(b Vlašim, 9 Feb 1750; d Vienna, 9 Jan 1806). Bohemian maker of mechanical instruments and viol player. He was ordained as a priest in 1776, taking the name of Father Primitivus. In 1780 he was appointed librarian to Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, with additional duties as viol player in the orchestra under the direction of Joseph Haydn. In 1795 he moved with the Esterházy household to Vienna. Niemecz became one of the most innovative of the Viennese clockwork barrel organ makers (see Musical clock), although there is no record of where he learnt such skills. Haydn admired his mechanical ability and produced a number of pieces of music (h XIX) for him to transcribe on to his organ cylinders. Four of his organs dating from the early 1790s still exist, each playing various of these Haydn pieces. Niemecz also made instruments for Müller’s Kunstkabinett, a Viennese exhibition for which Mozart wrote three pieces of music (k594, k608, k616), and Beethoven a further three. He is also said to have made a musical chair which played a tune when a person sat down on it, and a musical spinning wheel. A full account of his career is given in A.W.J.G. Ord-Hume: Joseph Haydn and the Mechanical Organ (Cardiff, 1982).
ARTHUR W.J.G. ORD-HUME