Sigismund Ritter von Neukomm (1778–1858) was an Austrian composer, pianist, organist, and conductor whose vast musical output—more than 1,300 compositions—serves as a bridge between the Classical and Romantic periods. A native of Salzburg, he was a student of the Haydn brothers and an admirer of Mozart. He was a citizen of the world in his time: after his early years as an organist at the University Church and a theater accompanist in Salzburg, he moved to Vienna; later, he served as Kapellmeister at the German Theater in St. Petersburg, as a court musician and accompanist to the French diplomat Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord in Paris, and as Kapellmeister to Emperor Johann IV in Brazil. He was a diplomat, a Knight of the Legion of Honor (Légion d’honneur), a Freemason, and a world traveler; he remained unmarried and childless. It is no wonder that many of his works were not composed in Austria, but rather in France or on the world stage. He died in Paris at the age of eighty.
Among other works, he composed challenging Ă©tudes for the organ, but he also took a liking to the then-emerging physharmonica or harmonium (Orgue expressif) and owned his own portable travel harmonium made by Achille MĂĽller, Paris. Many of his short pieces (Morceaux), as well as the 6 Pieces for a Silent Mass, found their way into homes, salons, and churches as the harmonium gained popularity. The 3 selected Morceaux also sound enchanting on small organs, but I consciously chose the sound of the grand organ at Notre Dame de Metz and, for the most part, avoided rich voicings with French reed stops.
0:00 Adagio D (37 Morceaux 1/8)
3:10 Andante F (Arr. Ann Mounsey Bartholomew)
6:02 Andante C (37 Morceaux 3/1)
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