Weichlein, Romanus

Romanus Weichlein came from a musical family. The first testimonies of his father, Johann Weichlein, date back to the time when he served as an organist in Tsvetlsky Abbey . Then he moved to Linz, where from 1639 until his death in 1677 he held the position of urban organist and held a tavern ^{[1] [2]} . Johann Weichlein married 9 to a certain child Sabina, four of whom became musicians: Magnus Weichlein (at birth Johann Georg) (1650 - 1692) organist, Romanus Weichlein (at birth Andres Franz, third child), Franz Weichlein (1659- 1727) organist and composer, Konstantin Weichlein (1667 -?) Organist ^[3] .

Primary education Andreas, like his older brother Johann, probably received inschool at the Benedictine monastery Lambach in the eponymous commune . The brothers become novices of the Lambach Monastery: Johann in 1666 under the name Marcus, Andreas in 1671 under the name Romanus. In the same year, again after his elder brother, Romanus began to study philosophy and theology at the University of Salzburg (he received a bachelor's degree in 1672 and a Ph.D. in 1673). In 1678, Romanus took the priesthood ^{[3] [1]} .

Information about the musical education of the Weihlein brothers is extremely scarce. It is believed that during his stay in Salzburg, Romanus could study with Bieber ^[1] . A significant influence on Weihlein was exerted by Benjamin Ludwig Ramhaufsky (1631-1694), who held the post of organist in the Lambach monastery. In 1679, Ramhovski married Weihlein’s sister Anna Sabina, and the wedding ceremony was conducted by Romanus himself ^{[1] [2]} . In 1681, Weichlein attended a concert given by Bieber in Lambach in honor of Kaiser Leopold I , where 8 sonatas for solo violin were presented (C.138–145).

After the ordination, Weichlein only occasionally visited a monastery in Lambach. According to the testimony of Father George Schönberger, in 1684 Romanus served as a confessor in the branch of Oberkirchen (now the commune of Hollenstein an der Ibs in Lower Austria ) ^[1] . Between 1687 and 1690 (or 1691), he served as chaplain, musical director and composer at the Benedictine Nunberg Convent in Salzburg . In 1691, at the request of the abbess of Nonnberg, he was appointed music director and teacher at the Zaben monastery in South Tyrol , founded in 1681 by nonnberg nuns. Weichlein brought to Zaben a number of musical instruments from Lambach. In addition to the actual musical work, he also organized in theatrical productions: Clorinda "Comedy of St. Alexei" , Ida von Toggenburg "Joseph of Egypt and his brothers" (1693) , "Passion" (1694) . In January 1705, Weichlein returned to Lambach and in March he was appointed a parish priest in Kleinfrauenheide. The Kleinfrauenheide ^{[K 1]} parish, with a predominantly Hungarian population, was located in a territory devastated and devastated during the Great Turkish War by Turkish troops and Hungarian rebels . In 1692, Pal Esterhazy transferred these territories to the Lambach monastery for restoration. Romanus Weichlein died in Kleinfrauenheide on August 8, 1706, apparently from typhoid fever ^{[K 2] [3] [4]} .

Weichlein's identity is contradictory. The abbess of Nonnberg greatly appreciated him, and he left Zabin with the best recommendations. On the other hand, Weichlein’s pastoral ministry was overshadowed by an incident ^{[K 3]} , which required an investigation by the monastery authorities: Romanus threatened his own cook with assault, and when she tried to object, he broke the door to her room and a fight broke out between them ^{[1] [ 4]} . Despite his musical talent and active participation in organizing the musical life of the monasteries in which he served, the preserved correspondence between Weihlein and the monastery authorities in Lambach indicates that the fulfillment of the priest’s direct duties occupied a significant part of his life ^[4] .

In the work of Weihlein they trace the influence of Bieber, Schmelzer , Hofer , Georg Muffat , Weiwanowski ^{[7] [3]} .

During the life of Weihlein, two collections of his works were published:

• Encaenia Musices (Innsbruck, 1695) - a collection of sonatas;
• Parnassus Ecclesiastico-Musicus ( Ulm , 1702) - a collection of masses written by him for the liturgy in Zaben.

In addition, the following are known:

• Canon über das Post-Hörnl - printed in Lambach as engraving in 1686 ^[4] ;
• Missa rectorum cordium (1687);
• Eine Violinsonate (1688) ^[8] .

The manuscripts have been preserved in the music archive of Kremsmunster ^[9] and the monasteries Nonnberg and Lambach ^{[1] [K 4]} .

• Ars Antiqua Austria
• Capella vitalis berlin

• Leo Malkhazov, Pavel Serbin , Anna Andrushkevich. The release of the program "Baroque Practice" "All Power to the Sonatas", dedicated to the sonatas of Weichlein and Rosenmüller (neopr.) . Radio of Russia . Date of treatment February 1, 2018.
• Gunar Letzbor. P. Romanus Weichlein: Mensch, Mönch, Musiker (German) . Musikland ob der Enns . de: Ars Antiqua Austria . Date of treatment January 26, 2018.
• Weichlein (Weichel), Familie (German) . Osterreichisches Musiklexikon online . Date of treatment January 23, 2018.
• Weichlein, Romanus (1652-1706) Kurzbiographie (German) . EROICA-Klassikforum . Date of treatment January 30, 2018.
• Romanus Weichlein (English) . Here of a Sunday Morning (HOASM) . Date of treatment January 24, 2018.