Eberlin, Johann Ernst

1702-1762

German organist and composer. He was Court organist to the Archbishop in Salzburg, but nothing is known of his early musical training or advantages. His numerous compositions, however, show a thorough knowledge of musical theory and an ease in contrapuntal writing, that attracted the attention of Mozart, who used some of Eberlin's four-part church music as a guide in his own studies. A large number of his works were lost, and the principal ones now comprise nine fugues and cantatas, published in 1747; two motets; two sonatas; and five pieces in Mozart's collection, Der Morgan und der Abend. Many of his church compositions in manuscript, masses, offertories, etc., are in the libraries of Berlin, Vienna, Munich, and other German cities. In Proske's library are thirteen oratorios. The most noted of these, the Componimento Sacro, was performed in Salzburg in 1847.