Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg

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Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg (born in Sachsenflur, Lauda-Königshofen 10 January 1760 – died in Stuttgart 27 January 1802) was a German composer and conductor.

Zumsteeg championed the operas of Mozart in Stuttgart, staging the first performances there of Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, and Cosi fan tutte. He also was a prolific composer of lieder and ballads. His ballads had a great influence on the young Franz Schubert, who imitated a number of Zumsteeg's as studies (some even in the exact same keys) while he was a teenager.

Zumsteeg's early education was received at the Carlschule in Stuttgart. There Zumsteeg became intimate friends with Friedrich Schiller. A setting for Schiller's drama, Die Räuber, 1782, is an example of the type of close collaboration that Zumsteeg undertook with prominent poets.

Perhaps the most well-known of Zumsteeg's compositions are the seven volumes of Kleine Lieder und Balladen published by Breitkopf & Härtel between 1800 and 1805. These were highly popular in Germany, remaining well-known until the 1830's.

In 1783, Zumsteeg married Luise Andreae with whom he had seven children. During most of his career, Zumsteeg was closely connected to the Swabian court, and in 1791 he was appointed court director of music to fill the vacancy left by C F D Schubart's death. In this capacity, Zumsteeg championed the works of German composers, countering the dominant Italian influence at the court. The last important post he held before his death in 1802 was that of court Konzertmeister.

[edit] Works

• Operas
  • Das tatarische Gesetz (1780)
  • Die Geisterinsel (1798)
  • Das Pfauenfest (1801)
  • Elbondocani (1803)
• Duodrama
  • Tamira (1788)
• Ballads
  • Leonore
  • Des Pfarrers Tochter von Taubenhain
  • Die Büßende
  • Die Entführung
  • Das Lied von der Treue
  • Ritter Toggenburg

[edit] Sources

• Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5