HAUPTMANN, MORITZ (1792-1868), German musical composer and writer, was born at Dresden, on Oct. 13, 1792, and studied music under Scholz, Lanska, Grosse and Morlacchi, the rival of Weber. Afterwards he completed his education as a violinist and composer under Spohr, and till 182o held various appointments in private families, varying his musical occupations with mathematical and other studies bearing chiefly on acoustics and kindred subjects. For a time also Hauptmann was employed as an architect, but all other pursuits gave place to music, and a tragic grand opera, Mathilde, dates from 1826. In 1822 he entered the orchestra of Cassel, again under Spohr's direction, and taught composition and musical theory to Ferdinand David, Burg milller, Kiel and others. His compositions at this time chiefly consisted of motets, masses, cantatas and songs. In 1842 Haupt mann became cantor at the Thomas-school of Leipzig where one of his predecessors had been J. S. Bach, and professor at the conservatoire. Here his unique gift as a teacher developed, and was acknowledged by a crowd of enthusiastic pupils, among whom were Joachim, von Billow, Sullivan and Cowen. He was, as already indicated, a mathematician and a philosopher as well as a musi cian, and brought his studies in philosophy to bear on music. His most important publication was Die Natur der Harmonik and Metrik (1853, Eng. trans. The Nature of Harmony and Metric, 1888), a standard work. He died on Jan. 3, 1868.
Amongst his vocal compositions—by far the most important portion of his work—may be mentioned two masses, choral songs for mixed voices (Op. 47), and numerous part songs, which remain in the repertory of most German choirs.
See a selection from the two German volumes of his letters to Hauser, Spohr and others, Letters of a Leipzig Cantor (1892).