Composer. A theorist and teacher in addition to being a composer, he wrote primarily in the "Galant" style, which was a courtly transitional phase between the Baroque and Classical periods, and his music is noted for its skillful use of counterpoint. Born in Klosterneuburg, Austria, he was initially trained as a choirboy, studying music at a Benedictine seminary. He was later a provincial organist before settling in Vienna, Austria in 1765. There he served as Imperial Court Organist from 1772 and Kapellmeister of Saint Stephen's Cathedral from 1793 until his death. Counting Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Mozart among his friends and contemporaries, he left over 700 compositions, though most remain unpublished and few are heard today. Some of his best known works are his three concertinos for Jew's harp, curios that are sometimes performed in arrangements for trumpet. During his lifetime he was better regarded as a pedagogue then a composer (Haydn considered him the best music teacher in Vienna) and his students included composers Ludwig von Beethoven, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, and Ignaz Moscheles. His book "Treatise on Composition" (1790) provided a lucid review of 18th Century method and was translated into several languages. A three-volume edition of Albrechtsberger's writings on harmony was edited by his pupil Ignaz von Seyfried in 1826.
Composer. A theorist and teacher in addition to being a composer, he wrote primarily in the "Galant" style, which was a courtly transitional phase between the Baroque and Classical periods, and his music is noted for its skillful use of counterpoint. Born in Klosterneuburg, Austria, he was initially trained as a choirboy, studying music at a Benedictine seminary. He was later a provincial organist before settling in Vienna, Austria in 1765. There he served as Imperial Court Organist from 1772 and Kapellmeister of Saint Stephen's Cathedral from 1793 until his death. Counting Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Mozart among his friends and contemporaries, he left over 700 compositions, though most remain unpublished and few are heard today. Some of his best known works are his three concertinos for Jew's harp, curios that are sometimes performed in arrangements for trumpet. During his lifetime he was better regarded as a pedagogue then a composer (Haydn considered him the best music teacher in Vienna) and his students included composers Ludwig von Beethoven, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, and Ignaz Moscheles. His book "Treatise on Composition" (1790) provided a lucid review of 18th Century method and was translated into several languages. A three-volume edition of Albrechtsberger's writings on harmony was edited by his pupil Ignaz von Seyfried in 1826.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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