Florian Leopold Gassmann, born in 1729, ran away from home at age 12 to avoid learning a trade, earning a thousand thalers in two weeks playing the harp in Karlsbad.
Composer Biography
In 1763, Gassmann was called to Vienna to succeed Christoph Willibald Gluck as ballet composer, and a year later, he was promoted to 'Court and Chamber Composer' by Joseph II.
Composition History
Gassmann's opera buffa L'amore artigiano was performed multiple times by Joseph Haydn in Eszterháza and was his most successful version of the work.
Composition History
Gassmann founded the Tonkünstler Societät in 1771, Vienna's first concert society, which used its annual concerts to fund support for musicians' widows and orphans.
Composer Biography
After running away, Gassmann traveled to Venice with no knowledge of Italian, only the little Latin he knew as a 12-year-old student.
Composer Biography
In Venice, Gassmann was taken in by a patron priest and later by Conte Leonardo Veneri, who provided him with luxurious living arrangements, including free board and servants.
Composer Biography
Gassmann brought the young and ambitious composition pupil Antonio Salieri (1750-1825) back to Vienna with him from Venice.
