Johann Simon Mayr
I will be focusing on a German Composer who has been credited with over 600 compositions (including more than 60 operas!), but it is very disheartening to know that his works are rarely performed nowadays and have been lost in the shadows. Johann(es) Simon Mayr was born on 14th June 1763, as the second son to Josef Mayr, the local organist of Mendorf, Bavaria. Mayr's father was his first tutor until 1769, when he enrolled in the Benedictine monastery of Weltenburg, located in the beautiful Danube gorge. ( Interestingly, this is the world's oldest monastic brewery, working since 1040 AD! ). In 1774, his parents transferred him to the Jesuit monastery of Ingolstadt to prepare him for teaching, but due to the abolishment of the Jesuit order in Bavaria, from 1777 onwards, he was prompted to study theology, law, philosophy and medicine in the University of Ingolstadt. ( Interestingly, his professor was Adam Weishaupt - the founder of Illuminati! ) It was here that he continued hi...