Witt, Friedrich

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Witt, Friedrich

Witt, Friedrich, German violinist and composer; b. Hallenbergstetten, Württemberg, Nov. 8, 1770; d. Würzburg, Jan. 3,1836. At the age of 19, he was engaged as violinist in the orch. of Prince von Oettingen, and from 1802 he was Kapellmeister at Würzburg, at first to the Prince-Bishop, then to the Grand Duke, and finally to the city. It was Witt who composed the so-called Jena Sym., misattributed to Beethoven (see H.C. Robbins Landon’s article in the Music Review for May 1957). Other works by Witt include the historical opera Palma (Frankfurt am Main, 1804), the comic opera Das Fischer-weib (Würzburg, 1806), the oratorios Der leidende Heiland (Würzburg, 1802) and Die Auferstehung Jesu, masses and cantatas, 9 syms., music for wind band, 7 concertos and sinfonie concertanti, Flute Concerto, Quintetto for Piano and Strings or Winds, Septet for String Quartet and Winds, etc.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire