KÜFFNER, Joseph (1776-1856) - Serenade in C-Dur (1817)

Joseph Küffner (1776-1856) - Serenade (C-Dur) des 'Sérénade pour Flûte ou Violon & Guitarre', Op.44 (1817)

Performers: Dimitri Ashkenazy (clarinet); Jean-Paul Greub (guitar)

Painting: Reinhold Braun (1821-1884) - Bivouac des 2ten württembergischen Reit-Regiments in Frankfurt (1849)

Further info: Ottocento

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Joseph (Josef) (Georg) Küffner [Kueffner, Kiefner]

(Würzburg, 31 March 1776 - Würzburg, 9 September 1856)

German teacher and composer. Born as the fifth child of the Franconian musician family Küffner, his father Wilhelm Küffner (1727-1797) was a court musician and composer and his mother Katharina Wassmuth was the daughter of the court conductor Johann Franz Georg Wassmuth in Würzburg. After the early death of his parents, he had to look after himself and his two younger siblings. He earned his living as an auxiliary musician, violinist and guitarist in the prince-bishop's court orchestra and also appeared as a soloist. Self-taught, he learned to play the flute, clarinet, trombone and French horn. In 1798, Prince-Bishop Georg Karl von Fechenbach engaged him with the reform of the Würzburg military music. With the secularization of the Duchy of Würzburg in 1803 and its incorporation into the Kingdom of Bavaria, he temporarily lost his post as court musician. Küffner successfully applied for a position as a music teacher at the Electoral Bavarian Light Infantry Battalion "La Motte" and trained the military musicians. A year later he got the same job with the Electoral Bavarian 12th Line Infantry Regiment "Löwenstein". For both associations he composed two-part military marches in slow and fast pace. By 1825 he had written 36 compositions for military music, including three overtures and 20 potpourris on themes from operas by Daniel-François Esprit Auber, Gioachino Rossini and Carl Maria von Weber, which were popular at the time. This made Küffner the first German arranger for wind orchestras. As early as 1805, the Würzburg chronicler Carl Gottfried Scharold reported: "When the guard is relieved at noon around 12 o'clock, a well-cast band of musicians usually plays some pleasant pieces and delights the audience." The most demanding military music composition is likely to be his "Symphony for Military Music" Opus 165. A gout ailment caused Küffner to terminate his contract as "military music director" with the Bavarian Army in 1825. Küffner was never a soldier and never wore a uniform. In all documents in the Bavarian State Archives he is referred to as a “court and chamber musician”. He was an employee of the army and had no authority. The military superiors of the military musicians were the Regimentstambours until 1811, and from 1811 to 1818 the music masters with the rank of sergeants, whose musical training Küffner also took over. As a member of the royal court orchestra from 1806 to 1814 of Grand Duke Ferdinand III von Toscana composed Küffner mainly for string instruments, but also for wind instruments. He often used the guitar as an accompanying instrument. As a composer, he wrote over than 360 works, 36 of them for military music.

FREISLICH, Johann Balthasar Christian (1687-1764) - Er ist darum für alle gestorben

Johann Balthasar Christian Freislich (1687-1764) - Er ist darum für alle gestorben, Feria 2da Paschat.

Performers: Heike Heilmann (soprano); Ewa Zeuner (alto); Virgil Hartinger (tenor); Marek Rzepka (bass);

Goldberg Baroque Ensemble; Andrzej Mikolaj Szadejko (conductor)

Painting: Jean-Baptiste Jouvenet (1644-1717) - Le Triomphe de la Justice

Further info: Cantata an dem hohen Geburtsfeste des Herrn Augusti III

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Johann Balthasar Christian Freislich [Freisslich, Fraißlich]

(Immelborn, bap. 30 March 1687 - Danzig [now Gdańsk], 1764)

German organist and composer. Son of a clergy man, he probably received his earliest musical education at the Court of Saxe-Meiningen. In 1714, he was appointed court organist to the Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen in Sondershausen and in 1716, he was promoted to the position of court Kapellmeister. Around 1719 or 1720 he became director of the Hofkapelle in Sondershausen, where he wrote a St Matthew Passion (performed in 1720 at Johanneskirche, Danzig), a cycle of cantatas and a short opera. He was sent to Dresden for a year by his employer, Prince Günther Schwarzburg. He went to Danzig about 1730 and in 1731, on the death of his half-brother Maximilian Dietrich Freisslich (1673-1731), he became Kapellmeister at Marienkirche, Danzig, remaining in that position to the end of his life. As a composer, he played an important role in the city's music life. He wrote several cantatas for festive and solemn family occasions in Danzig as well as other occasional works for anniversaries of historical importance and works in honor of two Polish monarchs, King August II and King August III. After his death, he was succeeded as Kapellmeister at the Marienkirche by his son-in-law Christian Friedrich Morheim (1719-1780), a former pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach.

HÄSSLER, Johann Wilhelm (1747-1822) - Grand concert pour le piano-forte

Johann Wilhelm Hässler (1747-1822) - Grand concert (G-Dur) pour le piano-forte avec accompagnement de violons, alt, clarinettes, hautbois, bassons, cors, timbales, violoncelle et contre-basse ... œuvre 50

Performers: Olga Martynova (fortepiano); Pratum Integrum; Pavel Serbin (conductor)

Painting: Unknown artist (18th Century) - Moscow

Further info: Concertos G major

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Johann (Jean) Wilhelm Hässler [Gesler, Haesler, Häsler]

(Erfurt, 29 March 1747 - Moscow, 29 March 1822)

German organist, pianist and composer. Son of a capmaker, he learned and long followed his father's trade. Nephew, and pupil on the pianoforte and organ, of Johann Christian Kittel, who had been a pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach, at the age of fourteen became organist in Erfurt and while leading a wandering apprentice's life gave concerts. After his father's death, in 1769, he maintained for some years a manufactory of fur muffs. A meeting in Hamburg with Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach gave him a fresh impetus toward continuing his musical activities. He gave concerts as a pianist, and published several piano sonatas. On 8 February 1779, he married his pupil Sophie Kiel (1761-1844). In 1780 he opened public winter concerts in Erfurt; his wife appeared there as a singer and choral director. In 1789 he played in Berlin and Potsdam; in Dresden he took part in a contest with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as organist and pianist, without producing much impression either on Mozart himself or on the listeners. In 1790 he went to London, where he performed piano concertos under the direction of Joseph Haydn. In 1792 he went to Russia, where he remained until his death. In Moscow he became greatly renowned as a pianist, as a composer, and particularly as a teacher. Most of his works were published there; these included concertos, sonatas, preludes, variations, fantasies, and also pieces for piano four-hands. His style represents a transition between Bach and Beethoven, without attaining a degree of the imagination or craftsmanship of either. However, his piano pieces in the lighter vein have undeniable charm. His Grande gigue was well known. His daughter Henriette Hässler (c.1790-1849) was a singer, later married to the composer and conductor Carl Eberwein (1786-1868). 

HACQUART, Carolus (c.1640-c.1701) - Domine, Deus meus (1674)

Carolus Hacquart (c.1640-c.1701) - Domine, Deus meus des 'Cantiones Sacrae 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,

tam vocum quam Instrumentorum' (1674)

Performers: Ensemble Bouzignac Utrecht; Erik van Nevel (conductor)

Painting: Lorenzo Lippi (1606-1664) - Allegory of Music

Further info: De Triomfeerende Min (1678)

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Carolus (Carel, Carolo) Hacquart [Haccart, Hakart, Kakart, Ackart]

(Bruges, c.1640 - c.1701)

Flemish composer. Son of Jan Hacquart and his second wife Nicole Fleury, he received his basic musical training as a choirboy at his parish church of St Saviour and thereafter at St Bavo in nearby Ghent. On leaving in 1662 he was awarded a scholarship to study an 'ars mechanica' (viola and organ). Attracted by the growth of musical life of wealthy citizens in the United Dutch Provinces, he moved first to Rotterdam where in 1669 he married a local girl, Catharina van Boere and where his first three children where born. He worked as an independent musician, teaching members of the local bourgeoisie, among whom a future burgomaster of Rotterdam, Willem van Hogendorp, the dedicatee of his 'Harmonia Parnassia Sonatarum' (1686). Just after leaving for Amsterdam in 1674, he presented himself to the public as a composer with a set of ten 'Cantiones Sacrae'. In the introduction to this edition, he expressed hopes that once the war with France was over, music should occupy a prominent place at the Dutch court. In 1678 the poet Dirck Buysero, commissioned Hacquart to write music for his pastoral play celebrating the Peace of Nijmegen. The resulting piece, 'De triomfeerende Min', is now generally considered as the first opera with a Dutch libretto. He also became choirmaster and organist at the hidden Catholic church in the Idastraat for a few years, where he published his viol suites 'Chelys' (1687). After a last attempt in 1689 to obtain the money Buysero owned him for the composition of 'De triomfeerende Min', Carolus Hacquart disappears from the musical records in Holland.

DANZI, Francesca Dorothea (1756-1791) - Sonata pour clavecin avec accompagnement d'un violon (1783)

Francesca Dorothea Danzi (1756-1791) - Sonata (Es-Dur) des 

'Six sonates pour le clavecin ou piano forte avec l'accompagnement d'un violon ... œuvre premier' (1783)

Performers: Jaroslav Svécený (violin); Fine Zimmermann (harpsichord)

Painting: Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) - Madame Lebrun (1780)

Further info: Francesca Lebrun (1756-1791) - Violin Sonatas Op.1 (1780)

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Franziska (Francesca) Dorothea Danzi-Lebrun [Danzy, LeBrün, Le Brun]

(Mannheim, 24 March 1756 - Berlin, 14 May 1791)

German soprano and composer. Daughter of Innocenz Danzi (c.1730-1798) and elder sister of Franz Danzi (1763-1826), she made her debut as a soloist in 1772 in Antonio Sacchini’s opera 'La Contadina in corte'. She was a popular singer who won praise from Charles Burney for her talent. By 1777, the same year she married the oboist and composer Ludwig August Lebrun (1752-1790), she was regularly touring Europe as a soloist. In London she met Thomas Gainsborough who painted her portrait in 1780. On 13 March 1785 she performed at an academy organized by Mozart at the Burgtheater in Vienna. She spent the season of 1786-87 in Naples, where she appeared at the Teatro San Carlo. The couple were invited to Berlin for the carnival seasons of 1789-90 and 1790-91. Her husband’s sudden death there affected her severely and led to a rapid decline in her health, and she made only two subsequent public appearances. As a composer, she published two sets of sonatas for the keyboard and violin in London. François-Joseph Fétis also cites a set of trios for piano, violin, and cello, which have been lost. Her daughters Sophie Lebrun (1781-1863) and Rosine Lebrun (1783-1855) were musicians and singers.

PORTUGAL, Marcos António (1762-1830) - Missa de Mortos (1816)

Marcos António Portugal (1762-1830) - Missa de Mortos / com todo o instrumental para se cantar na Real Capela no Rio de Jan / Composta mto. expressamente de novo para se cantar nas exéquias da defunta rainha fidelíssima D. Maria Primeira (1816)

Performers: Veruschka Mainhardt (soprano); Carolina Faria (contralto); Antônio Pedro de Almeida (tenor); 

Frederico de Oliveira (bass); Coro da Cia. Bachiana Brasileira; Orquestra Sinfônica da UFRJ;

Ricardo Rocha (conductor)

Drawing: Jean-Jacques Grandville (1803-1847) - Quick hand and Cushion crying on 21 January

Further info: Marcos António Portugal (1762-1830) - Missa "Grande" (c.1786)

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Marcos António (da Fonseca) Portugal [Portogallo]

(Lisbon, 24 March 1762 - Rio de Janeiro, 7 February 1830)

Portuguese composer. Son of Manuel António da Ascenção and Joaquina Teresa Rosa, in 1771 he was admitted to the Seminário da Patriarcal of Lisbon, where he studied organ and composition with João de Sousa Carvalho. By 1787, he was sent to study in Italy, where he made a name for himself writing opera buffa. By 1800 he had returned to Lisbon as 'mestre de capela' to the royal court and maestro of the Teatro de Sao Carlos. When Napoleon’s troops entered Lisbon in November 1807, he in spite of his court position did not flee to Brazil with the royal family. During the ten-month French occupation he revised 'Demofoonte' for Napoleon’s birthday in 1808. About this time, and until 1834, the finale of his cantata 'La speranza' was adopted as the national anthem. In 1811 he fled to Rio de Janeiro with his brother Simão Portugal, where he composed music for the Teatro São João. When the court returned to Portugal in 1817, he remained in Brazil the rest of his life. As a composer, he composed a substantial amount of church music and 50 operas. He also left few instrumental works, among them, two symphonies.

DALL'OGLIO, Domenico (c.1700-1764) - Concerto per il Violino Principale

Domenico Dall'Oglio (c.1700-1764) - Concerto (Sol maggiore) per il Violino Principale

Performers: Tommaso Luison (violin); Frequenze Diverse ensemble

Painting: Giovanni Antonio Canal 'Canaletto' (1697-1768) - Capriccio with motifs from Padua

Further info: Domenico Dall'Oglio (c.1700-1764) - Violin Sonatas (1738)

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Domenico Dall’Oglio [Dalloglio]

(Padua, c.1700 - Narva, Estonia, 1764)

Italian violinist and composer. A student of Giuseppe Tartini, he was appointed as concertmaster of the cathedral orchestra in Padua in 1721. In 1732 he was appointed violinist at the Basilica di Sant'Antonio in Padua. In 1735, however, he and his brother Giuseppe Dall’Oglio, a cellist, accepted an invitation of employment at the Russian court in St. Petersburg, where for the next 30 years they both served. Court records make frequent references to his activities as a virtuoso violinist, composer and participant in court intrigue. He died in Narva on his way back to Italy in 1764. He was known for his performance on the lute and violin, as well as his collaborations with Francesco Araja. His music includes a prologue, a concert aria, 34 violin sonatas, around 12 symphonies (six published 1735 in Paris, as well as several “Russian” symphonies), 17 violin concertos, a sonata for string quartet, several pieces for viola and basso, as well as numerous ballets. His string music reveals him as a master of the Italian 18th-century and reminiscent of Antonio Vivaldi's virtuoso style. The music theorist and Padre Martini student in Bologna, Giovanni Battista Dall'Oglio (1739-1832), was not related to him.

CELESTINO, Eligio (1739-1812) - Sonata for the violin (1774)

Eligio Celestino (1739-1812) - Sonata (F Major) for the violin from

'Six solos for the violin and a bass for the harpsichord or violoncello ... op. 2' (1774)

Performers: Daniel Pinteño (violin); Concerto 1700

Painting: Antoine-Jean Gros (1771-1835) - Three Children in a House Concert

Further info: Italy in Spain: Violin Sonatas

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Eligio (Ligi) Celestino [Celestini, Cellistino, Coelestini]

(Pisa, 20 March 1739 - Ludwigslust, 24 January 1812)

Italian violinist and composer. Nothing is known from his youth. Charles Burney heard him in Rome in 1770, and considered him the best Roman violinist of the period. In 1776 he began to travel, and settled in 1781 at Ludwigslust where he became leader of the court orchestra of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and his English wife, Sarah Stanton (1749-1798), became a singer at that court. Because of the ill-health of the Kapellmeister Antonio Rosetti, he had occasionally conducted the orchestra by late 1791. After Rosetti's death in 1792 he took complete charge, until in 1803, also for reasons of health, he was replaced by the assistant Louis Massonneau. He remained active as leader of the orchestra until his death. When sixty years of age, he came to England where he was hailed in London as the greatest violinist of his time. As a composer, he published several sets of sonatas, solos and duets as well as arias, overtures and symphonies. 

JACQUET DE LA GUERRE, Elisabeth (1665-1729) - Suite 'Céphale et Procris'

Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre (1665-1729) - Suite des 'Cephale | Et | Procris |

Tragedie | Mise En Musique' (1694)

Performers: La Vοce Strumentale; Dmitry Sinkοvsky (conductor)

Painting: François de Troy (1645-1730) - Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre

Further info: Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre (1665-1729) - Suite (I) en ré mineur (1707)

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Elisabeth (Claude) Jacquet de La Guerre [De Laguerre]

(Paris, bap. 17 March 1665 - Paris, 27 June 1729)

French harpsichordist and composer. She came from a family of master masons and musicians. She emerged as a musical prodigy and made her debut as a singer and harpsichordist at the court of Louis XIV, apparently at quite a young age. At about age 15 she was taken into the court as a musician and placed under the care of the king’s mistress, Madame de Montespan. Jacquet left the regular service of the court in 1684 and that year married Marin de la Guerre, an accomplished Parisian harpsichordist, organist, music teacher, and composer from a well-established family of professional musicians. The fact that she dedicated nearly all of her published works to the king, however, indicates that she retained connections to the royal circle throughout her career. With Marin she had one son who died at age 10, having shown promise as a musician himself. Marin died in 1704. Jacquet de la Guerre’s first published collection of compositions was the Pièces de clavessin (1687; “Harpsichord Pieces”), noteworthy especially because publication of harpsichord music was still rare in France in the 17th century, even for male composers. The work consists entirely of sets of dance pieces grouped by key, with each group preceded by an “unmeasured prelude,” a genre notated mostly in whole notes to indicate that it does not adhere to a strict metre and thus approximates improvisation. Jacquet de la Guerre’s next published instrumental work, a two-volume set that juxtaposed the French and Italian instrumental styles, did not appear until 1707. The first part of the set, entitled Pièces de clavecin qui peuvent se jouer sur le viollon (“Harpsichord Pieces That May Be Played on the Violin”), again consists of dance pieces in the French tradition. The other part, entitled Sonates pour le viollon et pour le clavecin (“Sonatas for the Violin and for the Harpsichord”), employs idiomatic string writing that shows influence from the Italian instrumental style; these Italianate features include quick passagework, harmonic sequences, and imitation between parts. As was typical in the 18th century, the accompanying harpsichordist played from only a bass line, improvising the harmonies and melodic figures to suit the violin line; this practice was called basso continuo. Jacquet de la Guerre is known to have composed other sonatas for one or two violins and basso continuo. Some of these may be dated to about 1695, while the composition dates of the others remain unknown.

GRISTI, Pietro (1696-1738) - Missa brevis

Pietro Gristi (1696-1738) - Missa brevis

Performers: Miriam Cаuchi (soprano); Claire Mаssа (alto); Joseph Mеrciеca (tenor); Carlos de Mirаnda (bass);

Laudate Pueri Choir; Baroque Ensemble; Joseph Vеlla (conductor)

Painting: René Antoine Houasse (c.1645-1710) - Figure de la Magnificence royale,

de l'Immortalité et du Progrès dans les Beaux-Arts (1683)

Further info: The High Baroque

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Pietro Gristi

(1696 - Mdina, 1738)

Maltese teacher and composer. He was sent to Naples in 1713 to study music under Gaetano Greco at the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo. He was the first of many Maltese musicians sent by the Cathedral Chapter to Naples, breaking the previous tradition of studying in Palermo. Returning to Malta in 1717, he was appointed maestro di cappella at Mdina Cathedral, a position he held for the rest of his life. His extant compositions include a Missa brevis and the psalms Beatus Vir and Nisi Dominus. His most notable student was Benigno Zerafa, who also served as maestro di cappella at Mdina Cathedral from 1744 to 1804.

FALK, Georg Paul (1713-1778) - Partita a 7 (c.1765)

Georg Paul Falk (1713-1778) - Partita (D-Dur) a 2 Violini, 2. Oboe, 2. Traversi, 2 Clarini

[and] 2. Corni in D. Viola e Basso (c.1765)

Performers: Innsbrucker Kammerorchester; Othmar Costa (1928-2018, conductor)

Painting: Gerard Joseph Xavery (1700-1747) - A brawl around a gambling table, outside a tavern

Further info: Musik aus Stift Stams II

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Georg Paul Falk [Falck]

(Augsburg?, 1713 - Innsbruck, 1778)

German organist and composer. In 1732, he began his studies of Law at the University of Innsbruck, but dedicated himself entirely to music. By 1747, he held the position of parish organist at St. Jakob, which later became the Innsbruck Cathedral, a position he retained until his death. He established a reputation as skilled organist, music teacher and composer. His extant works are mainly sacred, among them a Mass, several Salve Regina, motets, as well as an orchestral partita and keyboard pieces. He married Marie Elisabeth Störzinger (1723-1795). Their son, Josef Benedikt Falk (1757-1828), might briefly have been seen as a minor rival to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He was presented to Empress Maria Theresa as a child prodigy and was allowed to perform for Emperor Franz I. The meeting of Mozart and Falk (and their respective fathers) in 1769 in Innsbruck was undoubtedly an exciting occasion. Although Josef Benedikt Falk embarked on successful concert tours in Italy and Germany, he decided to join the clergy and was ordained a priest in 1780. After the death of his father, he succeeded him as organist at St. Jakob, Innsbruck.

VALDIVIA Y VALENZUELA, Juan Pascual (1737-1811) - El mismo Dios me amonesta (1752)

Juan Pascual Valdivia y Valenzuela (1737-1811) - Cantada al Santisimo 'El mismo Dios me amonesta' (1752)

Performers: Filippo Minеccia (alto); Orquesta Barroca de Sеvilla; Enrico Onοfri (conductor)

Engraving: Jacques Gabriel Huquier (1725-1805) - Gezicht op de Kathedraal van Sevilla

Further info: Juan Pascual Valdivia - Maestro de Capilla de la Colegial de Olivares (1760-1811)

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Juan Pascual Valdivia y Valenzuela

(Alcalá la Real, c. 1737 - Olivares, 12 March 1811)

Spanish composer. His birth date is estimated to be around 1737, based on his ordination as a priest in 1762, the minimum age for which was 25. Son of Gregorio Valenzuela and Ana Valdivia, the details of his youth and musical training are scarce, though he likely received musical instruction at the Collegiate Church of Alcalá la Real. On 4 June 1760, after the death of Antonio González Guerrero, he was appointed chapel master of the Collegiate Church of Olivares in a position he held for the rest of his life. Valdivia's tenure was marked by both prolific composition (over 200 works, primarily sacred, including 148 villancicos and cantadas in Spanish, and 73 Latin works) and documented indiscipline and frequent absences.

MYSLIVECEK, Josef (1737-1781) - Concerto per Cembalo (c.1777)

Josef Mysliveček (1737-1781) - Concerto (F-Dur) per Cembalo | Con Violini, Oboe, Corni, Viola, e Bassi (c.1777)

Performers: Christoph Anselm Noll (harpsichord); Neue Düsseldorfer Hofmusik; Mary Utiger (conductor)

Painting: Gaspare Traversi (1732-1769) - Music Lesson

Further info: Josef Mysliveček (1737-1781) - Sinfonia in B flat major

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Josef (Giuseppe) Mysliveček 'Il Boemo' [Mysliweczek, Misliweczek, Misliveček, Meliwesek, Venatorini et al.]

(Praha, 9 March 1737 - Roma, 4 February 1781)

Bohemian composer. The son of a prosperous miller, and the elder of identical twin brothers, he studied law and philosophy at Charles University in Prague. By 1761 he had become a master miller but gave it up to study music. His teachers were Franz Habermann and Josef Seger, but in 1763 he obtained the patronage of the Waldstein family that allowed him to travel to Venice to study with Giovanni Pescetti. His first opera was produced in 1766 in Bergamo, but it was not until the success of his 'Il Bellerofonte' in Naples the following year that he was he commissioned by theatres throughout Italy. In 1771 he was admitted into the Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna after befriending Padre Martini. He made at least three trips to northern Europe after establishing himself in Italy. The first, a triumphant return to Prague in 1768, was probably occasioned by his mother’s death in 1767 and the settlement of his father’s estate. His second trip, in 1772, may have been intended to establish his reputation in Vienna. If so, the effort clearly failed, but he did meet Charles Burney in September. Mysliveček ventured north for the last time at the invitation of Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria, in 1777-78. While in Munich, he witnessed successful productions of his opera 'Ezio' and his oratorio 'Isacco' and sought surgical treatment for what is believed to have been venereal disease, with the result that his nose was burnt off. On his return to Italy in 1778, he enjoyed operatic successes in Naples and Venice, but his final decline was signalled by the failure of both of the operas that he prepared for Carnival 1780 ('Armida' for Milan and 'Medonte' for Rome). He died in Rome, in abject poverty; his funeral at the church of San Lorenzo in Lucina was paid for by a mysterious Englishman named Barry, a former pupil. He was a versatile composer, whose music in numerous genres influenced a generation of composers. His output include 26 operas, eight oratorios, 15 secular cantatas, 55 symphonies, 12 string quintets, 18 string quartets, three wind octets, 16 concertos, 17 violin sonatas, 20 string trios, and a host of smaller individual works, including three notturnos. He was not a prolific composer of sacred music. He was nicknamed 'Il Boemo' during the heyday of his career, an appellation that was given him due to the popularity of his operas, almost all of which are serious works. He had a firm grasp of good lyrical melodies and progressive harmony.

CASTRO LOBO, João de Deus (1794-1832) - Missa em Re maior (c.1817)

João de Deus Castro Lobo (1794-1832) - Missa em Re maior (c.1817)

Performers: Silvina Sаdoly (soprano); Pablo Trаvаglino (contratenor); Pablo Politzеr (tenor); Walter Schwаrz (bass);

Americаntiga Early Music Ensemble; Ricardo Bеrnardеs (conductor)

Painting: Jean-Baptiste Debret (1768-1848) - Casamento de D. Pedro I e D. Amélia (1829)

Further info: João de Deus Castro Lobo (1794-1832)

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João de Deus Castro Lobo

(Vila Rica, 8 March 1794 - Mariana, 26 January 1832)

Brazilian organist and composer. Son of the Afro-descendants Gabriel de Castro Lobo (1763-1853) and Quitéria da Costa e Silva, he received music lessons from his father and his uncle José de Castro Lobo (?-1782). From 1811 to 1818 he was the Opera House conductor of Vila Rica and in 1812 he signed, with other colleagues, the request for the creation of the Confraternity of Saint Cecilia of Vila Rica, the city where he was working as musician until 1821. That year, he enrolled in the Seminary of Boa Morte of Mariana where he was ordained deacon and later presbyter. On 7 October 1825 he was appointed organist and chapel master of the Mariana Cathedral, succeeding José Felipe Correa Lisboa. From 1826 to 1831 he also assumed the post of music director of the Third Order of São Francisco de Mariana. As a composer, his extant output consists of 23 works, mostly sacred. His brothers Gabriel de Castro Lobo 'Filho' (1798-1858) and Carlos de Castro Lobo (1803-1849) also pursued musical careers, and when Carlos de Castro Lobo settled to Rio de Janeiro, he had a prominent role, serving as organist of the Imperial Chapel of Rio de Janeiro between 1830 and 1848.

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).