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Joseph Küffner

German musician and composer

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionNov 28, 2025
Entity authorityQ106000
Source-derived summary

Joseph Küffner (Kueffner) (31 March 1776 in Würzburg – 9 September 1856 in Würzburg) was a German musician and composer who, among other achievements, contributed significantly to the guitar repertory, including chamber music.

Life

He was a violinist with the Würzburg court orchestra, and was later, when Würzburg became part of Bavaria (1802), assigned to take charge of military music. At this point he became bandmaster with a Bavarian Army regiment.

Music

A quintet of Küffner's for clarinet and strings was once attributed to Carl Maria von Weber, and is still recorded in collections of Weber's music. He composed seven symphonies and a large number of works for various chamber music combinations. His output also contains a substantial quantity of music for classical guitar (some of it being available in modern editions).

Compositions

Symphonies

First Symphony op. 75 (pub. Schott, 1818)

Second Symphony op. 76 (Schott)

Third Symphony op.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Joseph Küffner” is german musician and composer. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Joseph, Küffner and German, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1776, 1856, 1802, 1818—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—1777-03-31, 1776-03-31—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. For this dossier, Joseph, Küffner and German is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “german musician and composer” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 28, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q106000. VIAF identifies the subject as 10033685. The Library of Congress control number is n80004354. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1776, 1856, 1802 and 1818.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Joseph Küffner”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Joseph Küffner primary sources, Joseph Küffner archive and Joseph research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Joseph Küffner”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Joseph Küffner” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.