Josef Dessauer

Josef Dessauer (28 May 1798 in Prague – 8 July 1876 in Mödling, near Vienna), was an Austrian-born composer who wrote many popular songs, and also some less successful operas.

Josef Dessauer, 1831

Josef Dessauer

Life

Dessauer was born into a wealthy Jewish family, and studied piano in Prague with Bedřich Diviš Weber and composition with Wenzel Tomaschek. Dessauer began as a song composer, but later began composing operas, of which very few were performed.

In 1821 he settled in Vienna, from which he made many European tours. He was a friend of many composers of his time, such as Gioachino Rossini, Franz Schubert, Hector Berlioz, Felix Mendelssohn, Franz Liszt and Frédéric Chopin, who dedicated some pieces to him.

Operas

• Lidwinna (1836)
• Ein Besuch in Saint-Cyr (1838)
• Paquita (1851)
• Domingo (1860)
• Oberon (which was never performed)

Songs

• "Verschwiegenheit"
• "Das Gebet"
• "Wie Glücklich"
• "Am Strande"
• "Ich Denke Dein"
• "Das Zerbrochene Ringlein"