![Johann Nepomuk Fuchs - Komponist und Kapellmeister](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Johann_Nepomuk_Fuchs_-_Komponist_und_Kapellmeister.jpg)
Johann Nepomuk Fuchs (5 May 1842 – 15 October 1899) was an Austrian
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
, opera
conductor, teacher and editor. His editorial work included an important role in the preparation of the first complete edition of Schubert's works. He was an older brother of the composer
Robert Fuchs
Robert Fuchs (15 February 1847 – 19 February 1927) was an Austrian composer and music teacher. As Professor of music theory at the Vienna Conservatory, Fuchs taught many notable composers, while he was himself a highly regarded composer in hi ...
.
Life and works
Johann Nepomuk Fuchs was born on 5 May 1842 at
Frauental in
Styria
Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...
in the south of Austria.
[ His youngest brother was the composer and music teacher ]Robert Fuchs
Robert Fuchs (15 February 1847 – 19 February 1927) was an Austrian composer and music teacher. As Professor of music theory at the Vienna Conservatory, Fuchs taught many notable composers, while he was himself a highly regarded composer in hi ...
. Johann studied musical theory in Vienna with the prominent theorist and composer Simon Sechter
Simon Sechter (11 October 1788 – 10 September 1867) was an Austrian music theorist, teacher, organist, conductor and composer. He was one of the most prolific composers who ever lived, although his music is largely forgotten and he is now mainl ...
, with whom Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
had planned to study. In 1864, he was appointed 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 Bratislava
Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...
Opera. He also conducted opera outside Bratislava, in Brno
Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...
, Kassel
Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
, Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
, Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
, and Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
, before moving to the Vienna Court Opera
The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August Si ...
in 1880.
In 1888, Fuchs joined the faculty of the Vienna Conservatory,[ where the composer ]Alexander von Zemlinsky
Alexander Zemlinsky or Alexander von Zemlinsky (14 October 1871 – 15 March 1942) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and teacher.
Biography
Early life
Zemlinsky was born in Vienna to a highly diverse family. Zemlinsky's grandfather, Anton S ...
was one of his students of composition. Other notable students included composers Edmund Eysler
Edmund Samuel Eysler (12 March 1874 – 4 October 1949), was an Austrian composer.
Biography
Edmund Eysler was born in Vienna to a merchant family. He was supposed to enter the engineering profession, but his acquaintance with Leo Fall led ...
, Leo Fall
Leopold Fall (2 February 187316 September 1925) was an Austrian Kapellmeister and composer of operettas.
Life
Born in Olmütz (Olomouc), Leo (or Leopold) Fall was taught by his father Moritz Fall (1848–1922), a bandmaster and composer, who sett ...
and Rubin Goldmark
Rubin Goldmark (August 15, 1872 – March 6, 1936) was an American composer, pianist, and educator.Perlis, ''New Grove Dictionary of American Music'', v. II, p. 239 Although in his time he was an often-performed American nationalist composer, hi ...
, and the theorist and composer Heinrich Schenker
Heinrich Schenker (19 June 1868 – 14 January 1935) was a Galician-born Austrian music theorist whose writings have had a profound influence on subsequent musical analysis. His approach, now termed Schenkerian analysis, was most fully ex ...
. In 1893, Fuchs succeeded Joseph Hellmesberger, Sr. as director of the conservatory. Further recognition followed in 1894, when he was appointed Vice Hofkapellmeister
(, 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 ...
for his services at the Vienna Court Opera.[
Fuchs composed operatic and incidental music for the theatre, as well as lieder and piano pieces.][ His one opera, ''Zingara'', was first staged in Brno in 1872.][
As an editor, Fuchs worked on editions of operas, including Gluck's '']Le cadi dupé
''Le cadi dupé'' (''The Duped Qadi'', or ''The Duped Judge'') is an opéra comique in one act by Christoph Willibald Gluck. It has a French-language libretto by Pierre-René Lemonnier. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 8 December ...
'', Handel's ''Almira
''Almira, Königin von Castilien'' ("Almira, Queen of Castile", HWV 1; full title: ''Der in Krohnen erlangte Glücks-Wechsel, oder: Almira, Königin von Castilien'') is George Frideric Handel's first opera, composed when he was 19 years old. I ...
'' and Schubert's ''Alfonso und Estrella
' (''Alfonso and Estrella''), 732, is an opera with music by Franz Schubert, set to a German libretto by Franz von Schober, written in 1822. Along with the later '' Fierrabras'', composed in 1823, it marks Schubert's attempt to compose grand Ro ...
''. He helped prepare the first edition of the entire Schubert canon, the ''Schubert-Gesamtausgabe'' published by 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 ...
, editing the works for the theatre, as well as some of the orchestral scores.[
He died at ]Bad Vöslau
Bad Vöslau (; Central Bavarian: ''Bod Vöslau'') is a spa town in the Lower Austria federal state of Austria. It is also known as the cradle of the Austrian red wine cultivation. Population (2008): 11,190.
Geography
Bad Vöslau is located 35&nb ...
in Lower Austria
Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...
on 15 October 1899.[
]
References
External links
* (including some of his editions of works by Schubert and Gluck)
Works catalogued
by the German National Library
The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...
(in German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuchs, Johann Nepomuk
1842 births
1899 deaths
19th-century classical composers
19th-century conductors (music)
19th-century Austrian musicians
19th-century Austrian male musicians
Austrian Romantic composers
Austrian opera composers
Austrian male classical composers
Austrian conductors (music)
Austrian music educators
Austrian musicologists
Male opera composers
Male conductors (music)
Pupils of Simon Sechter
Schubert scholars
19th-century musicologists