Joseph Gungl

Joseph Gungl, correct: Josef Gung'l (1 December 1809 – 1 February 1889),[1] was a Hungarian composer, bandmaster, and conductor.

After working as a school-teacher in Buda, and learning the elements of music from the school-choirmaster, he became first oboist at Graz, and, at twenty-five, bandmaster of the 4th Regiment of Austrian Artillery.

In 1853 he became bandmaster to the 23rd Infantry Regiment at Brno, but in 1864 he moved to Munich, and in 1876 at Frankfurt, after having conducted with great success a series of promenade concerts at the Covent Garden in London in 1873.

From Frankfurt, Gungl went to Weimar to live with his daughter, a well-known German opera singer, and died there.

His music is characterized by the same-easy flowing melodies and well-marked rhythm that distinguish the dances of the younger Strauss, to whom alone he can be ranked second in this kind of composition.