Johann Adam von Questenberg

Johann Adam von Questenberg with a Lute; by Jan Kupecký (1719)

Count Johann Adam von Questenberg (baptized 24 February 1678, Vienna - 10 May 1752, Jarmeritz) was an Austrian nobleman, Reichshofrat, amateur musician, and patron of the arts. He was a counsellor of the Imperial Court in Vienna from 1702 to 1735. He organised concerts at his palaces in Vienna and Jarmeritz, and commissioned compositions by contemporary composers. Correspondence with Johann Sebastian Bach lead to the suggestion that he may have commissioned Bach's Mass in B minor.

Biography

Questenberg came from the Cologne branch of the noble Questenberg family. His grandfather, Gerhard von Questenberg, entered the service of the Habsburgs, thereby acquiring several Herrschaften (domains) in Bohemia, Moravia and Lower Austria, including Schloss Jarmeritz. Questenberg's father, Johann Anton (1633–1686), chose this palace for his headquarters.

Questenberg studied philosophy in Vienna (1692-1694), and jurisprudence in Prague (1694–1696). Upon graduating, he received the title of Graf (Count). In 1702, after spending several years taking his "Grand Tour" through Europe, he came to the Imperial Court in Vienna, in the capacity of a counsellor. He was promoted to Reichshofrat in 1706, becoming a Privy Councilor and Chamberlain in 1723. His Viennese palace and mansions were all expanded in Baroque style. His tenure at the Court ended in 1735, when Emperor Charles VI sent him to the Moravian Landtag as Prinzipalkommissar (the Emperor's personal representative).

Schloss Jarmeritz

During his stay in Vienna, he organized concerts at his palace. After 1722, he also held performances at the palace theatre in Jarmeritz. There, he maintained a permanent musical ensemble, with his own composers, twenty vocalists, and seventy instrumentalists, who also took part in church music and school concerts. By the 1730s, his palace had become a national music centre.

Questenberg himself was an amateur composer and musician, playing the lute and theorbo. Only two pieces of his have survived, however. He was also an enthusiastic collector of music; commissioning numerous works by contemporary composers. In addition, he maintained a steady correspondence with Antonio Vivaldi and Johann Sebastian Bach. He may have met Bach in Karlsbad, where he had accompanied the court music director, Prince Leopold von Anhalt-Köthen, in 1718 and 1720. There is also evidence of a professional contact with Bach, through a middleman, in 1749. Although its purpose is not known for certain, the Bach scholar Michael Maul, suggested that Questenberg may have commissioned the Mass in B minor.

Questenberg was married twice; to Maria Antonia Gräfin Waldburg (1691–1736) in 1707, and to Maria Antonia Gräfin Kaunitz (1708–1778) in 1738. There were six children from his first marriage, but only one daughter, Maria Carolina (1712–1750), reached adulthood. He appointed Dominik Andreas von Kaunitz, his second wife's nephew, as heir to his properties and title.

Further reading

• Jana Perutková: "Johann Adam von Questenberg". In: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon, Vol.4, Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2005, ISBN 3-7001-3046-5 (Online)
• Constantin von Wurzbach: "Questenberg, Hermann Freiherr von." In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich (Biographical Lexicon of the Empire of Austria).  Part 24 Kaiserlich-königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1872, p. 150 f. (digitalised).

External links

• Works by and about Johann Adam von Questenberg in the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (German Digital Library)