Anton Fils (also Antonín Fils, Johann Anton Fils, Johann Anton Filtz), 22 September 1733 (baptized) – 14 March 1760 (buried) was a German classical composer. Fils was born in

Eichstätt Eichstätt () is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district of Eichstätt. It is located on the Altmühl river and has a population of around 13,000. Eichstätt is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese ...

, in the Bishopric of Eichstätt. Long thought to have been of Bohemian origin (e.g., ), despite having been described as "from Bavaria" by

Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg (21 November 1718 – 22 May 1795) was a German music critic, music theorist and composer. He was friendly and active with many figures of the Enlightenment of the 18th century. Life Little is known of Marpurg's earl ...

in 1756, his true origins were discovered in the 1960s . Fils studied law and theology at the

University of Ingolstadt The University of Ingolstadt was founded in 1472 by Louis the Rich, the Duke of Bavaria at the time, and its first Chancellor was the Bishop of Eichstätt. It consisted of five faculties: humanities, sciences, theology, law, and medicine, all o ...

, and in 1754 became part of the "

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

Hofkapelle A court chapel (German: Hofkapelle) is a chapel (building) and/or a chapel as a musical ensemble associated with a royal or noble court. Most of these are royal (court) chapels, but when the ruler of the court is not a king, the more generic "co ...

" as a cellist. The Mannheim orchestra at the time was led by

Johann Stamitz Johann Wenzel Anton Stamitz (Czech: Jan Václav Antonín Stamic; 18 June 1717 – 27 March 1757) was a Bohemian composer and violinist. His two surviving sons, Carl and Anton Stamitz, were composers of the Mannheim school, of which Johann is ...

. In 1757 Fils married Elizabeth Range, and in 1759 the couple bought a house. Although he died at age 26, he left an extensive body of work, including at least thirty-four

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

. Although he composed about thirty concertos, mainly for cello and for flute, only about half have survived . Fils died in Mannheim and was buried on 14 March 1760 . In his book ''Ideas for an Aesthetic of Music'' (posthumously published in 1806), author-musician

Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart (24 March 1739 – 10 October 1791), was a German poet, organist, composer, and journalist. He was repeatedly punished for his social-critical writing and spent ten years in severe conditions in jail. Life Bor ...

called Fils "the greatest composer of symphonies who ever lived" . He also attributed Fils' early death to "his bizarre notion of eating spiders" . Retellings of this legend were elaborated to include Fils assuring horrified observers that spiders tasted like fresh strawberries . The tale still circulates as a curious bit of classical music trivia ().

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* 1733 births 1760 deaths People from Eichstätt Pupils of Johann Stamitz German Classical-period composers University of Ingolstadt alumni Deaths from food poisoning 18th-century classical composers German male classical composers 18th-century German composers 18th-century German male musicians German classical cellists {{Germany-composer-stub