Sigismund von Neukomm

He performed a number of services for his teacher, making arrangements of The Creation, Il ritorno di Tobia, The Seasons and the cantata Arianna a Naxos, as well as transcriptions of various symphonies for harmonium and piano.

[2] In Vienna Neukomm also gave piano and singing lessons; his pupils included Anna Milder and Franz Xaver Mozart.

Then he moved to Paris, where he became friendly with André Grétry and Cherubini, and succeeded Dussek as pianist for the powerful French foreign minister Talleyrand.

[1] In 1816 he travelled to Rio de Janeiro with the Duke of Luxemburg and stayed there as court music director to Dom Pedro until the revolution forced his return to Lisbon in 1821.

[3] He maintained his connection to Talleyrand until 1826 and then embarked on an extended trip to Italy, visiting Genoa, Florence, Rome, Naples, Bologna, Venice and Milan.

Mount Sinai received repeated performances in London, Worcester, Derby and elsewhere, and David was composed especially for the 1834 Birmingham Festival.

[5] However, the success of his friend Mendelssohn at the 1937 Birmingham Festival with the oratorio St Paul quickly eclipsed his fame.

Despite this Neukomm felt at home in England and claimed to have set more English words than any other foreign composer.