Doss, Adolf Von
Doss, Adolf Von
Doss, Adolf Von, German composer and priest; b. Pfarrkirchen, Sept. 10,1823; d. Rome, Aug. 13,1886. He attended the Dutch Inst. in Munich (1835–3) before going to Switzerland to enter the Jesuit Order in Brig in 1843; he later pursued studies in Fribourg, Vals-lesBains, Namur, Maastricht, Cologne, and Louvain. After his ordination as a priest in 1855, he served his church in Miinster (1855–62), Bonn (1862–66), and Mainz (1866–73). From 1873 to 1884 he was a prof, at St. Servais Jesuit Coll. in Liege, and then was father confessor at the Collegio Germanico in Rome. His entire output was sacred in nature, including his operas and other stage works.
Works
(all 1st perf. in Liege unless otherwise given): DRAMATIC: Opera : Jean-sans-terre (Aug. 12,1875); Mau-rice et la legion thebaine (Aug. 10, 1876); Robert Bruce (Aug. 13, 1878); Witikind, ou La conversion des Saxons (Aug. 11, 1880); Un vaut dix (1881; not perf.); Percival (March 1883); also incidental music. SACRED: O r a t o r i o s : Oratorio pour la beatification du venerable Pierre Claver (Namur, 1852); La fosse aux lions (Dec. 29, 1875); L’hymne de la nuit (Dec. 27, 1876); Le festin de Balthazar (Nov. 27, 1879); Heliodore (1881; not perf.); Ste. Cecile (Sept. 28, 1883); also 11 masses, numerous motets, and many sacred songs.
Bibliography
O. Pfülf, Erinnerungen an P. A.v. D., S.J., einen Freund der Jugend (Freiburg, 1887); J. Ilias, Un jésuite musicien: Le Père deD. (Liège, 1938).
—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire