Joseph Gelinek (3 December 1758 – 13 April 1825) was a Czech-born composer and pianist, living in Vienna for most of his career. He was known particularly for composing piano

variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individuals ...

Life

Gelinek was born on 3 December 1758 in Sedlec in the present-day Czech Republic. He attended a Jesuit school in

Příbram Příbram (; german: Freiberg in Böhmen, ''Przibram'', or ''Pribram'', in 1939–1945 ''Pibrans'') is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 32,000 inhabitants. It is well known for its mining history, and more ...

, and studied organ and composition with

Josef Seger Josef may refer to *Josef (given name) *Josef (surname) * ''Josef'' (film), a 2011 Croatian war film *Musik Josef Musik Josef is a Japanese manufacturer of musical instruments. It was founded by Yukio Nakamura, and is the only company in Japan spe ...

. He was ordained as a priest in 1786.Gelinek, Josef
''

Neue Deutsche Biographie ''Neue Deutsche Biographie'' (''NDB''; literally ''New German Biography'') is a biographical reference work. It is the successor to the ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, Universal German Biography). The 26 volumes published thus far cover ...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

met Gelinek while in Prague for a performance of his opera ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanis ...

'' (first performed there in 1787); through his recommendation, Gelinek was appointed chaplain and keyboard teacher at the court of Count Kinsky. After about two years, Gelinek accompanied the Count's family to Vienna, where he was in the service of Prince Joseph Kinsky. He stayed there for 13 years. In Vienna, he studied counterpoint with

Johann Albrechtsberger Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (3 February 1736 – 7 March 1809) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist, and one of the teachers of Ludwig van Beethoven. He was a friend of Haydn and Mozart. Biography Albrechtsberger was born at Kl ...

. He was known as a piano virtuoso and was in great demand in Vienna as a piano teacher. Mozart valued his piano improvisations. He first met

Ludwig van 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 ...

at an evening reception in which he was asked to compete with the piano playing of Beethoven. Gelinek afterwards said, "I have never heard anyone play like that! He improvised on a theme which I gave him as I never heard even Mozart improvise.... He can overcome difficulties and draw effects from the piano such as we couldn't even allow ourselves to dream about."From

Carl Czerny Carl Czerny (; 21 February 1791 – 15 July 1857) was an Austrian composer, teacher, and pianist of Czech origin whose music spanned the late Classical and early Romantic eras. His vast musical production amounted to over a thousand works and ...

's autobiography, quoted on p69 of

H. C. Robbins Landon Howard Chandler Robbins Landon (March 6, 1926November 20, 2009) was an American musicologist, journalist, historian and broadcaster, best known for his work in rediscovering the huge body of neglected music by Haydn and in correcting misunderstand ...

, ''Beethoven: A Documentary Study.'' Thames and Hudson, 1974. Gelinek composed a great deal, mostly for the piano, and was particularly known for his piano variations; he wrote one for the ''

Vaterländischer Künstlerverein ''Vaterländischer Künstlerverein'' was a collaborative musical publication or anthology, incorporating 83 variations for piano on a theme by Anton Diabelli, written by 51 composers living in or associated with Austria. It was published in t ...

'' project organised by

Anton Diabelli Anton (or Antonio) Diabelli (5 September 17818 April 1858) was an Austrian music publisher, editor and composer. Best known in his time as a publisher, he is most familiar today as the composer of the waltz on which Ludwig van Beethoven wrote ...

. He was most popular from about 1800 to 1810. He died in Vienna on 13 April 1825, aged 76.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gelinek, Joseph 1758 births 1825 deaths People from Příbram District Austrian male classical composers Austrian classical composers 19th-century classical composers Czech male classical composers Czech classical composers 19th-century Czech male musicians