Moritz Hauptmann (1792 – 1868), was a German music
theorist, teacher and composer. He was born in Dresden,
and studied violin under Scholz, piano under Franz
Lanska, composition under Grosse and Francesco
Morlacchi (the rival of Carl Maria von Weber). He
completed his education as a violinist and composer
under Louis Spohr, and until 1821 held various
appointments in private families. In addition, he
studied mathematics and acoustics.
Hauptmann was initially employed as an architect b...(+)
Moritz Hauptmann (1792 – 1868), was a German music
theorist, teacher and composer. He was born in Dresden,
and studied violin under Scholz, piano under Franz
Lanska, composition under Grosse and Francesco
Morlacchi (the rival of Carl Maria von Weber). He
completed his education as a violinist and composer
under Louis Spohr, and until 1821 held various
appointments in private families. In addition, he
studied mathematics and acoustics.
Hauptmann was initially employed as an architect before
finding success as a musician. Notable in his early
musical output is a grand tragic opera, Mathilde. He
joined the orchestra of Kassel in 1822 under Spohr's
direction. There, he first taught composition and music
theory. His pupils included Ferdinand David, Friedrich
Burgmüller, Friedrich Kiel, Ernst Naumann, Oscar Paul,
Isidor Seiss and others.
In 1842, Hauptmann became Kantor of the Thomanerchor at
St. Thomas Church, Leipzig (a post made famous by
Johann Sebastian Bach) as well as professor of music
theory at the newly founded conservatoire at the
invitation of Felix Mendelssohn. In this capacity, his
unique gift as a teacher developed and it was readily
acknowledged by his enthusiastic and quite-often
distinguished pupils
Hauptmann's compositions are marked by symmetry and
craftsmanship rather than spontaneous invention. His
vocal output includes two masses, choral songs for
mixed voices (Op. 32, 47) and numerous part songs. He
was a founding member and editor of the Bach
Gesellschaft edition of the complete works of Bach,
where he edited the first two volumes of church
cantatas and the Lutheran Masses.
His musical philosophy is embodied in his book Die
Natur der Harmonik und Metrik (The Nature of Harmony
and Meter, 1853), in which he attempted a philosophic
explanation of musical form. His theory is described as
"Hegelian" and he emphasized concepts of unity,
opposition, and reunion, which he finds in chords,
scales, key relationships, and meter. He conceived of
minor and major triads as opposite. This theory
influenced "harmonic dualists" including Hugo Riemann.
He also advocated just intonation and considered
enharmonic progressions unnatural. In this sense, he
could be considered a conservative in relation to the
compositional trends of his time. He displayed a taste
for classical proportion, formal order, metrical
clarity, and tonal logic. Unlike the Romantic trends of
continuous legato, he considered any "metrical first"
(i.e. downbeat - implied or actual) to be automatically
accented.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moritz_Hauptmann).
Although originally composed for Chorus (SATB), I
created this Interpretation of the "Komm, heilger
Geist" from 3 Motetten (Op. 26 No. 1) for String
Quartet (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).
