Who was Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf and why is his double bass concerto so popular?

I've always been curious about this composer's history...

With Korneel Le Compte, Dennis Pientak, and Jon McCullough-Benner · Belgium, Netherlands, and USA

Go further down the Differsdorf rabbit hole through the research I did for this video, and thanks to the people that joined me to talk bass history:

about Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf

Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (2 November 1739 – 24 October 1799) was an Austrian composer, violinist, and silvologist. He was a friend of both Haydn and Mozart.

Dittersdorf was born in the Laimgrube (now Mariahilf) district of Vienna, Austria, as Johann Carl Ditters. His father was a military tailor in the Austrian Imperial Army of Charles VI, for a number of German-speaking regiments. After retiring honorably from his military obligation, he was provided with royal letters of reference and a sinecure with the Imperial Theatre. In 1745, the six-year-old August Carl was introduced to the violin and his father’s moderate financial position allowed him not only a good general education at a Jesuit school, but private tutelage in music, violin, French and religion. After leaving his first teacher, Carl studied violin with J. Ziegler, who by 1750, through his influence, secured his pupil’s appointment as a violinist in the orchestra of the Benedictine church on the Freyung.

read more on Wikipedia…

Keep Exploring

Teppo Hauta-aho double bass

Typically Teppo – an in-depth look

Barrie Kolstein double bass

Kolstein Music Celebrates 70 Years of Business

michael kurth

The Clef that Ate Sheboygan

Share This Post

real-map

Get connected to double bassists, events, and communities all over the world.

clef-logo-white

Listen to the Podcast

Contrabass conversations

Share your ideas with the double bass community.