Fuchs [Fux], Peter [Pietro]

(b ?Vienna, 22 Jan 1753; d Vienna, 15 June

1831). Violinist and composer active in Austria. His death
certificate records that he was born in Vienna, but there are
suggestions of a Bohemian origin: he is traditionally held to have
learnt the violin in Prague, and Dittersdorf in his autobiography
mentioned having heard him and Pichl play violin concertos there;
according to Dlaba (1815), he was well known in Prague as a
brilliant violinist. Dittersdorf engaged Fuchs, Pichl and others for
the private orchestra of Bishop Adam Patachich at Grosswardein
(now Oradea, Romania), where Fuchs stayed until the orchestra
was disbanded in 1769. On 6 January 1781 he was appointed at
Eszterhza under Haydn; from 1 March 1782 to his death he
played second violin in the court chapel and theatre orchestras at
Vienna, where he was also a teacher and soloist at the
Tonknstler-Societt, of which he became a member in 1791. He
married F.L. Gassmanns daughter Anna Maria (17711852), an
opera singer.
Fuchss violin compositions reveal something of his virtuoso
abilities as well as the influence of the Italian violin school,
particularly in the orchestral dances with solo violin. It is uncertain
whether the sacred works attributed to P. Fux in the
GttweigKatalogus musicalium are his.
WORKS
printed works published in Vienna unless otherwise stated

Orch: Vn Conc., 1799, ?lost, ?same as Vn Conc., E , mentioned in FtisB as pubd

(Offenbach, n.d.); 12 Deutsche nebst Coda (n.d.); 12 menuetti, 12 deutsche Tnze,
1798, arr. hpd, A-Wn; 6 Menuetten, Wn
Chbr: 2 sonatas, B , D, vn, vc (1791); 12 variations, vn, vc (c1793); 2 sonatas, A, A
, vn, vc (1796); 9 variations on O mein lieber Augustin, 2 vn (1798), lost except
MSWn; Caprice, vn (1799); Variations on theme from Alcine (ballet), 2 vn (1808); 6
variations on La stessa, la stessissima (A. Salieri: Falstaff), vn, bc (n.d.); Variations
3 soggetti, 2 vn (n.d.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY
SHS
J.N. Forkel: Musikalischer Almanach fr Deutschland

1783 (Leipzig, 1782/R)

J.F. von Schnfeld, ed.: Jb der Tonkunst von Wien und
Prag (Vienna, 1796/R)
C. Ditters von
Dittersdorf: Lebensbeschreibung (Leipzig, 1801; Eng. trans.,
1896/R); ed. N. Miller (Munich, 1967)
G.J. Dlabac: Allgemeines historisches Knstler-Lexikon, i
(Prague, 1815/R)
CAMILLO SCHOENBAUM