Stegmayer, Matthäus

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Stegmayer, Matthäus

Stegmayer, Matthäus, Austrian singer, poet, actor, and composer, father of Ferdinand Stegmayer ; b. Vienna, April 29, 1771; d. there, May10, 1820. He was a chorister in the Dominican church in Vienna. About 1792 he became a member of the Theater in der Josefstadt, where he assumed major roles and was active as a composer; in 1796 he joined Schikaneder’s Freihaus-Theater. He joined the court theater in 1800, where he was active aschorus director and producer; in 1804 he became an actor, chorus master, and composer at the Theater an der Wien, for which he wrote the text to the enormously successful quodlibet Rochus Pumpernickel (Jan. 28, 1809) with music provided by Haibel and Seyfried; it was widely performed in German-speaking countries, and was followed by at least 3 sequels.

Bibliography

F. Blitzenetz, M. S. (diss., Univ. of Vienna, 1929).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire