Adolf Müller senior

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Adolf Müller senior, lithograph by A. Decker, 1842
Grave of Adolf Müller

Adolf Müller senior (actually: Matthias Schmid ; born October 7, 1801 in Tolna ( Hungary ); † July 29, 1886 in Vienna ) was an Austro - Hungarian actor and composer and the father of Adolf Müller junior .

Life

Müller took both acting and music lessons in Brno and then had engagements in Prague , Lemberg and Brno itself, before moving to Vienna in 1823 as an actor and singer.

From 1825 he worked as a conductor with changing focuses, mainly at the three Viennese suburban theaters . The theater bandmasters were expected to compose overtures and musical interludes for antics , melodramas , pantomimes and ballets , which in the entertainment industry of the time came out in quick succession. Müller was one of the most fertile composers of the 19th century in terms of quantity , with more than 650 verifiable stage works (the scores of which are largely preserved in the Vienna City and State Library ). Many of the hits of the time came from him, for example the wandering song We want to march in the city from Johann Nestroy's Posse Lumpazivagabundus (1833), which spread worldwide.

Müller also composed numerous operas and operettas of his own . In 1833 he also wrote an accordion school. He could no longer find a connection to the Viennese operetta since 1860, in which his son of the same name distinguished himself. Heinrich IV. (1865), an operetta based on Jacques Offenbach , was unsuccessful. As a 70-year-old, however, he was still asked for incidental music for the folk pieces by Ludwig Anzengruber , where he showed a remarkable ability to adapt to the changed musical taste.

Stylistically, Müller's music is sometimes reminiscent of Beethoven and sometimes of Johann Strauss (father) . Dance forms and song-like vocal music predominate in his compositions. He shaped the Viennese couplet . His stage songs no longer have the Biedermeier intimacy of Schubert's songs and not yet the chic of the operetta hits by Johann Strauss (son) .

Müller was a composer who did not live up to the ideal of the "great author personality " that had been determining for intellectual history since the end of the 19th century. Outstanding originality was not possible for him due to the working conditions and was not required of him. His enormous productivity and popularity made him an important figure in the musical life of Vienna. His grave of honor is in the Vienna Central Cemetery (group 32 A, number 11).

literature

Anton Bauer's dissertation in the Vienna City Library ( The Music of Adolph Müller in the plays of Johann Nestroy. A contribution to the history of popular theater in Vienna . Diss. Vienna 1935) still forms a basis. Furthermore, only individual essays on Müller's works have been published. As far as the setting of pieces by Johann Nestroy is concerned, there is a great deal of information about Müller in the new Nestroy Complete Edition.

Web links

Wikisource: Adolf Müller senior  - sources and full texts
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personal data
SURNAME Müller, Adolf senior
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schmid, Matthias (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austro-Hungarian actor and composer
DATE OF BIRTH October 7, 1801
PLACE OF BIRTH Tolna , Hungary
DATE OF DEATH July 29, 1886
Place of death Vienna