Vogler, Georg Joseph [Abbé
Vogler]
(b Würzburg, 15 June 1749; d Darmstadt, 6 May 1814). German
theorist, teacher, keyboard player, organ designer and composer. His theory of harmony influenced 19th-century
approaches to music analysis, and he anticipated the Romantic period in his
chromatic harmony, colouristic orchestration and melodic borrowings from folk
tradition and exotic cultures. His radical concept of organ design aroused
widespread interest and controversy; his writings on the reform of sacred music
foreshadowed the Cecilian movement.
1. Life.
2. Teachings.
3. Music.
WORKS
WRITINGS
BlBLIOGRAPHY
MARGARET GRAVE
Vogler, Georg Joseph
1. Life.
The
son of a Würzburg instrument maker, Vogler attended a Jesuit Gymnasium before
enrolling in humanistic studies at Würzburg University in 1763. Subsequently he
studied common and canon law, first at Würzburg, then at Bamberg. During his
student years he composed ballet and theatre music for university performances.
In 1770 he obtained a post as almoner at the Mannheim court of Carl Theodor,
the Elector Palatine. Politically resourceful, he soon attained prominence in
the court’s musical life, secured the elector’s favour, and was granted the
financial means to pursue musical study in Italy (from 1773). There he studied
briefly with Padre Martini in Bologna and spent a longer period in Padua, where
he studied theology and became a disciple of the theorist Francesco Antonio
Vallotti. In Rome, he was granted membership in the Accademia dell’Arcadia, and
Pope Pius VI named him papal protonotary, chamberlain, and Knight of the Golden
Spur.
Vogler
returned to the Mannheim court in November 1775 and in this new phase of his
career, he acquired the titles of spiritual counsellor and second
Kapellmeister. He founded a music school, the Mannheimer Tonschule, and began
publishing didactic writings, including the handbook Tonwissenschaft und
Tonsezkunst (1776), a compilation of pedagogical materials entitled Kuhrpfälzische
Tonschule (1778) and the three-volume series Betrachtungen der Mannheimer
Tonschule (1778–81).
Following
the removal of the electoral court to Munich in 1778, Vogler remained
temporarily at Mannheim. In 1780 he travelled to Paris to win approbation for
his theory of harmony from the Académie Royale des Sciences, and during the
next three years he had works performed both in Paris and at Versailles. He
then went to London (1783), where the Royal Society approved his theoretical
system. Summoned to Munich to succeed Andrea Bernasconi as first Kapellmeister
in 1784, he remained there only until 1786, when he entered the service of
Gustavus III, King of Sweden, as music director and teacher of the crown
prince. At Stockholm he resumed his pedagogical work but was also permitted to
continue his travels, and in 1792, following the assassination of his royal
patron, he set off on a journey that took him to Gibraltar, Cádiz (where he was
mistaken for a spy and arrested), Tangier and further into the Mediterranean in
search of ancient, orally transmitted traditions of modal singing.
In
1793 Vogler returned to Stockholm, where he retained an official post under
Gustavus Adolphus IV until 1799. His subsequent wanderings as a performer,
organ designer and teacher included sojourns in Copenhagen (1799–1800), Berlin
(1800–01), Prague (1801–2) and Vienna (1802/3–5), where he met Haydn, competed
with Beethoven, obtained a commission from Emanuel Schikaneder for the opera Samori,
and taught the young Carl Maria von Weber.
After
spending two years in Munich, he received a court appointment at Darmstadt in
August 1807. There, in 1810, C.M. von Weber returned to his mentor for further
instruction and joined a circle of friends that included Meyerbeer, the
theorist Gottfried Weber and the Austrian composer Johann Gänsbacher. This
group of disciples soon disbanded, but Vogler continued to compose and
undertake ambitious projects, including a ‘monument to the science of organ
building’, the Triorganon: a huge organ to be equipped with 13 manuals
distributed among three separate consoles, which remained unfinished at the
time of his death.
Vogler, Georg Joseph
2. Teachings.
In
his theoretical handbooks, treatises and essays Vogler aimed to apply harmonic
principles in terms understandable to amateurs as well as professionals.
Inspired by Vallotti’s rationalist methods, he proposed a chain of deductions,
leading from elementary harmonic materials to the outermost reaches of
modulation and chromatic harmony, as a guide for music instruction and
analysis; and to make tangible his theoretical calculations, he devised an
eight-string Tonmaass, a latter-day monochord whose fixed bridges
furnished string divisions in nine to 16 parts (see illustration).
A
key ingredient of his theory was the ‘system of reduction’, first set forth in Tonwissenschaft
und Tonsezkunst. Based on Vallotti’s principles of chord structure and
inversion (rather than Rameau’s precepts) the method offered a means for
determining the functional chord root for any vertical sonority in accordance
with contrapuntal context; and in analytical writings from the Betrachtungen
to the System für den Fugenbau (written in 1811), Vogler interpreted the
concept of reduction broadly to explain the harmonic design of phrases,
sections or whole compositions as elaborations of simple, archetypal
progressions. His theory permitted chord roots on all degrees of the scale, and
in order to represent the function of scale degrees and their triads, he
assigned them the roman numerals I–VII. These symbols appear sporadically in
Vogler’s early writings (contemporaneously with similar usage by J.P.
Kirnberger), but his later publications, especially the analyses of his XXXII
préludes (1806) and Davids Buss-Psalm (1807), use roman-numeral
analysis to represent the harmonic content of an entire composition.
In Tonwissenschaft
und Tonsezkunst, Vogler argued that while remote modulations should be
avoided by composers in the interest of tonal unity, they were essential to the
church organist’s art of improvisation; and in his Betrachtungen, volume
iii, his sample modulations explored a novel and dense chromaticism, involving
enharmonic spellings of diminished 7th and augmented 6th chords, to illustrate
tonal paths from a given centre to any other major or minor key. The Handbuch
zur Harmonielehre offered additional examples and relaxed the earlier
injunction against remote modulation in composition. To encompass the complete
tonal spectrum, but also to preserve the unique tonal colour of different keys,
he advocated an unequal, ‘characteristic’ temperament for the tuning of
keyboard instruments. A persuasive mentor, he imparted his theories to younger
contemporaries, including Gottfried Weber, J.H. Knecht, V.J.K. Tomášek and
Joseph Drechsler, who adapted his ideas in their writings.
Vogler’s
work as a critic of musical style and technique is well represented in the Betrachtungen,
whose analyses and essays were designed to refine students’ musical tastes and
provide them with the skills to judge a composition. Proceeding from the premise
that music is an imitative art, he concentrated on works with a text or with
depictive content, such as his Singspiel Der Kaufmann von Smyrna (Betrachtungen,
ii–iii) and his overture to Shakespeare’s Hamlet (Betrachtungen,
i). Yet he also wrote on non-programmatic instrumental music and expounded on
analogies between musical form and rhetoric, most extensively in System für
den Fugenbau, where he also provided a detailed account of thematic
development.
With
the aid of published Verbesserungen (improved versions of existing
works), Vogler sought to explain how musical knowledge had progressed in the
course of the 18th century. His most ambitious project of this type, a revised
version of G.B. Pergolesi’s Stabat mater (Betrachtungen, i–iii),
underscored a commitment to progress in sacred composition. However, he also
wrote of an ideal church music whose unembellished purity was capable of
timeless endurance (Betrachtungen, i, 301–4). In Choral-System
(1800), he proposed a method of harmonization designed to preserve the modal
character of harmonized chorale melodies.
As a
theorist of acoustics and organ design, he proposed a Simplification
system whose
principles – including economy of materials, reliability of wind pressure and
acoustical enhancements – were embodied in his Orchestrion, a compact,
transportable organ (see Orchestrion, (1)). Initially completed at Rotterdam
in 1790, but subject to later modifications, it featured the use of free reeds
and exploited the principle of difference tones to eliminate the large and
costly pipes otherwise needed to produce low notes. Though deplored by
conservative organists, the simplification system was implemented in the renovation
of more than 30 church organs, including instruments in Berlin, Munich, Prague
and Salzburg.
Vogler, Georg Joseph
3. Music.
The
scope of Vogler’s musical accomplishment, encompassing sacred vocal works, operas,
instrumental ensemble pieces and solo keyboard music, defies generalization.
Much of his sacred output adheres to the austerity of texture, rhythm and
harmony that he advocated in his writings, but there are also examples of
florid vocal style and richly orchestrated textures; and while many of his
chorale settings are purely diatonic, at least one group of harmonizations, in Zwölf
Choräle (published in 1810 as revisions of harmonizations by J.S. Bach and
supplied with commentary by C.M. von Weber), bristles with chromaticism.
Vogler’s
work as a theatre composer, variously conservative and innovative, touched on
most of the genres and stylistic currents of his time. In the ballet Le
rendez-vous de chasse (1772) and the melodrama Lampedo (1779), he
explored a language of musical pantomime and dramatic gesture, while the opera Castore
e Polluce (1787), replete with choral tableaux, dances and arioso as well
as virtuoso arias, represents a synthesis of Italian and French operatic
tradition. By contrast, the Swedish opera Gustaf Adolph och Ebba Brahe
(1788) forgoes elaborate arias and static tableaux in favour of syllabically
rendered dialogue and a fast pace of dramatic action. The late Viennese opera Samori
(1804), uniquely rich in melodic, harmonic and instrumental diversity, features
exotic and Romantically evocative solo wind colours, musically and dramatically
complex ensemble scenes and a remarkable experiment in which a repeated
two-word phrase is intoned in a kind of Sprechgesang, halfway between speech
and singing.
The
surviving symphonies and concertos by Vogler reveal polished craftsmanship and
a flair for orchestral colour. He was fond of highlighting wind instruments,
and the use of two pairs of horns in complementary keys is a trademark traceable
to the early Schuster-Ballet of 1768. Though melodic invention is not
one of his recognized strengths, some works, notably in the two Polymelos
collections (1791, 1806) and Pièces de clavecin (1798), compensate by
adopting exotic melodies, allegedly drawn from African, Chinese, Russian and
Scandinavian folk traditions. The latter set, published as a supplement to his
Swedish keyboard manual, Clavér-schola, extends from pieces of modest
difficulty to showcases for virtuosity whose complex trill and glissando
passages anticipate those of Beethoven’s Waldstein Sonata.
Although
relatively few of Vogler’s works achieved wide public recognition, some of his
music did indeed win immediate, and even enduring, favour. Contemporary
accounts record an uncontrollable stampede for tickets to a Copenhagen
performance of Hermann von Unna, and a chorus of Furies from Castore
e Polluce was regularly incorporated in Munich performances of Mozart’s Don
Giovanni. Various works were performed in concerts well into the 19th century,
and Robert Schumann praised Vogler’s music as late as 1838.
To
judge from contemporaries’ accounts, some of Vogler’s most original
accomplishments were in the realm of keyboard improvisation rather than notated
composition. Although Mozart, hearing him early in his career at Mannheim,
condemned him as ‘a trickster pure and simple’ (letter to Leopold Mozart, 18
December 1777), Schubart (p.133) declared that he was ‘one of the foremost
organ and harpsichord players in Europe’. Outstandingly successful as a
virtuoso organist, he was known for startling sound effects (including
low-register note-clusters on the pedalboard) in tone paintings and fantasias
on exotic melodies with such titles as Die Spazierfahrt auf dem Rhein vom
Donnerwetter unterbrochen, Terrassenlied der Afrikaner and Das jüngste
Gericht.
Vogler’s
work was seldom free from controversy. He was chided for his eccentricities,
and detractors denounced him as a charlatan. He nevertheless enjoyed the
admiration of patrons and pupils throughout his career, and in retrospect he
stands out as an innovative musical thinker and practitioner. His
accomplishments not only added a colourful voice to European musical life of
the late 18th and early 19th centuries, but also exerted far-reaching influence
on his successors.
Vogler, Georg Joseph
WORKS
data approximate; for further information see Schafhäutl and
MGG1
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G
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Vogler: Gegenstände der Betrachtungen, suppls. to Betrachtungen
der Mannheimer Tonschule (see Writings)
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stage
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Der
Kaufmann von Smyrna (Spl, 1, C.F. Schwan, after N. Chamfort), Mannheim,
Schauspielhaus auf dem Fruchtmarkt, sum. 1771, D-DS (facs. in GOB,
viii, 1986), Mbs, OF*, US-Wc, pubd in G ii–iii
(1779–81); rev., Mannheim, 20 Feb 1778
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Lampedo
(melodrama, 1, C.F. Lichtenberg), Darmstadt, Hof, 4/11 July 1779, DS
(facs. in GOB, ix, 1986), Mbs
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Erwin
und Elmire (Spl, 1, J.W. von Goethe), Darmstadt, 12 Dec 1781, DS*
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Albert
der Dritte von Bayern (Spl, 5, K.T. von Traitteur), Stuttgart, National, Dec
1781 or Munich, Hof, 1781, lost, lib A-Wn, D-Mth, Us-Wc
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Ariadne
en Naxe (tragedy), c1782, ?unperf., lost, cited in Betrachtungen,
iii (1780–81)
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Eglé
(pastorale, 2), c1782, ?unperf., see Brenet and Betrachtungen,
iii (1780–81)
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Le
patriotisme (grand op), Versailles, 25 March 1783, lost, cited in Handbuch
zur Harmonielehre (1802)
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La
kermesse, ou La foire flamande (oc, 2, J. Patrat), Paris, Opéra-Comique
(Favart), 15 Nov 1783, ov. and airs de ballet, pf, vn (Paris, c1783),
vs selections in Choix de musique (Paris, 1784)
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Castore
e Polluce (tragedia lirica, 3, after C.I. Frugoni: I Tintaridi, after P.-J.
Bernard: Castor et Pollux), Munich, Hof, 12 Jan 1787, A-Wgm, D-Bsb,
DS*, Hs, Mbs, OF; rev. in Ger., Munich, Hof, 16
Jan 1806
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Gustaf
Adolph och Ebba Brahe (lyric drama, 3, J.H. Kellgren, after Gustavus III),
Stockholm, Royal Opera, 24 Jan 1788, DS*, S-Skma, St*,
vs ed. in MMS, vii (1973)
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Zoroastre
(melodrama), 1796, lost, listed in Verzeichniss
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Der
Koppengeist auf Reisen, oder Rübezahl (Spl, A. von Kotzebue), Breslau, 1802
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Samori
(heroisch-komische Oper, 2, F.X. Huber), Vienna, an der Wien, 17 May 1804, D-DS,
Mbs, OF, vs (Vienna, 1805), new ov., 1811 (Offenbach, 1817);
rev., Darmstadt, 30 June 1811
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Epimenides
(Spl, 1), ?1806, DS, ?unperf.
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Der
Admiral (Spl, 1), 1810–11, DS, ?unperf.; rev. as Der gewonnene Prozess
(Spl, 2), Darmstadt, ?1811, DS*
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Prols:
Gluck’s Armide, 1787, DS*, S-St; 2 prols to Curland, 1788,
lost, listed in Verzeichniss; Gustaf Adolph och Ebba Brahe, 1795, D-DS*,
S-St, separate prol ov., D, St
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Incid
music: Hamlet (W. Shakespeare), ov., 4 entr’actes, pubd in G i (1778–9), iii
(1780–81); Der Eremit auf Formentera (Kotzebue), ov., ?1785, D-DS, S-Skma*,
used in 1798 for C. Stenborg and others: Eremiten (pasticcio), Sk, St;
Athalie (J. Racine), 1786, D-DS*, S-St; Hermann von Unna (A.F.
Skjöldebrand), 1795, D-DS*, vs (Leipzig, n.d.); Die Kreutzfahrer
(Kotzebue), ov. and 4 nos., ?1802, ov. (Offenbach, c1818), DS;
Die Hussiten vor Naumburg (Kotzebue), closing chorus, 1802, Mbs; Die
Spanier in Peru, oder Rollas Tod (Kotzebue), chorus and Indian march, 1803,
lost, listed in Verzeichniss
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Ballets:
Schuster-Ballet (frag.), 1768, frag. rev. 1807 in suppl. to Utile dulci
(1808); La soirée enchantée, 1771, lost, cited in Utile dulci (1808);
Le rendez-vous de chasse, ou Les vendanges interrompues par les chasseurs,
1772, DS*, ed. in RRMCE, xiv (1996), also as Jäger-Ballet, 1777, arr.
pf, vn, pubd in G iii (1780–81); Le forgeron villageois, arr. hp/pf (London,
n.d.), also as Schmitt-Ballet, 1777, arr. pf, vn, pubd in G iii (1780–81);
Jäger-Ballet and Schmitt-Ballet also pubd as Le rendez vous à la chasse and
Le maréchal ferrant in Recueil d’airs, hp, vn (Paris, n.d.)
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Other
lost stage works: Aretius (? incid music), Triumphirend göttliche
Vorsichtigkeit, oder Joas (?incid music), both 1766, listed in Verzeichniss
as dramas
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sacred vocal
only principal sources shown
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Masses
and mass sections (most for chorus, orch, some with solo vv, 2nd choir, org):
Missa pasatorita, D, Missa pastorella, A, 1768, 1767, D-OF*; Mbs*;
Missa pastoritia, E, 1775, rev. 1804 (Offenbach, c1824), DS, vs
ed. J. Winter (Karlsruhe, 1938); Ky–G–San, G, Cr–San, D, G–Ag, b, D, 2 Ky, D,
G, Gl, 4 G, C, D, F, d, 2 Ag, D, e, OF*, G, F, OF, Ky, C, Gl,
F, DS*, Ky, D, G, C, San, C, DS, ? all 1775–6; Ky–San, Bb, Gl, OF*,
Ag, g, DS, all c1775–8; Requiem, g, 1776, DS*; Deutsche
Kirchenmusik (J.H. von Kohlbrenner), a, with org acc. 1777, DS*,
(n.p., ?1778), DS, with orch acc. 1778, rev. 1807 in suppl. to Utile
dulci (1808); Missa solennis, d, 1784 (Offenbach, c1823); Missa de
Quadragesima, F, chorus/(chorus org), 1784 (Offenbach, c1818); Missa
de Quadragesima, F, 2 choruses, b insts, org, 1805, based in part on 1784
mass, DS*; Requiem, E , 1809, DS* (Mainz, 1822), vs (Mainz, 1822);
4 Requiem settings, c, d, e, E, OF*; more than 10 other masses, some lost;
Ag, g, DS; c40 further partial mass settings and mass movts,
most 1775–7, listed in Verzeichniss, ?lost
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Other
sacred with orch/inst ens (for chorus, some with solo vv, 2nd choir, org):
TeD, D, 1775, D-OF*, Mbs (Offenbach, 1827); Beatus vir, F, In
exitu Israel, C, Laudate Dominum, B, Laudate pueri, E, Memento Domine David, G, Regina
coeli, C, DS*, Mag, C, DS, Confitebar, G, Mag, D, OF*,
all c1775–8; Miserere, C, with b insts, org, 1776, DS*, with 2
vn, 2 va, DS*, G iii (178–81), rev., Mbs; Motetto Sancta Maria,
A, 1776, OF*, Vesperae chorales, 1776, Bsb* (Speyer, ?1781),
also as Psalmi vespertini, Mbs; Die Auferstehung Jesu (orat.), 1777, DS,
S-Smf*; Helig är Herren (cant.), C, ?1786, Bsb; Miserere, E, 1789 (Offenbach, 1826);
TeD, D, 1797, DS*, as O Gud! vi lofve Dig, S-St*; Serenissimae
puerperae sacrum, 1804, D-DS* (Offenbach, 1817); Vesperae de Paschate,
1805, DS*; Laudate Dominum, B, 1808 (Offenbach, 1817), ed., E. Hessel
(Heidelberg, 1961); Laetatus sum, G, 1811, Mbs*; Veni Sancte Spiritus,
B (Offenbach, 1817);
De profundis, f, Dixit Dominus, D, both Bsb*; TeD, A, S-Smf*;
at least 37 other works, ? many lost; c10 more pieces for 1v, 2vv,
with orch/inst ens, some lost
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Other
sacred, unacc. or with org/pf/bc (for chorus, some with solo vv, 2nd choir):
Ecce panis angelorum, B, G i (1778–9); Davids Buss-Psalm (M. Mendelssohn),
a, suppl. to Utile dulci (1807); many in collections such as 24
lateinische Hymnen, 1809/10, D-Mbs*, nos.1–12 pubd as 12 Kirchen
Hÿmnen (Munich, n.d.), 12 kleinere Gesangscompositionen, 1810–14, Mbs*;
Hymni sex (Leipzig, 1822), as Cantus processionalis, Bsb*; at least 10
other works, some lost; further MS and pubd collns overlapping those listed,
esp. in DS, Mbs
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Chorale
and plainsong harmonizations (various scorings): En jungfru födde et barn i
dag, 1796, S-Skma*; 90 chorales, suppl. to Choral-System
(Copenhagen, 1800); 12 cantiques, ?1812, D-Mbs*; 14 chorales, 1813, DS;
13 [27] Kirchengesänge, 1813, A-Wn*; others; org accs. to plainsong,
incl. Pater noster, Praefatio di SS Trinitate, Praefatio di Beata Maria
Virgine, all D-Mbs
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secular vocal
only principal sources shown
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With
orch: Ino (cant., K.W. Ramler), 1779, D-DS; Le dernier morceau de la
cantate suédoise, 1786, DS*; Musique til Seraphimer Ordens Dagen,
1795, OF, S-Skma, St; Trichordium und Trias Harmonica
(Meissner), 1799 (Offenbach, 1815), vs (Offenbach, 1815); Amore prigionero
(P. Metastasio), 1804, D-DS; Carmen seculare una cum psalmodia Vogleri
(ode, Horace), 1806, DS; Herr Urian (M. Claudius), ?1808, Mbs;
Augusta’s Krone (cant.), 1809, DS*; Die Scala, 1810 (Offenbach,
?1815), vs (Offenbach, c1815); Frohe und fromme Empfindungen, 1813, DS;
Dialog zwischen dem Platan und dem Kürbis, 1814, Mbs*; Lied an den
Rhein, 1814 (Munich, n.d.); Teutonia, oder Kriegslied, 1814, DS; Auf
den 15. Februar, lost, listed by Schafhäutl
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Other:
more than 15 works for chorus, mainly unacc., most on Ger. texts; numerous
arias, rondos, songs, duets, etc. on Ger., It., Fr., Swed. texts; Triumph der
kindlichen Liebe (occasional piece), ? with orch, 1764, Tuiskon ist erwacht
(declamation), with orch, ?1814, both lost, listed in Verzeichniss
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instrumental
only principal sources shown
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Syms.:
G, 1779, D-DS, Mbs, facs. in The Symphony 1720–1840, ser. C, v
(New York, 1983); d, ‘Pariser’, 1782, DS*; C, ‘Satisfactions Sinfonie’,
‘La scala’, 1799, DO* (Offenbach, c1815), rev. 1806 as
Baierische national Sinfonie, with addl insts, DS
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Kbd,
orch: 6 Reichte Clavier Concerten, pubd in G i–ii (1778–80), offprint pubd as
6 concerti facili, op.2; Pf Conc., C, op.8 (Paris, 1782); 2 bks each of 3 pf
concs. (Paris, c1784); Variations on Air de Marlborough, pf, orch
(Speyer, 1791), ed. in Antiqua, xxxvii (Mainz, 1951); Variations on Ah, que
dirais-je maman, pf, orch, ?1807, DS*, Mbs; Variations on Dole
vise, pf, orch, DS* (frag.), Mbs, also for vn, orch, DS*
(frag.); Pf Conc., B,
DS*; at least 5 more pf concs.; Org. Conc., C, US-NH
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Other
orch: Trauermusik auf Ludwig XVI, 1793, as Begrafnings musik, S-St;
Marche de Charles XII auprès de Narva, St; Ov., d, Skma;
Polonaise, D, St*; Spanischer Boleras, G, D-OF*; further
pieces, incl. at least 2 lost sets of variations, 4 lost concs.
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Chbr
[thematic index in DTB, xxviii, Jg.xvi (1915)]: 6 trios, pf, vn, vc, op.1
(Mannheim, 1777); Sonata, G, pf, vn, pubd in G i (1778–9); Pf Qt, E, 1778 (Mainz, 1783),
also as Notturno en quatuor (Darmstadt, 1796); 2 sets of 3 neue leichte
angenehme Clavier Sonaten, pf, vn, G ii (1779–80), offprint pubd as 6 sonate
facili, op.3; 12 sonatas, pf, vn, vc, 6 as op.6, 6 as op.7 (Paris, c1782/1783);
6 pièces de musique dans un genre nouveau, pf, fl, vn, va, vc in various
combinations, op.4 (Mainz, 1783); Variations, G, pf, str qt, 1788, OF*;
Variations on Ali Crokes, pf, str qt, ?c1788, D-OF*; Variations
on Wilhelmus van Nassau, pf, str qt (Amsterdam, 1789); Polymelos, pt i (6
pieces), pf, str qt (Speyer, 1791), pt ii lost, announced in Musikalische
Korrespondenz (1790); Der eheliche Zwist, sonata, pf, str qt (Leipzig,
?1796), also as La brouillerie entre mari et femme (Paris, ?1796); 5 sets of
variations on themes from Samori, pf, vn, vc, all (Vienna, 1804); Polymelos
(16 pieces), pf, vn, vc (Munich, 1806), at least 16 more sonatas, pf, vn, and
12 more trios and sonatas, pf, vn, vc, esp. in HR-Dsmb; 4 str qts, ?Mbs;
6 qts, fl, str, ?Dlb, no.1 ed. in DTB, xxvii, Jg.xv (1914); other
works, incl. arrs.
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Winds:
March, C, D-Bsb*; Harmonie-Arie, B, 1804, Musique russe, g, 1814, 2 marches, E, all lost, listed in Verzeichniss;
others
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Kbd:
112 petits préludes, org/pf, 1766 (Mainz, 1782), ed. J. Dorfmüller (Bonn,
1980); Variations on ov. Der Kaufmann von Smyrna, pf, pubd in G ii (1779–80);
6 Sonatas, 2 pf (Darmstadt, c1794); Pièces de clavecin (15 pieces),
pf, suppl. to Clavér-schola (Stockholm, 1798), ed. in RRMCE, xxiv
(1986); 32 préludes, org/pf (Munich, 1806), ed. in RRMCE, xxiv (1986); Fugue,
org, D, S-Skma; Variations, pf, d, D-Mbs (Schafhäutliana);
further pieces incl. arrs.
|
revisions and reworkings
only principal sources shown
|
G.B.
Pergolesi: Stabat mater, pubd in G i–iii (1778–81); N. Forkel: Variations on
God Save the King, pf, suppl. to Verbesserung der Forkel’schen
Veränderungen (Frankfurt, 1793); C.P.E. Bach: Heilig, 1809, D-Mbs*;
12 Choräle von Sebastian Bach, umgearbeitet (Leipzig, 1810); G. Meyerbeer:
Gott des Weltalls Herr, fugue, suppl. to System für den Fugenbau
(Offenbach, c1817); others
|
Vogler, Georg Joseph
WRITINGS
Tonwissenschaft
und Tonsezkunst (Mannheim, 1776/R)
Stimmbildungskunst (Mannheim, 1776)
Kuhrpfälzische
Tonschule (Mannheim, 1778) [incl. fasc. of music exx.: Gründe
der Kuhrpfälzischen Tonschule in Beyspielen]
Betrachtungen
der Mannheimer Tonschule, i–iii (Mannheim, 1778–81/R)
[series of music and music ex. suppls.: Gegenstände der Betrachtungen,
incl. music by Vogler]
Articles in Deutsche
Encyclopädie, oder Allgemeines Real-Wörterbuch aller Künste und Wissenschaften, ii–xviii
(Frankfurt, 1779–94)
Entwurf eines
neuen Wörterbuchs für die Tonschule (Frankfurt, 1780)
‘Ueber die Musik
der Oper Rosamunde’, Rheinische Beiträge zur
Gelehrsamkeit (1780), 497–514
Essai propre à
diriger le goût de ceux qui ne sont pas musiciens (Paris, 1782)
‘Ästhetisch-kritische
Zergliederung des wesentlich vierstimmigen Singsatzes des vom H. Musikdirektor
Knecht in Musik gesetzten ersten Psalms’, Musikalische
Korrespondenz der Teutschen Filarmonischen Gesellschaft (1792), 155–9,
163–4, 314–19, 356–9
‘Bemerkungen
über die der Musik vortheilhafteste Bauart eines Musikchors: ein Auszug aus
einem Brief des Abt Voglers von Bergen in Norwegen 1792’, Journal von
und für Deutschland, ix (1792), 178–81
Verbesserung
der Forkel’schen Veränderungen über das englische Volkslied ‘God Save the King’ (Frankfurt, 1793) [incl.
suppl. of music and music exx.]
Erste
musikalische Preisaustheilung für das Jahr 1791 (Frankfurt, 1794) [incl.
music suppl.]
Inledning til
harmoniens kännedom (Stockholm, 1794) [incl.
fasc. of music exx.]
Clavér-schola (Stockholm, 1798) [incl.
fasc. of music exx. and music suppl.: Pièces de clavecin]
Organist-schola (Stockholm, 1798–9) [incl.
fasc. of music exx. for vol. i]
Lection til
choral-eleven M.H. (Stockholm, 1799) [incl.
fasc. of music exx.]
‘Aeusserung über
Hrn. Knechts Harmonik’, AMZ, ii (1799–1800), 689–96
Andra lection
til choral-eleven M.H. (Stockholm, 1800) [incl.
fasc. of music exx.]
Musik-skole (Copenhagen,
1800) [trans. of Inledning til
harmoniens kännedom, Clavér-schola and Organist-schola, i; incl.
suppl. of music exx. and music]
Choral-System (Copenhagen,
1800) [incl. suppl. of 90 chorales and music
exx.]
Data zur
Akustik (Leipzig, 1801); also pubd in AMZ, iii
(1800–01), 517–25, 533–40, 549–54, 565–71
Handbuch zur
Harmonielehre und für den Generalbass (Prague, 1802) [incl.
fasc. of music exx.]
Zwei und
dreisig Präludien für die Orgel und für das Fortepiano, nebst einer
Zergliederung (Munich, 1806) [incl. music suppl.]
Uiber die
harmonische Akustik (Tonlehre) und über ihren Einfluss auf alle musikalische
Bildungs-Anstalten (Munich, 1806)
Gründliche
Anleitung zum Clavierstimmen, für die, welche gutes Gehör haben, nebst einer
neuen Anzeige, jedes Saiteninstrument vortheilhaft und richtig zu beziehen (Stuttgart, 1807)
Utile dulci,
Vogler’s belehrende musikalische Herausgaben: Zergliederung der musikalischen
Bearbeitung des Busspsalmen im Choral-Styl (Munich, 1807) [incl.
music suppl.]
Harmonisch-akustische
Bemerkungen über den Theater-Bau (MS, c1807, D-DSsa, D 4, Nr.
695)
Utile dulci,
A. Voglers belehrende musikalische Herausgaben … enthaltend a) Beantwortung der
Frage: Hat die Musik seit 30 Jahren verloren oder gewonnen? b) Aesthetische Zergliederung
der voglerischen teutschen Messe (Munich, 1808) [incl.
music suppl.]
‘Abt Voglers
Vertheidigung seines Simplifications-Systems für den Orgelbau’, Neue
fränkische Chronik, iii/50 (1808), 775–80
Über die
Oxydazion der schwingenden Metallkörper (MS, 1809, DSsa, D 4, Nr.
695)
Vergleich der
Kempeln’schen Sprach-Maschine mit dem, der Menschenstimme täuschend
nachahmenden, singbaren Orgel-Register, von dieser Ähnlichkeit ‘ Vox humana’
genannt(MS, 1810, DSsa, D 4, Nr. 695), also pubd as
‘Ueber Sprach- und Gesang-Automaten, ein akustischer Versuch’, Sammlung
einiger im Frankfurter Museo vorgetragenen Arbeiten, i
(Frankfurt, 1810), 118–30
System für den
Fugenbau, als Einleitung zur harmonischen Gesang-Verbindungs-Lehre (Offenbach, c1817) [incl.
suppl. of music and music exx.]
Simplifikazions-System
für den Orgelbau [described in the preface (1811) to System für den
Fugenbau as virtually complete, with pubn projected for that year;
apparently lost]
Further writings; see Grave and Grave (1987) and Veit (1990)
Vogler, Georg Joseph
BlBLIOGRAPHY
GerberL
GerberNL
Grove0 (P. Corneilson)
[incl. further bibliography]
MGG1 (W. Reckziegel)
C.F.D. Schubart: Ideen zu
einer Ästhetik der Tonkunst (Vienna, 1806/R)
Verzeichniss
der von … Abt G.J. Vogler nachgelassenen … Werke (Darmstadt, 1814)
J. Fröhlich: Biographie
des grossen Tonkünstlers Abt Georg Joseph Vogler
(Würzburg, 1845)
K.E. von
Schafhäutl: Abt Georg Joseph Vogler
(Augsburg, 1888/R)
M. Brenet [M. Bobillier]: ‘L’Abbé Vogler à Paris en 1781–83’, Archives historiques, artistiques et littéraires, ii (1891), 150–56
J. Simon: Abt Voglers
kompositorisches Wirken mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der romantischen
Momente (Berlin, 1904)
E. Rupp: Abbé Vogler
als Mensch, Musiker und Orgelbautheoretiker unter besonderer Berücksichtigung
des sog. ‘Simplificationssystems’ (Augsburg, 1922)
H. Spies: Abbé Vogler
und die von ihm 1805 simplifizierte Orgel von St. Peter in Salzburg (Mainz, 1932, 2/1940)
H. Kelletat: Zur Geschichte
der deutschen Orgelmusik in der Frühklassik (Kassel, 1933)
H. Schweiger: ‘Abbé Voglers Simplifikationssystem und seine akustischen Studien’, KJb, xxix (1934), 72–123
H. Schweiger: Abbé G.J.
Vogler’s Orgellehre (Vienna, 1938)
H. Kreitz: Abbé Georg Joseph
Vogler als Musiktheoretiker (diss., Saarland U., 1957)
D.J. Britton: Abbé Georg
Joseph Vogler: his Life and his Theories on Organ Design (DMA diss., Eastman School of Music, 1973)
R. Würtz: Verzeichnis
und Ikonographie der Kurpfälzischen Hofmusiker zu Mannheim nebst darstellendem
Theaterpersonal, 1723–1803 (Wilhelmshaven, 1975)
F. Grave: ‘Abbé Vogler’s Revision of Pergolesi’s Stabat mater’, JAMS, xxx (1977), 43–71
F. Grave: ‘Abbé Vogler and the Study of Fugue’, Music Theory Spectrum, i (1979), 43–66
F. Grave: ‘Abbé Vogler and the Bach Legacy’, Eighteenth-Century Studies, xiii (1979–80), 119–41
F. Grave: ‘Abbé Vogler’s Theory of Reduction’, CMc, no.29 (1980), 41–69
J. Ludvová: ‘Abbé Vogler a Praha’, HV, xix (1982), 99–121
J. Stevens: ‘Georg Joseph Vogler and the “Second Theme” in Sonata Form’, JM, ii (1983), 278–304
J. Veit: ‘Abt Voglers “Verbesserungen” Bachscher Choräle’,
Alte Musik als ästhetische Gegenwart: Bach, Händel,
Schütz: Stuttgart 1985, i, 500–12
J. Veit: ‘Voglers Beitrag zur Gattung Melodram vor dem Hintergrund der frühen
Mannheimer Melodramaufführungen’, Untersuchungen zu Musikbeziehungen zwischen Mannheim, Böhmen und
Mähren im späten 18. und frühen 19. Jahrhundert: Mannheim 1987, 212–32
F. Grave and M. Grave: In Praise of
Harmony: the Teachings of Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler
(Lincoln, NE, 1987)
H. Jung: ‘“Der pedantisch geniale Abt Vogler”: Musiktheorie und Werkanalyse in
der zweiten Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts’, Musiktheorie, iii (1988), 99–115
J. Veit: Der junge
Carl Maria von Weber: Untersuchungen zum Einfluss Franz Danzis und Abbé Georg
Joseph Voglers (Mainz, 1990)
T. Betzwieser: ‘Singspiel in Mannheim: Der Kaufmann von Smyrna von Abbé Vogler’, Mozart und Mannheim: Mannheim 1991, 119–44
J. Veit: ‘Versuch einer vereinfachten Darstellung des Voglerschen
“Harmonie-Systems”’, Musiktheorie, vi (1991), 129–49
G.-H. Fischer: ‘Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler: a “Baroque” Muiscal Genius’, Gustav III and the Swedish Stage (Lewiston, NY, 1993),
75–102
E.N. McKay: ‘The Abbé Vogler, Beethoven and the “Waldstein” Sonata’, Beethoven Newsletter, viii (1993), 7–12