# Ferdinand Kauer

Ferdinand August Kauer (18 January 1751 – 13 April 1831) was an Austrian composer and pianist.

## Biography

Kauer was born in Klein-Thaya (today Dyjákovičky) near Znojmo in South Moravia). He studied in Znojmo, Tyrnau, and Vienna, and later settled in Vienna around 1777. In 1781 he joined Karl von Marinelli's newly formed company at Vienna as leader and conductor of the orchestra. From 1782 he also composed music for the theatre, including Singspiele, operas, and incidental music and songs, mostly to texts by the house poet Karl Friedrich Hensler. Their first major success was Das Faustrecht in Thüringen (The Law of the Jungle in Thüringen, 1796–1797), which was eclipsed two years later by the success of Das Donauweibchen (1798).
He was Kapellmeister of the Theater in der Leopoldstadt and Theater in der Josefstadt in Vienna and also in Graz. He directed the Leopoldstadt Theater Music School and by the 1790s had become known for his popular Singspiele. In addition to his successful stage works he composed several tutorial methods for violin, flute, piano and singing (c. 1790). A tragic flood in 1830 destroyed all Kauer's possessions, including most of his scores. He continued to work as the second viola player at the Theater in der Leopoldstadt orchestra until his death in Vienna a year later.

## Legacy

He wrote about 200 operas and Singspiele. The romantic opera Das Donauweibchen (1798) was one of the most popular operas of the early 19th century. It was staged in Russia in 1803–1807 as Lesta, dneprovskaya rusalka (Russian: Леста, днепровская русалка) and its three sequels with Russian text and additional music by the naturalised Russian immigrant Catterino Cavos who originally hailed from Venice, and Stepan Davydov (1777–1825).
Das Donauweibchen was the first opera staged in Finland on 3 December 1826 in Viipuri by Schultz’s company. It was not unusual for travelling companies to make an excursion from the nearby Saint Petersburg to Viipuri, Finland being an autonomous Grand Duchy in the Russian Empire at the time.
Kauer also wrote 200 masses, many pieces of chamber music, incidental music (including Das Faustrecht in Thüringen). His "12 Neue Ungarische Tänze" reflect the influence of roaming Gypsy orchestras upon many composers of this era. In his "Sei variazioni" (c. 1810) Kauer introduced the xylophone into western classical music, and from that time this instrument has been adopted as a regular element of the orchestra. His music is rarely performed in modern times, but has been shown to be highly imaginative, tuneful, and worthy of further study.

## Selected works

| Title | Genre | Sub­divisions | Libretto | Première date | Theatre (in Vienna) |
| Der Streit zwischen dem Zauberer Scionco und der Fee Galantina, oder Kasperl bleibt Kasperl | comedy with machines and music | 3 acts | | February 3, 1784 | Theater in der Leopoldstadt |
| Der unschuldige Betrug | Kinder-Operette | 1 act | L Huber | June 22, 1790 | Theater in der Leopoldstadt |
| Bastien und Bastienne | Operette | | after French work | August 18, 1790 | Theater in der Leopoldstadt |
| Die Serenade, oder Der gefoppte Alte | Singspiel | 2 acts | | June 4, 1792 | Theater in der Leopoldstadt |
| Das Faustrecht in Thüringen part 1 | Schauspiel | 4 acts | Karl Friedrich Hensler | April 7, 1796 | Theater in der Leopoldstadt |
| Das Faustrecht in Thüringen part 2 | Schauspiel | 4 acts | Karl Friedrich Hensler | June 28, 1796 | Theater in der Leopoldstadt |
| Das Faustrecht in Thüringen part 3 | Schauspiel | 4 acts | Karl Friedrich Hensler | January 17, 1797 | Theater in der Leopoldstadt |
| Das Donauweibchen part 1 | romantisch-komisches Volksmärchen | 3 acts | Karl Friedrich Hensler | January 11, 1798 | Theater in der Leopoldstadt |
| Das Donauweibchen part 2 | romantisch-komisches Volksmärchen | 3 acts | Karl Friedrich Hensler | February 13, 1798 | Theater in der Leopoldstadt |
| Die Löwenritter | Schauspiel | 4 acts | Karl Friedrich Hensler | September 5, 1799 | Theater in der Leopoldstadt |
| Das Sternenmädchen im Meidlinger Walde | romantisch-komisches Volksmärchen | 3 acts | L Huber | October 20, 1801 | Theater in der Leopoldstadt |
| Telemach Prinz von Ithaca | travestirtes Singspiel | 3 acts | Karl Friedrich Hensler | April 29, 1801 | Theater in der Leopoldstadt |
| Philibert und Kasperl, oder Weiber sind getreuer als Männer | Zauberoper | 3 acts | Karl Friedrich Hensler | February 7, 1804 | Theater in der Leopoldstadt |
| Faschingswehen | Lustspiel | 3 acts | J F Kringsteiner | March 4, 1805 | Theater in der Leopoldstadt |
| Die Kreutzerkomödie | Posse | 3 acts | J F Kringsteiner | June 21, 1805 | Theater in der Leopoldstadt |
| Der travestierte Telemach | Karikatur | 3 acts | Joachim Perinet | August 29, 1805 | Theater in der Leopoldstadt |
| Heinrich der Stolze, Herzog von Sachsen | Schauspiel | 3 acts | J A Gleich | October 5, 1806 | Theater in der Leopoldstadt |
| Orpheus und Euridice, oder So geht es im Olympus zu | mythologische Karikatur | 2 acts | K Meisl | February 20, 1813 | Theater in der Leopoldstadt |
| Antonius und Cleopatra | Posse | 1 act | M F Perth, after August von Kotzebue | February 25, 1814 | Theater in der Josefstadt |
| Die Musikanten am Hohen Markt | Posse | 3 acts | J A Gleich | March 28, 1815 | Theater in der Josefstadt |
Ferdinand Kauer’s keyboard "Sonata militaire" was mistakenly attributed to Joseph Haydn as Sonata D major, Hob. XVI: D1.