Wilderer, Johann Hugo von

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Wilderer, Johann Hugo von

Wilderer, Johann Hugo von, German composer; b. in Bavaria, 1670 or 1671; d. Mannheim (buried), June 7,1724. He studied with Legrenzi in Venice and by 1692 was court organist at the St. Andreas church in Düsseldorf. By 1696 he was vice-Kapellmeister at the court there, being elevated to Kapellmeister in 1703. After a new elector came upon the scene in 1716, the courts of Düsseldorf and Innsbruck were joined in Heidelberg and then in Mannheim (1720),during which time Wilderer remained in his position. His importance rests upon his role in fostering the development of German opera and of what became known as the Mannheim school of composition. He wrote 11 operas, 2 oratorios, 4 cantatas, and some sacred works.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire