Russian musician Johann Leopold Fuchs (1783-1853)

The article focuses on Johann Leopold Fuchs – a distinguished, but undeservedly forgotten Russian musician of the first half of the 19th century. A native of Germany, who spent more than 50 years in Russia, he considered it to be his second homeland and “wanted to be helpful mainly to Russian artists.” Fuchs proved himself as a talented teacher, composer and author of music theory manuals. He taught such outstanding musicians, composers and music educators as M. Glinka, F. Tolstoy, M. Rezvoy, Y. Arnold, and M. Vielgorsky. Fuchs is the author of the first composition guide “A Practical Guide to Music Composition” (1830). Published in Russia, the work, due to its Russian translation, was a great contribution to the development of Russian-language terminology of music theory. In Russia, life and career of J.L. Fuchs remain little studied. An illustrative example is the incorrect information about his date and place of birth found in the Encyclopedia of Music. Until recently, nothing was known about the musician’s life. However, a thorough investigation carried out by a German researcher Robert Weissmann has made a difference. The article is the first attempt to introduce the evidence found by Weissmann into the Russian-language academic discourse. Together with the materials obtained by the author of the article, it helps bring a new, broader focus on the personality of the outstanding musician, as well as to highlight the dramatic impact Fuchs made on Russian music culture of the first half of the 19th century

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