Franz Joseph Aumann

Franz Joseph Aumann (also Auman, Aumon; 24 February 1728, Traismauer – 30 March 1797, Sankt Florian) was an Austrian composer. Before his voice broke, he sang in the same Viennese choir as Michael Haydn and Johann Georg Albrechtsberger,^[1] composers with whom he later in life traded manuscripts.^[2] In view of this circulation, it is not surprising that some of his music has been incorrectly attributed to Haydn. However, his Missa Profana, satirizing the stuttering and bad singing of a schoolmaster, was once attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.^[3]

Franz Joseph Aumann
Born	(1728-02-24)24 February 1728
Died	30 March 1797(1797-03-30) (aged 69)

Aumann was ordained a priest in the Augustinian Order in St. Florian in 1757, essentially staying there for the rest of his life. He wrote many mass settings.

Aumann's music was a large part of the repertoire at St. Florian in the 19th century, and Anton Bruckner availed himself of this resource for his studies of counterpoint.^[4] Bruckner focused a lot of his attention on Aumann's Christmas responsories and an Ave Maria in D major.^[5] Bruckner, who liked Aumann's coloured harmony, added in 1879 an accompaniment by three trombones to his settings of Ecce quomodo moritur justus and Tenebrae factae sunt.^[6]

Aumann's oeuvre also includes instrumental music, such as some of the earliest string quintets.^[7]

Works, editions and recordings

Recordings

• Gunar Letzbor, Franz Joseph Aumann – Requiem, St. Florianer Sängerknaben, Ars Antiqua Austria. Pan Classics PC 10234, 2008 (with Aumann's Ecce quomodo moritur justus, Tenebrae factae sunt and Te Deum)