Joseph Ferdinand Sonnleithner (3 March 1766 – 25 December 1835) 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 ...

librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

theater director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to Document, records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist c ...

and

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

. He was the son of

Christoph Sonnleithner Christoph Sonnleithner (28 May 1734 in Szeged, Hungary – 25 December 1786 in Vienna, Austria) was an Austrian jurist and composer. He was the father of Ignaz von Sonnleithner and Joseph Sonnleithner. His daughter Anna was the mother of Franz ...

, brother of

Ignaz von Sonnleithner Ignaz Sonnleithner, from 1828 Ignaz Edler von Sonnleithner (30 July 1770 – 27 November 1831), was an Austrian jurist, writer and educator. He also founded the Society of Music Friends of the Austrian Imperial State in 1812. Life Family Sonnle ...

and uncle of

Franz Grillparzer Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer (15 January 1791 – 21 January 1872) was an Austrian writer who was considered to be the leading Austrian dramatist of the 19th century. His plays were and are frequently performed at the famous Burgtheater in Vien ...

and

Leopold von Sonnleithner Leopold Andreas Ignaz Sonnleithner (from 1828 Leopold Edler von Sonnleithner; born 15 November 1797 in Wien; died 3 March 1873 in Vienna) was an Austrian lawyer and a well-known personality of the Viennese Classical music scene. He was a friend ...

. He was a personal friend and attorney of

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 ...

, and he wrote numerous librettos, among them, Beethoven's stage opera ''

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 ...

'', ''

Faniska ''Faniska'' is an opera eroica in three acts by Luigi Cherubini. The German libretto, by Joseph Sonnleithner, is based on the melodrama ''Les mines de Pologne'' (1803) by René-Charles Guilbert de Pixérécourt. Background In June 1805, Cherubini ...

'' by

Luigi Cherubini Luigi Cherubini ( ; ; 8 or 14 SeptemberWillis, in Sadie (Ed.), p. 833 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian Classical and Romantic composer. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the gre ...

and ''Agnes Sorel'' by

Adalbert Gyrowetz Vojtěch Matyáš Jírovec (Adalbert Gyrowetz) (20 February 1763 – 19 March 1850) was a Bohemian composer. He mainly wrote instrumental works, with a great production of string quartets and symphonies; his operas and singspiele numbered mo ...

Life

Sonnleithner began working for the Viennese court in 1787, first at

Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 unt ...

's private office and later in the chancellery. From 1796 he published the ''Wiener Theater-Almanach'', and in 1802 he became partner in the Kunst und Industrie-Comptoir publishing house. For a short period from February to August 1804 he served as artistic director of the

Theater an der Wien The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prima ...

, and from 1804 to 1814 as secretary of court theaters in Vienna. He was also a leading figure in Viennese musical life in the first decades of the nineteenth century and consequently one of the founders of the

Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde The Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien (), also known as the Wiener Musikverein (German for 'Viennese Music Association'), is an Austrian music organization that was founded in 1812 by Joseph Sonnleithner, general secretary of the Court Theat ...

, serving as its first secretary starting in 1812.There are memorial plaques in the entrance hall of the Gesellschaft der Musikverein and at this house's ditch #14.
Sonnleithner was one of the earliest collectors of folksongs and information on their composers in Austria, a project which, though never fulfilled, formed the basis of a new musical encyclopedia. He, his nephew

Grillparzer Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer (15 January 1791 – 21 January 1872) was an Austrian writer who was considered to be the leading Austrian dramatist of the 19th century. His plays were and are frequently performed at the famous Burgtheater in Vie ...

and

Franz 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 ...

were close friends. For his treasured collection of oil paintings from the Baroque period on, which is now kept in the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, he also commissioned a special portrait of Schubert from the artist Anton Depauly."A very deserving and funny man," said

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

Johann Peter Salomon Johann Peter Salomon (20 February 1745 aptized– 28 November 1815) was a German violinist, composer, conductor and musical impresario. Although he was an accomplished violinist, he is best known for bringing Joseph Haydn to London and for c ...

about Sonnleithner on 15 May 1799.

Notes

References

;Attribution *''This article is based on the translation of the corresponding article on the German Wikipedia. A list of contributors can be found there at the'
History
''section''.

Sources

* * Anna Schirlbauer: "Joseph Sonnleithners Sammlung in der Portraitgalerie der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien. Neue Erkenntnisse über ihren Begründer, ihre Bilder und Maler. Mit Abschnitten über die Maler Mähler, Kupelwieser und Depauly und Details über die Entstehung der Sammlung." In: ''Wiener Geschichtsblätter'' 62 (2007), H. 1, S. 29–64. *

External links

* *
Joseph Sonnleithner Literature
in the online catalog of the

Berlin State Library The Berlin State Library (german: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin; officially abbreviated as ''SBB'', colloquially ''Stabi'') is a universal library in Berlin, Germany and a property of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. It is one of the larg ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sonnleithner, Joseph 1766 births 1835 deaths Austrian opera librettists Writers from Vienna Austrian archivists Austrian male writers 19th-century Austrian writers 19th-century male writers