Sonate D-Dur

Here is a three-part sonata, as usual, featuring a melody from the 'Allgemeines Deutsches Kommersbuch' (Lahrer Kommersbuch), composed by Albert Methfessel.

Albert Methfessel, the thirteenth child of a cantor and organist, was born in Stadtilm, Thuringia (baptismal names: Johann Albrecht Gottlieb). Starting in 1801, he attended the Gymnasium in Rudolstadt and studied theology and classical literature in Leipzig from 1807 to 1810. Realizing his true calling was music, he pursued vocal training in Dresden, supported financially by the regent of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Karoline von Hessen-Homburg. He served as a chamber singer at the Rudolstadt Court Theatre and as a vocal and instrumental teacher from 1810 to 1811. He was acquainted with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and taught Friedrich Schiller's daughter Emilie singing.

In 1813, as Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt called patriots to arms against Napoleonic occupation, Methfessel contributed by dedicating the song 'Hinaus in die Ferne' to the local volunteer corps. He lived in Rudolstadt until 1816 and published the 'Allgemeines Commers- und Liederbuch' in 1818. From 1823, he was a music teacher and conductor in Hamburg, where he founded the Hamburger Liedertafel on April 19, 1823. During this time, he composed the Hamburg hymn 'Hammonia,' first performed publicly by the Hamburger Liedertafel on its fifth anniversary, April 19, 1828. He succeeded Gottlob Wiedebein as court conductor at the Brunswick Opera House in 1832. A hearing disorder led to his early retirement in 1841, concluding his professional career. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Jena in 1865.

Albert Methfessel died on March 23, 1869, in Heckenbeck. He was married to the opera singer Louise Methfessel, née Lehmann (1818–1854). While Methfessel's work in opera and oratorio was not enduring, his role in choral and songwriting was pioneering.