Schnyder von Wartensee, (Franz) Xaver

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Schnyder von Wartensee, (Franz) Xaver

Schnyder von Wartensee, (Franz) Xaver, significant Swiss composer; b. Lucerne, April 18, 1786; d. Frankfurt am Main, Aug. 27, 1868. He had piano lessons at age 16 with P. Heggli, then taught himself to play the double bass, cello, clarinet, viola, and timpani; in 1811 he went to Vienna, where he met Beethoven and studied composition with J.C. Kienlen. After teaching at Pestalozzi’s Inst. in Yverdun (1816–17), he settled in Frankfurt am Main. He played recitals on the glass harmonica and piano, taught, composed, and founded the Liederkranz (1828). He founded the Schnyder von Wartensee Foundation in 1847, which sponsored competitions in the sciences and assisted in the publ. of scientific and artistic works.

Works

DRAMATIC : Ubaldo, opera (1811–12; only 1 chorus extant); Heimweh und Heimkehr, operetta (1854; Zürich, Dec. 14, 1855). ORCH : 5 syms., including No. 2, Erinnerung an Joseph Haydn (Frankfurt am Main, Oct. 20, 1837), and No. 3, Militärsymphonie (Frankfurt am Main, Jan. 18, 1850); other orch. works; chamber music; much choral music; songs; piano music.

Bibliography

Lebenserinnerungen von X. S.v.W. (Zürich, 1887; new ed. by W. Schuh, Berlin, 1940).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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Schnyder von Wartensee, (Franz) Xaver

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