In 1791, Cartellieri was employed by the Polish Count Oborsky. During the Count’s travels to Vienna, Antonio had the possibility to study composition and counterpoint with Johann Albrechtsberger (1736-1809). Antonio also became a favorite of Prince Joseph Franz Maximilian Lobkowitz who was very impressed with Cartellieri's Symphony in C Minor, performed in Vienna in 1795, that he secured Cartellieri’s musical services for himself.
“Here [Vienna], on the occasion of an Academy presented by Oborsky, he made the acquaintance with that unforgettable friend of music, his Highness Prince Joseph Lobkowitz. Cartellieri conducted his extraordinary symphony in C minor, and the amazed Prince immediately asked Oborsky for my father’s musical services. Oborsky was unhappy to lose him. So, in 1796 my father became the Kapellmeister at that great patron of the arts whose court was the gathering place for artists. It was there that Cartellieri made the acquaintance of all the famous composers and virtuosi and his intellect found continuous stimulation...”
(Report of Joseph Cartellieri on the life of his father Antonio Casimir Cartellieri, 16-12-1826)
Analyzing the available scores of Tepper’s compositions, the Russian musicologist A.M. Stupel concluded that he studied with Johann-Georg Albrechtsberger7. The memoir clarifies that Tepper did not formally study music, as he had no money to pay for lessons, and his associations with Albrechtsberger were not direct, but Antonio Casimir Cartellieri shared his knowledge with him:
The “Count von Oborsky” is mentioned in the section “Special Friends, Patrons and Connoisseurs” of the Jahrbuch der Tonkunst von Wien und Prag (1796) by Johann Ferdinand von Schőnfeld (1750-1821). This confirms that Count Oborsky was indeed present in the life of Antonio Casimir Cartellieri. It was likely that information of this friendship was drawn from this book and then added to other early music sources. Since then, he became firmly established in musical and biographical literature as Cartellieri’s employer and patron. It should be recognized that although the “Jahrbuch der Tonkunst von Wien und Prag” provides helpful information about Viennese musical life in 1795-1796. Johann Ferdinand von Schőnfeld lived in Prague at the time, so the information in his book was from secondhand sources. Therefore, it is possible that it contains mistakes and omissions4.
It is intriguing that Count Oborsky, a Polish magnate and landowner, patron of Cartellieri and “great friend of the arts” who should be well known to his contemporaries, has no face, no origin, and no biography. Recently, a new document has been discovered and studied by Olga Baird5; which can shed some light on the mysterious Count Oborsky, his origin, his position in Vienna and his relation to Antonio Casimir Cartellieri: the “Memoir” of Ludwig-Wilhelm Tepper de Ferguson (1768-1838)6.
Tepper had to rely on the hospitality and support of influential Viennese patrons, and it was Count Michał Kazimierz Ogiński (1728-1800), a candidate to the Polish throne in 1764, politician, military commander, Grand Hetman of Lithuania (from 1768-1792), who gave him a shelter.
“…Possibly already in 1791, he entered the service of Polish Count Oborsky, this great friend of the arts, where he was engaged as a composer and music director. During the Count’s stay in Vienna, he [Cartellieri] studied under Albrechtsberger’s direction and with strenuous diligence the counterpoint.”
(Report of Joseph Cartellieri on the life of his father Antonio Casimir Cartellieri, 16-12-1826)
It must be noted that Oborski, Joseph Franz Lobkowitz8, Cartellieri, and Tepper were all in their 20’s in Vienna from 1793-96, so their inter-connections could be recognized as mutual interest and companionship, rather than merely colleagues in aristocrat’s patronage and artist’s employment.
Since Oborski died around the age of 30 and was not very distinguished, it is hardly surprising that his life was not reflected in contemporary records and historical documents. It was Michał Kazimierz Ogiński - Grand Hetman of Lithuania, an influential and respected grandee, proprietor of vast estates, poet and musician, and indeed a great friend of the arts - who was Cartellieri’s patron. Whilst compiling his father’s biography, Joseph Cartellieri failed to recognize the difference between Ogiński and Oborski9. Ogiński’s departure from Vienna affected not only Tepper, but Antonio Cartellieri as well. So, it is no surprise that he moved to Lobkowitz’s household in 1796. Cartellieri would later become the Prince's singing teacher and second conductor of the Prince’s orchestra in his household.
“A young composer named Cartellieri, was studying counterpoint with Albrechtsberger. I told him about my embarrassment. He delivered me from it by coming each time after leaving his master, to repeat with me the lesson that he had just taken.”
(Ludwig Wilhelm Tepper de Ferguson. My Story.)
