Fuchs, Johann Leopold [Fux, Leopol'd

Ivanovich; Fux, Ivan Ivanovich]

(b Dessau, 2 Nov 1785; d St Petersburg, 3/15 April
1853). German composer, pianist and writer on music. At the turn
of the 18th century he moved from Germany to Russia, where he
was highly thought of as a music teacher in St Petersburg: among
his pupils were Glinka, Yury Arnol'd, Modest Rezvoy and others. In
connection with his teaching work, Fuchs wrote textbooks on
composition, harmony and piano playing. Some of his large-scale
vocal compositions were performed at St Petersburg Philharmonic
Society concerts: his cantata (or oratorio) Bog (God), on a text by
Gavriil Derzhavin (23 March 1831), and the oratorio Pyotr
Velikiy (Peter the Great), performed in Platon Obodovsky's
Russian translation of the original German text by F.A. Gelbke (23
March 1842). Most of Fuchs's other works, which include quartets
and quintets, remained unpublished and are lost.
WORKS
Vocal: Bog [God] (cant. or orat, G. Derzhavin), 4vv, chorus, orch, 1831; Peter Velikiy
[Peter the Great] (orat, F.A. Gelbke), 3vv, chorus, orch, 1842
Inst: Str Qnt, op.2 (Leipzig, n.d.); Pices et exercises appartenant l'ouvrage:
Mthode d'enseigner le piano et les principes de la musique (Moscow, 1851); other
chbr works

WRITINGS
Praktische Anleitung zur Komposition, sowohl zum
Selbstunterricht, wie auch als Handbuch fr Lehrer, nebst
einer besonderen Anweisung fr Komponisten des russichen
Kirchengesanges (St Petersburg, 1830, 2/1841 as Neue
Lehrmethode der musikalischen Komposition, mit besonderer
Rcksicht auf die praktische Anwendung der gegebenen
Regeln [in Ger. and Russ.]; Russ. trans of 1st edn, 1830)
Anweisung fr junge angehende Lehrer und Lehrerinnen, den
ersten Unterricht auf dem Piano-Forte in einer stufenweisen
Folge zu ertheilen (St Petersburg, 1834, 2/1844) [in Ger., Fr.
and Russ.]
Harmonielehre fr Damen, enthaltend alle Vorkenntnisse, die
eine gute Clavierspielerin oder Sngerin als

Erleichterungsmittel zum Entziffern, Prludieren und zum

richtigen Vortrage bedarf (Leipzig, 1843, 2/1844; Fr. trans.,
1843)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
B. Steinpress: Der Petersburger Musiker Leopold Fuchs, Mf,
xv (1962), 3944
BORIS SHTEYNPRESS