Franz Xaver Gruber

Austrian composer (1787–1863)

In the history of music, Franz Xaver Gruber is one of the names that keeps returning.

The record lists Franz Xaver Gruber as Austrian composer (1787–1863).

Franz Xaver Gruber was born at Unterweitzberg in 1787. His recorded nationality is Austria.

The concert hall and the public audience were new in this period; music was beginning to be written for buyers rather than employers.

He worked as composer, poet and organist.

The instruments recorded are organ and guitar.

His work is classed as choral music.

His best-known work is Stille Nacht Heilige Nacht. Performance is the most perishable art and recording the most durable; a career sits between the two.

That the work came out of Austria shaped it: musical traditions, training institutions and the reach of a recording industry all differ by country.

Franz Xaver Gruber died in 1863, aged 76. The recordings and scores remain, which is the only durable form a musical life takes.

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