Johann Nepomuk Fuchs (composer)

Johann Nepomuk Fuchs (5 May 1842 – 5 October 1899)^[1][2][3][4] was an Austrian composer, opera conductor, teacher and editor. His editorial work included an important role in the preparation of the first complete edition of Franz Schubert's works. He was an older brother of the composer Robert Fuchs.

Johann Nepomuk Fuchs

Life and works

Johann Nepomuk Fuchs was born on 5 May 1842 at Frauental in Styria in the south of Austria.^[5] His youngest brother was the composer and music teacher Robert Fuchs.^[6] Johann studied musical theory in Vienna with the prominent theorist and composer Simon Sechter, with whom Schubert had planned to study. In 1864, he was appointed Kapellmeister of the Bratislava Opera.^[5] He also conducted opera outside Bratislava, in Brno, Kassel, Cologne, Hamburg, and Leipzig, before moving to the Vienna Court Opera in 1880.^[5][3]

In 1888, Fuchs joined the faculty of the Vienna Conservatory,^[5] where the composer Alexander von Zemlinsky was one of his students of composition.^[7] Other notable students included composers Edmund Eysler, Leo Fall^[8] and Rubin Goldmark,^[9] and the theorist and composer Heinrich Schenker.^[10] In 1893, Fuchs succeeded Joseph Hellmesberger Sr. as director of the conservatory. Further recognition followed in 1894, when he was appointed Vice Hofkapellmeister for his services at the Vienna Court Opera.^[5]

Fuchs composed operatic and incidental music for the theatre, as well as lieder and piano pieces.^[5][3] His one opera, Zingara, was first staged in Brno in 1872.^[5]

As an editor, Fuchs worked on editions of operas, including Gluck's Le cadi dupé, Handel's Almira and Schubert's Alfonso und Estrella.^[4] He helped prepare the first edition of the entire Schubert canon, the Schubert-Gesamtausgabe published by Breitkopf & Härtel, editing the works for the theatre, as well as some of the orchestral scores.^[5]

He died at Bad Vöslau in Lower Austria on 5 October 1899.

References

1. "Kleine Chronik". Neue Freie Presse (in German). 6 October 1899 – via Austrian Newspapers Online, Austrian National Library.
2. Andrea Harrandt; Monika Kornberger (18 April 2023). "Fuchs, Familie – Johann Nepomuk". Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon (in German). Retrieved 28 July 2023.
3. "Obituary: Johann Nepomuk Fuchs". The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular. 40 (681): 768. 1 November 1899. JSTOR 3367823.
4. R. Müller (30 November 2015) [1956]. "Fuchs, Johann Nepomuk (1842–1899), Komponist, Dirigent und Pädagoge". Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon ab 1815 (online) (in German). Vol. 1. Austrian Academy of Sciences. p. 379. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
5. Pascall, Robert (2001). "Fuchs, Johann Nepomuk". Grove Music Online (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.10336. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0.(subscription required)
6. Pascall, Robert (2001). "Fuchs, Robert". Grove Music Online (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.10342. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0.(subscription required)
7. Moskovitz, Marc (2010). Alexander Zemlinsky: A Lyric Symphony. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell & Brewer. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-84383-578-3. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
8. Randel, Don Michael, ed. (1996). Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music. Harvard University Press. pp. 255, 257. ISBN 978-0-674-37299-3 – via Internet Archive.
9. Pollack, Howard (1999). Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man. University of Illinois Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-252-06900-0. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
10. Holloway, Robin (29 August 2007). The Schenker Project : Culture, Race, and Music Theory in Fin-de-siècle Vienna. Oxford University Press. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-19-803812-2. Retrieved 23 May 2013.

External links

• Free scores by Johann Nepomuk Fuchs at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) (including some of his editions of works by Schubert and Gluck)