About the composer
Fux was born to a peasant family in
Hirtenfeld,
nearby Graz in Austria in 1660. Relatively little is known about his early life,
but likely he went to
Graz for music
lessons. In
1680 he was
accepted at the Jesuit university there, where his musical talent became
apparent. He was organist at
St Moritz
until
1688. By the
1690s he was
in
Vienna, and
attracted the attention of
Emperor Leopold I
with some masses he composed. In
1698, Leopold
hired him as court composer. Fux served Leopold I until his death, and two more
Habsburg emperors after that:
Joseph I and Charles VI, both of whom continued to employ him in high positions in the court.
In 1725 Fux published his Gradus ad Parnassum, a famous textbook from
which most of the composers of the next generation learnt their counterpoint.
Bach had a copy in his library.
Haydn largely
taught himself counterpoint by reading it and recommended it to the young
Beethoven.
Mozart had a
copy of it that he annotated. Some six years after the publication of the
Gradus, Fux's wife died, and from then on he seems to have devoted himself
more to sacred music. He himself died in 1741, at the age of 81.
| Date | Unknown |
| Performers | Soprano, Counter-Tenor, Tenor, Bass, Choir and Orchstra |
| Length | 13.46 minutes |
| Particulars | Excellent music to listen to. |
| Textual variations | The "Analecta"- version of the text is used. |
| CD | CPO 999 919-2 Vienna 1700, Baroque Music from Austria |
| About this CD | Fré Thissen, the Netherlands, made me aware of this composition and cd. (Thank you very much!). |
| Orchestra | Armonico Tributo Austria |
| Soloists | Mieke van der Sluis, soprano, Barbara Fink, soprano, Pascal Bertin, countertenor, Bernd Frölich, tenor, Wilfried Zelenka, bass |
| Choir | Domkantorei Graz, Grazer Choralschola |
| Conductor | Lorenz Duftschmid |
| Other works | |
| Added | jan 2008 - Fux 01 (220) |
E-mail:
stabatmater@dds.nl