Friedrich Witt
German composer and cellist

Friedrich Witt

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German composer and cellist
A.K.A.
Friedrich Jeremias Witt
Gender:
Male
Places:
GermanyHoly Roman Empire
Is:
MusicianComposerCellist
Work field:
Music
Birth:
8 November 1770(Niederstetten, Main-Tauber-Kreis, Stuttgart Government Region, Germany)
Death:
3 January 1836(Würzburg, Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany)
Star sign:
Scorpio
Genres:
Opera
Instruments:
Cello
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Biography

Introduction

Friedrich Jeremias Witt (November 8, 1770 – January 3, 1836) was a German composer and cellist. He is perhaps best known as the likely author of a Symphony in C major known as the Jena Symphony, once attributed to Ludwig van Beethoven.

Biography

Witt was born in 1770, the same year as Beethoven, and was a German composer of considerable stature in his time. He was born in the Württemberg village of Niederstetten, the son of a cantor and court clerk. Witt became a cellist (some accounts say a violinist) in the court orchestra of Oettingen-Wallerstein when he was nineteen, taking composition lessons there with Antonio Rosetti, that is, the Bohemian-born Anton Rösler. Witt was most famous in his lifetime for his oratorio Der leidende Heiland- in English, The Suffering Saviour, securing an appointment as Kapellmeister for the Prince of Würzburg, and later for the theater, where he stayed until his death. He also wrote two operas: Palma (1804) and Das Fischerweib (1806). His other compositions include concertos, church music, chamber music and symphonies. His best-known work, a symphony in C major known as the Jena, is largely based on the Symphony No. 97 by Joseph Haydn.

Stephen Fisher compiled a thematic index of Witt's symphonies.

Sources

Discography

  • Symphonies Nos. 6 and 9, Flute Concerto. Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Johannes Moesus. MDG 329 1299-2
  • Septet in F major. Berlin Philharmonic Octet. Berlin Classics. Disc includes Beethoven's Opus 20 Septet.
  • Horn Concertos. Concerto Amsterdam. Arts Music. Disc includes horn concertos by Leopold Mozart, Pokorny and Rosetti.
  • Quintet for Piano and Winds. James Campbell,James Mason,James Sommerville,James McKay,Anton Kuerti. Cbc Musica Viva.Disc includes piano and wind quintets by Mozart (K. 452), and Beethoven (Op. 16).
  • Symphonies in C major and A major, Flute Concerto in G major, Op. 8. Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä, Patrick Gallois Flute and conductor. Naxos 8.572089
  • Chamber Works for Winds & Strings. Consortium Classicum. Disc includes quintet by Prince von Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg Carl Friedrich