Johann Hugo von Wilderer

Johann Hugo von Wilderer (1670 or 1671 – buried 7 June 1724) was a German Baroque composer. He was born in Bavaria and died in Mannheim, where in his later years he served as the Kapellmeister of the court orchestra. His compositions include eleven operas, two oratorios, cantatas, and sacred works.

Wilderer was born in Bavaria. He studied with Giovanni Legrenzi in Venice. Probably in 1687 he was employed at the Palatine court in Düsseldorf as an organist. A document dated 1 October 1692 indicates that he was organist at the church St. Andreas, the court church at the time. He held the office until 1697. On the occasion of his first opera Giocasta, first performed for the opening of the opera house at the Mühlenstraße in 1696, he was appointed Vice-Kapellmeister (vice musical director). In 1703 he received the title Hofkapellmeister (court musical director). In 1699 he had also received the appointment of Hofkammerrat (treasury official). He was knighted by Elector Johann Wilhelm in 1704 or 1705.

Wilderer probably met George Frideric Handel when Handel visited the court in Düsseldorf in 1710 and 1711. Agostino Steffani was also resident at the court during Wilderer's tenure as Kapellmeister.Georg Andreas Kraft (1660-1726), a friend of Wilderer, wrote the ballet music for several of his operas, including his 1696 Giocasta. A high point in Wilderer's career was the coronation of emperor Charles VI at Frankfurt am Main in 1711, where he conducted the entire orchestra of 53 members.

When the elector died on 8 June 1716, his brother and successor Charles Philip combined the courts in Düsseldorf and Innsbruck, with the new court moved at first to Neuburg, then to Heidelberg, and finally to Mannheim. The Düsseldorf court orchestra was dissolved, but in 1718, many of its musicians were reinstated in the Innsbruck court orchestra headed by Jakob Greber. When Charles Philip moved the court to Mannheim in 1720 Wilderer and Greber served jointly as Kapellmeister of the orchestra, which later became famous as the orchestra of the Mannheim school. Wilderer died in Mannheim and was buried there on 7 June 1724. He was married to Maria Dahmen. The couple had nine children.

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