JOHANN

LUDWIG

See also:

• JOHANN LUDWIG DUSSEK (1761–1812)

DUSSEK (1761–1812)  , Bohemian pianist and composer, was born at Czaslau, in Bohemia, on the 5th of February 1761 . His father, Johann Joseph Dussek, a musician of high reputation, was organist and choir-master in the collegiate church of Czaslau, and several other members of the family were distinguished as organists . Under the careful instruction of his father he made such rapid progress that he appeared in public as a pianist at the age of six . A year or two later he was placed as a choir boy at the convent of Iglau, and he obtained his first instruction in counterpoint from Spenar, the choir-master . When his voice broke he entered on a course of general study, first at the Jesuits' college, and then at the university of Prague, where he took his bachelor's degree in philosophy . During his curriculum of two and a half years he had paid unremitting attention to the practice and study of his art, and had received further instruction in composition from a Benedictine monk . In 1779 he was for a short time organist in the church of St Rombaut at Mechlin . At the close of his engagement he proceeded to Holland, where he attained great distinction as a pianist, and was employed by the stadtholder as musical instructor to his family . While at the Hague he published his first works, several sonatas and concertos for the piano . He had already composed at the age of thirteen a solemn mass and several small oratorios . In 1783 he visited Hamburg, and placed himself under the instruction of Philip Emmanuel Bach . After spending two years in Lithuania in the service of Prince Radziwill, he went in 1786 to Paris, where he remained, with the exception of a short period spent at Milan, until the outbreak of the Revolution, enjoying the special patronage of Marie Antoinette and great popularity with the public .

In Milan he appeared not only as a pianist but also as a player of the

harmonica, an instrument which was much sought after on account of its novelty in those days . Towards the close of 1789 he removed to London, where on the 2nd of March 1790 he appeared at Salomon's concerts, and he married a daughter of Dominico Corri, herself a clever harpist and pianist . Unfortunately he was tempted by the large sale of his numerous compositions to open a music-publishing warehouse in partnership with Montague Corri, a relative of his wife . The result was injurious to his fame and disastrous to his fortune . Writing solely for the sake of sale, he composed many pieces that were quite unworthy of his genius; and, as he was entirely destitute of business capacity, bankruptcy was inevitable . In ',Soo he was obliged to flee to Hamburg to escape the claims of his creditors . Some years later he was attached in the capacity of musician to the household of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, with whom he formed an intimate friendship . On the death of his patron in 1806 he passed into the service of the prince of Isenburg as court musician . In 1809 he went to Paris to fill a similar situation in the household of Prince Talleyrand, which he held until his death on the loth of March 1812 . Dussek had an important influence on the development of pianoforte music . As a performer he was distinguished by the purity of his tone, the combined power and delicacy of his touch, and the facility of his execution . His sonatas, known as The Invocation, The Farewell and The Harmonic Elegy, though not equally sustained throughout, contain movements that have scarcely been surpassed for solemnity and beauty of idea .

See also

Alexander W.• Thayer's articles in Dwight's Journal of Music (Boston, 1861) .