
Johann Baptist Schenk (30 November 1753 – 29 December 1836) was an Austriancomposer andteacher.
Schenk was born inWiener Neustadt. While still a boy, he composedsongs,dances andsymphonies, and became a proficientviolinist andkeyboard andwind instrument player. In 1773 he went to Vienna to study withGeorg Christoph Wagenseil. Beginning in 1777 he was composing religious works forSaint Stephen's Cathedral. In the 1780s he became a prolific composer of incidental music for plays andsingspiele.Mozart was a good friend of Schenk[1] andBeethoven was among his students in 1793–1794.[2] Schenk died in Vienna aged 83.
His best-known singspiel isDer Dorfbarbier [de] which premiered in 1796.[2] His other compositions include numerouscantatas, ten symphonies, severalconcertos (including a well-known one for harp), and fivestring quartets. In around 1823, he composed a variation on a waltz byAnton Diabelli (D 718), being one of the 51 composers who contributed to theVaterländischer Künstlerverein. Schenk'sAutobiographische Skizze (1830) mentions a few early works, now lost, but is factually unreliable; i.a. its gives his birth date as 30 November 1761.[1]
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