Simon Sechter (1788–1876) was an important Austrian music educator, music theoretician, and organist. As a composer, he was incredibly productive, composing more than 6,000 pieces and setting himself the goal of writing a fugue every day.
He studied under Antonio Salieri and served as court organist for a time. His students included Bibl, Bruckner, Henselt, Lachner, Schubert, Vieuxtemps, and Zeller, among others, though he considered Bruckner his best student. The teaching of strict contrapunct, particularly double contrapunct writing and the treatment of chromatic harmonies, had a formative influence on Bruckner’s orchestration of complex motifs. Bruckner succeeded Sechter as professor of harmony and contrapunt at the Vienna Conservatory and continued his teaching methods. The two Andantes in B-flat minor and B-flat major are examples of Sechter’s skill in handling chromatic harmonies:
0:00 Etude in B-flat minor
2:33 Prelude, Op. 26/11 in B-flat major
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