Waart, Edo de. 56 Wachmann, Eduard 56
Wilder, Philip van. See Van Wilder, Philip. Wilder (Jérôme-Albert-)Victor (van)
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Wilder, Philip van.See Van Wilder, Philip. Wilder (Jérôme-Albert-)Victor (van)(b Wetteren, nr Ghent, 21 Aug 1835; d Paris, 8 Sept 1892). Belgian music critic, translator and writer. He studied philosophy and law at the University of Ghent and music at the Artevelde Conservatory. He began his career as a music critic with the Journal de Gand, but about 1861 moved to Paris, where he wrote in particular for Presse théâtrale, L'évènement, L'opinion nationale, Parlement, Gil-Blas and then for Le ménestrel, which he left in 1884, probably because he disagreed with its aesthetic viewpoint. In 1887 he joined the ranks of Guide musical, a refuge for Wagner admirers; he also worked for Presse musicale. A passionate Wagnerian, he acted as adviser to Lamoureux when the latter staged Lohengrin in Paris, and translated all of Wagner's operas from Lohengrin on. Cosima Wagner preferred Wilder's translations to those of Nuitter, which were previously in use, but Wilder's librettos were soon rejected by the fanatics of the Revue Wagnérienne, who demanded that Ernst's be used. According to Pougin (supplement to Biographie universelle), Wilder translated at least 500 German or Italian texts, including those of major works by Handel, Paisiello, Mozart, Weber, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Schumann. Among Wilder's own librettos are La fête de Piedigrotta, 1869, with Luigi Ricci, and (with André Delacour) Prinz Methusalem, 1877, set by the younger Johann Strauss. Wilder published (in Le ménestrel) a reduction of Mozart's long-lost ballet Les petits riens, for which he had discovered a score in the Opéra library, and collected and published Chansons populaires flamandes des XVe, XVIe, et XVIIe siècles (1890). He also wrote two biographies: Mozart: l'homme et l'artiste (Paris, 1880) and Beethoven: sa vie et son oeuvre (Paris, 1883). ELISABETH BERNARD Wilderer, Johann Hugo von(b Bavaria, 1670/71; d Mannheim, bur. 7 June 1724). German composer. He was an important figure at the courts of Düsseldorf, Heidelberg and Mannheim. In 1692 he was court organist at St Andreas in Düsseldorf. A document prepared by Giorgio Maria Rapparini as a Festschrift for the birthday of Elector Johann Wilhelm in 1709, entitled Le portrait du vrai mérité dans la personne serenissime de Monseigneur L’Electeur Palatin, includes biographical sketches of the five most important musicians in the court Kapelle (see Croll). Rapparini testified to Wilderer’s Bavarian origins and his studies with the famous Italian musician ‘Negrentius’, i.e. Giovanni Legrenzi. However, no evidence has been found to suggest when Wilderer may have been in Venice. Wilderer was already vice-Kapellmeister at the Düsseldorf court in 1696, and in 1703 he was advanced to court Kapellmeister. He married Maria Lambertina Dahmen on 11 March 1698, and she bore him nine children. Wilderer’s operas were composed largely for the Düsseldorf court between 1695 and 1713. In 1716 the Elector Johann Wilhelm died and was succeeded by his brother Karl Philipp, who had maintained a court at Innsbruck. Subsequently he joined together the Innsbruck and Düsseldorf musical establishments, first in Heidelberg and in 1720 in Mannheim, where he undertook the building of a new palace. These combined groups, under the joint directorship of Wilderer and Jakob Greber from Innsbruck, later became the basis for the famous orchestra of the ‘Mannheim School’, supported generously by the Elector Carl Theodor. Wilderer remained active in the dual capacity of Kapellmeister and composer until his death. His final major work was the sacred opera Esther, performed as an oratorio at Heidelberg in 1723 and as an opera at Mannheim, 17 March 1724. Wilderer’s importance as a composer results in part from his fortuitous employment by the prince-electors of Düsseldorf-Mannheim. Musical activities at these courts influenced both the history of German opera in the late 17th century and the early stages of the musical developments leading to the Mannheim composers of the early Classical period. The Düsseldorf court assembled numerous talented musicians, and they in turn attracted many distinguished composers, such as Steffani, who produced three of his operas at Düsseldorf: Arminio (1707), Tassilone (1709) and Amor vien dal destino/Il turno Enea (1709). Handel visited the court in 1710, 1711 and 1719. Wilderer’s extant operas show a predictable similarity to Venetian operas of the late 17th century. Recitatives and arias are usually joined together freely without the severe contrasts of dramatic function found in operas of the later 18th century. Elements of French music are also evident in these works, as in most German operas of the period, and ballets frequently appear, especially as the conclusion to the final act (their music, as well as the independent orchestral movements such as the overtures, were composed not by Wilderer but by the court musician Georg Andreas Kraft). The arias are predominantly with continuo accompaniment and display some form of ABA' design, with a written-out A' section. Many of the arias with instrumental accompaniment show colouristic uses of solo instruments, very much in the manner of Reinhard Keiser’s Hamburg operas (see Steffen for a thorough discussion). Among Wilderer’s small number of sacred pieces is a Missa brevis in G minor, extant in a remarkable copy in the hand of J.S. Bach (D-Bsb Mus. 23116/10). Wolff noted important similarities between the Kyrie of Bach’s Mass in B minor and Wilderer’s score. WORKSoperasfirst performed in Düsseldorf unless otherwise stated
oratorios and cantatas
liturgical
BIBLIOGRAPHYG. Croll: ‘Musikgeschichtliches aus Rapparinis Johann-Wilhelm-Manuskript (1709)’, Mf, xi (1958), 257–64 G. Steffen: ‘Wilderer, Johann Hugo von’, Rheinische Musiker, ii, ed. K.G. Fellerer (Cologne, 1962) R. Brockpähler: Handbuch zur Geschichte der Barockoper in Deutschland (Emsdetten, 1964) C. Wolff: ‘Zur musikalischen Vorgeschichte des Kyrie aus Johann Sebastian Bachs Messe in h-moll’, Festschrift Bruno Stäblein, ed. M. Ruhnke (Kassel, 1967), 316–26; Eng. trans. in Bach: Essays on his Life and Music (Cambridge, MA, 1991), 141–51 GEORGE J. BUELOW Directory: New%20Grove%20Dictionnary%20Of%20Music Download 14.95 Mb. Share with your friends:
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