Dittersdorf, Karl Ditters von 11/02/1739 - 10/24/1799

Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739-1799)was an Austrian composer and violinist. He was born in Vienna as Carl Ditters. He had violin lessons from Giuseppe Trani and composition lessons from Giuseppe Bonno. In 1763 Christoph Willibald Glück took him on a tour of Italy, where he was celebrated as a violin virtuoso. He served in a number of courts, including as kapellmeister for the Bishop of Grosswardein in Hungary, where he succeeded Michael Haydn. In 1769 the theater and orchestra were disbanded, as a result of a command from the morally strict Empress Maria Theresia. From 1770 to 1795 he served as Kapellmeister to the Prince-Bishop of Breslau from 1770 to 1795. In 1773 he was raised to the nobility and called himself Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf thereafter.



His works are little performed today, but he was well known in his day. After some early Italian opera buffa, he composed a number of German Singspiele, with Der Apotheker und der Doktor (1786, generally known today as Doktor und Apotheker) in particular being a tremendous success in his lifetime, playing in houses all over Europe. He often wrote the libretti himself. His symphonies (over a hundred in number) are also considered fine pieces with their folk-like melodies and witty passages; they include twelve based on Ovid's Metamorphoses (six of which have survived to the present day). He also wrote oratorios, cantatas, concertos (including one for the double bass), chamber music, piano pieces and other works. (According to legend, it was an experience playing quartets in 1784 with Joseph Haydn, W.A. Mozart and J.B. Vanhal which inspired him to write in this genre.) His memoirs, Lebenbeschreibung, were published in Leipzig in 1801.