Georg Österreich
His teacher at this time was the cantor Johann Schelle, who recognized the exceptional abilities of his young student and granted him as much support as possible.
At that point, Österreich's parents sent him to Hamburg, to the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums to continue his education, which was being led at that time by the Baroque composer, Joachim Gerstenbüttel.
In the fall of 1683, he enrolled at Leipzig University, though this was probably only to fill the time as his voice finished changing, because by the end of 1684 he was once again working as a singer, now as a tenor, in the Oper am Gänsemarkt theater in Hamburg.
When the arts-lover Anton Ulrich was appointed co-regent of the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and made funds available for the fine arts, it was Theile who attached Österreich to the Wolfenbüttel court, took him into his house, and gave him lessons in composition.
Alongside this, Österreich continued his voice studies with two Italian castrati who were also at the court, Giuliano Giuliani and Vincentino Antonini.
These three religious concertos, "Laetatus sum in his," "Levavi oculos meos," and "Ich will den Hern Loben allezeit" more strongly reflect the contrapuntal tradition of Johann Theile.
His father-in-law, Hans Darnedden, was successful and respected and left the couple a house, a garden, and a considerable sum of money at his death in 1702.
Johann Philipp Förtsch had officially been the Duke's Kapellmeister (music director) since 1680 but had probably only sporadically performed any duties related to this office because of the exile.
In the meantime, he had begun pursuing a medical career and was already serving as a court physician for his employer and did not intend to resume his activity as Kapellmeister.
His son, Frederick IV, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, then 23 years old, soon began dismissing members of the ensemble in order to increase his military expenditures.
Whether by a temporary appointment or an invitation from the Duke of Saxe-Coburg, Österreich desired to remain in Coburg on account of the relatively stable political situation.
Frederick IV, however, did not want to lose Österreich permanently and promised that if he would return to his old position in Schleswig, he would reverse the cutbacks to the court's music budget.
However, court accounts reflect salaries only for the Kapellmeister and one organist, though it may be the case that non-resident musicians were used for larger performances and were paid by the project.
In 1701, when Frederick IV set off to the east to serve at the side of his brother-in-law Karl XII of Sweden in the Northern War, the court at Schleswig was dissolved once again.
Only Österreich retained his position, though the duke permitted him to leave and make his living by music elsewhere as long as he returned and resumed his duties as soon as the court was reconstituted.
However, as a 1704 letter shows, these savings began to run short and Österreich would have needed to find a new position even if he had not been dismissed from service in Gottorf.
It is certainly the case that Österreich was participating in opera performances at the Theater am Hagenmarkt in Brunswick by at least 1708, when he was named in connection with a staging of Georg Caspar Schürmann's "Der erfreuten Ocker Schäfer eingestelltes Fest," though he was likely involved earlier than that.
In addition to his duties as singer, cantor, and singing instructor, Österreich also taught composition, passing on what he had learned from Johann Theile, above all regarding counterpoint.
His most important student was Heinrich Bokemeyer who was Cantor at the princely Schule zu Wolfenbüttel and from 1739 was a member of Lorenz Christoph Mizler's Corresponding Society of Musical Sciences.
By the end of the 1720s, in his mid-sixties, Österreich was gradually withdrawing from the musical events in Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, likely not least due to the growing popularity of Italian composers and the changes in fashionable tastes.
His death is recorded in the court's church register for 6 June 1735: "in the evening at 10 o'clock, after a short illness, died gently and peacefully, and was buried on the 10th."
It is possible Österreich wrote his biography specially for Walther and accordingly some statements, particularly those regarding his motives for his various changes of employment must be treated with caution.
