Silverius Müller

Silverius Müller, born Franz Müller, was an Austrian composer and teacher associated with the Piarist order (the Order of the Pious Schools). He was born in Oberhöflein, in Lower Austria, in February 1745, and died in Vienna in August 1812. His work belongs to the Viennese Classical style, although his name tends to remain in the background compared with his contemporaries.

He joined the Piarist order in 1764, taking the religious name Silverius, and was ordained a priest at the end of 1770. His musical training took place at the Piarist gymnasium in Horn. Between 1770 and 1783 he worked mainly as regens chori and music instructor at three colleges of the order: Maria Treu in Vienna, and those in Günzburg and Krems. After the reforms of Joseph II, musical posts became scarce, so from 1783 he worked for his congregation as prefect and, from 1800, as professor of classical literature and philosophy at the Konvikt in Löwenburg, also in Vienna. In 1796 he travelled to Naples for study purposes.

His music enjoyed a certain esteem in his own time, above all his chamber music, in which he employs classical forms with great vivacity. Among his religious output, the Mass in D major stands out, although it conforms to the conventions of the period.