Carl Friedrich Abel

Biography

Carl Friedrich Abel (baptised 22 December 1723 – 20 June 1787) was a German composer of the early Classical era. He was a renowned player of the viola da gamba, and produced significant compositions for that instrument. He was director of music at the Dresden court from 1743, and moved to London in 1759, becoming chamber-musician to Queen Charlotte in 1764. He founded a subscription concert series there with Johann Christian Bach. According to the Catalogue of Works of Carl Friedrich Abel (AbelWV), he left 420 compositions, with a focus on chamber music.

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article “Carl Friedrich Abel”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.