Johann Vesque von Püttlingen


Johann Vesque von Püttlingen , born J. Vesque de Puttelange, was an Austrian lawyer, diplomat, author, composer and singer. His full name and title in German was Johann Vesque, Freiherr von Püttlingen.

Early life

He was born in the Lubomirski Palace in Opole Lubelskie.
;Background
His father, Jean Vesque de Puttelange, born in Brussels, was a state official in Brussels, at the time in the Duchy of Brabant, a region of the Austrian Netherlands, themselves part of the Holy Roman Empire. Jean Vesque had to leave in a hurry after the French invasion of the Low Countries in 1793, but found himself banned from Vienna, where there were enough civil servants already; having rejected a French offer of citizenship of the new greater France - now including southern Belgium and Luxembourg - his estates were confiscated and he found himself stateless.
, designed c.1770 by i.a. Domenico Merlini
After many years of wandering in Europe, often on foot, Jean Vesque obtained a position c1801 at the palace of Prince Alexander Lubomirsky in Opole Lubelskie, where he worked as librarian and tutor to his daughter Alexandra Francis Lubomirska, and where his son, also Johann Vesque, was born in 1803. West Galicia had recently come under Habsburg control after the Third Partition of Poland in 1795.
The ban on Austro-Belgian officials settling in Vienna was lifted the following year, 1804, and the family moved to Vienna. The subsequent life of the infant Johann Vesque divides into two intertwining careers, that of a government official, and that of a composer.

Civil service career

After schooling - including some musical training - he entered the University of Vienna in 1822 to study law, gaining his LLD with honours in 1827. He then became a civil servant, entering the Lower Austrian legal service as an 'Auscultant' or probationer, rising to become chief administrative officer of Salzburg by 1872. He moved to the Austrian diplomatic service, making his way to head of section in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in 1866 he was elevated to the barony. In 1876 he became a Privy Councillor of the Imperial Council.
He was one of Austria's leading lawyers and was also active as a writer in this field: among other things he published a ground-breaking work on "The rights of the musical author" ; a description of the law relating to foreign citizens in Austria; and a review of Austria's agreements with foreign states.

Musical career

Aged 13, he had started piano lessons with :de:Maximilian Josef Leidesdorf, a well-known pianist who was a friend of Schubert and Beethoven. He studied composition with Eduard von Lannoy, who came from Brussels like Johann's father, Jean Vesque; he got to know Schubert in 1827-8, and through him had singing lessons with the renowned baritone Johann Vogl. The critic Eduard Hanslick described his well-trained tenor voice: "The witty, lightly emphasised, almost French 'breathy' tone, which Vesque - especially in his recital of his humoristic lieder - was aware of putting on, was quite unique."
Starting in 1828, he published a number of his own compositions under the name 'J. Hoven', or later 'Johann van Hoven'. many of which - like the rest of his oeuvre - were contributions to the lyric vocal repertoire; over 100 of his songs were settings of Heinrich Heine. In total he composed over 330 lieder, notably the Ironischen Lieder; six operas, including Turandot and Jeanne d'Arc ; and about twenty quartets, in both sacred and secular settings. Among his contacts were numbered Robert and Clara Schumann, Hector Berlioz, Franz Liszt, Carl Loewe, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Felix Mendelssohn and Otto Nicolai.
Four of his six operas were successfully produced at the Kärntnertortheater: Turandot 1838, Johanna d’Arc 1840, Liebeszauber 1845, Ein Abenteuer Carl des Zweiten 1850. He helped to reconstruct the threatened Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, and was its vice-president 1851/52, while continuing on the building of the Conservatory of the GdM, whose director he was. He organised performances of Mendelssohn's oratorios in Vienna, and directed the musical festivals in the Royal winter Spanish Riding School. He was a member of the Royal Commission for the World Fair 1873, and also collected autographs.
He died in Vienna.

Works

According to Grove, his published compositions reach to Opus no. 58.
;Operas
Operettas reviewed by Hanslick, 15 Jan 1850
;Choral works
;Piano
;Vocal works
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