Johann Baptist Mayrhofer (22 October 17875 February 1836) was an Austrian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and

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 ...

. He is best known for his close friendship with the composer

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 ...

Biography

Mayrhofer was born in

Steyr Steyr (; Central Bavarian: ''Steia'') is a statutory city, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. It is the administrative capital, though not part of Steyr-Land District. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and the 3rd l ...

, educated at

Novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

in St. Florian's Priory

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 he began to study

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

and

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

, both of which courses he finished. He worked as a censor at the Zentral-Bücher-Revisions-Amt in Vienna. In 1814 he met the young composer

and his friends (

Joseph von Spaun Joseph Freiherr von Spaun (November 11, 1788November 25, 1865) was an Austrian nobleman, an Imperial and Royal Councillor, lottery director, and honorary citizen of Vienna and Cieszyn. He is best known for his friendship with the composer Franz Sc ...

Franz von Schober Franz Adolf Friedrich Schober, since 1801 von Schober (born 17 May 1796, Torup Castle at Malmö, Sweden; died 13 September 1882 in Dresden), was an Austrian Lyric poetry, poet, librettist, lithographer, actor in Breslau and ''Legationsrat'' in We ...

). From 1818-1821 he lived with Schubert in a one-room apartment in a house on Wipplingerstrasse 4. After Schubert moved out, he wrote the poem ''An Franz'' for him: Mayrhofer wrote a lot of lyric poetry and published it in 1824. Forty-seven Schubert songs and two of his operas (''

Die Freunde von Salamanka ''Die Freunde von Salamanka'' D.326 is an 1815 singspiel in two acts by Franz Schubert to a libretto by Johann Mayrhofer. The score, overture and eighteen numbers, is for three sopranos, three tenors, six basses, mixed choir and orchestra: :: Akt ...

'' and '' Adrast)'' are based on texts by Mayrhofer. In 1829 he published his ''Memories of Franz Schubert'' in the journal ''Neues Archiv für Geschichte'', through which some remarkable information about Schubert and his circle of friends have been handed down. Most scholars agree that he was homosexual, but some believe that as a young man Mayrhofer had been hopelessly in love with Mina (Wilhelmina Watteroth), the daughter of Heinrich Watteroth, who was one of Mayrhofer's professors and for a short time also his landlord. They also say that in his late years Mayrhofer fell in love with a young 15-year-old girl, the daughter of his landlord Doctor Strauss. Mayrhofer was a hypochondriac all his life: in 1836, during a

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

epidemic, he committed suicide by jumping from the window of his office in Vienna.

Libretti

* ''Die Freunde von Salamanca'' (1815) * ''Adrast'' (1819)

References

* List, Fritz (1921), ''Johann Mayrhofer, ein Freund und Textdichter Franz Schuberts''. Munich 1921. Print: Nittenau: Kangler: 991 226 Bl. * Rabenlechner, Michael Maria (1938), ''Johann Mayrhofers Gedichte mit einem Lebensbild des Dichters''. Wiener Bibliophilen-Gesellschaft 1938. * Norman McKay, Elizabeth: ''Schubert and Classical Opera : The promise of Adrast''. In: Erich Wolfgang Partsch (ed.): ''Der vergessene Schubert: Franz Schubert auf der Bühne''. Böhlau, Wien 1997, , p. 61–76. * Ilija Dürhammer (1997), ''»Was ich gefühlt, hast Du gesungen« – Neue Dokumente zu Johann Mayrhofers Leben und Schaffen''. In: ''Mitteilungen der österreichischen Gesellschaft für Musikwissenschaft'' 31 (März 1997), S.13-45. * Ilija Dürhammer (1999), ''Schuberts literarische Heimat. Dichtung und Literatur-Rezeption der Schubert-Freunde.'' Wien-Köln-Weimar 1999. * Michael Kohlhäufl (1999), ''Poetisches Vaterland. Dichtung und politisches Denken im Freundeskreis Franz Schuberts.'' Kassel 1999. * Youens, Susan (1999), ''Schubert’s poets and the making of lieder''. Cambridge Univ. Press 1999. *

Lorenz Lorenz is an originally German name derived from the Roman surname Laurentius, which means "from Laurentum". Given name People with the given name Lorenz include: * Prince Lorenz of Belgium (born 1955), member of the Belgian royal family by h ...

, Michael (2000), ''Dokumente zur Biographie Johann Mayrhofers''. In: ''Schubert durch die Brille'' 25, June 2000, 21-50. * Steblin, Rita (2001), "Schubert’s Problematic Relationship with Johann Mayrhofer: New Documentary Evidence". ''Essays on Music and Culture in Honor of Herbert Kellman'', 2001, 465–495. * Davidson, Michael; Hillenaar, Henk (2008), ''Schubert and Mayrhofer''. London 2008.

Works

Edition 1824
*

Ernst von Feuchtersleben Baron Ernst von Feuchtersleben (full name: Ernst Maria Johann Karl ''Freiherr'' von Feuchtersleben; 29 April 18063 September 1849), was an Austrian physician, poet and philosopher. He was a member of the von Feuchtersleben Family Life He was born ...

’
Edition 1843

References

External links

Mayrhofer, Johann
in

Constant von Wurzbach Constantin Wurzbach Ritter von Tannenberg (11 April 1818 – 17 August 1893) was an Austrian biographer, lexicographer and author. Biography He was born in Laibach, Carniola (present-day Ljubljana, Slovenia).He later went on to complete a co ...

: ''Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich''. Vol. 17. Verlag L. C. Zamarski, Vienna 1856–1891, 186-190 * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayrhofer, Johann 19th-century Austrian poets Austrian male poets Austrian opera librettists Franz Schubert 1787 births 1836 deaths 1830s suicides Suicides by jumping in Austria