Adalbert Gyrowetz
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Adalbert Gyrowetz (born Vojtěch Matyáš Jírovec) (February 20, 1763 in České Budějovice (Budweis) – March 19, 1850 in Vienna) was a Bohemian composer.

Biography

His father was the choirmaster in Budweis' cathedral, and Adalbert first studied with him. Adalbert then travelled to Prague, where he studied law but continued to learn music.

At around this time he was in the employment of Count Franz von Fünfkirchen in Brno, whose employees were all musicians. Here he started composing, among other things, symphonies, of which he was eventually to write over 60. In 1785 he moved to Vienna, where he met and befriended Mozart, who is also known to have admired his music professionally^{citation needed}.

From 1786 to around 1793, he travelled throughout Europe. He spent some time in Paris, where he established that some symphonies that had been performed as the work of Joseph Haydn were in fact his work^{citation needed}. He spent three years in Italy, meeting Goethe in Rome and studying with Sala in Naples. In 1791, he met Haydn, whom he idolized, in London. While in London, Johann Peter Salomon commissioned symphonies from Gyrowetz to be performed at his Hanover Square Room Concerts.

He was a prolific composer. His operas and singspiele numbered over 30. They include "Semiramide"(1791), "Der Augenarzt" (1811), and "Robert, oder Die Prüfung" (a favourite of Beethoven's).

Selected works

• 30 operas
• Over 60 symphonies, including:
  • Symphony in E-flat major, Op. 6, No. 2
  • Symphony in F major, Op. 6, No. 3
  • Symphony in D major, Op. 12, No. 1
• Three Flute Quartets, Op. 11 (1795)
  • No. 1 in D major
  • No. 2 in G major
  • No. 3 in C major
• About 60 string quartets, including:
  • Six String Quartets, Op. 17 (published parts, 1790)
  • Three String Quartets, Op. 25a
  • Three String Quartets, Op. 44
    • No. 1 in G major
    • No. 2 in B-flat major
    • No. 3 in A-flat major
  • Three String Quartets, Op. 30
  • Three String Quartets, Op. 56
• 30 Trios, including:
  • Three Piano Trios, op. 10 (published parts, 1790)
  • Three Piano Trios, op. 18 (published parts, 1800)
  • Piano Trio, Op. 22
  • Three Piano Trios, op. 15 (published parts, 1800)
  • Three Trios for piano, violin or flute, and cello, op. 12 (published parts, 1795)
  • Three Piano Trios, op. 41 (published parts, 1800)
  • Trio (clarinet, cello, and piano), Op. 43 published parts
  • Nocturne no. 9 for Piano Trio, op. 41 (1800)
  • Divertimento for Piano Trio, op. 50 (published parts, 1800)
• 40 violin sonatas
• 3 quintets, including:
  • Quintet in C major (2 violins, 2 violas, and cello) Op.45
• Much other miscellaneous chamber music, including:
  • Quartet G minor (flute, violin, viola, and cello), Op. 19, No. 2
  • Third Nightmusic (flute, violin, viola, and cello), Op. 26
  • Quintet in E minor for flute, violin, violas, violoncello, op. 39 (1800) published parts

References

• Kennedy, Michael and Bourne, Joyce, Eds. Oxford Concise Dictionary of Music. Fourth Edition, 1996 (2004 reprint with new information in some entries). Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860884-5. p. 311.

• Autobiography written in 1848, published by Alfred Einstein in 1915. Czech translation Vlastní životopis Vojtěcha Jírovce by František Bartoš published in 1940 by František Topič. Translated into English and edited by Renee Anna Illa, as Ph. D. dissertation, Kent State University.

External links

• The Michael Haydn Project Information on the lesser-known composers of the Classical Era
• Adalbert Gyrowetz free scores in the International Music Score Library Project