Scoreload

Austrian composer, music theorist, and pedagogue of the Baroque era, renowned for his influential treatise on counterpoint, 'Gradus ad Parnassum'.Born near Graz, Styria (1660).Appointed court composer to Emperor Leopold I in Vienna (1698).Became Kapellmeister at St. Stephen's Cathedral (1705).Served as Hofkapellmeister (Imperial Kapellmeister) to Emperors Joseph I and Charles VI (1715 until death).Authored the seminal counterpoint manual 'Gradus ad Parnassum' (1725).Composed significant sacred music (masses, oratorios) and operas for the Viennese court.Died in Vienna (1741).

• Fux declined the prestigious position of Kapellmeister at St. Stephen's Cathedral in 1705, feeling unworthy, though Emperor Leopold I insisted he accept it.
• His magnum opus, 'Gradus ad Parnassum', written in Latin as a dialogue between master (Aloysius, representing Palestrina) and student (Josephus), became the standard counterpoint textbook for centuries, studied by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms.
• Despite his immense theoretical influence, much of Fux's own substantial compositional output (over 400 sacred works, 18 operas, 29 partitas, oratorios) remained relatively obscure until modern times.
• He died in Vienna on February 13, 1741, after decades of distinguished service to the Habsburg court.