Maelzel, Johann Nepomuk

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music | 1996 | 700+ words | Copyright

Maelzel, Johann Nepomuk [ Johann Nepomuk Mälzel] (b Regensburg, 1772; d aboard ship, La Guiara, Venezuela, 1838). Ger. inventor of mechanical musical devices. Settled in Vienna 1792. Constructed panharmonicon, a mechanical orch. (exhibited in Vienna 1908) for which his friend Beethoven wrote his Battle Symphony (1813). Made mus. chronometer based on Stöckel's invention and, in 1814, a metronome, based on an idea from Winkel of Amsterdam. The 2nd movt. of Beethoven's 8th sym. begins with a theme said to derive from a canon extemporized by Beethoven at a supper in honour of Maelzel, the tickings of the chronometer being represented by staccato 16th-notes, i.e. ‘Ta-ta-ta-ta … lieber Maelzel’.

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MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "Maelzel, Johann Nepomuk." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "Maelzel, Johann Nepomuk." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-MaelzelJohannNepomuk.html

MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "Maelzel, Johann Nepomuk." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-MaelzelJohannNepomuk.html

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