Biography
Considered the preeminent organist of his era, Johann Georg Albrechtsberger received acclaim for that distinction worldwide. He took over Mozart’s post at St Stephens, where he safeguarded a repertory stretching from Palestrina through every intervening source to Mozart himself. The assembled scores of J. S. Bach, C. P. E. Bach, and leading north German Lutheran composers formed perhaps the most enduring element of his legacy. Roughly three hundred sacred works, three hundred keyboard pieces, and nearly two hundred compositions for assorted instruments constitute the body of music he left. His own scores stand out for the distinctive effects produced by their instrumentation. Yet Albrechtsberger innovated by uniting otherwise unrelated musical forms exclusively on paper.