25 lines
2.2 KiB
TeX
25 lines
2.2 KiB
TeX
\section{J.A. Schmittbaur}
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Joseph Aloys Schmittabaur (1718\EnDash{}1809) was a German composer, conductor, and armonica maker. Born in Bamberg, he received his musical education from the organ builder J.P. Seuffert in W\"{u}rzburg and was a musician at the Rastatt court from about 1745 until its dissolution 1771. There he was Konzertmeister in 1762 (leading the orchestra from the harpsichord) and Kapellmeister from 1765. In 1772 he became Konzertmeister at the Karlsruhe court, but in 1775 he went to Cologne as Kapellmeister at the cathedral and director of public concerts. In 1777 he accepted an invitation to return to Karlsruhe as Kapellmeister, and was also active there as a teacher of \glassarmonicas{}, whose range he extended to four octaves (c to c'''') from Franklin's original three.
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\begin{quote}
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``He studied the building of the armonica, permitting a factory in the Carlsruhe to produce them under his direction
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and he himself put the finishing touches on them, so that the armonicas supplied by him were truly the best heard,
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which one can
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purchase.\footnote{\TODO{???}AMZ, Jg. XII, 1809/10, Sp.397, quoted in \BrNiemoellerQOYW{}, 379}
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\end{quote}
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Schmittbaur was an active music paedagogue, and his daughter Therese became a successful singer and pianist in Basel.\footnote{\BrNiemoellerQOYWa{}, 90} His most illustrious student, however, was Marianne Kirchgaessner, whom he instructed from about 1781 to 1791.
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At his retirement in 1804 (he was honored with the title Oberkapellmeister in 1806) his son, Abb\'{e} Ludwig Joseph Schmittbaur (1755\EnDash{}1829), a lieder composer, took his place at court. His two other sons, August (b. 1763), a clarinetist and flautist, and Nepomuk, a violinist, also belonged to the Karlsruhe Hofkapelle.\footnote{\BrNiemoellerQOOT{} \TODO{Page???}}
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\begin{quote}
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Mr. Kapellmeister Schmittbaur deserves to be the foremost in Germany concerning the most charming of all instruments\ldots by his compositions, by his playing, and by producing superb
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instruments.\footnote{\TODO{???}AMZ, Jg. VI, 1803/04, Sp.244f, quoted in \BrNiemoellerQOYW{}, 379}
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\end{quote}
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In 1792 Gerber says: ``He is one of our most popular composers''.\footnote{\BrNiemoellerQOYW{}, 383, \TODO{can't figure out} note 75}
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