Friedrich Witt (November 8, 1770 - January 3, 1836) German composer and cellist, best known as the likely author of a Symphony in C major, called the Jena Symphony, once attributed to Ludwig van Beethoven. Born in Niederstetten, Württemberg, Witt was most famous in his lifetime for his oratorio Der leidende Heiland, securing an appointment as Kapellmeister for the Prince of Würzburg, and later for the theater, where he stayed until his death. He wrote operas, concertos, church music, chamber music and symphonies. In 1909, Fritz Stein discovered a Symphony in C major he believed to be by Beethoven, and published it saying it was quite likely an early work by Beethoven and pointed out some stylistic similarities in the preface to the score. When H. C. Robbins Landon found another copy of the work at Göttweig with Witt's name on it, he convinced most other scholars that the work was in fact by Witt. Leavis, for example, condemned the work as "a piece of plagiarism, put together almost with scissors and paste from reminiscences of Haydn."[1]. The Jena Symphony has been recorded on LP.
References
- ^ Leavis, Ralph. "Witt, Friedrich" in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Stanley Sadie, ed. Volume 20. London: Macmillan Publishers Limited (1980)
Discography
- Symphonies No.s 6 and 9, Flute Concerto. Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Johannes Moesus. MDG 329 1299-2
- Septet in F major. Berlin Philharmonic Octet. Berlin Classics. Disc includes Beethoven's Opus 20 Septet.
- Horn Concertos. Concerto Amsterdam. Arts Music. Disc includes horn concertos by Leopold Mozart, Pokorny and Rosetti.
