A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Muffat, Georg
MUFFAT, Georg, highly esteemed composer, studied Lulli's style for six years in Paris; was organist of Strassburg Cathedral till 1675; then visited Vienna and Rome; became in 1690 organist, and in 1695 Capellmeister and Master of the Pages to the Bishop of Passau, and died there Feb. 23, 1704. He published 'Suavioris harmonise instrumentalis hyporchematicæ Florilegium primum,' 50 pieces for 4 or 8 violins with basso continuo (Augsburg, 1685); 'Florilegium secundum,' 62 pieces (Passau, 1698), both with autobiographic preface in four languages; 'Apparatus musico-organisticus'—12 toccatas, chaconne, passacaglia, (Augsburg, 1690, dedicated to Leopold I)—of importance as regards the development of organ-playing. His son
August Gottlieb (Theophilus), born about 1690 [App. p.722 "April 17, 1683"], a pupil of J. J. Fux, became in 1717 court and chamber-organist to the Emperor Charles VI, and to the widowed Empress Amalie Wilhelmine, (died 1742), and music-master to the royal children. He retired on a pension in 1764, and died in Vienna, Dec. 10, 1770, aged 80. He was a distinguished organist, and a composer of taste, and published, for organ,[1] '72 Versetten oder Fugen, sammt 12 Toccaten, besonders zum Kirchendienst bei Choral-Aemtern und Vespern dienlich' (Vienna, 1726); for harpsichord, 'Componimenti musicali,' containing overtures, caprices, sarabandes, etc., with a preface; and ending with 'Particolari segni delle[2] maniere,' etc. (Vienna, 1727. dedicated to Charles VI, at whose expense it was engraved). Zellner has recently arranged a toccata and fugue in C minor, composed by Muffat in 1720, as a concert-piece for harmonium (Vienna, Spina). A Courante and 2 Minuets of his are given by Pauer in Alte Klaviermusik (Senff). He was one of the many composers whom Handel laid under contribution for subjects and phrases in his oratorios.
There were two violinists of the same name in the Imperial chapel, Gottfried, from 1701 to 1709, and Johann Ernst, appointed in 1730, died in 1746, aged 48.[ C. F. P. ]