German composer and conductor (1803?1890)
Franz Paul Lachner
(2 April 1803 – 20 January 1890) was a
German
composer and
conductor
.
[1]
Biography
[
edit
]
Lachner was born in
Rain am Lech
to a musical family (his brothers
Ignaz
,
Theodor
[
nl
]
and
Vinzenz
also became musicians). He studied music with
Simon Sechter
and
Maximilian Stadler
. He conducted at the
Theater am Karntnertor
in
Vienna
. In 1834, he became
Kapellmeister
at
Mannheim
. As a result of composers' aesthetic comparisons of
Beethoven
's symphonic output with efforts afterwards, in 1835, there was a competition in Vienna for the best new symphony sponsored by
Tobias Haslinger
of the music publishing firm with no fewer than 57 entries. Lachner received first prize with his 5th Symphony
Sinfonia passionata, or Preis-Symphonie
and became royal
Kapellmeister
at
Munich
, becoming a major figure in its musical life, conducting at the opera and various concerts and festivals. His career there came to a sudden end in 1864 after
Richard Wagner
's disciple
Hans von Bulow
took over Lachner's duties. Lachner remained officially in his post on extended leave for a few years until his contract expired.
[
citation needed
]
Work
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edit
]
Lachner was a well-known and prolific composer in his day, though he is not now considered a major composer. His work, influenced by Beethoven and his friend
Franz Schubert
, is regarded as competent and craftsman-like, but is now generally little known.
[1]
Among his greatest successes were his opera
Catharina Cornaro
(1841, preceding
Donizetti
's
opera
by three years), his
Requiem
, and his seventh
orchestral suite
(1881).
In the present day it may be his
organ
sonatas
(Opp. 175, 176, 177) and
chamber music
, in particular his music for
wind instruments
, that receive the most attention, though his string quartets and some of his eight symphonies have been performed and recorded. His songs, some of which are set to the same texts that Schubert used, contributed to the development of the German
Lied
.
For performances of
Cherubini
's
Medee
in Frankfurt in 1855, Lachner composed
recitatives
to replace the original spoken dialogue, and it was this version, translated into Italian, which was used in many twentieth-century revivals and recordings of that opera, most notably those with
Maria Callas
in the title role.
References
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]
Further reading
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]
External links
[
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]
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