Franz Seraphin Lauska[1] (13 January 1764 – 18 April 1825), baptised as Franciscus Ignatius Joannes Nepomucensis Carolus Boromaeus,[2] was a Moravian pianist, composer, and teacher of Giacomo Meyerbeer.[3] The name "Seraphin" was a later name affix, which Lauska never used.[2] Lauska was considered "one of the most brilliant executants of his time."[4]

Biography

Lauska was born in Brno, and may have been a student of Johann Georg Albrechtsberger while studying in Vienna in 1784. He also spent time in Italy, played chamber music while serving at the Bavarian court in Munich, taught in Copenhagen from 1794 to 1798, and then moved to Berlin.[5][6] There he performed as a pianist, wrote music, and was a piano teacher of the Prussian royal family and the young Giacomo Meyerbeer. He conducted the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin in rehearsals while Carl Friedrich Zelter was away in 1802 and later became a member of Zelter's Liedertafel. Lauska probably knew Beethoven, for whom he read proofs, and was friends with Carl Maria von Weber,[5] who dedicated his second sonata in A-flat major to Lauska.[4][7] Around 1816 he gave piano lessons to Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn.[8] He died in Berlin, aged 61.

Works

Lauska wrote a great deal of piano music (approximately 25 sonatas, rondos, variations, polonaises, capriccios, etc.), much of it technically undemanding and intended for beginners, amateurs, and his pupils. His music is uncomplicated and typical of the musical style at the time.[5] The following list of works is incomplete. A complete, dated catalogue of works has been published recently.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ Lauska has also been spelled Louska and Lausca. Alternative forenames include Franz Seraphicus, Franz Seraphim, Franz Seraphinus, and František Ignác. See Wagner 2001; Seraphin and Seraphim at WorldCat.
  2. ^ a b c Anke Sieber: Franz Lauska (1764–1825). Biographie, Briefe, Werkverzeichnis, Göttingen: Hainholz 2016.
  3. ^ Wagner 2001; Letellier 1999, p. 171; Brzoska 2001; Thompson 1975, p. 1221.
  4. ^ a b The Monthly Musical Record (1 September 1891). View at Google Books.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wagner 2001.
  6. ^ Letellier 1999, pp. 171, 255.
  7. ^ Weber: Also see the score of the 2nd piano sonata at IMSLP.
  8. ^ Todd, R. Larry, ed. (2013). Mendelssohn Essays. p.8.
  9. ^ See ÖNB. Plate 1401 suggests ca.1818 (or so, that is, ca., again) ; see IMSLP's list of Peters plate numbers. May be listed in a late 1810s Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung issue or a contemporary magazine, which would settle the date more closely.

Sources

External links

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