Home > Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf

He was born in Vienna as Carl Ditters. He had violin lessons from Giuseppe Trani and compositions lessons from Giuseppe Bonno. He served in a number of courts, including as Kapellmeister to the Prince-Bishop of Breslau from 1770 to 1795. He died in , Bohemia.

His works are little performed today, but he was well known in his day, and is considered an important composer of the Classical era. After some early Italian opera buffa, he composed a number of German Singspiele, with Der Apotheker und der Doktor (1786, generally known today as Doktor und Apotheker) in particular being a tremendous success in his lifetime, playing in houses all over Europe. His symphonies (over a hundred in number) are also considered fine pieces with their folk-like melodies and witty passages; they include twelve based on OvidFor other uses, see Ovid (disambiguation Publius Ovidius Naso ( March 20, 43 BC AD 17) Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid wrote on topics of love, abandoned women, and mythological transformations. Ovid wrote in elegiac couplets, with's MetamorphosesDisambiguation: This article is about the poem Metamorphoses written by the poet Ovid. The Metamorphoses written by Lucius Apuleius is generally known in English as The Golden Ass. See Antoninus Liberalis for his prose mythological work called Metamorphos (six of which have survived to the present day). He also wrote oratorioAn oratorio is a large musical composition for orchestra, vocal soloists and chorus. It differs from an opera in that it does not have either scenery, costumes or acting. Most oratorios from the common practice period to the present day have biblical thems, cantataCantata (Italian for a song or story set to music), a vocal composition accompanied by instruments and generally containing more than one movement. In the 16th century, when all serious music was vocal, the term had no reason to exist, but with the rise os, concertoOrigin Etymology Concerto (from the latin concertus from certare to strive, also confused with concentus , in its most general sense, is a name for a piece of classical music in which there are two distinct groups of instruments, one larger than the others (including one for the double bass), chamber musicChamber music is a form of Classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accomodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any "art music" that is performed by a small number of performers with one perform, pianoPiano is a common abbreviation for pianoforte a large musical instrument with a keyboard (see keyboard instrument). Its sound is produced by strings stretched on a rigid frame. These vibrate when struck by felt-covered hammers, which are activated by the pieces and other works. His memoirs, Lebenbeschreibung, were published in Leipzig in 1801.