Court composer

The court composer was a rank that became a permanent fixture at European royal and princely courts between the 16th and 18th centuries and existed in isolated cases until the end of the 19th century . In Innsbruck ( Heinrich Isaac ) and Kassel the office already existed around 1500, while this tradition began in England with Nicholas Lanier (1626 "Master of the King's Music").

Especially with the transition from baroque music to pre-classical music - and increasingly in the time of the Viennese classical music - many art-loving princes sought to give their court a special shine by employing a well-known composer . Linked to this was a further development of the orchestra and its instruments.

Musically dominating royal courts

Outstanding importance in music were among others:

• the Palatine court in Mannheim , whose innovative court orchestra and its Mannheim school significantly enriched the pre-classical period,
• the royal and princely courts of London , Paris , Florence , Vienna , Dresden and Berlin
• the Tsar's court in Saint Petersburg
• as well as special music lovers like Prince Nikolaus Esterházy (Eisenstadt and Hungary), with whom Joseph Haydn worked for decades.

As a rule, the court composers also acted as full-time directors of the court orchestra and had to create commissioned works for social events. In many cases they also worked as teachers for the young aristocrats, but were usually able to go on occasional concert tours . Many a composer felt he was being exploited, of which the biography of Mozart (who even in Salzburg was only the third and later first court conductor ) provides well-known examples.

Nevertheless, many artists strived for such a position: on the one hand it brought a secure income , on the other hand increased fame and contact with high-ranking personalities. It was not until around the time of Mozart that the chances of becoming a freelance composer increased.

In some areas, the position of former Kapellmeister (or some court composer) can with that of today's culture - country councils are compared or at least cultural representatives. Recognized masters were mostly sought-after teachers and thus had an influence on society beyond their art. Nevertheless, some in the court hierarchy were assigned to the auxiliary staff, for example at the court of the Salzburg prince archbishops.

Towards the end of the 19th century the office of court composer slowly came to an end, although some royal courts still have their own court orchestra today (see also general music director ). Many of the composers were also university professors and / or members of the respective academy .

While the former court composer survived at best as "composer-in-residence" (see e.g. Kalevi Aho ), the office of court Kapellmeister naturally lasted longer and sometimes changes into a new form in which a famous conductor has several orchestras Landes (or labels ).

Well-known court composers

AG

Johann Friedrich Agricola (Potsdam), Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (court organist, Vienna), Attilio Ariosti (Berlin), Samuel Arnold (London), Ignaz von Beeke (Bartenstein / Schrozberg), Theodor Bradsky (Berlin), Johann Evangeslist Brandl (Bartenstein / Schrozberg ), Robert Cambert (Paris), Pietro Castrucci (London?), Egidio Duni (Parma, Paris), Joseph Leopold Eybler (Vienna), Johann Joseph Fux (Vienna), Christoph Willibald Gluck (Vienna).

H-Q

Joseph Haydn (Eisenstadt), Michael Haydn (Salzburg), Handel (London), Johann David Heinichen (Zeitz and Dresden), Johann Heugel (Kassel, as early as 1530), Heinrich Isaac (Pisa, Innsbruck, as early as 1490), Leopold Anton Kozeluch (Salzburg), Friedrich Kuhlau (Copenhagen), Nicholas Lanier (London), Orlando di Lasso (Munich), Jean-Baptiste Lully (Paris / Versailles), Marin Marais (Paris), Leopold Mozart (Salzburg), Franz Christoph Neubauer (Bartenstein / Schrozberg), Martin Peudargent (Düsseldorf), Johann Joachim Quantz (Berlin) ,.

R – W

Jean Philippe Rameau (Paris), Hermann Friedrich Raupach (St.Petersburg), Josef Rheinberger (Munich, until 1901!), Antonio Salieri (Vienna), Christoph Schaffrath (Poland), Ludwig Senfl (Innsbruck, Munich, around 1520), Gaspare Spontini (Paris, Berlin), Carl Stamitz (Paris), Georg Christoph Wagenseil (Vienna).

Court Kapellmeister, who were also de facto court composers

Christian Cannabich (Mannheim, Munich), Georg Friedrich Händel (Venice and London), Johann Nepomuk Hummel (Stuttgart, Weimar), Franz Liszt (Weimar), Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (Berlin), Ignaz Moscheles (Leipzig), Max Reger (Meiningen) , Johann Stamitz (founder of the Mannheim School ), Carl Maria von Weber (Dresden).

Well-known composers who were denied court office

• Ludwig van Beethoven (turned down three offers because of Vienna), Muzio Clementi (London), Matthias Georg Monn (Vienna)
• WA Mozart (Salzburg, Vienna, Prague), although he z. B. in [1] is referred to as a court composer . In 1789 he turned down a well-endowed offer from Berlin and stayed in Vienna. An earlier application from him in Munich was from Elector Maximilian III. Joseph rejected it in 1777 on the grounds that "no vacatur" was available.