Anton Zimmermann

(1741 - 1781)

Composer born in Austrian Silesia who worked at Bratislava from 1772 onwards. In 1776 he became court composer to the Prince-Archbishop Joseph Batthyany in Bratislava, and he was also cathedral organist there from 1780. The Prince-Archbishop's musical establishment was regarded as one of the finest in the region around Vienna at that time, no less renowned than that directed by Haydn at Eszterháza. The orchestra at Bratislava included a number of outstanding soloists whose fame extended to other parts of Europe. His Sinfonia in C major was long attributed to Haydn. In the slow movement of this Symphony there is an oboe solo probably intended for Albrecht Schaudig, who in 1778 left Eszterháza for the Bratislava orchestra -- thus leaving Haydn for Zimmermann. Schaudig stayed at Bratislava for two years, then after a year without regular employment he returned to the orchestra at Eszterháza in 1781. His salary -- a subject which is of interest in the case of a sought-after virtuoso -- was now 100 gulden higher than it had been before 1778, but it was still 100 gulden less than he had received from Prince-Archbishop Batthyany. Schaudig was evidently engaged for the Bratislava orchestra as a soloist purely on account of his high reputation, because in addition to him (after 1780 alone) the brothers Johann and Philipp Theimer were oboists in the orchestra, and they, too, were later to become famous in Vienna.





A Partial Anton Zimmermann Discography  |  XIIC: From the 'Galant' to the 'Biedermayer'  | The Research Periods