Anton Schweitzer (6 June 1735 in

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it was ...

– 23 November 1787 in

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

) was a German composer of

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

s, who was affiliated with

Abel Seyler Abel Seyler (23 August 1730, Liestal – 25 April 1800, Rellingen) was a Swiss-born theatre director and former merchant banker, who was regarded as one of the great theatre principals of 18th century Europe. He played a pivotal role in the deve ...

theatrical company Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

. He was a child prodigy who obtained the patronage of the duke of

Saxe-Hildburghausen Saxe-Hildburghausen () was an Ernestine duchy in the southern side of the present State of Thuringia in Germany. It existed from 1680 to 1826 but its name and borders are currently used by the District of Hildburghausen. History After the Duk ...

, who sent him to study with

Jakob Friedrich Kleinknecht Jakob Friedrich Kleinknecht (8 April 1722 in Ulm - 11 August 1794 in Ansbach) was a German composer, flutist, and ''Kapellmeister''. Born to a musical family, he composed many works of chamber music and symphonies A symphony is an extended ...

at the court of

Bayreuth Bayreuth (, ; bar, Bareid) is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtelgebirge Mountains. The town's roots date back to 1194. In the 21st century, it is the capital of U ...

in 1758, and then sent him to Italy (1764–66), and made him

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

. With the dismissal of the court orchestra at

Hildburghausen Hildburghausen (IPA adapted from: ) is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the district Hildburghausen. Geography It is situated in the Franconian part of Thuringia south of the Thuringian Forest, in the valley of the Werra river ...

, he was enabled to tour Europe with the

Seyler theatrical company The Seyler Theatre Company, also known as the Seyler Company (German: ''Seylersche Schauspiel-Gesellschaft'', sometimes ''Seylersche Truppe''), was a theatrical company founded in 1769 by Abel Seyler, a Hamburg businessman originally from Switzer ...

from 1769. His most notable work is the opera '' Alceste'' (1773), with a German

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

Christoph Martin Wieland Christoph Martin Wieland (; 5 September 1733 – 20 January 1813) was a German poet and writer. He is best-remembered for having written the first ''Bildungsroman'' (''Geschichte des Agathon''), as well as the epic ''Oberon'', which formed the ba ...

, among the early German-language operas.

Operas

*''Elysium'' (libretto:

Johann Georg Jacobi Johann Georg Jacobi (September 2, 1740 – January 4, 1814) was a German poet. Biography The elder brother of the philosopher Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, Johann Georg was born at Pempelfort near Düsseldorf. He studied theology at Göttingen and ...

, 18 January 1770, Hoftheater Hannover) *''Die Dorfgala'' (libretto:

Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter (3 September 1746 – 18 March 1797) was a German poet and dramatist. Biography He was born at Gotha. He started out studying law, but early on was influenced to write for the theatre. After the completion of his univer ...

, 30 June 1772, Hannover) *'' Alceste'' (libretto: Christoph Martin Wieland, 28 May 1773, Hoftheater Weimar) *''Die Wahl des Herkules'' (libretto: Christoph Martin Wieland, 3 September 1773, Hoftheater Weimar) *''

Rosamunde ''Rosamunde, Fürstin von Zypern'' (''Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus'') is a play by Helmina von Chézy, which is primarily remembered for the incidental music which Franz Schubert composed for it. Music and play premiered in Vienna's Theater an de ...

'' (libretto: Christoph Martin Wieland, 20 January 1780, Nationaltheater Mannheim)

Literature

Schweitzer, Anton

Neue Deutsche Biographie ''Neue Deutsche Biographie'' (''NDB''; literally ''New German Biography'') is a biographical reference work. It is the successor to the ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, Universal German Biography). The 26 volumes published thus far cover ...

* Jörg Krämer: ''Deutschsprachiges Musiktheater im späten 18. Jahrhundert. Typologie, Dramaturgie und Anthropologie einer populären Gattung.'' (= Studien zur deutschen Literatur vol. 149), Tübingen 1998, pp 202–260. * Julius Maurer: ''Anton Schweitzer als dramatischer Komponist.'' (= Publikationen der Internationalen Musikgesellschaft), Leipzig 1912. *

References

External links

* * * 1735 births 1787 deaths German Classical-period composers German male classical composers German opera composers Male opera composers People from Coburg People from Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Seyler theatrical company 18th-century classical composers 18th-century German composers 18th-century male musicians {{Germany-composer-stub