Robert Jan Nepomuk Führer (2 June 1807 – 28 November 1861) was a

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

composer.

Biography

Born in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, he became the Director of Music at St. Vitus Cathedral at the age of 32. Despite his considerable artistic gifts, he lived beyond his means. To support his extravagant lifestyle he sold a valuable

Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the string instruments, such as violins, violas, cellos, and guitars, crafted by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), in Cremona, Italy, during the late 17th ...

violin which was owned by the cathedral. This fact was discovered in 1845, when he was dismissed for the crime. Without a church to call home he wandered through several different towns and villages, but never stayed in any one place for too long. During this period he had to support himself from sales of his church music compositions. Luckily this was successful because his music was well loved. No other composer's works enjoyed as widespread performance amongst the choirs in South Germany and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

during the second half of the 19th century. His musical style varies from a composer such as

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

, and is more in keeping with that of an early Cecilian. Many of his pieces were written for rural choirs, and as a consequence, they were not too musically demanding. In spite of this, larger and more difficult works can be found in his output. Although his material was sometimes judged to not have been "carefully" composed, his talent and experience made him well loved by his public, not least because he had an innate sense for composing a beautiful melodic line.

Selected works

Führer wrote about 400 compositions, among them 2 oratorios, 150 masses, 20 requiems and other works. Among his most important compositions belong: * ''Mass in A major'' (1843) * ''Requiem in G major'' (1846) * ''Christus im Leiden und im Tode'' (published by Kränzl in Ried) * ''Vánoční zpěv'' (Christmas Song) for soprano (published in 1864) * ''Der Landorganist'' Op. 207 - preludes for organ Theoretical studies * ''Die Tonleitern der Griechen'' (1847) * ''Der Rhythmus oder der musikalische Ebenbau'' (1847) * ''Generalbaß-Lehre'' (1855) * ''Musikalisches-liturgisches Handbuch'' (Musical-Liturgical Handbook) * ''Praktický návod, jak psáti skladby pro varhany'' (Practical Instruction, How to Write the Compositions for Organ) He tried to pass

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 Mass No. 2 off as his own.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuhrer, Robert 1807 births 1861 deaths Composers from the Austrian Empire Czech Romantic composers 19th-century Czech classical composers 19th-century Czech male musicians