Franz Xaver Anton Murschhauser (1 July 1663 – 6 January 1738) was a German composer and

theorist A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be ...

. He was born in

Saverne Saverne (french: Saverne, ; Alsatian: ; german: Zabern ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is situated on the Rhine-Marne canal at the foot of a pass over the Vosges Mountains, and 45 km (2 ...

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

, but he is first mentioned as a

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

and instrumentalist at St Peter's School in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, in 1676. He studied music with the Kantor, Siegmund Auer and, from 1683 to his death in 1693, Johann Caspar Kerll. Murchhauser was appointed music director of the

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in 1691, where he remained until his death.

Works

He published two collections of organ music in the tradition of the South German school, intended for use with the

Catholic liturgy In the Catholic Church, liturgy is divine worship, the proclamation of the Gospel, and active charity. Catholic liturgies are broadly categorized as the Latin liturgical rites of the Latin Church and the Eastern Catholic liturgies of the Eas ...

; these consist of short

toccata Toccata (from Italian ''toccare'', literally, "to touch", with "toccata" being the action of touching) is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virtu ...

fantasies Fantasy is a genre of fiction. Fantasy, Fantasie, or Fantasies may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Fantasia (music), a free-form musical composition * ''Fantasie'' (Widmann), a 1993 composition for solo clarinet by Jörg Widmann * ...

and fugues written using the

psalm The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...

tones and

plainchant Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ''plain-chant''; la, cantus planus) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text ...

melodies A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combinati ...

. The first collection is entitled ''Octi-tonium novum organicum, octo tonis ecclesiasticis, ad Psalmos, & magnificat'' (Augsburg, 1696), and contains 89 pieces. The second collection is in two parts of 34 pieces each, entitled ''Prototypon longo-breve organicum''; (part I, Nuremberg, 1703; part II, Nuremberg, 1707). Both may be found in ''Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Bayern'' XXX, Jg.xviii (1917). There are other keyboard works in the

Österreichische Nationalbibliothek The Austrian National Library (german: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in center of Vi ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, and the

Sing-Akademie zu Berlin The Sing-Akademie zu Berlin, also known as the Berliner Singakademie, is a musical (originally choral) society founded in Berlin in 1791 by Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch, harpsichordist to the court of Prussia, on the model of the 18th-century ...

. A surviving accompanied vocal work, ''Vespertinus latriae et hyperduliae cultus'' (Ulm, 1700), contains ten

s and one ''laudate.'' He also published two works on the subject of music theory, designed for instruction in the art of

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

: ''Fundamentalische kurz- und bequeme Handleitung sowohl zur Figural als Choral Music'' (Munich, 1707), and ''Academia musico-poetica bipartita, oder Hohe Schul der musicalischen Compositions'', part I here is no part II(Nuremberg, 1721). These treatises are conservative and distinctly 'old-fashioned' in their treatment of the subject, and were strongly attacked by

Johann Mattheson Johann Mattheson (28 September 1681 – 17 April 1764) was a German composer, singer, writer, lexicographer, diplomat and music theorist. Early life and career The son of a prosperous tax collector, Mattheson received a broad liberal education ...

in his ''Critica musica'' due to their firmly being founded on the

contrapuntal In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

practice of late- 16th century

sacred music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as ritual. Relig ...

, while Mattheson was in favour of the 'modern', Italian opera-influenced style.

Media

Sources

*George J. Buelow, 'Murschhauser, Franz Xaver', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 2007-06-10), http://www.grovemusic.com/

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murschhauser, Franz Xaver 1663 births 1738 deaths People from Saverne German Baroque composers Organists and composers in the South German tradition German male organists German music theorists 18th-century keyboardists 18th-century classical composers German classical composers German male classical composers 18th-century German composers 18th-century German male musicians Male classical organists