Karl von Ordonez (1734 -1786)

Gary Smith

                            Karl von Ordonez (1734 -1786) is one of a number of composers who worked in Vienna during the second half of the Eighteenth Century whose works have attracted a good deal of scholarly interest in recent years. His family belonged to the lower nobility and owned property in Moravia.  Unusually, for a composer of his distinction, Ordonez was not a full-time professional musician. He was employed in the Lower Austrian Regional Court, first as an unpaid assistant and finally culminating as Registrant at a salary of 1000 gulden per year.  He probably started out as a dilettante violinist and picked up composition along the way, but from whom we do not know.  To all appearances, his musical activities, both as a performer and composer, were pursued in his spare time. Ordonez's choice of career was probably dictated by his social rank.  His father was a lieutenant in the Imperial army with a “von” attached to his name, but we know little about him as well.  As a member of the nobility, although of the lowest rank, he would have been well aware that a professional musical career would not have been approved for a man of his family and rank.  Hence, music appears to have been a bit more than a serious hobby, in a sense, rather than a profession, very similar to his contemporary Karl Kohaut, who also was a civil servant in the Austrian government.

Nothing has come to light concerning Ordonez's general education although it has been suggested that he probably attended a Ritterakademie, a boarding school for the sons of the nobility, and may have gone on to study law at the University of Vienna in preparation for entry to the civil service. We also know nothing about his musical training, although from his contemporary reputation as a violinist we can infer that he must have received lessons from an early age and most likely studied keyboard as well. Göttweig Abbey acquired some of his earliest works in the late 1750’s, so this may suggest a musical connection in this regard.  Ordonez's professional activities included membership of two of the most prestigious performing organizations in Vienna: the k.k. Hofund Kammermusik (where he was employed as a Kammermusikus) and the Tonküenstler-Societät in which he was active both as a violinist and as a composer. Ordonez was an early member of the Tonkuenstler-Societaet, an organization that devoted itself to raising money through public concerts for the widows and orphans of musicians, and he maintained a close association with it from 1771, the year of its foundation, until 1784, when he was too ill to take part. Ordonez also performed regularly in the houses of the nobility. He appears in the diaries of Count Zinzendorf in regards to salon performances of chamber works.  Dr. Charles Burney heard him play at a musical dinner party in 1772 held in the residence of the British Ambassador in Vienna, Lord Stormont and reported that:

"Between the vocal parts of this delightful concert, we had some exquisite quartets, by Haydn, executed in the utmost perfection; the first violin by M. Startzler [J. Starzer], who played the Adagios with uncommon feeling and expression; the second violin by M. Ordonetz; Count Bruehl played the tenor, and M. Weigel [F.J. Weigl], an excellent performer on the violoncello, the base. All who had any share in this concert, finding the company attentive, and in a disposition to be pleased, were animated to that true pitch of enthusiasm, which, from the ardour of the fire within them, is communicated to others, and sets all around in a blaze; so that the contention between the performers and hearers, was only who should please, and who should applaud the most!"

The Ill health that haunted the last years of his life commenced in 1783, forcing Ordonez to resign both his professional playing appointments in 1783/84. The same year he was forced to retire on half-salary from his position with the Lower Austrian Land Court, a circumstance that caused him great financial hardship. The last three years of Ordonez's life were spent in increasing sickness and poverty. At the time of his death from tuberculosis (which had also claimed his wife and left him with two children to support), Ordonez was living a hand-to-mouth existence in shared lodgings. By the time of his death he possessed only a few personal possessions and his total estate, including outstanding pension payments, was valued at less than the cost of his funeral. The outstanding balance on the funeral had to be paid by his son-in-law, Joseph Niedlinger, a minor government official in the Upper Building Management Division of the court.

For being a part-time composer, Ordonez was a highly prolific one. He composed two operatic works - a marionette opera, Musica della Parodie d'Alceste (premiered at Esterhaza, the home of Haydn) and a Singspiel, Diesmal hat der Mann den Willen, which premiered in Vienna at the Nationaltheater in 1778, but saw only seven performances and was withdrawn.   Ordonez is known to have composed a fair amount of amount of church music (unfortunately now lost), a secular cantata in 1779, circa 74 symphonies, a violin concerto and a large amount of chamber music of which the 27 authenticated string quartets are of particular importance. His symphonies appear to have had a favorable reception within many churches in Austria, as many preserved performing copies have notations on them confirming that they were played at liturgical services.  Ordonez's sophisticated experiments (for the time) with cyclic unity and his liking for contrapuntal textures give much of his music a very distinctive and original quality. Much of his work has been compared to middle-period Haydn, (though not by all).  His symphonies were widely distributed in manuscript copies and the Abbe Stadler noted that they "received great applause" when they were performed.  It’s to be hoped in the future that more works of Karl von Ordonez are brought out to continue receiving the applause they were always due.

Sources:

Heartz, Daniel  Haydn, Mozart and the Viennese School 1740-1780  W. W. Norton, New York  1995

Article in Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians.  

Artaria Composers List

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