KURPINSKI, Karol (1785-1857) - Concert pour la Clarinette (1820)

Karol Kurpiński (1785-1857) - Concert (B-Dur) pour la Clarinette (1820)

Performers: Eric Hoeprich (clarinet); Kölner Akademie; Michael Alexander Willens (conductor)

Painting: Zygmunt Vogel (1764-1826) - Widok Warszawy od strony Nowego Miasta (1804)

Further info: Karol Kurpiński (1785-1857)

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Karol Kazimierz Kurpiński [Kubinski, Kupinski]

(Włoszakowice, 6 March 1785 - Warsaw, 18 September 1857)

Polish composer, teacher and conductor. He studied with his father, Marcin Kurpiński, an organist, and in 1797 became organist in Sarnów. He then was a violinist in the private orchestra of Feliks Polanowski at his Moszków estate (1800-08), and subsequently music master to the Rastawiecki family in Lemberg (1808-10). He settled in Warsaw, where he became a theater violinist. He then was made deputy conductor of the Opera, and also Kapellmeister of the Polish royal court (1819); was principal conductor of the Opera (1824-40). He also taught music at the schools of drama (1812, 1817) and voice (1835-40), which he founded. He was founder & editor of the first Polish music journal, Tygodnik Muzyczny (Music Weekly; 1820-21). His later life was given over mainly to teaching, and by the time of his death he was largely forgotten. As one of the leading Polish composers of his day, he helped to establish the national Polish school. Although he composed in many genres, Kurpiński's contribution was mainly to opera. Precisely, he wrote 26 of them, including the operas 'Jadwiga królowa Polska' (Jadwiga, Queen of Poland; Warsaw, 1814) and 'Zamek na Czorsztynce, czyli Bojomic i Wanda' (The Castle of Czorsztyn, or Bojomic and Wanda; Warsaw, 1819). His other works include several songs, secular cantatas, sacred pieces (6 Masses, a Requiem, an Oratorio, a Te Deum, et al.), polonaises for orchestra, a clarinet concerto, chamber music and piano pieces.

WEYSE, Christoph Ernst Friedrich (1774-1842) - Sinfonie 7 (1799)

Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse (1774-1842) - Sinfonie 7 in Es-Dur (1799)

Performers: Concerto Copenhagen; Lars Ulrik Mortеnsеn (conductor)

Painting: Christian Albrecht Jensen (1792-1870) - Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse (1832)

Further info: Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse (1774-1842) - Easter cantata

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Christoph (Christopher) Ernst Friedrich Weyse [Weisse]

(Altona, nr Hamburg, 5 March 1774 - Copenhagen, 8 October 1842)

Danish pianist, organist, pedagogue and composer of German descent. He studied with his grandfather, a cantor in Altona, and in 1789 went to Copenhagen, where he studied with Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, and where he remained the rest of his life. After establishing his reputation as a pianist, he devoted himself to the organ. He was deputy organist (1792-94) and principal organist (1794-1805) at the Reformed Church, and then served as principal organist at the Cathedral from 1805 until his death, winning great renown as a master of improvisation. He had an unhappy love affair in 1801 and remained unmarried. In 1816 he was named titular professor at the University and was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1842, the year of his death. In 1819 he was appointed court composer. Through the court conductor Friedrich Ludwig Aemilius Kunzen, he became interested in a movement for the establishment of a national school of Danish opera, for which his works (together with those of Friedrich Kuhlau) effectively prepared the way. As a composer, he wrote numerous singspiele, Christmas carols, a setting of the Te Deum and of the Miserere, over 30 cantatas, and above all, lieder after poems by Matthias Claudius, Johann Heinrich Voss and Ludwig Christoph Heinrich Hölty. He also composed seven symphonies and numerous pieces for solo piano. A conservative by nature, he was rooted in 18th-century musical ideals, extending from Baroque to Classical but not beyond Mozart, and he did not sympathize at all with the new trends in Beethoven's works. He composed seven symphonies (1795-99) that demonstrate Joseph Haydn's influence, some of which were partly re-used for overtures and incidental music in his theatrical works. He remains best known for his fine songs though.

GRESNICK, Antoine-Frédéric (1755-1799) - Concerto per il Cembalo (1782)

Antoine-Frédéric Gresnick (1755-1799) - Concerto 1. | per il | Cembalo | No 137. |

con accompagnamenti di dué Violini, | Alto è Basso; Oboi ò Flauti è Corni ad Libitum |

Dedicato | Alla Signora Anetta Artaud | Dilettante di Cembalo (1782)

Performers: Hubert Schοοnbroodt (1941-1992, clavecin); Orchestre de Chambre Cartіgny; Gerard Cartіgny (conductor)

Engraving: Joseph de Longueil (1730-1792) - Le concert mecanique (1769)

Further info: Antoine Frédéric Gresnick - Aria / Symphonie Concertante / Concerto Pour Clavecin

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Antoine-Frédéric Gresnick [Gresnich, Gressenich]

(Liège, bap. 2 March 1755 - Paris, 16 October 1799)

Flemish composer. He was a chorister at St Lambert’s Cathedral in Liège at the age of nine. After studies at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana in Naples, he performed some operas, with success, in Turin (1779) and Florence (1780). In 1786 he accompanied Gertrude Mara to London where he was hailed by the press and probably enjoyed the protection of the Prince of Wales. By 1794 he settled in Paris and during the height of the Reign of Terror, he began his Paris career, which was to continue with mixed success. Some of his works saw over a hundred performances at the Théâtre de la rue de Louvois. In 1797, after this theatre ceased performances, he devoted himself to concert and salon works, but later wrote many opéras comiques using different scenes of Paris. In 1799 his opera 'Le rêve' stirred considerable controversy, and rumors that his death was caused by intrigues related to this opera cannot be discounted. As a composer, his output include at least 19 operas, two concertos, a symphony and symphonies concertantes, several large hymns, and a number of smaller vocal works. His music reflects, among others, the style of François-Joseph Gossec, being simple and homophonic. Although, he was a highly versatile talent adapted easily to all genres. 

CARREÑO RODRIGUEZ, José Cayetano (1774-1836) - In Monte Oliveti (1801)

José Cayetano Carreño Rodríguez (1774-1836) - In Monte Oliveti (1801)

Performers: Miguel Fuentes (tenor); Orfeón Lamas; Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela;

Vicente Emilio Sojo (1887-1974, conductor)

Painting: Charles Mottram (1807-1876) - Jerusalem in her Grandeur

Further info: José Cayetano Carreño

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José Cayetano Carreño Rodríguez

(Caracas, 7 August 1774 - Caracas, 3 March 1836)

Venezuelan organist, teacher and composer. Son of the chapel master of the Caracas cathedral, Alejandro Carreño, and Rosalía Rodríguez, he received music lessons from his father and his uncle, the organist Ambrosio Carreño. He later attended the school of Pedro Palacios y Sojo. On 7 August 1789 he was appointed as second organist in Caracas cathedral. On 3 June 1796 he was promoted to choirmaster there in a post he held the rest of his life. As a composer, his extant music includes two masses and ten motets for chorus with orchestra or organ accompaniment, and the 'Pésame a la virgen', a sacred piece with a Spanish text that was set by other colonial composers. He also wrote a set of 'Cuatro canciones patrióticas para el 5 de julio de 1824'. His music shows the influence of the European Classical style. With simple, largely homophonic vocal textures and a moderate orchestral accompaniment, he often achieves music of great dignity and expressive power. In 1793 he married to María de Jesús Muñoz with whom had eight children, among them the musicians and composers Juan de la Cruz Carreño, Juan Bautista Carreño, Ciriaco Carreño and Manuel Antonio Carreño (1812-1874), whose daughter was the pianist and composer Teresa Carreño (1853-1917).