Joachim Nicolas Eggert

Joachim Nicolas Eggert, Swedish composer and musical director, (* 22 February 1779 in Gingst on Rügen, at that time part of Swedish Pommern; † 14 April 1813 in Thomestorp, Östergötland, Sweden).

At a very young age he started studying to play the violin. In Stralsund he continued his musical education in the subjects violin und composition. These studies were followed, at the first years of the 19th century, by studies in musical theory in Braunschweig and Göttingen, with Johann Nikolaus Forkel as a teacher.

In 1802 he got his first appointment as a Kapellmeister at the court theater of Schwerin. A year later he became violinist at the Royal Court Orchestra of Sweden. He soon received his first commissions for compositions. In 1807 he was appointed member of the Royal Swedish Musical Academy; in the same year he made his debut as a musical director. Between 1808 and 1812 he worked as a Hofkapellmeister at the Royal Court Orchestra. He died in 1813 of tuberculosis, at the age of 34 years.

The main part of his compositional creations are instrumental works like operas, cantatas, musical dramas and symphonies. He also composed numerous works commissioned by the Swedih Court Orchestra. He introduced elements of the Vienna Classicism into Swedish musical culture. In the course of his activities as Kapellmeister he introduced for the first time works of Beethoven's in the Swedish concert repertoire. He also gained fame by directing the first performances in Sweden of Haydn's oratorio "The Seasons" and Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute".

Works (a selection)

*Operas
**The Moors in Spain
**Svante Sture och Märta Leijonhufvud
*Symphonies
**Symphony No. 1 in C-Minor
**Symphony No. 2 “Skjöldebrand” in g-Minor
**Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major
**Symphony No. 4 in C-Major

External links

Article about Eggert by the Israeli musicologist Avishai Kallai [http://www.classical-composers.org/comp/eggert]