Moritz Hauptmann
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Moritz Hauptmann (13 October 1792,
Biography
Hauptmann was born in Dresden, and studied violin under Scholz, piano under Franz Lauska, composition under Grosse and Francesco Morlacchi (who was a rival in Dresden of Carl Maria von Weber). He completed his education as a violinist and composer under Louis Spohr, and until 1821 held various appointments in private families. In addition, he studied mathematics and acoustics.
Hauptmann was initially employed as an architect before finding success as a musician. Notable in his early musical output is a grand tragic opera, Mathilde. He joined the orchestra of
and others.In 1842, Hauptmann became
Compositions
Hauptmann's compositions are marked by symmetry and craftsmanship rather than spontaneous invention. His vocal output includes two masses, choral songs for mixed voices (Op. 32, 47) and numerous part songs.
Literary work
He was a founding member and editor of the Bach Gesellschaft edition of the complete works of Bach, where he edited the first two volumes of church cantatas and the Lutheran Masses.
His musical philosophy is embodied in his book Die Natur der Harmonie und der Metrik (The Nature of Harmony and Meter, 1853), in which he attempted a philosophic explanation of musical form. His theory is described as "Hegelian" and he emphasized concepts of unity, opposition, and reunion, which he finds in chords, scales, key relationships, and meter. He conceived of minor and major triads as opposite. This theory influenced "harmonic dualists" including Hugo Riemann. He also advocated just intonation and considered enharmonic progressions unnatural. In this sense, he could be considered a conservative in relation to the compositional trends of his time. He displayed a taste for classical proportion, formal order, metrical clarity, and tonal logic. Unlike the Romantic trends of continuous legato, he considered any "metrical first" (i.e. downbeat – implied or actual) to be automatically accented.
Hauptmann's pupils
References
- Moritz Hauptmann: The Letters of a Leipzig Cantor (2 vols.). London: Novello, Ewer and Co., 1892.
- Moritz Hauptmann: The nature of harmony and metre. New York: Da Capo Press, 1991, Reprint of the ed. London, Sonnenschein, 1893. ISBN 0-306-76298-6.
- Dale A. Jorgenson: Moritz Hauptmann of Leipzig. Studies in History and Interpretation of Music, Vol. 2. Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1986. ISBN 0-88946-427-8
- William Mason: Memories of a Musical Life. New York: The Century Company, 1902.
- Attribution
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hauptmann, Moritz". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
External links
- Free scores by Moritz Hauptmann at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
- Free scores by Moritz Hauptmann in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)