Ludwig Abeille

         I want to start this series with a composer whose music is a burst of refreshment. 

Born in the Bavarian town of Bayreuth (Yes, the one with the namesake festival celebrating Richard Wagner) in 1761 (records vary, but they place his birth year to be 1761 or 1765), Ludwig Abeille was a German composer of the classical era. His father was the patron of the Margraviate of Bavaria, and his mother was appointed in the town court; hence, given his family background, he was schooled in the now-destroyed Hohe Karlsschule (Karl's High School) from the age of eleven. Receiving his musical education under the renowned Italian composers Antonio Boroni (the same guy who first mentored Muzio Clementi!) and Mazzanti, he mastered his skills in the piano, organ and harpsichord. During his schooling, he was already supporting the Württemberg Court of Music in Stuttgart.

In 1782, after leaving Karlsschule, he became a member of the private band as a Maestro di Capella (conductor) to the Duke of Württemberg. It was here that he started composing various vocal and orchestral pieces, which led to his recognition amongst the people. As the biographer Ernst Gerber said, "..in his beautiful, uncontrived singing, he has shown several examples of insight into the treatment of a text".  The royal family were accustomed to performing and producing various musical dramas in the "Hoftheater" (which burned down in 1902 and is now replaced by the Staatstheater Stuttgart). 

It was finally in 1802 - after the untimely death of Johann Zumsteeg at the young age of 42 - that Abeille took up the role of the Konzertmeister (Concertmaster). This didn't come quite easily as there was a bit of politics involved against another candidate, viz. Bofinger, but he was most likely denied a position because he was a foreigner. Bofinger became the monastery organist, and Abeille became the music director. Shortly afterwards, in 1815, Abeille was appointed as the court organist and given the role of the director of Stiftsmusik. During his time there, he wrote various letters to the Duke indicating a lack of funding for training good vocalists, but sadly, the situation only improved long after his death, under Konrad Nocher in 1849.

For his fifty years of faithful service to the court, in 1832, Abeille was awarded a royal gold medal and a pension, after which he retired owing to his deteriorating health conditions. He later died in 1838 (although some sources give the date to be 1832). His concertos and trios are much esteemed but his vocal compositions, such as Amor und Psyche, offer a graceful melody which is pleasing to the ears. His operettas and cantatas were well known in the day, and they paid subtle homages to the music of Gluck and Mozart. 

Personally, I was introduced to this beautiful composer through his Concerto for Piano 4 Hands and Orchestra op.6, composed and first premiered in the Berlin concert in 1793, which has been my favourite piece for a long time. His music invokes a jovial and exciting feeling which can be uplifting to the mood. Additionally, if you love Mozart's vocal pieces, I am sure Abeille would be a pleasure to listen to. Even Carl Maria von Weber rightly praised his "lovely, beautiful singing and the diligent treatment of the whole". I would suggest you listen to him once!

References:

1. The Biographical Dictionary of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Vol. 1, Issue 1 - Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans (1842)
2. A Dictionary of Music and Musicians (A.D. 1450-1889) by Eminent Writers, English and Foreign, Vol. 1 - John Alexander Fuller-Maitland, Mrs. Edmond R. Wodehouse (1890)
3. Neues Historisch-Biographisches Lexikon Der Tonkünstler, Vol. 1 - Ernst Ludwig Gerber (1812)
4. Encyclopädie der gesammten musikalischen Wissenschaften - Gustav Schilling (1835)
5. Zur Geschichte der Musik und des Theaters am Württembergischen Hofe, Vol. 1 - Josef Sittard (1890)
6. Andreas Praefcke's Carthalia