Joseph Balthasar Hochreither

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Joseph Balthasar Hochreither (born April 16, 1669 in Salzburg ; † December 14, 1731 , ibid) was an Austrian organist and composer of the Baroque era .

Life

Joseph Balthasar Hochreither came from a Salzburg family of musicians. His parents were Caspar and Lucia Hochreither. Both his father and his grandfather were supposedly singers and choraleists at Salzburg Cathedral for over 40 years. The close relationship between his parents and the whole of Salzburg Cathedral Music was likely to have benefited him when selecting appropriately competent teachers. None are known by name. Whether Hochreither had a training relationship with Georg Muffat, who had been the Salzburg court organist since 1678, cannot be proven; The young musician was definitely impressed by this dazzling organist personality in his vicinity. Since Hochreither has been matriculated at the grammar school as "Rudimentista ex Capella" since at least 1681, his membership at the Salzburg Kapellhaus is also documented. The head of this famous training center was Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber from 1684 , who must have been another important leading figure and teacher of the young Hochreither. Whether he also studied composition under Biber's individual guidance cannot be proven, but general music theory lessons were part of everyday life at the Kapellhaus. It is uncertain how his further training path will develop in concrete terms. The only concrete clue is the reference to his master's degree, which he completed in 1688 at the University of Salzburg.

Lambach Abbey

Probably from 1694 onwards, Hochreither succeeded Benjamin Ludwig Ramhaufski (around 1631–1694) as organist and choir teacher at Lambach Abbey . There he tried to improve the quality of the collegiate music and contributed his own works to many occasions. Almost all of Hochreither's compositions have come down to us in Lambach. Particularly noteworthy are the three major hard fairs Missa ad multos annos (1705, for blessing Maximilian Pagls ), Missa Genethliaca (1705) and Missa festa Jubilus sacer (1731). Stylistically, Hochreithers works are in the tradition of the South German-Austrian high baroque and evoke echoes of the sacred music of Biber and Muffat.

In January 1708, Hochreither wrote an extensive letter of complaint to his employer, Abbot Maximilian Pagl, in which he listed the grievances in Lambach church music and called for improvement measures. This letter has been preserved in the monastery archives to this day and forms a unique document about the general nature of music in a monastery in the early 18th century.

Salzburg

After more than 25 years of service in Lambach, Hochreither was on the lookout for a new post due to persistent dissatisfaction and financial hardship. He finally found this in the Salzburg court orchestra, where he was accepted as cathedral organist in 1721. Although Hochreither is likely to have continued his compositional activity in Salzburg, hardly any works by him have survived from this period.

He was buried in the cemetery of St. Peter in Salzburg.

Recording

Intensive research work in Lambach since 2002 has brought many of the works of Hochreithers and his predecessor Ramhaufski to light there, and one of their masses (Ramhaufski's Missa No. 23 and Hochreithers Missa ad multos annos ) have now been conducted under the direction of Gunar Letzbor with the Ars Antiqua ensemble Austria and the St. Florian Boys' Choir recorded on CD ("Gloria in Excelsis Deo").

literature

personal data
SURNAME Hochreither, Joseph Balthasar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian organist and composer of the baroque era
DATE OF BIRTH April 16, 1669
PLACE OF BIRTH Salzburg
DATE OF DEATH December 14, 1731
Place of death Salzburg