Johann Dubez (1828 – 27 October 1891) was an Austrian composer and virtuoso of

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

and

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Life

Dubez was born and died in

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, Austria, of Italian extraction, according to J. Powrozniak .Józef Powroźniak: ''Gitarren-Lexikon'' (Berlin, 1979; 3rd edition, 1986), p. 63. His father was a weaver and young Johann Dubez grew up in Neulerchenfeld, a suburb of Vienna. In 1846, he was engaged as violinist in the

Josefstadt Theatre The Theater in der Josefstadt is a theater in Vienna in the eighth district of Josefstadt. It was founded in 1788 and is the oldest still performing theater in Vienna. It is often referred to colloquially as simply ''Die Josefstadt''. Following ...

, Vienna, and formed there an acquaintance with the guitar virtuoso

Giulio Regondi Giulio Regondi (1822 – 6 May 1872) was a Swiss-born classical guitarist, concertinist and composer active in France and (mainly) the United Kingdom. Regondi was born of a German mother and an Italian father in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1831 Fe ...

. Dubez, who frequently heard Regondi perform when the latter appeared in Vienna, was so fascinated that he adopted the guitar, too, and studied it under Regondi and

Johann Kaspar Mertz Joseph Kaspar Mertz (in hu, Mertz János Gáspár) (17 August 1806 – 14 October 1856) was an Austro-Hungarian guitarist and composer. Biography Caspar Joseph Mertz (baptised Casparus Josephus Mertz) was born in Pressburg, now Bratislava (S ...

in this city. His progress was very rapid for in 1847 he gave his first guitar concert in the old

Vienna Academy of Music en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, playing Regondi's compositions and meeting with enormous success. Dubez was a brilliant harpist, too, and under

Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Mozart and Wagner". With his 1831 opera ''Robert le di ...

's baton he played the well-known harp solo in the opera '' Vielka''. Some few years previous to his death he undertook a protracted concert tour, visiting

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and

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. In the former city he was commanded to perform before the Queen of Romania, and in the latter before the Sultan and Court, receiving the decoration of the Medjidia Order. Dubez was elected the first president of the Vienna Zither Society, founded in 1875, and also created honorary member of the Prague Zither Society.

Music

Dubez's guitar compositions are written in a similar style as those of his teacher, Mertz, but the majority remain in manuscript. He has also composed several harp solos, published by Spina, Bösendorfer, and Cranz of

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, Germany. Dubez's portrait was published by the Vienna Zither Society's Journal in 1891. As a guitarist, he takes rank with Mertz and Regondi, and was one of the most celebrated of Austrian virtuosi. Among his published compositions there are a ''Fantasia on Hungarian Melodies'' for guitar, issued by Diabelli and Co., Vienna. His opus numbers 11, 33, 34, 35 and 37 are harp solos, which were published by Cranz, Hamburg.Philip J. Bone, The Guitar and Mandolin, biographies of celebrated players and composers for these instruments, London: Schott and Co., 1914.
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Works

*''Fantasia on Hungarian Themes'' *''Da Himmel'' (arr.) *''Neulerchenfelder Salon-Töne'' (1857) *''Divertissement sur des motifs de l'opéra 'La Sonnambula *''Divertissement sur des motifs de l'opéra 'Ernani *''Deux Chansons sans paroles'' op. 33 for harp

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dubez, Johann 1828 births 1891 deaths 19th-century classical composers Composers from Austria-Hungary Classical guitarists Male guitarists Mandolinists Romantic composers Composers for harp Composers for the classical guitar 19th-century guitarists