Heinrich August Matthäi

Heinrich August Matthaei (3 October 1781 – 4 November 1835)

In 1806 he reappeared in public in Leipzig, and became important there in musical activities. With other members of the Gewandhaus Orchestra – Campagnoli, Johann Georg Hermann Voigt and Friedrich Dotzauer – he founded in 1808 a string quartet, the Gewandhaus Quartet. (The quartet still exists today.) In 1811 Matthaei performed in Berlin, and in 1816 he toured northwest Germany. In 1818 he replaced Campagnoli as concertmaster of the Gewandhaus Orchestra; he held the post until his death in 1835.

Compositions His compositions include four violin concertos (op 2, 9, 15 and 20), Fantasy with Variations for violin and orchestra (op 8), and two string quartets (op 6 and 12).