Lobe, Johann Christian. (1797–1881)
Autograph Musical Quotation and Libretto Excerpt Signed
Autograph leaf by the German composer and theorist, likely extracted from an album, in German. Recto: musical quotation with the heading (translated from the German),"From a minuet" (C minor, two parts in canon, 8 measures); verso: excerpt of a libretto ("Chorus of Reed Spirits") with annotation, also autograph, "From an opera text written by myself in my early youth but not composed." Both sides signed, "J. C. Lobe." No date. Approx. 7.1 x 4.9 inches (180 x 125 mm), unevenly cut. Some bleeding, otherwise in fine condition.The German composer and music theorist J.C. Lobe became violinist in the Weimar Court Orchestra in 1810 (Anon. 1885–92), or else was a flautist and joined the Weimar orchestra in 1811 (Brandt 2001). He composed many musical works before 1819 (Brandt 2001), and debuted as a composer in 1821, with the opera Wittekind, which was followed by a number of others, including Die Flibustier (1830) and Die Fürstin von Granada (1833), as well as some orchestral works (Anon. 1885–92). Die Fürstin von Grenada was especially successful (Brandt 2001). Either in 1842 (Anon. 1885–92) or 1845 (Brandt 2001) he retired from his position in the Weimar orchestra, was appointed a professor and in 1846 moved to Leipzig, where he worked as a music-composition teacher and music critic (Anon. 1885–92; Brandt 2001). He is today best remembered for his writings on music, of which his most important work is Lehrbuch der musikalischen Komposition (Textbook on Music Composition, 4 vols., 1850–67).
(19797)