Franz Nikolaus Novotny (6 December 1743, Eisenstadt

Eisenstadt

- Politics :The current mayor of Eisenstadt is Andrea Fraunschiel ÖVP.The district council is composed as follows :* ÖVP: 17 seats* SPÖ: 8 seats* Austrian Green Party: 2 seats* FPÖ: 2 seats- Castles and palaces :...

 – 25 August 1773) was an Austrian organist

Organist

An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...

 and composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 of Bohemian

Bohemian

A Bohemian is a resident of the former Kingdom of Bohemia, either in a narrow sense as the region of Bohemia proper or in a wider meaning as the whole country, now known as the Czech Republic. The word "Bohemian" was used to denote the Czech people as well as the Czech language before the word...

 descent at the Esterházy court in Schloss Esterházy

Schloss Esterházy

----The Schloss Esterházy is a palace in Eisenstadt, Austria, the capital of the Burgenland state. It was constructed in the late 13th century, and came under ownership of the Hungarian Esterházy family in 1622...

 in Eisenstadt.

His grandfather had served at the court as a bass

Bass (voice type)

A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...

 singer; his father, Johann Novotný (1718–1765), a pupil of Gregor Werner

Gregor Werner

-Career:Werner was born in Ybbs an der Donau. He served from 1715 to either 1716 or 1721 as the organist at Melk Abbey. During the 1720s he was in Vienna, where he may have studied with Johann Fux and was married on 27 January 1727....

, was also a court organist. Franz Nikolaus succeeded his father in that post on 30 August 1765, having before worked in the court treasury

Treasury

A treasury is either*A government department related to finance and taxation.*A place where currency or precious items is/are kept....

. He composed mainly church music

Church music

Church music may be defined as music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclestiacal liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. This article covers music in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. For sacred music outside this...

 and his work was esteemed by Joseph Haydn

Joseph Haydn

Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...

.

Recordings

• "Prelude in G major", "Prelude in D minor", on Historical Organs in Hungary (Gábor Lehotka, István Baróti)