Hans Schläger (Johann Schläger; 5 December 1820 – 17 May 1885) was an Austrian conductor and composer, important in the musical life of

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

in the 1860s. He was particularly involved in choral music.

Life

Schläger was born in

Feldkirchen an der Donau Feldkirchen an der Donau is a municipality in the district of Urfahr-Umgebung in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. A group of five lakes called the Feldkirchner Badeseen (Feldkirchen Bathing Lakes) is located in the municipality. Feldkirchen ...

Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, a ...

, in 1810. His father Johann Schläger, a teacher, gave him early music lessons, and he was a choirboy at St. Florian Monastery, where he received violin lessons. In

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

he trained from 1836 to 1838 to be a teacher; he became an assistant teacher in

Regau Regau is a municipality in the Austrian state of Upper Austria near Vöcklabruck, which is the capital of the district. Geography Regau is bordered on the north by the river Ager. Another important body of water is the Baggersee, an artificial lak ...

, and afterwards in St. Florian, where he was the predecessor of

Anton Bruckner Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germ ...

. (Bruckner dedicated his early choral work '' Das Lied vom deutschen Vaterland'', written in 1845, to Schläger)."Schläger, Hans (Johann) (1820-1885), Chorleiter, Dirigent und Komponist"
''Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon''. Retrieved 28 February 2022."Schläger, Hans (Johann)"
''Oesterreiches Musiklexikon Online''. Retrieved 28 February 2022. From 1845 to 1847 he studied composition under

Gottfried von Preyer Gottfried von Preyer (15 March 1807 – 9 May 1901) was an Austrian composer, conductor and teacher. Preyer studied with Simon Sechter from 1828 to 1834. He became professor of harmony and composition at the Vienna Conservatory in 1839, and ...

at Vienna Conservatory, and later studied singing at the ''Akademie der Tonkunst'' in Vienna. From 1854 to 1861 he was director of the ''

Wiener Männergesang-Verein The Wiener Männergesang-Verein ("Vienna Men's Choral Society" or "Vienna Male Voice Choir") is a men's choir in Vienna, Austria, founded in 1843. The choir has regularly appeared with the Vienna Philharmonic, and has performed worldwide. Notable ...

'' ("Vienna Men's Choral Society"); as its director he won a prize at the Singing Festival in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

in 1861.

In Salzburg

Schläger moved to

, where from 1861 to 1868 he was ''

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 ...

'' of the '' Dom-Musik-Verein und Mozarteum''; from 1862 he was also director of the '. He was important in the musical life of Salzburg at this period, bringing notable choral works to the city for the first time, including Haydn's '' The Creation'', Schumann's ''

Paradise and the Peri ''Paradise and the Peri'', in German ''Das Paradies und die Peri'', is a secular oratorio for soloists, choir, and orchestra by Robert Schumann. Completed in 1843, the work was published as Schumann's Op. 50. The work is based on a German tran ...

'' and Mendelssohn's ''

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

''. In 1868 he married Countess Pauline von Oldershausen (born Countess von Zichy-Vásonykeő)."Zichy-Vásonykeő, Familie"
''Oesterreiches Musiklexikon Online''. Retrieved 2 March 2022. He resigned from his offices, and devoted himself to composition. He was adviser to the publisher

Breitkopf & Härtel Breitkopf & Härtel is the world's oldest music publishing house. The firm was founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf. The catalogue currently contains over 1,000 composers, 8,000 works and 15,000 music editions or books on ...

on their complete edition of Mozart (now known as the ''

Alte Mozart-Ausgabe The ''Alte Mozart-Ausgabe'' is the name by which the first complete edition of the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, is known nowadays, published by Breitkopf & Härtel from January 1877 to December 1883, with supplements published until 1910. Th ...

''). Schläger died in Salzburg in 1885.

Compositions

Compositions, some of which were printed, include operas (''Hans Haidekukuk'', ''Die Prophezeiung'' and ''Doctor und Friseur''), songs, choral works, 2 symphonies and 3 string quartets. His biographer in ''

Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich ''Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich'' (English, ''Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire'') (abbreviated ''Wurzbach'' from the author's surname) is a 60-volume work, edited and published by Constantin von Wurzbach, cont ...

'' (1875) wrote: "Music critics praise, in Schläger's compositions, originality of invention, stylish portrayal of characters and action, and colourful instrumentation."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlager, Hans 1820 births 1885 deaths Austrian choral conductors Austrian Romantic composers 19th-century Austrian composers