Michael Traugott Pfeiffer
Michael Traugott Pfeiffer (born November 5, 1771 in Wülfershausen , Bavaria ; † May 20, 1849 in Wettingen , Canton Aargau ) was a Swiss music teacher . Together with Hans Georg Nägeli , he was one of the pioneers of the Swiss choral movement at the beginning of the 19th century.
Life
Pfeiffer grew up as the son of a cantor and teacher in the Würzburg region and attracted attention early on with his musical talent. At the suggestion of District President Franz Ludwig von Erthal , he was trained in Würzburg to become its private secretary. Pfeiffer decided, however, to learn French in western Switzerland and in 1792 first moved to Solothurn to live with an aunt . With the unrest of the French Revolution , which also made itself felt in Vaud , he stayed in Solothurn and worked as a music and language teacher and as a journalist.
After the death of his sponsor Erthal in 1795 and the temporary calming of the turmoil of the revolution, Pfeiffer tried to gain a foothold in Morges and Geneva , but returned to Solothurn in 1800 and worked for the cantonal administration for three years, most recently as secretary to the governor. In 1803 he attended a teaching course with Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi in Burgdorf and then taught with his methods at a private school, which the clerically influenced government forbade.
Pfeiffer came to Lenzburg through the city school teacher Hieronymus Halder , with whom he completed his training in Burgdorf, and founded a singing society there in 1805 and, with the support of the local dean Johann Hünerwadel, a boarding school. Pfeiffer built up an actual musical tradition in Lenzburg and was awarded a gold medal by the city in 1809. He wrote the lyrics of some songs by his Zurich colleague Hans Georg Nägeli and published with him in 1810 a joint "Singing Education Teaching According to Pestalozzian Principles" and other follow-up works. In 1816 Pfeiffer was granted Swiss citizenship.
From 1808 he also taught the top class of the German and Latin School and led two summer courses to train young teachers. He repeated this in the following years and thus laid the foundation stone for the later Aargau Teachers' College , which was built in 1822. Pfeiffer was supposed to head this as director, but declined in favor of a position as an ancient language teacher at the Aarau Cantonal School . In 1833 he returned as a music teacher to the teacher training college, which was moved to Lenzburg in 1836. Pfeiffer returned to his adopted home and from then on taught at the teachers' college as an organ teacher.
In 1846 the teachers' college moved to the secularized Wettingen Monastery , where Pfeiffer spent his old age after retiring. He was married to Elisabetha Amiet († 1830) from Solothurn . Their only child, Josephine (* 1805) was married to Augustin Keller .
Web links
- Obituary for Michael Traugott Pfeiffer
- Regula Puskás: Pfeiffer, Michael Traugott. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Pfeiffer, Michael Traugott |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss music teacher |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 5, 1771 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wülfershausen , Bavaria |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 20, 1849 |
| Place of death | Wettingen , Canton of Aargau |