Zmeskall, Nikolaus (Paul), Edler von Do-manovecz

views updated

Zmeskall, Nikolaus (Paul), Edler von Do-manovecz

Zmeskall, Nikolaus (Paul), Edler von Do-manovecz, Hungarian diplomat and musical amateur; b. Lestine (baptized, Nov. 20), 1759; d. Vienna, June 23, 1833. He served as secretary of the Hungarian Chancellery in Vienna (1784-1825), and was a close friend of Beethoven, who dedicated to him the String Quartet, op.95. Zmeskall was also a composer in his own right, numbering 16 string quartets and other instrumental music among his works.

Bibliography

A. Sandberger, Beethovens Freund Z. als Komponist (Munich, 1924); C. Pidoll, Verklungenes Spiel: Erinnerungen des Herrn N. Z. (Innsbruck, 1949).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire