Music Publisher, Editor, and Composer. In 1818 he co-founded the Vienna music publishing firm Cappi & Diabelli, which became Diabelli & Co. in 1824. To publicize the new venture, Diabelli penned a little waltz for piano and invited Austria's leading composers to write variations on it, the results to be collected in a printed album. Fifty composers contributed pieces, including Franz Schubert, Franz Liszt, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, and Carl Czerny. Ludwig Van Beethoven, however, responded not with one variation but 33, and they were published as a separate volume in 1824. Now known as the "Diabelli Variations", Beethoven's work is a masterpiece of piano music, and Diabelli's chief claim to fame. Antonio (or Anton) Diabelli was born in Mettsee, near Salzburg, Austria. He studied music with Michael Haydn and taught piano and guitar in Vienna before entering the publishing business. His firm was the first to champion Schubert's music, and later published waltzes by Johann Strauss, Jr. He retired in 1851. Diabelli & Co. continued until 1879, when it was bought by publisher August Cranz.
Music Publisher, Editor, and Composer. In 1818 he co-founded the Vienna music publishing firm Cappi & Diabelli, which became Diabelli & Co. in 1824. To publicize the new venture, Diabelli penned a little waltz for piano and invited Austria's leading composers to write variations on it, the results to be collected in a printed album. Fifty composers contributed pieces, including Franz Schubert, Franz Liszt, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, and Carl Czerny. Ludwig Van Beethoven, however, responded not with one variation but 33, and they were published as a separate volume in 1824. Now known as the "Diabelli Variations", Beethoven's work is a masterpiece of piano music, and Diabelli's chief claim to fame. Antonio (or Anton) Diabelli was born in Mettsee, near Salzburg, Austria. He studied music with Michael Haydn and taught piano and guitar in Vienna before entering the publishing business. His firm was the first to champion Schubert's music, and later published waltzes by Johann Strauss, Jr. He retired in 1851. Diabelli & Co. continued until 1879, when it was bought by publisher August Cranz.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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