Simon Sechter (11 October 1788 – 10 September 1867) 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 ...

music theorist Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the " rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation ( ...

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational ...

, conductor and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

. He was one of the most prolific composers who ever lived, although his music is largely forgotten and he is now mainly remembered as a strict music teacher, most notably of

Anton Bruckner Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Ger ...

. Carl Christian Müller (18311914) compiled and adapted Sechter's ''Die richtige Folge der Grundharmonien'' as ''The Correct Order of Fundamental Harmonies: A Treatise on Fundamental Basses, and their Inversions and Substitutes'' (Wm. A. Pond, 1871;

G. Schirmer G. Schirmer, Inc. is an American classical music publishing company based in New York City, founded in 1861. The oldest active music publisher in the United States, Schirmer publishes sheet music for sale and rental, and represents some well-know ...

, 1898).

Biography

Sechter was born in Friedberg (Frymburk), Bohemia, then part of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central- Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

, and moved to

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

in 1804, succeeding Jan Václav Voříšek as court organist there in 1824. In 1810 he began teaching

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and voice at an academy for blind students. In 1828 the ailing

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 wo ...

had one counterpoint lesson with him. In 1851 Sechter was appointed professor of composition at the Vienna Conservatory. He died in poverty due to his involvement in a son-in-law's bankruptcy. He was succeeded at the Conservatory by

, a former student whose teaching methods were based on Sechter's.

Teaching methods

Others whom Sechter taught include Henri Vieuxtemps, Franz Lachner, Eduard Marxsen (who taught

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

piano and counterpoint), Johann Nepomuk Fuchs, Gustav Nottebohm, Anton Door, Karl Umlauf, Béla Kéler, Nina Stollewerk,

Sigismond Thalberg Sigismond Thalberg (8 January 1812 – 27 April 1871) was an Austrian composer and one of the most distinguished virtuoso pianists of the 19th century. Family He was born in Pâquis near Geneva on 8 January 1812. According to his own account, h ...

Adolf von Henselt Georg Martin Adolf von Henselt (9 or 12 May 181410 October 1889) was a German composer and virtuoso pianist. Life Henselt was born at Schwabach, in Bavaria. At the age of three he began to learn the violin, and at five the piano under Josephe v ...

, Anton de Kontski, Kornelije Stanković and

Theodor Döhler Baron Theodor Döhler (20 April 181421 February 1856) was a German composer and a notable piano virtuoso of the Romantic period. He studied under Julius Benedict, Carl Czerny, and Simon Sechter.Henri Bertini (1798-1876) & Theodore Dohler (1814-1 ...

. Sechter had strict teaching methods. For instance, he forbade Bruckner to write any original compositions while studying counterpoint with him. The scholar Robert Simpson believes that "Sechter unknowingly brought about Bruckner's originality by insisting that it be suppressed until it could no longer be contained." Sechter taught Bruckner by mail from 1855 to 1861 and considered Bruckner his most dedicated pupil. Upon Bruckner's graduation, Sechter wrote a fugue dedicated to his student. In the three-volume treatise on the principles of composition, ''Die Grundsätze der musikalischen Komposition'', Sechter wrote a seminal work that influenced many later theorists. Sechter's ideas are derived from Jean-Philippe Rameau's theories of the fundamental bass, always diatonic even when the surface is highly chromatic; music theory historians strongly associate Sechter with the Viennese conception of fundamental bass theory.p. 60, Cook (2007) Nicholas. Oxford ''The Schenker project: culture, race, and music theory in fin-de-siècle Vienna'' Oxford University Press Sechter was an advocate of just intonation over well-tempered tuning.

As composer

Sechter was also a composer, and in that capacity he is mostly remembered for writing about 5,000 fugues (he tried to write at least one fugue every day), but he also wrote masses and oratorios. In addition he wrote five operas: ''Das Testament des Magiers'' (1842), ''Ezzeline, die unglückliche Gegangene aus Deli-Katesse'' (1843), ''Ali Hitsch-Hatsch'' (1844), ''Melusine'' (1851), and ''Des Müllers Ring'' (?). In 1823–24, he was one of the 51 composers who composed a variation on a waltz 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 ...

for '' Vaterländischer Künstlerverein.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sechter, Simon 1788 births 1867 deaths 19th-century Austrian people 19th-century classical composers 19th-century classical musicians 19th-century Czech people 19th-century keyboardists 19th-century Czech male musicians 19th-century organists Austrian classical organists Austrian Classical-period composers Austrian conductors (music) Austrian male classical composers Austrian music educators Austrian music theorists Austrian opera composers Austrian people of German Bohemian descent Austrian Romantic composers Czech classical organists Czech Classical-period composers Czech conductors (music) Czech male classical composers Czech music educators Czech opera composers Czech Romantic composers German Bohemian people Male conductors (music) Male opera composers Male classical organists People from Český Krumlov District