Michael Haydn (1737–1806), brother of Joseph Haydn, wrote a large number of masses, requiems, litanies, vespers, offertories, oratorios, cantatas, German sacred songs, as well as operas. Mozart and his father had a high opinion of his church music; Joseph Haydn considered it superior to his own: time, however, has reversed his judgment. Michael Haydn’s mass in D minor, “Lauda Sion,” and “Tenebræ” in E flat are still prized by musicians, but the mass of his works are forgotten.
Representatives of the more severe church style in Germany during the eighteenth century were Fux, Fasch and Albrechtsberger. Johann Joseph Fux (1660–1741) was chapelmaster of St. Stephan’s and court composer in Vienna.
Fux had a rare mastery of counterpoint, which he exercised in his numerous church compositions. His “Missa canonica” is a marvel of canonic skill and ingenuity, and replete with effects of modulation. His fame, however, rests on his transcendent abilities as a musical theorist. His treatise on counterpoint, “Gradus ad Parnassum,” has remained in use for more than a century and a half. There have been many editions; it has been translated from the original Latin into German, French, Italian and English. Both Joseph and Michael Haydn were indebted to the “Gradus” for their knowledge of counterpoint, and Mozart studied it with equal diligence.
Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch (1736–1800) is known chiefly as the founder of the celebrated Singakademie of Berlin. Fasch was industrious as a composer in the a capella style. His sixteen-part mass is his most important work.
Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (1736–1809) was court organist and chapelmaster at St. Stephan’s of Vienna. He composed over two hundred and sixty works, among which his “Te Deum” is best known. Albrechtsberger was especially distinguished as a musical theorist and teacher. Among his pupils were Beethoven, Hummel, Seyfried and Eybler. His strict system did not satisfy Beethoven; yet the exercises published as Beethoven’s “Studienbuch” show the benefit that he had received from Albrechtsberger’s instruction.
One of the most curious and remarkable characters of this period was George Joseph Vogler, called Abt Vogler (1749–1814), whose exact place in musical history is not easy to determine. In his own day a wide divergence of opinion was expressed as to his merits; by some, including Mozart, he was considered to be a veritable charlatan, by others an “epoch-making” artist. Want of space precludes an extended account of his career, which was full of picturesque incidents. Vogler travelled much, and tried his fortune in various places; wherever he went he drew attention by his organ playing, his revolutionary ideas on teaching harmony, and innovations in organ building. Vogler was a religious devotee; at Rome he was made Chamberlain to the Pope, Knight of the Golden Spur, and Abbé. He was remarkably active as composer, teacher, organ player, and theorist. He wrote for the theatre as well as the church. Although most of his music is shelved, his Requiem and Symphony in C are not forgotten. Mendelssohn bought out his symphony at the Gewandhaus; the Requiem contains original and impressive effects.
Vogler’s vanity led him to harmonize chorals in order to show how much he could improve on Sebastian Bach. His organ playing was degraded by descriptive “thunder-storms” and other claptrap effects. With all his faults, he was a man of ideas, and as a teacher aroused genuine enthusiasm among his pupils. His attacks on various established errors and prejudices of music appealed strongly to his young disciples, Von Weber and Meyerbeer, and fired them with knightly ardor. All his pupils were devoted to him; he was equally fond of them, and called them his “boys.” The picture of Vogler’s home life at the Tonschule at Darmstadt is charming. His pupils were his friends and companions. Weber wrote, on hearing of Vogler’s death, “Our beloved master will ever live in our hearts.” Browning has celebrated Abt Vogler in his remarkable poem bearing that name.
During the later half of the eighteenth century the pianoforte gradually superseded the older clavichord. With the rapid improvements in piano-making, piano playing and composing became more and more artistic. Haydn, Mozart and Clementi were influenced at first by the clavier style of Emanuel Bach, but soon developed new features in their piano works. Clementi, especially, carried technique to a point beyond others of his time. His celebrated studies, “Gradus ad Parnassum,” are indispensable in the training of pianists.
JOHANN LUDWIG DUSSEK.
Portrait from a bust by Callamard, engraved by Quenedey.