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Georg Muffat Megeve, baptized June 1, 1653 - Passau, February 23, 1704 Baroque German composer born in Savoy, today in France. Georg Muffat is a south-german composer, originiating from Savoy and with a scottish ascent. He was born on in Megève and died in Passau (Bavaria).
He studied in Paris with Jean Baptiste Lully between 1663 and 1669, then he became an organist in Molsheim and Sélestat (Schlettstadt). Later, he studied law in Ingolstadt then settled in Vienna. He could not get an official engagement, so he travelled to Prag (1677) then to Salzburg, where he worked for the archbishop during some ten years. About 1680, he travelled to Italy, there studying the organ with Bernardo Pasquini, a follower of the tradition of Girolamo Frescobaldi ; he also met Arcangelo Corelli, whose works he wondered very much. From 1690 to his death, he was Kapellmeister to the bishop of Passau, today a south east bavarian town.
His works are strongly influenced by both french and italian composers :
- Concerti grossi, a genre he indroduces in german countries ;
- Sonatas for various instruments (armonico tributo 1682) ;
- orchestral suites (florilegium primum & secundum 1695) ;
- toccate for the organ (apparatus musico-organisticus).
He was the father of Gottlieb Muffat.
