Carl Traugott Queisser

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Plaque on Queisser's birthplace in Döben near Grimma

Carl Traugott Queisser (born January 11, 1800 in Döben near Grimma , † June 12, 1846 in Leipzig ) was a German trombonist and violinist and a member of the Gewandhaus Orchestra under Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy .

Life

Carl Traugott Queisser was born on January 11th, 1800 in the inn on the village square of Döben near Grimma as the son of the castle attendant and innkeeper Carl Traugott Benjamin Queisser, himself the son of an organist and schoolmaster, who regularly organized concerts and dance events. The young Queisser was initially apprenticed to the town musician of Grimma, and in 1817 he was “in condition” with the town musician Wilhelm Leberecht Barth (May 10, 1775–1849). He also took violin lessons from concertmaster Heinrich August Matthäi (1781–1835). From 1822 he played the trombone and viola with the Gewandhaus Orchestra , was solo violist in the Gewandhaus Quartet in 1824 (until 1846) , and in 1830 music director of the two Leipzig music choirs.

Gewandhaus Leipzig 1836, watercolor and dedication by F. Mendelssohn.
Alter Johannisfriedhof Leipzig, unknown artist, 1903

Queisser was regarded by his contemporaries as an outstanding trombonist: Robert Schumann (1810–1856) even described him as the "trombone god". Ferdinand David (1810–1873) composed for him the trombone concerto in E flat major for trombone and orchestra , op. 4, which Queisser premiered in the Gewandhaus. A contemporary witness writes about his development as a trombonist: “But as far as the trombone is concerned, he was basically unable to receive any actual artistic instruction because at that time the instrument, especially among the town music choirs, was at a very low level of development; nothing more could be shown to him than the accordion of the trains, and he was therefore advised to study on his own in this regard. The whole world knows what astonishing mastery he achieved on this difficult instrument. ”At that time the trombone was known as a town piper instrument and as an instrument in military music, but there was no opportunity to be trained in this subject in Leipzig . Initially, the trombone was rarely used as a solo instrument in Saxony , apart from a few appearances by Friedrich August Belcke (1795–1872), who, however, went to the Royal Chapel in Leipzig after only one year in Berlin.

In 1820, while he was still with the Stadtmusikus Barth, Queisser got his first opportunity to appear as a trombone soloist with the Gewandhaus Orchestra. He played a composition by the Gewandhaus violinist Carl Heinrich Meyer (1772–1837) with an incorporated trombone solo. In 1829 he was appointed co-director of the “Euterpe” music association and was also the concertmaster of this young, competitive orchestra of the Gewandhaus. In addition to the numerous concerts in Leipzig, he also appeared as a soloist throughout Germany. a. in Hamburg, Berlin and Dresden.

The sudden death of Carl Traugott Queisser on June 12, 1846 caused great consternation among Leipzig music lovers. As an obituary, a two-column article about the life and work of Queisser appeared in the Allgemeine Musical Zeitung . The foreign press, e.g. B. in Berlin, honored him as a great virtuoso and lovable person. Two days later he was buried in the old Johannis cemetery with great sympathy . His friends and admirers organized several concerts in his memory and in support of his bereaved families, one of which was given by 150 participants under the direction of Albert Lortzing in front of an audience of 4,000 in the garden of the Schützenhaus. In another concert Ferdinand David, playing Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy the Kreutzer Sonata by Beethoven, by the estimated Queisser of them to honor.

family

Two Queissers brothers, Johann Gottlieb and Friedrich Benjamin, were also trained, well-known brass players. He himself married Dorothea Handel in 1822, a granddaughter of the owner of the "Kuchengarten" in Reudnitz (Leipzig) . The wedding took place in the Schönefeld Memorial Church, as the village of Reudnitz did not have its own church at the time. Of the couple's seven children, three died in childhood. Around 1840, CT Queisser is named as the owner of the cake garden, where he occasionally appeared as a soloist at music events that he regularly organized in his inn. For unknown reasons, the entire property was sold in 1841/42, and Queisser moved into a rented apartment at Tauchaer Str. No. 4, which is listed in the Leipzig address book in 1848 as “used. Music Director ”.

literature

  • Nekrolog , in: Allgemeine Musikische Zeitung 48 (1846), pp. 459f. ( Digitized version )
  • Moritz Fürstenau:  Queißer, Karl Traugott . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 27, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1888, p. 33.
  • Sebastian Krause, Der Posaunengott , in: Brass Bulletin 117 (2002), pp. 68–80
  • Jung, Hans-Rainer: The Gewandhaus Orchestra. Its members and its history since 1743 . Leipzig: Faber & Faber, 2006. p. 79

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ see two other Commons image files at: Media in category "Döben (Grimma)"
  2. ↑ Life data of WL Barth at CERL
  3. ↑ Watercolor from the Alter Gewandhaus with the notes of the introduction from the opera Ali-Baba by Luigi Cherubini and a handwritten dedication by Mendelssohn from February 23, 1836 to the singer Henriette Grabau, who performed in his concerts and taught at the Leipzig Conservatory, which he directed . In his watercolor, Mendelssohn depicted the library wing of the Gewandhaus (view from Neumarkt), from the concert hall in Universitätsstrasse you can only see a two-window-wide section of the courtyard view (right building behind the archway). Source: image file description
  4. ↑ Leipzig address book for 1848 : Queißer, Tauchaer Str. 4
personal data
SURNAME Queisser, Carl Traugott
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German trombonist and violinist
DATE OF BIRTH January 11, 1800
PLACE OF BIRTH Döben near Grimma
DATE OF DEATH June 12, 1846
Place of death Leipzig