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Leopold August Abel (Violin, Composer, Bach's Pupil?) |
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Born: March 24, 1718 - Köthen (Anhalt), Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
Died: August 25, 1794 - Ludwigslust, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany |
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Leopold August Abel was a German violinist and composer. He was born the son of Christian Ferdinand Abel (chamber musician, violinist, gambist in Köthen). He was the elder brother of Carl Friedrich Abel, and the grandfather of Johann Leopold Abel. He studied the violin with his father in Köthen and with Franz Benda in Dresden (c1733). From about 1745 he was a member of the Hofkapelle in Braunschweig (Brunswick); from 1757/1758 to 1765 concertmaster of the Hofkapelle of the Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen; from 1766 to 1769 concertmaster of the Hofkapelle of the Margrave of Schwedt/Oder; from 17691 or 17702 first violinist of the Hofkapelle of the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in Ludwigslust.
Leopold August Abel composed a sinfonia a 8 voci in 1766, and some of his violin studies and other compositions are in the possession of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde at Vienna. However, he never rose to the reputation of his brother.
According to Walter Knape (1973), Leopold August Abel, like his brother Carl Friedrich Abel (B-35) was "sehr wahrscheinlich" (very likely) a pupil of J.S. Bach and Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. However, apparently unaware of his date of birth, Knape assumed that the lessons had taken place at least with J.S. Bach during his time in Köthen. With regard to the year of birth 1718, however, a pupil relationship before 1723 can be excluded and was also no longer mentioned by Knape in the MGG article on L.A. Abel (1999).
References: Koska: B-26; GND: 131992821; Bach Digital: 00008181 |
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Leopold August Abel [01] |
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Sources:
1. Bernd Koska: Bachs Privatschüler in Bach-Jahrbuch 2019, English translation by Aryeh Oron (May 2020)
2. Wikipedia Website (December 2019)
3. Bach Digital Website (August 2019)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (May 2020) |
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Links to other Sites |
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Leopold August Abel (Wikipedia)
Abel, Leopold August (Bach Digital) |
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Bibliography |
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Sources 1: Gerber ATL, Bd. I, Sp. 3f.; W. Knape, Karl Friedrich Abel. Leben und Werk eines frühklassischen Komponisten, Bremen 1973, S. 22; MGGo
References 2: Fuller Maitland, J. A (editor): Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians (The Macmillan Company, 1911), pp 5-6
Reference 3: NV 1790 |
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