Johann Joseph Fux (German pronunciation: [ˈfʊks])
(1660 ? 13 February 1741) was an Austrian
composer, music theorist and pedagogue of the late
Baroque era. He is most famous as the author of
Gradus ad Parnassum, a treatise on counterpoint,
which has become the single most influential book
on the Palestrina style of Renaissance polyphony.
Almost all modern courses on Renaissance
counterpoint, a mainstay of college music
curricula, are indebted in some degree to this
work by Fux.
Fux was born to a peasant family in Hirtenfeld in
Styria. Relatively little is known about his early
life, but likely he went to nearby Graz for music
lessons. In 1680 he was accepted at the Jesuit
university there, where his musical talent became
apparent. From 1685 until 1688 he served as
organist at St. Moritz in Ingolstadt. Sometime
during this period he must have made a trip to
Italy, as evidenced by the strong influence of
Corelli and Bolognese composers on his work of the
time.
By the 1690s he was in Vienna, and attracted the
attention of Emperor Leopold I with some masses he
composed; the emperor was sufficiently impressed
by them to assist him with his career after this
point. In 1698, Leopold hired him as court
composer. Fux traveled again to Italy, studying in
Rome in 1700; it may have been here that acquired
the veneration for Palestrina which was so
consequential for music pedagogy.
Fux served Leopold I until his death, and two more
Habsburg emperors after that: Joseph I, and
Charles VI, both of whom continued to employ him
in high positions in the court. He was famous as a
composer throughout this period, his fame being
eclipsed only later in the 18th century as the
Baroque style died. Although his music until
recently never regained favor, his mastery of
counterpoint influenced countless composers
through his treatise Gradus ad Parnassum (1725).
Haydn largely taught himself counterpoint by
reading it and recommended it to the young
Beethoven. Mozart had a copy of it that he
annotated. The Baroque age in music in Austria
ends with Fux. Text source : Wikipedia (Hide extended text) ... (Read all)
