A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Schuppanzigh, Ignaz

by Franz Gehring

SCHUPPANZIGH, Ignaz, celebrated violinist, born 1776, in Vienna, where his father was a professor at the "Realschule. He adopted music as a profession about the time of Beethoven's arrival in Vienna (end of 1792), and that he early became known as a teacher we gather from an entry in Beethoven's diary for 1794 'Schuppanzigh three times a week, Albrechtsberger three times a week.' Beethoven was studying the viola, which was at that time Schuppanzigh' s instrument, but he soon after abandoned it for the violin. Before he was 21 he had made some name as a conductor, and in 1798 and 99 directed the Augarten concerts. The 'Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung' of May 1799, after describing the concerts, remarks that 'the zeal shown by Herr Schuppanzigh in interpreting the compositions produced, make these concerts models worth following by all amateur associations of the kind, and by many conductors.' In Oct. 1800, however, the same writer doubts 'whether Schuppanzigh is really a great conductor,' and as a matter of fact the concerts declined. On the other hand, Seyfried speaks of him as a 'thoroughly energetic, and highly gifted orchestral player.' Beethoven, who had also appeared at the Augarten concerts, kept up a singular kind of friendship with Schuppanzigh. They were so useful to each other that, as Thayer says, they had a great mutual liking, if it did not actually amount to affection. They used neither 'Du' nor 'Sie' in addressing each other, but 'Er'—a characteristic trait of both men. Schuppanzigh was good-looking, though later in life he grew very fat, and had to put up with many a joke on the subject from Beethoven. 'Mylord Falstaff' was one of his nicknames (letter to Archduke in Nohl, Neue Briefe, p. 75). The following piece of rough drollery, scrawled by Beethoven on a blank page at the end of his Sonata op. 28, is here printed for the first time:—

Lob auf den Dicken.

Schuppanzigh was a great quartet-player, and belonged to the party which met every Friday during 1794 and 95 at Prince Carl Lichnowsky's, where he took the first violin, the Prince himself, or a Silesian named Sina, the second, Weiss the viola, and Kraft, an artist from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, the cello—occasionally changing with Beethoven's friend, Zmeskall. Towards the close of 1808 Schuppanzigh founded the Rasoumoffsky quartet, to which he, Mayseder and Linke, remained attached for life. Weiss again took the viola. Beethoven's quartets were the staple of their performances. In the meantime Schuppanzigh had married a Fraulein Kilitzky, the sister of a well-known singer, who sang, with little success it is true, 'Ah perfido!' at a concert of Beethoven's in 1808, instead of Anna Milder. On this occasion the great joker writes to Graf Brunswick, 'Schuppanzigh is married—they say his wife is as fat as himself—what a family??' (Nohl, Neue Briefe, p. 11.) When the Rasoumoffsky palace was burnt down in 1815 Schuppanzigh started on a tour through Germany, Poland, and Russia, and did not return till early in 1824, when the quartets were resumed with the same band of friends (see Beethoven's letters to his nephew, 1825). One of the first events after his return was the performance of Schubert's Octet, which is marked as finished on March 1, and was doubtless played very shortly after. [See vol. iii. p. 339b.] The acquaintance thus begun was cemented by Schubert's dedication of his lovely Quartet in A 'to his friend I. Schuppanzigh,' a year later. Schuppanzigh was a member of the court-chapel, and for some time director of the court-opera. He died of paralysis, March 2, 1830. Of his compositions the following were printed:—'Solo pour le violon avec quatuor' (Diabelli), 'Variationen über ein russisches Lied' (Cappi), and 'Variationen über ein Thema aus Alcina' (Mollo).

[ F. G. ]