event, this work should not be
confused with the concert symphonies of the Wallerstein Kapell-
meister.
4"CatalogusPersonarum
etOfficorum
Provinciae
Bohemiae Prague, 1763-73.
SocietatisJesu,
45 The music collection of the Esterhazy familycontains the following,which is
definitelythe work of the Wallersteincomposer: SEI/QUARTETTI/per/Due Violini,
Viola,e Violoncello/Compostildal
Sigr./A. ROSETTI/ OperaVI./IN VIENNA /presso Artaria
Compagni/C.P.S.C.M.[plate-numberIo2].

14'

This content downloaded from 80.193.102.218 on Thu, 10 Jul 2014 05:02:31 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 After Rosetti's death the tangle of his identity became more
and more confused, until by I824 an English musical dictionary
listed two differentAntonio Rosettis, each of whom shared only
some truefactsin the WallersteinKapellmeister's
biography:

ROSETTI (ANTONIO), Chapel-masterto the duke of Mecklenburg-

Schwerin,was bornin Milan about theyear 1744 ... Rosettihaving
been, about the year 1766, a violinistof the imperialchapel, and
chambermusicianto countAlthanat Vienna, whichplace he held
till about 1780, when he became chapel-masterto the prince of
Wallerstein.

ROSETTI (FRANCESCO ANTONIO), born at Leutmeritzin Bohemia,

in 1750, was educatedforthe churchin the seminaryat Prague ...
was engaged in the situation of chapel-masterto the duke of
Wallerstein.46

In summary,no less than seven musicians named either Rosler

or Rosetti were active in Europe in the late eighteenthand early
nineteenthcenturies:
(i) Antonio Rosetti (Franz Anton Rosler), 1750-92, a double-
bass player and composer primarily of instrumentalmusic (con-
certos, symphonies, keyboard compositions and chamber music),
who was employed by the Prince of Oettingen-Wallersteinfrom
1773 until 1789 and by the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerinfrom
1789 until his death in 1792.
(2) Antonio Rosetti, I 744-after 1786, a composer of stage works
(ballets, pantomimes and operas) and cantatas, born in Milan and
active in the I 780s in Milan, Venice, and Naples.
(3) Antonio Rossetti, died after 1781, a violinist and composer
of string chamber music in the employ of Prince Esterhizy from
1776 until 178i and perhaps earlier a chamber musician to Count
Althan in Vienna.
(4) Baron Antoine Rosetti, dates unknown, a composer of key-
board compositions dating from the early part of the nineteenth
century.
(5) FriedrichWilhelm Rosetti, 1763-after 1794, a harpist in the
service of the Berlin court of Prince Ferdinand from about 1773
until about 1790 and then a member of the Thurn und Taxis
Hofkapelle until 1794.
(6) Russitschka (or Ruzicka), dates unknown, a Bohemian
musician whose identityremains obscure.
(7) Joseph Rosler, 1773-1812, a Hungarian composer of operas
and stage works active in Prague from I779 until about i8o5 and
afterthat in Vienna until his death in i8i2.

fromtheEarliestAgesto thePresentTime,
of Musicians
41 John Sainsbury,A Dictionary
London, 1824, ii. 382.

142

This content downloaded from 80.193.102.218 on Thu, 10 Jul 2014 05:02:31 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Moreover,sometimescertain of these musicianshave been
confusedwithotherslike the pianistAmadeo Rasetti,the Parisian
harpistRazetti,or the violinistRasettiof Paris'sAcademie Royale
de Musique. In addition,therewas also an ErnstF. Rosler (born
I748) activeduringthistime,but his contributions were primarily
in churchmusicand his workdoes notseem to have been confused
withthatof eithertheWallersteinRosettior JosephRosler.

143

This content downloaded from 80.193.102.218 on Thu, 10 Jul 2014 05:02:31 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions