There are no documents about Werner’s education; perhaps he was a student at the Seitenstetten or Melk monasteries. In 1715/16 he may have been the monastery organist in Melk due to a vacancy. In 1727 he married at St. Stephan in Vienna, which indicates a longer stay in Vienna and thus in the circle of Johann Joseph Fux. In 1728 he became court music director to Prince Esterházy. From 1761 he was supported by the deputy conductor Joseph Haydn, which led to tensions. The solution ultimately consisted of dividing the chapel into a church ensemble led by Werner and a chamber ensemble led by Haydn. In 1804, Haydn arranged six fugues with introductions from Werner’s oratorios for string quartet.
Short liturgical works (graduals, offertories, …) are available on a separate page.
Literature
- Róbert Árpád Murányi (1997). Thematischer Katalog der Werke G. J. Werners in Budapest. Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 38:151-228.
- Susanne Winkler-Klement (2013). Die Werke Gregor Joseph Werners im Eisenstädter Domarchiv und im Burgenländischen Landesmuseum. Universität Wien, Wien.
Overview
Works
Six fugues
arranged for string quartet by Joseph Haydn
(US-DMu 269477)
Symphoniæ sex senæque sonatæ
(D-Dl Mus.2462-Q-1)
