Page:Pratt - The history of music (1907).djvu/495

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choral society. He was a fruitful and admired composer in many forms, including 3 Passions, several cantatas, hymns, motets, chorales and over 60 organ-pieces, besides operettas (from 1801), many part-songs, trios and songs, several symphonies and some piano-sonatas.

Johann August Günther Heinroth (d. 1846), son of a veteran organist at Nordhausen, after study at Leipsic and Halle, taught at various places (including a Jewish school at Seesen) and in 1818 followed Forkel at Göttingen. He greatly improved the musical service of the Jewish synagogues, and wrote some vocal music and many pedagogical works (from 1821).

Friedrich Schneider (d. 1853), born in 1786 near Zittau, studied there with Unger and developed precociously. From 1807 he was organist at the university church at Leipsic and in 1813 was transferred to the Thomaskirche. From 1810 he also began service as opera-conductor. From 1821 he was court-choirmaster at Dessau, where he greatly bettered the orchestra, founded fine choral societies and a noted music-school (1829), and conducted many festivals at various places (1819-47). He had a long line of eminent pupils, and was altogether a figure of influence and worth. His most successful works were some of his 16 oratorios, such as Das Weltgericht (1819) and Die Sündfluth (1823). He also wrote 14 masses, 25 cantatas, some motets and an organ-method (1829-30), besides other instruction-books, 7 operas, 400 male choruses, 200 songs, a great number of symphonies and overtures, 60 piano-sonatas, etc.

Johann Schneider (d. 1864), his brother, born in 1789, was far more distinguished as an organist, being counted before 1820 as the finest player in Germany. He too was a pupil of Unger, in 1811 followed his brother at Leipsic, from 1812 was at Görlitz, from whence he made many brilliant tours, and in 1825 became court-organist at Dresden, a post that he made famous through the musical world. He was a specialist in the music of Bach, an expert in technique and registration, and the trainer of a large number of great pupils. His published works, all for the organ, were few and not specially significant.

To these might be added many more, such as Johann Gottlob Werner (d. 1822), whose active career began at Freiberg (Saxony) in 1798 and who from 1819 was cathedral-organist at Merseburg, writing many organ-pieces, instruction-books for organ (1805, '23), piano (1806) and in theory (1818-9), and two Choralbücher; Johann Andreas Dröbs (d. 1825), a self-taught Erfurter who from 1810 was organist of the Petrikirche at Leipsic—a worthy teacher and composer; Friedrich Wilhelm Riem (d. 1857), precocious as a pianist, pupil of Hiller at Leipsic, from about 1807 organist and singing-teacher there, and from 1814 cathedral-organist at Bremen and founder of a school; Karl Heinrich Zöllner (d. 1836), well known from before 1820 as a facile virtuoso and composer in many forms, gifted, but inconstant; Bernhard Klein (d. 1832), who studied at Paris under Cherubini, and, after some service at the Cologne cathedral, was from 1818 at Berlin as teacher and conductor, a strong sacred composer of oratorios and motets, besides 3 operas and some piano works; and August Wilhelm Bach (d. 1869), a fine player who was Klein's colleague as teacher at Berlin from 1822, succeeding Zelter in 1832, and training many excellent pupils, besides writing organ and vocal music, and editing a popular Choralbuch (1830).