![Florian Leopold Gassmann by Balzer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Florian_Leopold_Gassmann_by_Balzer.jpg)
Florian Leopold Gassmann (3 May 1729 – 21 January 1774) was a
German-speaking Bohemian
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 libr ...
composer of the transitional period between the
baroque and
classical eras. He was one of the principal composers of ''
dramma giocoso'' immediately before Mozart. He was one of
Antonio Salieri
Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarchy ...
’s teachers.
Life and career
Gassmann was born in
Brüx
Most (; german: Brüx; la, Pons) is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 63,000 inhabitants. It lies between the Central Bohemian Uplands and the Ore Mountains, approximately northwest of Prague along the B ...
,
Bohemia, and was most likely trained by Johann Woborschil, the local chorus master. His father was a goldsmith who may well have opposed his son's choice of a musical career.
From 1757 until 1762, he wrote an opera every year for the
carnival season in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
, and was also appointed choirmaster in the girls’ conservatory in Venice in 1757. Many of the librettos he set were by the renowned Venetian playwright
Carlo Goldoni Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to:
* Carlo (name)
* Monte Carlo
* Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
*A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince ...
.
In 1763 he was called to
Vienna
en, Viennese
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as court
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
composer, and was held in great affection by
Emperor Joseph II
Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...
. In 1764 he was appointed chamber composer to the Emperor, and in 1772 court conductor.
In 1766 Gassmann met up-and-coming young
Antonio Salieri
Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarchy ...
in Venice, invited him to return with him to Vienna and taught him composition using
Johann Joseph Fux
Johann Joseph Fux (; – 13 February 1741) was an Austrian composer, music theorist and pedagogue of the late Baroque era. His most enduring work is not a musical composition but his treatise on counterpoint, '' Gradus ad Parnassum'', which has ...
’s textbook ''Gradus ad Parnassum''. Salieri remained in Vienna, and succeeded Gassmann as chamber composer to the Emperor on the latter's death in 1774. Another
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
composer,
Giuseppe Bonno
Giuseppe Bonno (29 January 1711 – 15 April 1788) Michael Lorenz gives his first name as "Joseph" because Emperor Joseph I was his godfather; Lorenz also asserts that Bonno was born on 30 JanuaryHaydn Singing at Vivaldi's Exequies: An Ineradic ...
, succeeded Gassmann as court conductor.
In 1771, Gassmann founded the ''
Tonkünstler-Societät
The Tonkünstler-Societät ("Society of Musicians") was a benevolent society for musicians in Vienna, which lasted from the mid-18th century to the mid-20th. Its purpose was "to support retired musicians and their families". Beginning in 1772, the ...
'' (Society of Musical Artists), which was the first group in Vienna to give concerts for the general public, and for the benefit of its members' widows and orphans. He wrote his
oratorio
An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...
''La Betulia liberata'' for that purpose.
In 1774, he died in
Vienna
en, Viennese
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, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
from long-term consequences of a carriage accident sustained on his final visit to Italy.
Gassmann's two daughters,
Anna Fuchs and
Therese Rosenbaum, were both famous singers trained by Salieri; the younger, Therese, made a particular name for herself as a
Mozart interpreter.
Charles Burney, in one of his published accounts of his many European tours surveying the musical scene, recalls, on a visit to Joseph II and his court, meeting Gassmann and finding him very forthcoming. Among the manuscripts Gassmann showed him, he reserved most of his praise for his chamber works. Burney was either not exposed to, or said nothing about, Gassmann's orchestral music.
[Heartz, Daniel (1995). (Norton, 411-2). .]
Johann Baptist Wanhal
Johann Baptist Wanhal (12 May 1739 – 20 August 1813) was a Czech classical music composer. He was born in Nechanice, Bohemia, and died in Vienna. His music was well respected by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert. He was an instrumental p ...
is described by author Daniel Heartz as Gassmann's "protégé".
Major works
Operas
See
List of operas by Florian Leopold Gassmann.
Cantatas
*Amore, e venere (1768)
*L’amor timido
Oratorios
*La Betulia Liberata (1772)
Sacred music
*Five masses
Instrumental music
Includes:
* 32 symphonies
* 26 overtures
* 37 string quartets include: Op. 1 six ''quartetti'' (H 431–6); Op. 2 (H 441–2, 435, 444–6); six published posthumously, 1804 (H 451–6)
[H numbers are those from Hill (1976), ''Thematic Catalog''.]
* 8 string quintets, 6 of which were published as Op. 2 in 1772 (H 501–506)
* string trios
* 6 trios for flute, violin and viola
* 10 wind quintets
References
;Notes
;Cited sources
*Hill, George R.: "Thematic Index" in ''The Symphony 1720 - 1840 Series B - Volume X'', ed. Barry S. Brooks (New York & London, 1981) ISBN ?-???-?????-?
*Kosman, Joshua: ''Gassmann, Florian Leopold'' in 'The
New Grove Dictionary of Opera', ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992)
;Other sources
*
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gassmann, Florian Leopold
1729 births
1774 deaths
Musicians from Most (city)
People from the Kingdom of Bohemia
German Bohemian people
Austrian male classical composers
Austrian opera composers
Male opera composers
Austrian Baroque composers
Austrian Classical-period composers
18th-century German musicians
18th-century Austrian musicians
18th-century Austrian male musicians
18th-century Bohemian musicians
Road incident deaths in Austria
18th-century classical composers
String quartet composers