Franz Xaver Gebauer

Franz Xaver Gebauer (Eckersdorf, near Glatz, Silesia, 1784 – Vienna, 13 December 1822) was an organist, conductor and composer of Silesian origin who spent much of his career in Vienna, where he arrived as a musician already formed in the tradition of the organ and sacred music.

After receiving his first lessons from his father, he became organist in Frankenstein in 1804. In 1810 he moved to Vienna, where he made a name for himself as a cellist and piano teacher, and also for his skill with the reed organ. In 1816 he was appointed director of the choir of the Augustinerkirche, an appointment that prompted a remark from Franz Oliva to Beethoven: according to him, the music at St Augustine's had improved considerably and the finest sacred music could now be heard there.

Gebauer was one of the first members of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde and founder and first director of the Spirituel-Concerte, begun in 1819 at the Hotel Zur Mehlgrube on the Neue Markt and held until 1848. These concerts originated as choir rehearsals extended to an audience of amateurs, with symphonies and choral works prepared for the next feast day. Their standard of performance was uneven, although their programmes were more selective than those of the society; Beethoven frequently featured in them. Gebauer also left choral works and songs, though today his name is remembered above all for his role in Viennese musical life of the period.