Spindler, Stanislaus Franz (EN)

Spindler Stanislaus Franz, *4 May 1763 Steingaden, †8 September 1819 Strasbourg, German composer and singer (initially tenor, later bass). He was educated in Steingaden, where he sang in the boys’ choir of the local Norbertine abbey, and subsequently in Augsburg. In 1782 he made his stage debut as a tenor in Augsburg, and in 1783 as a composer with the singspiel Die Reue vor der Tat in Frankfurt. Between 1785 and 1793, employed as a singer or theatre conductor (sometimes performing both roles), he spent time in places such as Innsbruck, Frankfurt, Augsburg (where he collaborated in 1786 with E. Schikaneder’s theatre company), Brno, where in 1790 he met K. Dittersdorf and was likely his pupil, Regensburg and Vienna. From 1793 he was associated with the court of the Bishop of Wrocław in Johannisberg (now Jánský Vrch); he also performed in Wrocław (1796–97) in Mozart’s repertoire (Tamino in The Magic Flute, Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro and the title role in Don Giovanni), and subsequently resided in Vienna. In 1807, he arrived in Strasbourg with Vogel’s theatre company, where he settled and worked as a highly esteemed singing teacher and, from 1808 (for life), as the choirmaster of the local cathedral.

Spindler’s works were long thought to be lost. A significant number of his compositions, mainly sacred music, were rediscovered by R. Münster in 1997, making it possible to assess them and reintroduce them into the performing repertoire. Spindler sometimes signed his works using his middle name (Franz instead of Stanislaus), which is why they were mistakenly attributed to the composer’s brother, the clergyman Francis Xavier (1758–1822). Of the 22 stage works, most are still known only by their titles and genre names; Spindler’s favourite genre was the singspiel (over half of the surviving titles). Spindler was regarded as a fine composer, and according to the opinions of his contemporaries (including L. Spohr), his most notable works included the singspiel Das Waisenhaus, as well as a requiem and an oratorio, in which attention is drawn to the care taken to emphasise the dramatic qualities of the text, partly through skilfully chosen instrumentation. His religious compositions are predominantly in a style akin to the works of J. Haydn.

Literature: L. Spohr Selbstbiographie, vol. 1, Kassel 1860, facsimile edition. E. Schmitz, Kassel 1954; R. Münster Der Komponist Stanislaus Spindler aus Steingaden, “Lech-Isar-Land 1997”, Weilheim 1997 (contains a catalogue of works).