Adam Schott

Schott, Adam

Adam (Joseph) Schott. Bandmaster, b Mainz, Germany 1794, d Poona, India, 4 Aug 1864. This son of the founder of the German publishing house B. Schott's Söhne became a bandmaster in the British army. He is said to have served 1825-36 with the 79th Cameron Highlanders and 1841-7 with the 14th regiment in Canada. These regiments were stationed in Quebec City 1825-8, 1833, and 1845-7. Schott is said to have instructed Pierre-Olivier Lyonnais in the art of string-instrument building and to have played cello in the Quebec Harmonic Society. In 1830 he played his clarinet and basset horn at a concert in Montreal with his father-in-law and brother-in-law, the bandmasters James Ziegler Sr (d Toronto 1833) and Jr. He lived briefly 1830-1 in New York but returned to Canada, where he founded the Société Ste-Cécile at the Petit Séminaire de Québec in 1833 and served as its director until 1836. In 1838 he helped to establish the London branch of B. Schott's Söhne. He was bandmaster 1844-56 of the Grenadier Guards and served partly in India during those years, but not in Canada. He is reported to have been an excellent musician and published a Journal pour musique militaire in three series and a collection of 16 Tänze und Märsche for band (both Schott).