Franz Krommer

František Krommer (Czech: František Vincenc Kramář; 27 November 1759 in Kamenice u Jihlavy – 8 January 1831 in Vienna) was a Czech composer of classical music, whose 71-year life span began half a year after the death of George Frideric Handel and ended nearly four years after that of Ludwig van Beethoven.

The main events of his life were as follows:

• From 1773 to 1776, he studied violin and organ with his uncle, Antonín Mattias Kramár, in Turán. Here he became organist along with his uncle in 1777. In 1785 he returned to Vienna as violinist in the orchestra of the duke of Styria, now in Simontornya in Hungary.
• In 1790, Krommer was named Maestro di Cappella at the Cathedral of Pécs, Hungary. He returned again to Vienna in 1795, becoming Maestro di Cappella for Duke Ignaz Fuchs in 1798.
• From 1813 (and from 1818, Kapellmeister, according to the HOASM biography) until his death in 1831, Krommer succeeded Leopold Kozeluch as composer for the Imperial Court of Austria.

He may have been Kapellmeister as early as 1814.

His output was prolific, with at least three hundred published compositions in at least 110 opus numbers including at least 9 symphonies, seventy string quartets and many others for winds and strings, about fifteen string quintets and much sonorous, idiomatic and at times powerful music for wind ensemble, for which he is best known today.