Matthias Alban
Matthias Alban (baptized December 29, 1634 in Kaltern ; † February 7, 1712 in Bozen ) was a Tyrolean violin and lute maker .
Life
Matthias Alban is one of the most important representatives of the Tyrolean violin making school. Nothing is known about his training. For a long time it was assumed that he was a student of Georg Seelos, who worked in Kaltern for a short time around 1644. This is now considered unlikely, since for a long time Alban's year of birth was incorrectly set to 1621. In 1679 Alban tried to settle in Linz, but could not prevail against the competitor Johann Seelos from Innsbruck. From 1671 he was based in Bolzano, where his workshop was located. Here he worked with the support of his two sons Michael and Joseph, who took over the father's workshop in 1712.
Today there are very few instruments left by him, one of which is part of the instrument collection of the Ferdinandeum in Innsbruck. His carefully crafted violins are clearly based on the style of the Amatis . Instead of a snail , some of his models end in carved lion heads. Besides violins, only a few violas and cellos made by Alban are known, as well as a theorbo .
The English violinist William Corbett , according to his own statements, owned an Alban violin from 1747, which should come from the possession of Arcangelo Corelli . Georg Simon Löhlein mentioned in 1781 that Alban was “ also a good worker ” alongside Matthias Klotz from Mittenwald . Matthias Alban was one of the very good violin makers, but his instruments were not as highly valued as those of Jakob Stainer , Antonio Stradivari or the instruments of the Amati family. Alban's instruments can be found in museums in Innsbruck, Nuremberg, Milan and Prague.
Violin makers were two of his sons, Michael Alban (1677–1730) from 1700 in Graz and Joseph Alban (1680–1722) in Bolzano, as well as a grandson, Josef Anton Alban (1720–1771), also in Bolzano.
literature
- Julia Kofler: Mathias Alban - rich violin and lute maker. Diploma thesis at the Mozarteum in Salzburg 1998.
- Wilibald Gurlitt , Carl Dahlhaus (ed.): Riemann Music Lexicon. In three volumes and two supplementary volumes. Alban, Matthias. 12th completely revised edition. 1. Personal section A – KB Schotts-Söhne, Mainz 1959, p. 17 (first edition: 1882).
- Wilibald Gurlitt, Carl Dahlhaus (ed.): Riemann Music Lexicon. In three volumes and two supplementary volumes. Alban, Matthias. 12th completely revised edition. 4. Personal section A – KB Schotts-Söhne, Mainz 1972, p. 11 (first edition: 1882).
See also
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Alban, Matthias |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Albanus, Matthias |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Tyrolean violin and lute maker |
| DATE OF BIRTH | baptized December 29, 1634 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kaltern |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 7, 1712 |
| Place of death | Bolzano |