Joseph Drechsler (26 May 1782 – 27 February 1852) was an Austrian organist, teacher, composer and conductor; in Vienna he was organist and choirmaster at several churches, and theatre conductor and composer of incidental music.

Life

Drechsler was born in Wällisch Birken, (

Vlachovo Březí Vlachovo Březí (german: Wällisch Birken, Wällischbirken) is a town in Prachatice District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,700 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban ...

, now in the Czech Republic), son of a teacher. He was a choirboy in

Passau Passau (; bar, label=Central Bavarian, Båssa) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany, also known as the Dreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers") as the river Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's popu ...

and in Vornbach Abbey, where he studied

basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...

with the organist Dionys Grotz. He studied law and theology in Prague. He moved to Vienna in 1807, being invited by Karl Friedrich Hensler to direct the orchestra of the

Theater in der Leopoldstadt The Theater in der Leopoldstadt (also: Leopoldstädter Theater) was an opera house in the Leopoldstadt district of Vienna, founded in 1781 by Karl von Marinelli, following the ''Schauspielfreiheit'' (ending of the court's monopoly on entertainment ...

; he turned down this offer and remained in Vienna as a music teacher. In 1810 he was

répétiteur A (from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. A feminine form, , also appears but is comparatively rare. Opera In opera, a is the perso ...

and from 1812 assistant director at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...

."Drechsler (Traxler), Joseph"
'' Neue Deutsche Biographie'' vol 4 (1959), p 106."Drechsler (eig. Traxler), Joseph"
''Oesterreiches Musiklexikon Online''. Retrieved 9 June 2022. For a while he was theatre conductor at Pressburg (

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 ...

) and Baden. In Vienna he was from 1814 organist at the Servite Church, and from 1816 choirmaster at St Anne's Church. From 1823 until 1845 he was choirmaster at the University Church and the . At the same time, from 1821 he was theatre conductor at the

Theater in der Josefstadt 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 ...

, and in 1824 he succeeded Franz Volkert as theatre conductor at the

, remaining until 1830. He composed incidental music for these theatres, notably for

Ferdinand Raimund Ferdinand Raimund (born Ferdinand Jakob Raimann; 1 June 1790 – 5 September 1836, Pottenstein, Lower Austria) was an Austrian actor and dramatist. Life and work He was born in Vienna as a son of Bohemian woodturning master craftsman Jako ...

's '. From 1844 to 1852 he was director of music at St Stephen's Cathedral, succeeding

Johann Baptist Gänsbacher Johann Baptist Gänsbacher (8 May 1778 in Sterzing – 13 July 1844 in Vienna), Austrian musical composer, was born in 1778 in Sterzing in the County of Tyrol. His father, a schoolmaster and teacher of music, undertook his son's early education, ...

. His students included Joseph Wolfram and

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (german: links=no, Sohn), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed ov ...

. Drechsler died in 1852, ans was buried at

St. Marx Cemetery St. Marx Cemetery (Sankt Marxer Friedhof) is a cemetery in the Landstraße district of Vienna, used from 1784 until 1874. It contains the unmarked grave of the famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. History The cemetery was named after a nearb ...

in Vienna.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Drechsler, Joseph 1782 births 1852 deaths People from Prachatice District Austrian composers Austrian classical organists 19th-century composers 19th-century organists