Franz Limmer (2 October 1808 – 19 January 1857) was an
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n composer, conductor and musical performer.
He was born in , a suburb of
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, and died in
Temeswar, the present-day
Timișoara
), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor)
, image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg
, map_caption = Location in Timiș County
, pushpin_map = Romania#Europe
, pushpin_ ...
in the
Banat
Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of T ...
district of
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
which was then part of
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
, which in turn was a part of the
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
empire.
Life
Franz Limmer was the only son of a businessman who owned a silk mill in Vienna.
His father originally meant for him to take over the business, but as Franz was more interested in music than anything else, he was permitted to choose a musical career. From age 10 he studied the violin and guitar with a teacher named Klein, and when he left school he entered the
Vienna Conservatory, where he studied the cello with Josef Hartinger (1811 – 1878) and the
clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound.
Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...
with
Joseph Friedlowsky (ca. 1777 – 1859). On his graduation he received a silver honours medal with a portrait of Mozart, with his name and the date engraved on the back. This honour led to his immediate acceptance in the Viennese circle of performers. Encouraged by his success he took up the study of harmony, figured bass, composition and scoring with two teachers, Erasmus Kessler and
Ignaz Ritter von Seyfried (1776–1841).
At age 17 he started work on his first Mass, which was performed in the
Augustinerkirche before he was 18. This drew attention to him as a composer, and a productive period followed.
In 1834 at age 26 Limmer was invited to accept the post of conductor at the German Theater in Timișoara by its director, Theodor Müller. The theater ran up to 15 opera productions a year, including local premieres of
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
's ''
Fidelio
''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Op. 72, is Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, with ...
'' and
Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...
's ''
Ernani
''Ernani'' is an operatic ''dramma lirico'' in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the 1830 play ''Hernani (drama), Hernani'' by Victor Hugo.
Verdi was commissioned by the Teatro La Fenice in V ...
'', ''
Macbeth
''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
'', ''
Il Trovatore
''Il trovatore'' ('The Troubadour') is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play ''El trovador'' (1836) by Antonio García Gutiérrez. It was García Gutiérrez's mos ...
'' and ''
Othello
''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...
''. He wrote his
Grand Quintuor for piano, violin, viola, violoncello and double bass, op.13' in this period among many other works. A year later he was appointed choir director of the Timișoara Cathedral as the successor of the late Joseph Kratochwill.
Limmer stayed in Timișoara until his death.
Music
Limmer was not averse to musical innovation. According to the Timișoara journalist and historian Béla Schiff, he conducted a concert of church music by the Cathedral choir with accompaniment by mounted
hussar
A hussar ( , ; hu, huszár, pl, husarz, sh, husar / ) was a member of a class of light cavalry, originating in Central Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely ...
s blowing military trumpets on 17 July 1842 on the occasion of the laying of the first brick for a new infantry barracks. Also in less experimental performances he liked to set church music to an accompaniment by winds.
He was an accomplished cellist. His works include a trio for three cellos and a quartet for four cellos besides a string quartet and the piano quintet with double bass.
Works
Most of Limmer's works have not appeared in print, and he does not appear to have been very prolific. ''
Hofmeisters Monatsbericht'' lists only five published compositions (Opp. 10—14), and they are repeated in Pazdírek's ''Universal-Handbuch der Musikliteratur''.
Published during lifetime
*Op. 10 - String quartet in G major (Vienna: Mechetti, 1829; new editio
Munich:Musik Südost
*Op. 11 - Quartet for four celli in E-flat major, dedicated to
Joseph Merk
Joseph Merk (18 January 179516 July 1852) was a noted Austrian cellist, often described as one of the most influential of the first half of the 19th century. He also wrote a number of compositions for the cello.
Career
Joseph (or Josef) Merk was ...
(Vienna: Mechetti, 1830; new edition Amsterdam: A.J.Heuwekemeijer, 1970)
*Op. 12 - Trio for three celli in E minor (Vienna: Mechetti, 1831)
*Op. 13 - Grand Quintet for piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass in D minor, dedicated to Raymund Härtel (Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel, 1832)
*Op. 14 - ''Justus ut palma oder Sancta Maria'',
Offertorium in A major for soprano or tenor with violin solo, orchestra and organ (Vienna: Diabelli, 1844)
Unpublished during lifetime
Most of Limmer's unpublished compositions are lost. But some of them were recovered in different archives of Austria and Romania.
['' Franz Metz'']
Franz Limmer (1808-1857)
/ Gesellschaft für Deutsche Musikkultur im Südöstlichen Europa e.V. (GDMSE)
* ''Die Alpenhütte'', opera in 3 acts (1845), libretto by Alexander Schmidt (theater director from Temeswar), lost (a piano 4-hands arrangement by Ludwig von Gyika of the overture survived)
*Missa solemnis No. 1 in C major, manuscript recovered in Vienna (according to Dr. Franz Metz, this can be the "D major" mass composed by Limmer when he was only 17 years old)
*Requiem in B major (1842), a complete manuscript found in Temeswar in 1994 (there is also a manuscript vocal score arranged by Ludwig von Gyika, dated 1872)
*''Ave Maria'' for soprano, baritone and orchestra (24—25 January 1842)
*''Speciosus forma'', offertorium for soprano, horn and orchestra (1842)
*''Amavit eum Dominis'', offertorium for soprano, clarinet and orchestra (17—18 August 1844)
*
Graduale
The gradual ( la, graduale or ) is a chant or hymn in the Mass, the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, and among some other Christians. It gets its name from the Latin (meaning "step") because it was once chanted ...
for 4 voices, orchestra and organ
*''Ecce sacerdos magnus'' for chorus, orchestra and organ
*''Veni Sancte Spiritus''
*''Hymni vespertini'' for tenor and bass soli, 3-part male chorus, 2 horns, 2 violins, bass and organ continuo (1852), for all Sundays and holidays
*Marienlied: ''Lenke unserer Seelen Hoffnung '', sacred hymn (1855)
*''Des Freundes Abschied'', song, text by V. Mathison (1837), recovered in 2007 in Budapest
Lost compositions
*27 responsories for Holy Week for 4 voices and physharmonica (Limmer's last composition)
According to his biographer and personal friend Frigyes Pesty, the following compositions by Limmer were in the
Temeswar church archives in 1859 (compositions listed above are omitted from this list):
* Great Mass in G major with full orchestra
* Mass in G major with chamber orchestra
* Great Mass in F major with orchestra
*
Missa brevis
Missa brevis (plural: Missae breves) is . The term usually refers to a mass composition that is short because part of the text of the Mass ordinary that is usually set to music in a full mass is left out, or because its execution time is relati ...
in B major with chamber orchestra
*
Offertorium in F major with obbligato winds
* ''Ecce sacerdos'' (a different composition from the one that survived)
* 4 Stations for
Corpus Christi with wind accompaniment
* Te Deum with winds
* 2 Hymns ''Domine non sum dignum'', in E-flat major and F major
* Sonata for piano and viola in G minor
* ''Jubel-Ouvertüre''
* Shorter pieces
Notes
External links
Article by Dr. Franz Metzin German.
The Nepomuk Fortepiano Quintethas recorded Limmer's piano quintet, playing on period instruments.
*
* A recording of 2019 concerto of Limmer's sacred music conducted by Franz Metz is available o
his YouTube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Limmer, Franz
1808 births
1857 deaths
19th-century Austrian people
19th-century classical composers
Austrian classical composers
Austrian expatriates in Germany
Austrian expatriates in Hungary
Hungarian composers
Hungarian male composers
People from Margareten
Musicians from Timișoara
German Romantic composers
German male classical composers
19th-century German composers
19th-century German male musicians