Johann Georg Albrechtsberger facts for kids

Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (born 3 February 1736 in Klosterneuburg, near Vienna; died 7 March 1809 in Vienna) was an Austrian composer, organist, music theorist, and teacher. He is most famous today because he taught the great composer Ludwig van Beethoven for a while.

Life Story

Albrechtsberger started his music journey early. From age seven, he was a choirboy. He learned to play the pipe organ and studied music theory. As an adult, he worked in churches in several small towns. In 1793, he became the Kapellmeister (music director) at St Stephen’s Church, Vienna. This was a very important job for a church musician in the Austrian empire.

Writing Music

Albrechtsberger wrote hundreds of musical pieces. Most of these were created before he got his big job in Vienna. He wrote in the Classical style.

Albrechtsberger liked to experiment with music. For example, he would ask string players to tune their strings in unusual ways. This technique is called "scordatura". He also wrote slow parts of his music with muted strings, which makes the sound softer. Besides classical sonatas, he wrote many fugues. Famous composers like Mozart thought he was one of the best organists in the world.

Teaching Music

Albrechtsberger was a very important music teacher. Joseph Haydn, another famous composer, believed Albrechtsberger was the best teacher in Vienna. Albrechtsberger was very interested in contrapuntal music. This is a style where different musical lines weave together. He copied many fugues by Bach and other composers to study them.

When Beethoven was a young man, he took some composition lessons from Joseph Haydn. When Haydn had to travel to England, he asked Albrechtsberger to teach Beethoven. These lessons happened between 1793 and 1795. Later, Albrechtsberger said that Beethoven "learned absolutely nothing." However, Beethoven still studied Albrechtsberger’s books on music theory. The string quartets Beethoven wrote later in his life show that Albrechtsberger’s teaching had an influence on him.

Images for kids

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  Johann Georg Albrechtsberger

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  A handwritten music page from Albrechtsberger's VII Canoni a piu voci in partitura

See also

In Spanish: Johann Georg Albrechtsberger para niños