KREBS, Johann Ludwig (1713-1780) - Sinfonien & Sonaten

Obra de Luis Eugenio Meléndez (1716-1780), pintor espanyol (1)

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Parlem de Pintura...

Luís Eugenio Meléndez (Napoli, 1716 - Madrid, 11 de juliol de 1780) va ser un pintor espanyol. Nascut a Itàlia, però de família espanyola d'origen asturià, va ser fill de Francisco Antonio, miniaturista, i nebot de Miguel Jacinto, també pintor. Va iniciar la seva educació a Madrid al costat del seu pare, després va seguir la seva formació a la Junta Preparatòria de l'Acadèmia de San Fernando i va ser alumne de Louis-Michel van Loo, arribant a dominar a fons la tècnica del retrat, com va quedar demostrat en el seu magnífic Autoretrat (Musée du Louvre). Poc després va marxar a Itàlia i va tornar a Espanya, on va treballar inicialment com a miniaturista, però el seu paper preponderant el va desenvolupar en natures mortes convertint-se en un dels pintors més importants de la història del gènere. Els quadres de Meléndez, en general, van ser d'una gran sobrietat i van estar executats amb gran solidesa, especialment en el dibuix, d'un realisme perfeccionista que va arribar fins als més mínims detalls. Les seves composicions ordenades i clares, amb marcats contrasts de llums i ombres, van rebre la influència dels autors Sánchez Cotán i Zurbarán. Meléndez va ser, alhora, un expert en el tractament de les superfícies, evidenciant una extraordinària habilitat per aconseguir donar idea de les qualitats d'allò que representava: fruites, ceràmica, vidre, suro, tèxtils, metalls o pedra. En alguns llenços va introduir el fons de paisatge fet que el va aproximar al bodegó napolità. Mestre de gran força expressiva i extraordinari en la tècnica, va ser un reflex del desig d'exactitud, és a dir, els principis del món il·lustrat en la seva aplicació a l'hora de descriure els elements d'una forma realista, científica i didàctica. Va morir a Madrid el juliol de 1780.

Font: En català: Luis Eugenio Meléndez (1716-1780) - En castellano: Luis Eugenio Meléndez (1716-1780) - In english: Luis Eugenio Meléndez (1716-1780) - Altres: Luis Eugenio Meléndez (1716-1780)

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Parlem de Música...

Johann Ludwig Krebs (Buttelstedt, 12 d'octubre de 1713 - Altenburg, 1 de gener de 1780) va ser un organista i compositor alemany. Va ser el tercer fill de Johann Tobias Krebs, qui des de l'any 1710 era Kantor a la ciutat de Buttelstedt. Es va formar inicialment amb el seu pare, tant en orgue com en composició. El juliol de 1726 va viatjar a Leipzig on va estudiar a la Thomasschule. Allà va aprendre llaüt i violi, va seguir la seva formació a l'orgue i va ser cantant del cor. El 1734 va postular per un càrrec d'organista St Wenzel de Naumburg, càrrec que va recaure en favor de C.P.E. Bach. Va seguir a Leipzig on va ser alumne de Johann Sebastian Bach, rebent recomanacions del seu mestre. Aquesta circumstància va ser determinant a l'hora de rebre el nomenament a St Katharinen de Zwickau. Entre el 1735 i el 1737 es va formar a la Universitat de Leipzig en Dret i Filosofia alhora que treballava com assistent ocasional de Bach a la Thomaskirche i com a intèrpret de clavecí del Bach collegium musicum. Poc després, entre els anys 1737 i 1743, va ser nomenat organista a St Marien de Zwickau. El 1744 va viatjar a Zeitz on va ser organista del seu castell. El 1755 va canviar novament d'aires i es va situar a Altenburg, on va ser nomenat, gràcies al suport de Georg Benda, organista de la cort del príncep Frederic de Gotha-Altenburg. Allà va viure la resta de la seva vida fins el gener de 1780, l'any de la seva mort.

OBRA:

Vocal religiosa:

sources: D-Bsb, LEm
Oratorio funebre all’occasione della morte di Maria Gioseppa Regina di Pollonia, SATB, 2 ob, str, bc, cNov 1757
Missa (F), SATB, 2 hn, str, bc, 24 June 1755, ed. N. Klose (Embühren, 1998), ed. F. Friedrich (St Augustin, 1999);
Sanctus (D), SATB, 2 hn, 2 ob, str, bc;
Sanctus (D), SATB, 3 tpt, 2 ob, str, bc, timp;
Sanctus (F), SATB, 2 hn, 2 ob, str, bc (bwv Anh.27, see Kobayashi), ed. F. Friedrich (St Augustin, 1999);
Magnificat deutsch (F), SATB, bc;
Magnificat (D) SATB, 3 tpt, str, bc, timp
Bist du noch fern (aria), S, hpd;
Der Herr hat Grosses an uns getan (cant.), SATB, 2 tpt, 2 ob, str, bc, 23 Dec 1739;
Erforsche mich, Gott (motet), SSATB, ed. in Cw, lxxxix (1963), ed. K. Tittel (Stuttgart, 1983);
Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen (cant.), SATB, 2 hn, str, bc, 27 April 1766;
Jesu, meine Freude (cant.), SATB, ob, str, bc, ed. N. Klose (Embühren, 1993);
Seid barmherzig (cant.), SATB, 2 bn, str, bc, ed. N. Klose (Embühren, 1995)
Tröste uns Gott (motet), 8vv, lost

Instrumental:

Chbr.:
VI Trio, 2 fl/vn, hpd (Nuremberg, n.d.);
no.1 ed. in Collegium musicum, xxxi (Leipzig, c1910);
no.6 ed. in NM, cix (1934);
nos.2, 5 ed. H. Ruf (Wilhelmshaven, 1968);
MS copies, US-CA
[6] Sonata da camera, hpd, fl/vn (Leipzig, 1762);
ed. B. Klein as Sechs Kammersonaten (Leipzig, 1963)
Musikalischer und angenehmer Zeitvertreib bestehet in zwey Sonaten, hpd, fl/vn (Nuremberg, [1752])
III sonate, fl, vn, bc, cited in Breitkopf catalogue, 1762, MS copies in D-Bsb, ed. F. Nagel, no.1 (Wolfenbüttel, 1975), nos.2, 3 (Heidelberg, 1975);
VI soli, vn, hpd, cited in Breitkopf catalogue, 1767 (suppl. 2), autograph frag. ALa, MS copies of 4 sonatas B-Bc, D-Bsb
2 sinfonias, 2 vn, va, bc, ed. F. Friedrich (Stuttgart, 1998);
2 concs., lute, str, bc, ed. R. Chiesa (Milan, 1970–71);
Conc., hpd, ob, str, bc, ed. K. Jametzky (Heidelberg, 1976);
2 sonatas, vn, bc: all in Bsb;
Conc., vn, str;
Sonata, vn, bc: both cited in Breitkopf catalogue

Organ:
for organ alone unless otherwise stated
principal MS sources, including numerous autographs, D-Bsb, LEm, F-Pn; also A-Wn, B-Bc, Br, D-Dlb, DS, GOl, GB-Lbl, US-NH, private collection, Montclair, NJ
7 praeludia (C, c, D, d, f, F , G), W i;
2 toccatas and fugues (E, a), W i;
1 fantasia and fugue (F);
11 free preludes/fantasias;
11 fugues;
17 trios, W ii
41 chorale settings (incl. 6 doubtful), W iii
4 fantasias, ob, org;
1 fantasia, fl;
1 fantasia, ob d’amore;
chorale fantasia, tpt, org;
15 chorale settings, 1 inst, org (8 for ob or ob/tpt, 1 for ob d’amore, 1 for hn, 5 for tpt/clarino): ed. H. McLean (Borough Green, 1981), ed. G. Weinberger (Wiesbaden, 1991)

Other keyboard:
Erste Piece, Bestehend In sechs leichten … Praeambulis (Nuremberg, 1740), ed. F. Friedrich (Wilhelmshaven, 1994)
Andere Piece, Bestehend In einer leichten … Suite (Nuremberg, 1741), ed. F. Friedrich (Wilhelmshaven, 1994)
Dritte Piece, Bestehend In einer … Ouverture (Nuremberg, 1741), ed. F. Friedrich (Wilhelmshaven, 1994)
Vierte Piece, Bestehend In einem … Concerto (Nuremberg, 1743), ed. F. Friedrich (Wilhelmshaven, 1994)
Clavier Ubung Bestehend in verschiedenen vorspielen und veränderungen einiger Kirchen Gesaenge (Nuremberg, n.d.), W iv
Clavier-Ubung bestehet in einer … Suite … Zweyter Theil (Nuremberg, n.d.)
Clavier-Ubung bestehend in sechs Sonatinen … IIIter Theil (Nuremberg, n.d.), ed. F. Friedrich (Stuttgart, 1999)
Exercice sur le clavessin consistant en VI suites, op.4 (Nuremberg, n.d.), part ed. K. Herrmann, Leichte Tanzstücke (Hamburg, 1949); nos.2 and 6 ed. in Organum, v/32, 34 (Lippstadt, 1965)
Sonata, in Musicalisches Magazin, in Sonaten … bestehend, pt.2 (Leipzig, 1765)
3 sonatas cited in Breitkopf catalogue
3 partite, D-Bsb, Dlb, 2 ed. in Alte Meister, nos.11–12 (c1870); Conc. 2 hpd, LEb, ed. B. Klein (Leipzig, 1966)

Font: En català: No disponible - En castellano: Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713-1780) - In english: Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713-1780) - Altres: Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713-1780) 

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Parlem en veu pròpia o en veu d'altri...

Contemporaries spoke well of Krebs. Charles Burney, for example, reported that ‘M. Krebs of Altenburg, scholar of Sebastian Bach, has been much admired for his full and masterly manner of playing the organ’. Forkel considered his organ compositions as among the most important of their time. Others praised his expert knowledge in matters connected with organ building. Krebs may not have been the favourite in the circle of Bach’s pupils, as some have suggested; in Spitta’s opinion his place in the hierarchy was next to Altnickol, Bach’s future son-in-law. But Bach certainly regarded him very highly, if there is any truth to the contemporary pun on ‘Krebs’ (crayfish) and ‘Bach’ (stream): ‘In this great stream only a single crayfish has been caught’, reported by C.F. Cramer in the Magazin der Musik for 1784. The close association between teacher and pupil has given scholars reason to be grateful as well as perplexed. Krebs, with others in the Thomaskirche circle, found useful occupation as a copyist. His work in the period 1729–31 is particularly important, as the parts he made then for cantatas 192, 37 and 140 are primary sources. Other compositions of Bach in his hand have prompted the speculation that Krebs had access to Bach’s musical estate. Löffler, for example, whose research into Krebs’s life and works was so extensive, thought that this was the case with the unique Krebs copy of Bach’s Fantasia and Fugue in C minor bwv537. In fact most of the manuscript (D-Bsb P803) is in the hand of Tobias Krebs, presumably copied when he was studying with Bach; O’Donnell argues that the repetition of the fugal exposition that Ludwig wrote out on 10 January 1751 provides at best only a makeshift solution for an incomplete but otherwise ‘noble’ and ‘balanced’ work. Other problems concern the authenticity of works which appear in the hands of both Bach and Ludwig Krebs or bear their ascription. H.-J. Schulze discovered that the Trio in C minor bwv585 was composed by neither man but by J.F. Fasch. Tittel considers the chorale Wir glauben all an einen Gott in similar settings in four parts (Krebs) and five (Bach, bwv740) to be both by the former. Bach’s Eight Short Preludes and Fugues bwv553–60 have also been attributed to both Tobias and Ludwig; on stylistic grounds neither seems likely.

Only a handful of the Bach pupils who became professional organists wrote for the instrument, and among these Krebs and J.G. Kittel stand out. Krebs’s compositions are the more diverse in free forms, toccatas and trios, as well as in the variety of the chorale-based works. The organ works of the younger and more prolific Kittel (who also copied a great many of Krebs’s organ pieces) anticipate the new currents of pre-Classical change. The style of Krebs’s music, on the other hand, reflects the transitional period in which he lived. Some of his pieces, such as the chorale Jesu, meine Freude for obbligato oboe and organ, are cast in a Bachian mould; others show the leavening influence of the galant style. But even in his warmest melodic works he could not altogether deny the contrapuntal influence of his youth. Few of the lesser composers of the mid-century share his proclivity towards counterpoint. Some of the organ pieces are modelled on his teacher’s work. Bach’s Toccata in F bwv540 was undoubtedly the stimulus for Krebs’s E major Toccata; the Toccata in C bwv564 for a Praeludium in C; and so on. In general his fugues are thoroughly worked out but show few touches of originality. He seems to have considered them more as examples of the craftsman’s art than the artist’s craft. One fugue on B–A–C–H pays direct homage to his teacher. The chorales and fantasias for organ and solo instrument show a more consistent level of invention, and in the case of the fantasias have no parallel in the music of G.F. Kauffmann, J.B. Bach, G.A. Homilius and others who wrote for such combinations of instruments. Krebs’s Fantasia in F minor for oboe and organ has rightly been praised by Sietz, and may well be one of his most expressive works in any form.

Unlike the organ compositions, most of Krebs’s clavier works were published in his own lifetime. They range in style from the simpler settings of German chorales in the Clavier Ubung to sophisticated examples in the ‘French and Italian taste’. It is tempting to speculate that, like Bach before him, he wished to leave a representative anthology of works in all the current idioms to demonstrate that he was fluent in all styles. His Concerto in A minor for two harpsichords is perhaps superior to the solo pieces; he wrote it for the Dresden court where he performed in 1753. Gerber’s account of his success is undoubtedly true, for Krebs’s inspiration remains remarkably high, not only in the lively dialogue of the outer movements but also in the appealing slow movement; here the fusion of Baroque and galant is extremely well contrived. Much the same is true of Krebs’s sonatas for one and two flutes and harpsichord, where again his contrapuntal skill saves him from writing music of merely empty elegance. Krebs’s three surviving sons were all musicians, the eldest being (3) Johann Gottfried Krebs. Carl Heinrich Gottlieb Krebs (1747–93) was court organist in Eisenberg from 1774; no compositions by him survive. Ehrenfried Christian Traugott Krebs (1753–1804) succeeded his father as court organist at Altenburg from 1780 and published a collection of six organ chorale preludes (Leipzig, 1787); he also wrote a jubilee cantata (music lost) to a text published in Altenburg in 1793. His son, Ferdinand Traugott Krebs, was awarded the post of ‘Mittelorganist’ at Altenburg in 1808 but nothing further is known of him.

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RECICLASSICAT: KREBS, Johann Ludwig (1713-1780)
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