Haeffner, Johann Christian Friedrich
Haeffner, Johann Christian Friedrich
Haeffner, Johann Christian Friedrich, German organist, conductor, and composer; b. Ober-schönau, near Suhl, March 2, 1759; d. Uppsala, May 28, 1833. He was a pupil of Vier ling in Schmalkalden. He studied at the Univ. of Leipzig, and served as proofreader for Breitkopf; then became conductor of a traveling opera troupe. In 1781 he arrived in Stockholm, where he was an organist at St. Gertrud until 1793. He composed several operas in the style of Gluck which had a favorable reception: Electra (July 22, 1787), Alcides inträde i Världen (Nov. 11, 1793), and Renaud (Jan. 29, 1801). In 1792 he was appointed director of the Swedish Royal Orch. In 1808 he went to Uppsala, where he remained for the rest of his life, acting as organist of the Cathedral and music director of the Univ. He took great interest in Swedish national music, publishing Swedish folk songs with accompaniment and revising the melodies of the Geijer-Afzelius collection. He also ed. a Svenska Choralbok (2 parts, 1819-21), in which he restored the choral melodies of the 17th century, and added preludes (1822); also arranged a collection of old Swedish songs in 4 parts (1832-33; he finished only 2 books).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire