Kaspar Fürstenau (26 February 177211 May 1819) was a German

flautist The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

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 wrote about sixty compositions for his instrument among

rondo The rondo or rondeau is a musical form that contains a principal theme (music), theme (sometimes called the "refrain") which alternates with one or more contrasting themes (generally called "episodes", but also referred to as "digressions" or "c ...

s, fantasias, suites and

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The ...

s. Together with his son Anton Bernhard Fürstenau he traveled extensively around Europe always with acclaimed success.

Life

Kaspar Fürstenau was born in

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

and received his first musical instruction from his father, an

oboist An oboist (formerly hautboist) is a musician who plays the oboe or any oboe family instrument, including the oboe d'amore, cor anglais or English horn, bass oboe and piccolo oboe or oboe musette. The following is a list of notable past and pres ...

of the court orchestra of the

Bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

of Münster. After his father's death, his employer, the prince bishop of Münster Maximilian Friedrich von Königsegg-Rothenfels, organized further training for him with the

bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

teacher Bernhard Anton Romberg. Fürstenau was booked in 1788 by Maximilian Friedrich's successor, Archduke Maximilian Francis of Austria, in whose court chapel he stayed. Then the flautist Josef Antoni became among other things his teacher. From 1793, Furstenau was again sent by his employer on study trips to the courts of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, to become a member of the court chapel of

Augustus, Grand Duke of Oldenburg Augustus I or Paul Frederick Augustus () (13 July 178327 February 1853) was the reigning Grand Duke of Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, Oldenburg from 1829 to 1853. Birth and family Augustus was born on 13 July 1783 at Schloss Rastede near Oldenburg (ci ...

, who was for some time his teacher from 1794. He died in Oldenburg.

Selected works

* ''Flute Concerto'' * Pot-Pourri by Rodolphe Kreutzer arr. by Kaspar Fürstenau for Flute, two violins and Basse * ''Trois thêmes variées'' for guitar and flute * Neun leichte Stücke: for 2 flutes and Guitar Op. 10) * Trio for two flutes and guitar Op. 15 * 12 Pieces for Flute and guitar Op. 16 * Six duos for 2 flutes Op. 20 * Six Duets: for 2 flutes Op. 30 * Pot-Pourri for Bassoon and Orchestra Op. 31 * Suite for flute and guitar Op. 34 * 12 Original-Kompositionen: for Flute and Guitar Op. 35 * Sechs Duette: for flute and Guitar Op. 37 * Twelve pieces: For flute and guitar Op. 38 * 6 Duetten: für 2 Flutes aus Klavier Sonaten gezogen Op. 40

Literature

* Virneisel, Wilhelm: ''Kaspar Fürstenau''. In: ''

Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'' (''MGG''; "Music in the Past and Present") is a German music encyclopedia. It is among the world's most comprehensive encyclopedias of music history and musicology, on account of its scope, content, wealth ...

'', Lfg. 34/35 (1955)

References

*''This article is based on the translation of the corresponding article of the German Wikipedia. A list of contributors can be found there at the'
History
''section''.

External links

* German Wikisource has original text related to this article: Kaspar Fürstenau 1772 births 1819 deaths German classical flautists German Romantic composers Musicians from Münster 19th-century German classical composers German male classical composers 19th-century German male musicians 20th-century German flautists {{flautist-stub

Life

Selected works

Literature

See also

References

External links