Mederitsch (-Gallus), Johann (Georg Anton)
Mederitsch (-Gallus), Johann (Georg Anton)
Mederitsch (-Gallus), Johann (Georg Anton), Austrian composer; b. Vienna (baptized), Dec. 27, 1752; d. Lemberg, Dec. 18, 1835. He received training from Wagenseil. In 1781–82 he served as Kapellmeister of the Olmütz Theater. After playing double bass in the orch. of the German Theater in Vienna (1782–92?), he was Kapellmeister in Ofen (Buda) from 1793 to about 1796, and again in 1798. In 1817 he settled in Lemberg. In spite of the success he attained as a composer of Singspiels for the Vienna stage, his last years were marked by poverty and neglect.
Works
dramatic: opera (all 1st perf. in Vienna unless otherwise given):Der redliche Verwalter (Aug. 26, 1779); Arkatastor und Illiane (Oct. 14, 1779); Der Schlosser (Olmütz, 1781); Rose, oder Pflicht und Liebe im Streit (Feb. 9, 1783); Der letzte Rausch (c. 1788); Babylons Pyramiden (Oct. 25, 1797; Act I by Mederitsch and Act 2 by Winter); Krakus, Fürst von Krakau, oder Frauengrosse und Vaterliebe (March 3, 1811). incidental music:Macbeth (Pest, 1793–94). other: Syms.; concertos; chamber music; piano pieces; masses; motets.
Bibliography
T. Aigner, J.G. M. (1752–1835): Leben und thematisches Verzeichnis der Werke (diss., Univ. of Salzburg, 1973).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire