Georg Joseph Vogler (1749-1814)

Gary Smith and Dennis Pajot

                  German musical theorist, composer, teacher, designer of organs and noted keyboard player. Georg Joseph Vogler was born in 1749 near Würzburg. He attended a Jesuit Gymnasium before enrolling initially in humanistic studies at Würtburg University in 1763, later transferring to the university at Bamberg. He ended up studying law and theology; possibly he was ordained as a priest--although there exists some doubt on this. Along the way he took up composition, starting out by producing theater and ballet music for performances at the universities. He came to Mannheim in 1770, with the position of almoner, and advanced to the office of court chaplain the next year. Vogler composed in Mannheim and began to teach at the Jesuit "Gymnasium". Impressed with his talent (and political skills, of which Vogel was reputed to score highly with), the Elector Carl Theodor sent Vogler to Italy in 1773 to study music. Vogler studied for a while under the great Padre Martini but found himself in conflict with the older composer's conservatism, and turned to the more progressive teaching of Padre Francesco Antonio Vallotti. During this trip he traveled to Rome and met Pope Pius VI, who appointed him a chamberlain and Knight of the Order of the Golden Spur; and he also was named a papal legate. In November 1775 he returned to Mannheim and was appointed Vice Kapellmeister after a short political struggle. He founded a music school (the Mannheimer Tonschule), began to publish didactic writings (the handbook Tonwissenschaft und Tonsezkunst, a deep musical theory treatise, 1776), a compilation of pedagogical works with the title Kuhrpfälzische Tonschule (1778), and finally a three-volume series entitled Betrachtungen der Mannheimer Tonschule (a collection of analysis’s and essays of music, 1778-81). Further, he had by then composed half a dozen masses, various other religious works; many chamber trios, keyboard sonatas, 112 organ preludes, and several stage works, including ballets. Vogler was thus a busy, important personage at the Mannheim court. This brings us up to Mozart's visit, which occurred in 1777 on the last, ill-fated tour with his mother.

Wolfgang Mozart's first mention of Georg Joseph Vogler is in a letter to his father from Mannheim on October 31, 1777: "I went with Herr Danner today to M. Cannabich...The oratorio, which is being rehearsed, is by Handel, but I did not stay to hear it, for before it came on they rehearsed a Psalm--a Magnificat--by Vogler, the Deputy Kapellmeister here, and it lasted almost an hour".

On November 4, 1777, (only 5 days after his arrival in Mannheim) Mozart writes to his father: "Deputy Kapellmeister Vogler, who had composed the Mass which was performed the other day, is a dreary musical jester, an exceeding conceited and rather incompetent fellow. The whole orchestra dislikes him".

In his letter of November 13, 1777, Mozart expands: "I see from Papa's letter that he has not seen Vogler's book ['Tonwissenschaft und Tonsetzkunst', Mannheim 1776]. I have just read it, as I borrowed it from Cannabich. Let me give you a short history of Vogler. He came here absolutely down and out, performed on the clavier and composed a ballet. People took pity on him and the Elector sent him to Italy. When the Elector happened to be in Bologna, he asked Padres Vallotti about him and received this reply: "Oh, Your Highness, he is a great man"! He also asked Padre Martini, who informed him "Your highness, he is good, and gradually, as he becomes older and surer of himself, he will improve. but he will have to change considerably". When Vogler returned to Mannheim, he took orders and was immediately made Court Chaplain. He produced a Miserere, which, everyone tells me, simply cannot be listened to, for it sounds all wrong. Hearing that his composition was not receiving much praise, Vogler went to the Elector and complained that the orchestra was playing it badly on purpose. In a word, he was so clever at pulling strings (he had had more than one naughty little affair with women, who were useful to him) that he was appointed Deputy-Kapellmeister. But he is a fool, who imagines that he is the very pitch of perfection. The whole orchestra, from A to Z, detests him. He has caused Holzbauer a great deal of annoyance. His book is more useful for teaching arithmetic than for teaching composition. He says he can turn out a composer in three weeks and a singer in six months, but so far no one has seen him do it. He disparages the great masters. Why, he even belittled Bach to me. Bach has written two operas here, the first of which was more popular than the second, Lucio Silla. Now, as I too had composed a Lucio Silla in Milan, I wanted to see Bach's opera and I had heard from Holzbauer that Vogler possessed a copy. So I asked him for it. 'Delighted", he said. 'I shall send it to you tomorrow. But you will not make head or tail of it'. When he saw me a few days later, he asked me with an obvious sneer: 'Well, do you find it beautiful? Have you learnt anything from it? It has one fine aria. Let me see, what are the words?' He turned to somebody who happened to be standing beside him. 'What sort of aria?' asked his companion. 'Why, of course, that hideous aria by Bach, that filthy stuff--yes, yes, Pupille amate, which he certainly wrote in his cups'. I thought I should have to seize his front hair and pull it hard, but I pretended not to hear him, said nothing and walked off. He has had his day with the Elector".

On November 20, 1777, Wolfgang writes to his father "Yesterday the gala began again. I went to the service, brand new music composed by Vogler. I had already been to the afternoon rehearsal the day before yesterday, but went off immediately after the Kyrie. I have never in my life heard such stuff. In many places the parts simply do not harmonize. He modulates in such a violent way as to make you think that he is resolved to drag you with him by the scruff of the neck; not that there is anything remarkable about it all to make it worth the trouble; no, it is all clumsy plunging...I will only say that it is impossible that a Mass of Vogler's should please any composer who is worthy of the name. To put it briefly, if I hear an idea which is not at all bad--well--it will certainly not remain not all bad for long, but will soon become--beautiful? Good forbid!--bad and thoroughly bad...".

Then again on December 18, 1777, Mozart takes aim at Vogler: "Vogler played [the organ in the Lutheran church]. He is, to put it bluntly, a trickster pure and simple. As soon as he tries to play maestoso, he becomes as dry as dust; and it is a great relief that playing upon the organ bores him and that therefore it doesn't last long. But what is the result? An unintelligible muddle. I listened to him from a distance. He then began a fugue, in which one note was struck six times and presto. Whereupon I went up to him. Indeed I would much rather watch him than hear him".

On January 17, 1778 Wolfgang writes: "At 11:00 in the morning the Privy Councillor came to see me and brought Herr Vogler who by the way wanted absolument to make my close acquaintance. I just can't tell you how often he had bothered me to go to him. At least he had overcome his pride and paid me the first visit. Besides, people tell me that he is now quite different, since he is no longer so much admired; for at first they made an idol of him". Mozart then continues on about Vogler's piano playing, calling it "unendurable".

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I have quoted Mozart's letters at length to show his great dislike for Vogler. Of course Mozart had only been in Mannheim for two weeks at the time of the November 13 letter, and could only have gathered most of this information from others. Certainly Vogler had many enemies in Mannheim that Mozart could have heard all this from. Mozart admits to not having heard Vogler's Miserere, only knowing it "cannot be listened to" second hand. Mozart did attend a rehearsal of a Magnificat by Vogler on October 31, but did not comment on the piece. Also as we shall see, he apparently heard two Masses by Vogler, without making comment on one, and we have read his comments on the other.

Now let’s look at Mozart's "Short History of Vogler"

"He came here absolutely down and out, performed on the clavier and composed a ballet".
---- Vogler did not come to Mannheim "down and out"; he came not as a composer, but a church attendant. However he had composed during his student years, including a ballet entitled "Schuster Ballet" in 1768. It is possible; maybe even likely, Vogler came to Mannheim enticed more by possibilities for advancement as a musician than as a cleric. Yes Vogler composed a ballet in Mannheim. As a matter of fact he had composed three by the time of Mozart's visit. The only one that survives--"Le rendez-vous de chasse" of 1771--has been compared to [director of instrumental music at court] Christian Cannabich's Mannheim ballets by Floyd K. Grave. He states Vogler's ballet is longer than Cannabich's and "exploits a richer harmonic vocabulary, and there is more variety of form". Vogler better used the newer freedom of form and tonal contrasts than Cannabich did in his "relatively static conception".

"People took pity on him and the Elector sent him to Italy. When the Elector happened to be in Bologna, he asked Padres Vallotti about him and received this reply: "Oh, Your Highness, he is a great man"! He also asked Padre Martini, who informed him 'Your highness, he is good, and gradually, as he becomes older and surer of himself, he will improve. But he will have to change considerably'."
---- The Elector did not "take pity on him" in sending him to Italy. This was the common career path of up and coming musicians, including Cannabich and Mozart. It is seen why Martini did not have a glowing account of Vogler. Vogler was not a follower of his older, strict school of composition and left Martini, going to Vallotti. Vogler later acknowledged that Vallotti provided the foundations for his own theories on harmony and composition.

"When Vogler returned to Mannheim, he took orders and was immediately made Court Chaplain".
---- As for Vogler's appointment as Court Chaplain on his return to Mannheim, would not his appointments by the Pope himself justify that? But it appears Vogler might have taken his "alleged priesthood" to dazzling heights. The 'Musikalische Real-Zeitung' noted that he continually wore the violet stockings of a papal legate no matter what uniform he wore, and that he kept visitors waiting by prolonging his "devotions." The paper claimed his manner toward others was haughty and depreciative.

"He produced a Miserere which, everyone tells me, simply cannot be listened to, for it sounds all wrong. Hearing that his composition was not receiving much praise, Vogler went to the Elector and complained that the orchestra were playing it badly on purpose".
----- Not much can be said here. Mozart had not personally heard the Miserere, and I know of no other description of it, so can make no judgment. If Vogler went to the Elector and complained is not known. If he was disliked so much, it is possible the orchestra was playing badly on purpose.

"In a word, he was so clever at pulling strings (he had had more than one naughty little affair with women, who were useful to him) that he was appointed Deputy-Kapellmeister. But he is a fool, who imagines that he is the very pitch of perfection".
---- Certainly his appointment as Vice Kapellmeister ruffled some feathers, and Mozart heard from these parties. But was the appointment unjustified? He had just been to Italy, studied with Vallotti, became a member of the exclusive Accademia dell Arcadis, and had received appointments from the Pope--rather impressive. Vogler certainly was a skillful politician in a very political situation. I have found nothing of "little affairs with women" in material on Vogler.

"The whole orchestra, from A to Z, detests him".
----If the story of the Miserere is true, then they rightly did. But if he was laying the blame where it possibly belonged, what then?

"He has caused Holzbauer a great deal of annoyance".
---- Here lays Mozart's source. Ignaz Holzbauer himself took Mozart to see Count Savioli on November 4. And in the same letter Wolfgang tells his father he heard a Mass by Holzbauer this very day, "which is very fine...He has a good church style and knows how to write for voices and instruments". On All Saint's Day, November 1, Mozart had heard a Mass [however possibly this was the Magnificat] by Vogler, but made no comment on it--good or bad! His only complaints were about the singers. From older sources it is apparent many in Mannheim thought that Vogler had gotten the job that Holzbauer believed should have been his.

"His book is more useful for teaching arithmetic than for teaching composition. He says he can turn out a composer in three weeks and a singer in six months, but so far no one has seen him do it".
---- Vogler's theories of harmony and composition were outlined in his treatises, "Tonwissenschaft und Tonsetzkunst" and "Stimmbildungskunst", both published in Mannheim in 1776. Vogler began to codify his own musical system by studying chords and intervals with the help of his own invention, the octochord. When Vogler traveled to Paris in 1780, after a heated debate his composition system was endorsed by the Academie Royale des Sciences. Similar acceptance came in London in 1783 by the British Royal Society. His studies of intervals and chords form the basis for modern studies of harmony. Vogler's record as a teacher is also impressive. His pupils later included Franz Danzi, Peter von Winter, Johann Gansbacher, Carl Maria von Weber and Giacomo Meyerbeer.

"He disparages the great masters. Why, he even belittled Bach to me. Bach has written two operas here, the first of which was more popular than the second, 'Lucio Silla'. Now, as I too had composed a 'Lucio Silla' in Milan, I wanted to see Bach's opera and I had heard from Holzbauer that Vogler possessed a copy. So I asked him for it. 'Delighted", he said. 'I shall send it to you tomorrow. But you will not make head or tail of it'. When he saw me a few days later, he asked me with an obvious sneer: 'Well, do you find it beautiful? Have you learnt anything from it? It has one fine aria. Let me see, what are the words?' He turned to somebody who happened to be standing beside him. 'What sort of aria?' asked his companion? 'Why, of course, that hideous aria by Bach, that filthy stuff--yes, yes, Pupille amate, which he certainly wrote in his cups'. I thought I should have to seize his front hair and pull it hard, but I pretended not to hear him, said nothing and walked off".
---- Certainly Vogler was now getting himself deep on Mozart's bad side. Johann Christian Bach had been Mozart's friend and had great influence on him since his childhood. Although I could find few specifics, it appears Bach's 'Lucio Silla' was not successful when it premiered in Mannheim on November 5, 1775. Harald Anderssen wrote "whether because it was less florid in style than Temistocle, because the implied comparison between the Elector and the repulsive (and ultimately abdicating) Silla was not well received, or because Bach ran into the sudden vogue for opera in German (C.S. Terry points out that it was the next-to-last Italian opera performed at Mannheim), the work failed to please and Bach received no more commissions from Mannheim". But no doubt Vogler did not know he was attacking Mozart's boyhood friend/idol.


"He has had his day with the Elector".
---- Here Mozart would be very incorrect. When Carl Theodor succeeded Maximilian II as Elector of Bavaria, he moved his court to Munich. Vogler remained behind in Mannheim. Vogler continued with his compositional system and had great success. In 1784 the Elector summoned him to Munich and promoted Vogel to Kapellmeister. In the end Vogler obtained the position that Mozart had wanted from the Elector. Vogler undertook a series of concert tours in 1785 that took him to Stockholm. There in 1786 he was named acting Kapellmeister and resigned that post in Munich.

"It is a great relief that playing upon the organ bores him and that therefore it doesn't last long".
-----Either Vogler later in life changed, or Mozart was exaggerating. Vogler later attempted to make reforms in organ building by simplifying the mechanism, modifying the overall tone through three types of swell, and by combining tones to produce lower pitches, thus eliminating the larger pipes. He was active in the construction of gigantic organs, including the triorganon intended for the St. Michael's church in Darmstadet--which contained three manuals and a complete percussion section. This project--incomplete at his death, put Vogler in debt.

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How did Mozart's "short history of Vogler" influence later opinion on Vogler. I dare say not well.

As early as Otto Jahn, Vogler was painted in a dim light. Jahn admitted he "possessed musical talent, intellect and shrewdness, together with much energy of character, so that his attainments were extensive both in arts and sciences". However these qualities, "uncombined with creative genius, could not reach the highest beauty and truth, either in art or science". Jahn continues on for an entire long paragraph. But in the end Vogler's main sin is that he was not a genius, and "we can comprehend how Mozart would instinctively recoil from Vogler".

In 1916 Max Seiffert wrote an article on the Mannheim Messiah performance of 1777. Seiffert blames Vogler for the failure of this performance for various reasons. The one I would like to bring up here is Seiffert's claim it was not properly rehearsed. He cites as his own proof Mozart's letter in which he states he went to the rehearsal with Christian Cannabich and the Violinist Christian Franz Danner [1757-1813], but left after the rehearsal of Vogler's Magnificat, which lasted almost an hour. Seiffert takes Vogler to task for his egotism in attaching special attention to his composition, using up an entire hour. "The remaining time had to suffice to quickly play through the main work of the concert". How does Seiffert know how long the rehearsal lasted? And for that matter does Seiffert know if Messiah was rehearsed previously by this orchestra with Vogler, and they did not need as much rehearsal? Seiffert also notes Vogler for not adding supporting wind instruments, something Mozart would do 12 years later--and something it appears no one else did in early Messiah performances.

Alfred Einstein says little of Vogler, but out of the clear blue takes this shot at Vogler when discussing Mozart not losing his talent as many child prodigies do: "He could easily have become an Abbe Vogler, or to name a pupil of Abbe Vogler, a Meyerbeer: an international monster who with great talent brings into the world the style-monstrosity of grand opera. But he became Mozart".

Recently Robert W. Gutman takes a new, even darker view of Vogler.

Gutman certainly gets different impressions than I do from the Mozart correspondence on Vogler. Gutman writes that Leopold became a jealous admirer of Vogler's pragmatic ways, and felt envious disappointment to discover Vogler was working the same lines. However read Leopold's letter passage to Wolfgang from June 11, 1778, and see if you think Gutman correct: "I hear that Vogler at Mannheim has brought out a book, which the Government of the Palatinate has prescribed for the use of all clavier teachers in the country, both for singing and composition. I must see this book and I have already ordered it. There must be some sound stuff in it, for he could copy the clavier method from Bach's book, the outlines of a singing method from Tosi and Agricola, and rules for composition and harmony from Fux, Fiepel, Marpurg, Mattheson, Spiess, Scheibe, d'Alembert, Rameau and a host of others, and then boil them down into a shorter system, such as I have long had in mind. Thus I am anxious to see whether his ideas accord with mine. You ought to have the book, for such works are useful when giving lessons". Certainly Leopold does not sound jealous and I do not sense any "envious disappointment" in the letter. He even recommends Wolfgang have the book. Gutman further states Vogler's book was made the official text in the Palatinate because of his political influence. This rather flies in the face of his theories being accepted in Paris and London. Or does Gutman believe Vogler was that politically connected to have such power in all the major countries of Europe?

Gutman also states Wolfgang "marched out of rehearsal of one of Vogler's Masses". Mozart states "I had already been to the afternoon rehearsal the day before yesterday, but went off immediately after the Kyrie". Well he certainly could have "marched out", but just as easily he could have slid out without Vogler noticing--or even caring! Gutman makes this same leap in Mozart leaving the rehearsal of Messiah conducted by Vogler. Vogler started his rehearsal with his own Magnificat, which lasted almost an hour according to Mozart. Mozart states he did not stay to hear Messiah because of the length of the Magnficat. However that is all Mozart stated. He did not say the Magnificat was bad--or good. As he was with Christian Cannabich and the violinist Danner, it can be presumed all three left--perhaps at Cannabich or Danner's suggestion. From this short sentence Gutman envisions Mozart "quitting the hall--in all likelihood ostentatiously". Gutman has quite an imagination.

Most of all Gutman sees Vogler as the mastermind behind Mozart not getting a post in Mannheim. Although Vogler probably was partially responsible, there appears to be plenty of politics going on in Mannheim by plenty of people. Other Mozart scholars have placed the blame firmly on Cannabich for this. And let us be honest, reading the correspondence Wolfgang did not do himself a lot of favors. And in the end maybe the elector just did not need--or want--a 21-year-old musician still in the employ of the Salzburg Archbishop.

Would Jahn, Einstein, Gutman (and others) harsh treatment of Vogler have been the same without Mozart's "history" and Mozart's dislike for the man? I seriously doubt it.


The electoral court moved on to Munich when Carl Theodor, the Elector Palatine, became the Elector of Bavaria. Vogler remained in Mannheim for a short while, and then traveled to Paris, where he received approbation from the Academie Royale des Sciences for his writings on music. He stayed in Paris for three years, moving on to London and receiving honors there from the Royal Society as well. Summoned to Munich in 1784, he became Kapellmeister, but stayed only until 1786, when he was offered (and accepted) the post of music director to the court of Gustav III, King of Sweden. Permitted to travel, he undertook in 1792 a journey that led him through the Mediterranean, pursuing various oral traditions of singing.

Finally returning to Stockholm in 1793, he remained with the court of Gustavus Adolphus IV until his release in 1799. The next 6 years saw him as a performer, teacher and organ designer, moving from Copenhagen, Berlin, Prague and Vienna. He ended up meeting Haydn, playing keyboard competitions with Beethoven, composing an opera for Schikaneder’s opera troupe and eventually becoming the teacher of Carl Maria von Weber. Vogler finally landed in Darmstadt in 1807 with a court post, there to spend the rest of his life composing, teaching and undertaking organ projects, the greatest of all being the “Triorganon”. This was a huge organ with 13 manuals divided over three individual consoles. This project was incomplete at Vogler’s death in 1814.

Abbe. Vogler wrote an immense amount of music in his lifetime. A very partial list would show 15 operas, 8 ballets, 18+ masses/requiems, 30+ Kyries, well over 100 other various types of church music, 5 symphonies, 19 keyboard concerti, a large amount of different types of chamber works, 144 keyboard preludes, 6 keyboard sonatas and many sets of variations.

Perhaps we should counter the harsh words of Mozart--followed by others-- with those of Baron Max Maria von Weber in his biography of Carl Maria von Weber:

"A singular apparition was the Abbe. Vogler, one of the most celebrated musical theorists of his time; a man of great powers of judgment, and a mighty memory, which always stood him in good stead. The severe discipline of his ecclesiastical education had bestowed upon him a capacity not only for order, but also for organization; and his indisputable talent for teaching notably increased his influence over the young spirits of the age. His intercourse with the world was marked by the strangest contrasts. As a pupil of the Jesuits, he was endowed with the faculty of always displaying that side of his multiform genius best adapted to his purpose or to the passing occasion. At once lively and imposing, purposely original in his manners, yet without ridiculous exaggeration; combining the dignity of the ecclesiastic, and the aristocratic bearing of a man of the world, with the bombast of a mountebank; full of mysticism, which was made to play the part of profundity in his language; apt to conceal deficiencies under the mask of self-confidence--he was the very man to impose his influence on a great portion of the musical world".





In my collection I have 4 recordings of works by Vogler. The newest, and the one you would probably be most interested in, is his Requiem in Eb. It is on the Arte Nova label (74321-71663-2), recorded in 2000.

I also have a CD recording of his Symphony in C "La scala" (on Musica Sveciae 407); and also his Variations and Capriccio on "Marlborough, s en-va-t-en guerre" (Bluebell 031). Dennis

Sources:

Article in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians Second Edition, Edited by Stanley Sadie Macmillan Publishers Ltd, 2001

Anderson, Emily The Letters of Mozart & His Family Macmillan and Co. Ltd, London 1938

Einstein, Alfred Mozart: His Character, His Work Oxford University Press, New York 1945
Gutman, Robert W. Mozart: A Cultural Biography Harcourt Brace & Company, New York 1999

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