Josef Seger - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Josef Seger (21 March 1716 – 22 April 1782) was a Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

n organist, composer, and educator. After graduating in philosophy from the Charles University

Charles University in Prague

Charles University in Prague is the oldest and largest university in the Czech Republic. Founded in 1348, it was the first university in Central Europe and is also considered the earliest German university...

in Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

and studying music under Bohuslav Matěj Černohorský

Bohuslav Matej Cernohorský

Bohuslav Matěj Černohorský was a Czech composer, organist and teacher of the baroque era...

, Jan Zach

Jan Zach

Jan Zach was a Czech composer, violinist and organist. Although he was a gifted and versatile composer capable of writing both in Baroque and Classical idioms, his eccentric personality led to numerous conflicts and lack of steady employment since about 1756.-Life:Zach was born in Čelákovice,...

, and others, Seger became organist of two churches in Prague and remained there until his death.

An extremely prolific composer, Seger became of the most important representatives of the Czech

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

organ school of the 18th century. He was also an influential teacher: his pupils included Jan Antonín Koželuh

Jan Antonín Koželuh

Jan Antonín Koželuh was a renowned Bohemian composer from Velvary. He was a pupil of Josef Seger. He studied in Vienna and was a concert master in St. Vitus Cathedral for thirty years; his work includes both church and concert works...

and Josef Mysliveček

Josef Myslivecek

Josef Mysliveček was a Czech composer who contributed to the formation of late eighteenth-century classicism in music...

, and his figured bass

Figured bass

Figured bass, or thoroughbass, is a kind of integer musical notation used to indicate intervals, chords, and non-chord tones, in relation to a bass note...

exercises served many generations of teachers.

Life

Seger was born in Řepín

Řepín

Řepín is a village and municipality in Mělník District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. -References:*This article was initially translated from the Czech Wikipedia....

, near Mělník

Melnik

-Places:Bulgaria* Melnik, Bulgaria, a town in Bulgaria* Shiroka Melnishka Losa, a Bulgarian wine grape also known as MelnikCzech Republic* Mělník, a townUnited States* Melnik, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community...

, in Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

. He studied at the Jesuit Gymnasium in Prague

Prague

and later graduated in philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

at the Charles University

Charles University in Prague

. He also studied organ playing with Bohuslav Matěj Černohorský

Bohuslav Matej Cernohorský

Bohuslav Matěj Černohorský was a Czech composer, organist and teacher of the baroque era...

, counterpoint

Counterpoint

In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...

with Jan Zach

Jan Zach

and František Tůma

František Tuma

František Ignác Antonín Tůma was an important Czech composer of the Baroque era...

, and, according to Dlabacž, figured bass

Figured bass

Figured bass, or thoroughbass, is a kind of integer musical notation used to indicate intervals, chords, and non-chord tones, in relation to a bass note...

with Felix Benda

Felix Benda

Felix Benda was a Bohemian composer and organist. He was a member of Benda musical family....

. Around 1741 Seger became organist to the Church of Our Lady in front of Týn

Church of Our Lady in front of Týn

The Church of Our Lady before Týn is a dominant feature of the Old Town of Prague, Czech Republic, and has been the main church of this part of the city since the 14th century...

and in 1745 he acquired a similar post at the Crusaders

Crusaders

The Crusaders are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Christchurch that competes in the Super Rugby competition. They are the most successful team in Super Rugby history with seven titles...

' church in Prague. He held both positions until his death. In 1781 Emperor Joseph II

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor

Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...

was sufficiently impressed with Seger's playing and offered the composer a court appointment, but Seger died in Prague in 1782 before the confirming document arrived.

None of Seger's compositions were published during his lifetime, but he was an important teacher and educator. His pupils included Karel Blažej Kopřiva

Karel Blažej Kopriva

Karel Blažej Kopřiva was a Czech organist and composer from a family of musicians....

, Jan Antonín Koželuh

Jan Antonín Koželuh

, Jan Křtitel Kuchař

Jan Krtitel Kuchar

Jan Křtitel Kuchař, or also was a Czech organist, harpsichordist, music composer and teacher.- Biography :...

, Josef Mysliveček

Josef Myslivecek

Josef Mysliveček was a Czech composer who contributed to the formation of late eighteenth-century classicism in music...

, and many other distinguished Bohemian composers and musicians. A few of Seger's pieces appeared in print in 1790s; a selection of eight organ fugues was published by D. G. Türk in 1793. In 1803, J. Polt published Seger's ten preludes for organ, and a few more works followed in the next few decades. Particularly important was the publication of a portion of his figured bass exercises, which were used by teachers for decades after his death.

Works

Seger was the most prolific Czech organ composer of the 18th century. Hundreds of preludes, fugues, toccatas and other organ pieces survive in manuscript copies, although the attribution to Seger of some of these works is problematic. Generally speaking, his preludes and fugues are short works (their length probably dictated by the limitations imposed by the Catholic

Catholicism

Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....

liturgy

Liturgy

Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...

), but they exhibit a fertile harmonic imagination and a perfect grasp of late Baroque counterpoint practice. He also composed masses

Mass (music)

The Mass, a form of sacred musical composition, is a choral composition that sets the invariable portions of the Eucharistic liturgy to music...

, motets and psalm settings; all also dominated by archaic counterpoint.

Keyboard

8 Toccaten und Fugen, ed. D.G. Türk (Leipzig, 1793)
2 preludes, in Sammlung von Präludien, Fugen, ausgeführten Chorälen … von berühmten ältern Meistern, i (Leipzig, 1795)
[10] Praeludien, ed. J. Polt (Prague, c. 1803)
4 preludes, 2 fugues, Toccata, Fughetta, in Fugen und Praeludien von älteren vaterländischen Compositoren, ed. Verein der Kunstfreunde für Kirchenmusik in Böhmen, i–ii (Prague, 1832)
c. 70 pieces attributed to Seger in Museum für Orgel-Spieler, ed. [C.F. Pitsch] (Prague, 1832–4)
Numerous works in manuscript copies from the 18th and 19th century, 20th century publications, etc.

Masses

Missa quadragesimalis [in F major], for 4vv and organ
Mass in D minor, for 4vv, 2 violins, 2 trombones, and organ
Mass in D minor, for 4vv, 2 violins, and organ
Missa choralis [in E-flat major], for 4vv, organ concertante (doubtful)

Other works

Alma Redemptoris, for 4vv, string instrument ("violetta"), viola, and organ
Audi filia, for 4vv and organ
Ave regina, for 4vv, 2 violins, and organ
Christus nobis natus est, for 4vv, strings, and organ
Compieta (comprising Cum invocarem, In te Domine, Qui habitat, Ecce nunc, and Nunc dimittis), for 4vv, 2 violins, and organ
Litaniae de sanctissimo sacramento, for 4vv, 2 violins, and organ

Other

Around 200 figured bass lessons, known as Fondamenta pro organo, Generalbass-Übungsstücke, Orgel-Übungsstücke, etc.

Editions

Josef Ferdinand Norbert Seger: Composizioni per organo - Josef Ferdinand Norbert Seger, in: Musica antiqua Bohemica; 51, Band: 1 Preludi, toccate e fughe I-XXXVI. 1961, 111 p.
Josef Ferdinand Norbert Seger: Composizioni per organo - Josef Ferdinand Norbert Seger, in: Musica antiqua Bohemica; 56, Band: 2 Preludi e fughe I-XXI. 1962. 126 p.

External links

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