Johann Nepomuk Fuchs - Komponist und Kapellmeister

Johann Nepomuk Fuchs (5 May 1842 – 5 October 1899) was an Austrian

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 ...

, opera

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

, teacher and editor. His editorial work included an important role in the preparation of the first complete edition of

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

's works. He was an older brother of the composer

Robert Fuchs Robert Fuchs may refer to: * Robert Fuchs (composer) Robert Fuchs (15 February 1847 – 19 February 1927) was an Austrian composer and music teacher. As Professor of music theory at the Vienna Conservatory, Fuchs taught many notable composers, w ...

Life and works

Johann Nepomuk Fuchs was born on 5 May 1842 at Frauental in

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

in the south of Austria. His youngest brother was the composer and music teacher

. Johann studied musical theory in Vienna with the prominent theorist and composer

Simon Sechter Simon Sechter (11 October 1788 – 10 September 1867) was an Austrian music theorist, composer, conductor, and organist. He is best known as a strict music teacher, whose many students included Anton Bruckner, Sigismond Thalberg, and Henri ...

, with whom Schubert had planned to study. In 1864, he was appointed

Kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

of the

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

Opera. He also conducted opera outside Bratislava, in Brno, Kassel, Cologne, Hamburg, and Leipzig, before moving to the

Vienna Court Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by A ...

in 1880. In 1888, Fuchs joined the faculty of the Vienna Conservatory, where the composer

Alexander von Zemlinsky Alexander Zemlinsky or Alexander von Zemlinsky (14 October 1871 – 15 March 1942) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and teacher. Biography Early life Zemlinsky was born in Vienna to a highly diverse family. Zemlinsky's grandfather, Anton ...

was one of his students of composition. Other notable students included composers

Edmund Eysler Edmund Samuel Eysler (12 March 1874 – 4 October 1949), was an Austrian composer. Biography Edmund Eysler was born in Vienna to a merchant family. He was supposed to enter the engineering profession, but his acquaintance with Leo Fall led h ...

Leo Fall Leopold Fall (2 February 187316 September 1925) was an Austrian Kapellmeister and composer of operettas. Life Born in Olmütz (Olomouc), Leo (or Leopold) Fall was taught by his father Moritz Fall (1848–1922), a bandmaster and composer, who sett ...

and

Rubin Goldmark Rubin Goldmark (August 15, 1872 – March 6, 1936) was an American composer, pianist, and educator.Perlis, ''New Grove Dictionary of American Music'', v. II, p. 239 Although in his time he was an often-performed American nationalist composer, his ...

, and the theorist and composer

Heinrich Schenker Heinrich Schenker (19 June 1868 – 14 January 1935) was an Austrian music theory, music theorist #Theoretical writings, whose writings have had a profound influence on subsequent musical analysis. His approach, now termed Schenkerian analysis ...

. In 1893, Fuchs succeeded Joseph Hellmesberger Sr. as director of the conservatory. Further recognition followed in 1894, when he was appointed Vice

Hofkapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

for his services at the Vienna Court Opera. Fuchs composed operatic and incidental music for the theatre, as well as

lied In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...

er and piano pieces. His one opera, ''Zingara'', was first staged in Brno in 1872. As an editor, Fuchs worked on editions of operas, including Gluck's '' Le cadi dupé'', Handel's ''

Almira ''Almira, Königin von Castilien'' ("Almira, Queen of Castile", HWV 1; full title: ''Der in Krohnen erlangte Glücks-Wechsel, oder: Almira, Königin von Castilien'') is Handel's first opera, composed when he was 19 years old. It was first perfo ...

'' and Schubert's ''

Alfonso und Estrella ' (''Alfonso and Estrella''), 732, is an opera with music by Franz Schubert, set to a German libretto by Franz von Schober, written in 1822. Like ''Fierrabras (opera), Fierrabras'' (1823), it marks Schubert's attempt to compose grand Romantische ...

''. He helped prepare the first edition of the entire Schubert canon, the '' Schubert-Gesamtausgabe'' published by

Breitkopf & Härtel Breitkopf & Härtel () is a German Music publisher, music publishing house. Founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf, it is the world's oldest music publisher. Overview The catalogue contains over 1,000 composers, 8,000 works ...

, editing the works for the theatre, as well as some of the orchestral scores. He died at

Bad Vöslau Bad Vöslau (; Central Bavarian: ''Bod Vöslau'') is a spa town and Municipality (Austria), municipality in the state of Lower Austria. It is also known as the cradle of the Austrian red wine cultivation. The population, as of 2022, is 12,424. G ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

on 5 October 1899.

References

External links

* (including some of his editions of works by Schubert and Gluck) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuchs, Johann Nepomuk 1842 births 1899 deaths 19th-century Austrian classical composers 19th-century Austrian conductors (music) Composers from Austria-Hungary Conductors (music) from Austria-Hungary Musicologists from Austria-Hungary 19th-century Austrian male musicians Austrian Romantic composers Austrian opera composers Austrian music educators Austrian musicologists Austrian male opera composers Austrian male conductors (music) Pupils of Simon Sechter Schubert scholars 19th-century Austrian musicologists People from Deutschlandsberg District