Drechsler, Joseph

views updated

Drechsler, Joseph

Drechsler, Joseph, Bohemian-born Austrian composer; b. Wallisch-Birken, May 26, 1782; d. Vienna, Feb. 27, 1852. He was a pupil of the organist Grotius at Florenbach. He was asst. Kapellmeister (1812) at the Vienna Court Opera, then conductor in the theaters at Baden (near Vienna) and Pressburg. Returning to Vienna, he became organist of the Servite church. In 1816 precentor at St. Ann’s, in 1823 Kapellmeister at the Univ. church and the Hofpfarrkirche, and from 1824 to 1830 Kapellmeister at the Leopoldstadt Theater. Among his works are 6 operas, including Die Feldmiihle, Singspiel (Vienna, Sept. 29, 1812) and Pauline (Vienna, Feb. 23, 1821), about 30 operettas, vaudevilles, and pantomimes, a Requiem, 16 masses, three cantatas, offertories, etc., string quartets, organ fugues, piano sonatas, other piano music, and songs. He also publ. a method for organ, and a treatise on harmony.

Bibliography

C. Preiss, /. D. (Graz, 1910).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire