Mainzer, Joseph

Mainzer, Joseph, German singing teacher and musical journalist; b. Trier, Oct. 21, 1801; d. Salford, Lancashire, Nov. 10, 1851. He was a chorister at the Trier Cathedral, and then studied music in Darmstadt, Munich, and Vienna. Returning to Trier, he was ordained a priest in 1826 and was made singing master at the seminary in 1828. His outspoken political views compelled him to flee to Brussels in 1833. In 1834 he went to Paris and gave free singing classes from 1835 until being banned in 1839. He also ed. short- lived Chronique Musicale de Paris (1838). In 1841 he went to London. In 1844 he began publication of the monthly Mainzers Musical Times and Singing Circular, which in 1846 became the Musical Times (publ. without interruption through nearly 1 1/2 centuries). In 1847 he settled in Manchester as a singing teacher. He mastered the English language to such an extent that he was able to engage in aggressive musical journalism. His methods of self-advertising were quite uninhibited; he arranged singing courses in open- air gatherings, and had pamphlets printed with flamboyant accounts of receptions tendered him.

Writings

Singschule (Trier, 1831); Méthode de chant pour les enfants (Paris, 1835); Méthode de chant pour voix d’hommes(Paris, 1836); Bibliothèque élémentaire de chant (Paris, 1836); Méthode pratique de piano pour enfants (Paris, 1837); Abécédaire de chant (Paris, 1837); École chorale (Paris, 1838); Esquisses musicales, ou Souvenirs de voyage (Paris, 1838–39); Cent mélodies enfantines (Paris, 1840); Singing for the Million (London, 1841); The Musical Athenaeum (London, 1841); Music and Education (London and Edinburgh, 1848).

Bibliography

A. Guilbert, A Sketch of the Life and Labours of J. M. (Glasgow, 1844).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire