Franz Josef Greith

Franz Josef Greith

Franz Josef Greith (born August 17, 1799 in Rapperswil ; † January 1, 1869 in St. Fiden ) was a Swiss music teacher and composer of the melody of the Rütli song written by Johann Georg Krauer . He also wrote numerous patriotic folk songs such as I am a Swiss boy .

Choir director and music teacher in St. Gallen

Franz Josef Greith was choir director at the Cathedral of St. Gallen from 1833 to 1860 as well as singing and instrumental teacher at the Catholic grammar school.

During the renewal of church and state power relations in Switzerland in the 1830s ( regeneration ), conflicts often arose between liberal and conservative parties. With the election victory of the Liberals in St. Gallen in the spring of 1833, the professors of the Catholic grammar school were replaced by people from the victorious party. Franz Josef Greith as a member of the liberal party replaced the music professor Martin Vogt (1781-1854), who was a representative of instrumental music.

Franz Josef Greith was the older brother of Carl Johann Greith (1807–1882), who was later elected Bishop of St. Gallen. Both brothers advocate a Cecilian style of music in the vocal area and the revival of the old church chants. They opposed the introduction of instrumental music, which is said to have led to unreligious attitudes. Since the creative period of the later Bishop Carl Johann Greith in St. Gallen lasted from 1831 to 1882, his great influence was evident in many areas: in religion, education, culture and politics. Church music was largely influenced by the Greith family. Franz Josef Greith's son, Karl Greith (1828–1887), was also a musician. Before he began his musical training in the 1840s, his father wrote in a letter: “Son Karl should become a capable man and I want to use everything for his training. He should be what I could have been if I was guided right. "

Franz Josef Greith's church music program is reported in his biography. It is also a criticism of the predecessor Martin Vogt . Alfred Disch writes on page 56: “Already in the first report of the school year 1833-34 Greith regretted that, in addition to church music, which was spoiled by a false taste at that time, two main purposes of singing lessons had to be ignored: the formation of the musical artistic sense and the elevation of moral force through the text. ”On page 63, Alfred Disch returns to this topic:“ Already in the first report from 1834 Greith railed against the lying spirit, about the chaos of sensuality that crept into Catholic church music wreaked havoc. Greith personally calls himself a friend and admirer of chant, and he has honestly done his part to reintroduce it. "

In a report from 1837, Franz Josef Greith sees the musician Karl Ludwig Drobisch as a role model, who was also his son's composition teacher: “Since then the works of Drobisch have been the order of the day at our church , works that are related because of their inner artistic size and truth are a wonderful phenomenon of our time in terms of text and composition, the Mass has also gained inner life. "

In general, it can be said about the biography of Franz Josef Greith that it is not only about the Rütlilied, but also about the musical culture of the 19th century in St. Gallen, political and musical conflicts, political friends and a characterization of the various members of the Greith family.

literature

Franz Josef Greith, memorial plaque in Rapperswil

• Alfred Disch: Franz Josef Greith von Rapperswil, 1799–1869 - musician and composer of the Rütli song in his time . Rapperswil 1982.

Web links

Commons : Franz Josef Greith  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Regula Puskás: Greith, Franz Joseph. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Sheet music and audio files by Franz Josef Greith in the International Music Score Library Project