Joseph Willibald Michl

Joseph Willibald Michl (* around 9 July 1745 in Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz; † 30 July 1816 ibid) was a German composer and court composer of Elector Max III Joseph.

Family and childhood

Joseph Willibald Michl was born around the 9th of July, 1745 as the fourth child of J. Anton Carl Leonhard Michl (1716–1781) and Susanne Barbara Dorothea Michl (1717–1756). Their union saw the birth of six sons and four daughters, of whom only three sons and a daughter named Maria Barabara Susanna survived their father. Joseph Willibald had another ten half-siblings from his father's second marriage of whom only a girl survived their father.

The Michl's were an important family of musicians who shaped musical life in Bavaria for generations; musically important members of the family included:

• Johann Jakob Michl (* 1677/78; † 1726), organist at St. Johannes in Neumarkt
  • Johann Joseph Ildephons Michl (* 1708; † 1770), from 1738 cathedral music director in Regensburg
  • Ferdinand Jakob Michl (* 1712; † 1754), organist and vice-kapellmeister at the Munich court
    • Melchior Virgil Michl (* around 1735; † 1795), First Cellist in the Munich Court Orchestra
  • Johann Anton Carolus Leonhard Michl (* 1716; † 1781), choirmaster and organist at St. Johannes in Neumarkt
    • Joseph Willibald Michl (* 1745; † 1816), Electoral Palatinate Bavarian Chamber Composer
    • Martin Leonhard Michl (* 1749), until 1788 music director of Prince Friedrich Heinrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt
    • Johann Michael Michl (* 1754), from 1778 member and music director of the theatre group of Emanuel Schickaneder

Michl grew up in his hometown of Neumarkt, where he presumably received his first musical lessons from his father and brothers. His father later sent him to the renowned Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich, then widely renowned for its excellent musical education and development. Michl was considered by his teachers to be a rather mediocre student, more interested in music than in academics. When and where he graduated is unknown.

Musical career

He learnt to play several instruments including the organ and double bass, and from 1767 is thought to have worked as a violinist at the Jesuit Church of St. Michael, although this has yet to be substantiated. In the years that followed he composed music for various Lenten meditations at St. Michael's as well as for tragedy plays at the Jesuit Gymnasium. From around 1768 he deepened his studies in counterpoint and composition with Placidus von Camerloher, the court Kapellmeister (chapel master of music) to the Prince-Bishop in Freising. After his return to Munich in January 1770, he was appointed Electoral Chamber Composer by Max III Joseph with an annual salary of 240 guilders.

After the death of Max III Joseph in 1777, Karl Theodor of the Palatinate became Elector of Bavaria. Karl Theodor dismissed most of the members of the Munich court orchestra and replaced them with musicians brought from Mannheim. Michl was also dismissed in 1778. However, he received none of his allotted pension until September 1780 and at the reduced annual sum of 125 guilders—about half the proper amount and a source of great financial difficulty.

It was not until May 1790 that Karl Theodor approved an increase of 115 guilders, thus restoring Michl's salary to the original 240 guilders; however, this was on the condition that Michl deliver two new operettas annually.

After his release, Michl moved to Weyarn where his cousin Maria Jacobina, the daughter of his uncle Ferdinand, was married to the judge of the local Augustinian Canonry. The date of the move is unclear, but 1781 seems most likely.

While Michl had composed primarily secular music at the Munich court, sacred compositions naturally took center stage at Weyarn Abbey. For example, he composed various masses for first masses or for various priestly anniversaries, as well as the Requiem for the first wife of Ignaz Joseph von Obernberg [de]. However, he continued to compose secular works for certain occasions, such as the end of the school year at the monastery school. Michl also worked as a composition teacher for talented canons and music teachers.

Various regularly recurring events were scheduled throughout the monastic year to provide a counterbalance to the otherwise strict order of monastic life. These so-called recreations included theatre performances, excursions, or communal bloodletting. After moving to Weyarn, Michl was appointed Recreation Secretary and, in this role, was responsible for the organisation and musical accompaniment of these events.

At the invitation of Abbot Gregor II Rottenkolber [de], Michl also worked as a music teacher at Tegernsee Monastery, probably for the first time in 1786 (later also at the neighbouring Dietramszell Monastery). Tegernsee Monastery was also known for its rich musical culture. The spectrum of Michl's compositions for Tegernsee was similar to that in Weyarn – sacred music, but on special occasions, such as birthdays, also the musical accompaniment of plays, etc.

In 1803, Weyarn Abbey was dissolved as part of the secularisation process. The seminarians were dismissed, and musical activities largely came to a standstill. There was little left for Michl to do there. So he left the monastery on the 1^st of September, 1803, and returned to Neumarkt, where he presumably lived with his sister Barbara Susanna and her husband.

Having never married, Joseph Willibald Michl, died aged 71 on the 30^th of July, 1816, and was buried in the lower cemetery in Neumarkt.

Factory

Joseph Willibald Michl was a very productive and versatile composer. Both his secular and sacred compositions were highly praised by his contemporaries and were popular throughout southern Germany and even Switzerland.

His sacred works include at least 19 masses and four requiems, numerous offertories, antiphons, Stabat mater, Pange lingua, and Tantum ergo, Loreto litanies and vespers, several oratorios, and a Te Deum. In addition, there are the Lenten meditations already mentioned.

A special feature of several of his masses is that the Sanctus and the Benedictus are merged into one piece, with a Hosanna only at the end and not, as usual, after the Sanctus.

His secular compositions were similarly diverse. He wrote purely instrumental works such as divertimenti, string quartets, several instrumental concertos, trio sonatas, serenades, and a dozen symphonies, as well as songs with piano accompaniment, operas, and singspiels.

An exact number cannot usually be given. For example, in addition to the 19 masses mentioned above, there may be seven more whose authorship is uncertain, as well as four lost works.

Productions

Several of Michl's works were performed at the Munich court.

1. Il barone di torreforte (Opera House at Salvatorplatz, 1 February 1772, premiere)
2. Joash a King of the Jews (Oratorio, Electoral Palace, 1772)
3. L'Amante deluso (attribution uncertain; Redoutensaal?, 27 December 1773)
4. The Triumph of Clelia (Cuvillies Theatre, January 8, 1776, premiere)
5. The Disabled Island (1780)
6. Milton and Elize (January 17, 1786, Residence, Takeover?)
7. The King on the Hunt (26 January 1786, Residence, Takeover?)
8. The Baron of the Fortress (March 1, 1786, Salvator Theater)

Literature

• Template:BLKÖ
• Marius Schwemmer: Ein Componist von vielem Kopfe, Studien zu Genealogie und Biographie von Joseph Willibald Michl (1745–1816). Neumarkter historische Beiträge Band 11 (2010). ISBN 978-3-9811330-3-5

Individual references

• Anton Kriegel: Die Neumarkter Musikerfamilie Michl, Festschriften der Nordgautage 24, S. 59–61, abrufbar: Die Neumarkter Musikerfamilie Michl (PDF; 1,1 MB)
• Marius Schwemmer: Studien zu Genealogie, Biographie und Werk von Joseph Willibald Michl (1745–1816), Inaugural-Dissertation, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, korrigierte und aktualisierte 2. Auflage, Würzburg 2010/2017
• ↑ Cornelia Hofmann und Katarina Meinel: Dokumentation der Premieren von 1653 bis 1992. In: Hans Zehetmair und Jürgen Schläder (Hrsg.): Nationaltheater. München: Bruckmann Verlag, 1991

External links

• Werke von und über Joseph Willibald Michl in der Deutschen Digitalen Bibliothek
• Sheet music and audio files by Joseph Willibald Michl in International Music Score Library Project

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