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MOZART AND THE PRACTICE OF SACRED MUSIC, 1781-91 a ...

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inherit its monetary and physical assets. 135 This means, of course, that Mozart could not have<br />

been a member of the brotherhood, and obsequies for deceased members were no longer<br />

being conducted in 17<strong>91</strong>. Given the Tonkünstlersocietät’s inheritance, it could be argued that<br />

the society emerges as a potential candidate for the sponsoring of Mozart’s obsequies – after<br />

all, they had provided just such a service for Gluck in 1788. That service, however, was<br />

clearly unusual, in that it required the involvement of the Emperor to take place, and the<br />

society’s statutes make no mention of a memorial service taking place for deceased members,<br />

unlike those of its predecessor. In any case, when Constanze enquired to the<br />

Tonkünstlersocietät whether she might be eligible for a pension, the answer was negative, 136<br />

and there is no evidence from the society’s minutes that it considered holding a service for<br />

Mozart.<br />

There is little doubt, then, that it was St. Michael’s own ensemble that provided the<br />

music for the obsequies on 10 December 17<strong>91</strong>. The regens chori of St. Michael’s during<br />

Mozart’s time was Johann Michael Spangler (c. 1721-94), who was born in Hafnerbach but<br />

moved to Vienna some time before 1749. He began his career as a tenor and Choralist at St.<br />

Michael’s, and succeeded to the directorship in 1775. With his wife Maria Theresia (c.<br />

1724-87), Spangler had at least six children, a number of whom were active as musicians.<br />

The most important was Spangler’s son Johann Georg (1752-1802), who was a tenor at St.<br />

Michael’s and the Minoritenkirche. 137 Unlike his father, Johann Georg was active in<br />

composition, and he wrote a number of works for the Michaelerkirche even before he<br />

succeeded his father as regens chori there in 1794.<br />

135 Rohling, “Bruderschaften”, 201. The funds transferred to the Tonkünstersocietät amounted to 7450fl. The<br />

documents dealing with the transfer are in A-Wsa, Haydn-Verein, A 1/2d. A copy of the brotherhood’s original<br />

statutes from 1725 is in A 1/1.<br />

136 Deutsch, Dokumente, 385, 525.<br />

137 Johann Michael’s Verlassenschaftsabhandlung is in A-Wsa, Mag. ZG 2-1946/1794. Johann Georg’s is in Mag.<br />

ZG 2-4518/1802.<br />

383

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