Un portal on escoltar i gaudir de l'art musical dels segles XVI, XVII, XVIII i XIX. Compartir la bellesa de la música és l'objectiu d'aquest espai i fer-ho donant a conèixer obres de compositors molt o poc coneguts és el mètode.
German composer. Nothing is known of his early years. After 1690 he came to Olomouc from Vienna and entered the services of the Olomouc chapter. In 1691 he was appointed chapel master at the cathedral after Philipp Jakob Rittler death. In 1696 he married Magdalena Cecilie Zindel, daughter of the cathedral organist. Although his salary was raised from 100 to 300 florins by 1702, he complained throughout his life of the low pay and engaged in continual battles with the chapter, which refused to meet his demands and blamed him for the decline of music in the cathedral. In 1708 he requested special leave to perform his compositions before the Emperor Joseph I in Vienna; he overstayed his leave and the chapter gave him notice, which was revoked only after the emperor’s direct intervention. In spite of perpetually strained relations with the chapter he remained in his post until his death. As a composer, all that survive of his extensive works are two orchestral suites from the year 1694, dedicated to the Bishop Liechtenstein-Kastelcorn, a pastoral sonata for strings, a Mass and a Te Deum. He was probably related to the Ignaz Albertini who applied for a musical post in Olomouc as early as 1671. His son Reymund Albertini (1701-?) was a musician in the orchestra of Count Rottal in Holešov (c.1734-37) and later with Count Leopold Dietrichstein in Brno.
Austrian composer and violinist. Born to Paul Ditters, costumier at the imperial court and theatre in Vienna, and his wife Anna (née Vandelin), he received his earliest education at the Jesuit school in Vienna, where he displayed a precocious talent as a violinist, enough so that in 1751 he was performing with local court orchestras. Here he came to the attention of Giueseppe Bonno and Christoph Willibald von Gluck, the latter of whom took him with him to Italy in 1763. There Ditters achieved success as a virtuoso, and by 1765 he had been hired by Archbishop Adam Patachich as Michael Haydn’s successor at Großwerdein (now Oradea, Romania). He improved the quality of the ensemble, but in 1769 it was dissolved and Ditters relieved of his duties. He found other employment with the Archbishop of Breslau, Count Philipp Gotthard von Schaffgotsch as a state administrative functionary at Schloss Johannesberg (now Janský vrch, Poland), and in 1773 he was appointed as chief forester at nearby Javernig (Javornik). This appointment required aristocratic rank, and Ditters was ennobled as von Dittersdorf at Freiwaldau (Jeseník). In 1784 he returned to Vienna where he participated actively in the musical life of the city. His rank allowed him access to all levels of the court society, and his abilities earned him the friendship of colleagues such as Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with whom he performed in a string quartet (the cellist was his student Jan Křtitel Vanhal). In 1790, however, he returned to music as Kapellmeister to Duke Carl Christian Erdmann zu Württemberg-Oels, a post that also included governmental administrative duties. He moved to Oels (Olésnice) and then Karlsruhe in Upper Silesia.
A reversal of fortune caused him to retire in 1796, and he moved to the small town of Neuhof (Červená Lhota), where he died only a couple of days after completing his autobiography. He was a prolific and progressive composer, particularly with respect to his use of the characteristic symphony, sometimes based upon Classical stories. He was conventional in terms of his harmony, but his skill in contrasting instruments (as well as writing for unusual timbres and combinations) demonstrates a good sense of color. His formal structures are often conventional, and his textures mainly homophonic, but he was considered one of the foremost composers of Vienna during his day. He can be considered one of the most popular composers of Singspiels of his day, with one work, Doktor und Apotheker, achieving international success. The number of works composed demonstrates an almost inexhaustible creativity and includes: 127 symphonies (with another 90 likely, making him the most prolific composer in the genre of all time, if true), 18 violin concertos, five viola concertos, eight oboe concertos, four keyboard concertos, nine other concertos (for oboe d’amore, harp, contrabass, cello, flute, and two violins), four sinfonia concertantes (including two for string quartet and orchestra, one for viola, contrabass, and orchestra, and another for 11 solo instruments), four serenades, five cassations, 16 divertimentos, 18 string trios, seven string quartets, six horn quintets, six string quintets, 35 partitas, 72 preludes, 31 keyboard sonatas, 136 solo keyboard works, 16 violin sonatas, 32 operas, three concert arias, 16 secular cantatas, 16 Masses, a Requiem, four oratorios, 11 offertories, eight litanies, and 170 smaller sacred works such as Psalms, motets, and so forth.
Luxembourgish trombonist, composer and music educator. He studied music at the Luxembourg Conservatory, covering harmony, counterpoint, musical analysis, history of music, trumpet, trombone, piano, double bass and conducting. He continued his studies at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels, where he obtained a first prize in both harmony and transposition as well as a higher certificate for trombone playing. Concurrently, his professional career includes directing various wind and brass ensembles and serving as a professor of trombone and harmony at the Luxembourg City Conservatory, both since 1963. Active as a composer since 1965, his output comprises over fifty compositions, primarily written for wind and brass ensembles, in addition to works for chamber groups, choral ensembles, and pedagogical purposes. A selection of his catalogue has been published by Musica Mundana.
Russian composer. He was born into an Ukrainian Cossack's family in the city of Glukhov which at that time used to be the capital of Malorussia famous by its choir schools. Having studied in one of them for a year or two the seven-year-old boy endowed with the fine treble together with nine other best pupils had been sent to St-Petersburg and admitted to the Court Choirs as a chorister yet during the time of Elizabeth, Peter the Great's daughter. The brilliant talents of the choir-boy haven't been left unnoticed. Eleven-year-old Dmitry was entrusted with the part of Alzesta in the opera of the same name written by the court composer Hermann Raupach. Two years later when the production was renewed he performed the main men's tenor part of Admet. The boy was appointed to the Shlyahetsky Corps to be taught dramatic arts and foreign languages. But what is the most important his successes were noticed by Baldassare Galuppi himself. The eminent maestro highly appreciated Bortnyansky's talents and was teaching him vocal, clavicembalo playing and composition for over three years. Leaving Russia in summer, 1768, Galuppi urgently recommended to send the gifted young man to Italy to continue his education. In 1776 Bortnyansky makes his debut as an opera composer. The first performance of his 'Creont' took place in the Venetian theater 'San Benedetto'. The next opera 'Alkid' (1778) was also staged in Venice, in 'San Samuel' theater presumably under Galuppi's protection. The new composition testified to the indisputable maturity of the twenty-seven-year-old composer and his outstanding artistic talent. In April, 1779, he received from Russia the order signed by the Director of the Court Theaters I. P. Yelagin 'without a moment's delay... to come back to the Motherland...'. Settled in Sant Petersburg for the rest of his life, he wrote music for the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as operas for the court of Catherine II. By 1796, her successor, Paul III, made him director of the Imperial Choir and recognized him as a national musical figure. As a composer, he wrote over 100 sacred works, including 45 sacred concertos, seven Orthodox liturgical settings, an Ave Maria and a Salve Regina, and numerous other pieces in Russian. In addition, he wrote seven operas, a large ode, several part songs, a quintet and a symphony (titled Symphonie concertante), two harp sonatas, and a march for wind band. Bortnjanskij’s style follows the harmony and lyricism of his Italian teacher, but the Russian works include paraphrases of Old Slavonic chant, as well as occasional folk elements, particularly in the instrumental compositions.
Croatian violinist and composer. Son of Ivan Marija Jarnović and Marija de Marchi, he was born on board a ship bound for Italy from Dubrovnik [now Croatia], and baptized two days later in Palermo. At an early age he may have been sent to study with Antonio Lolli, and in 1773 he made his debut at the Concerts spirituels in Paris after having arrived there in 1770. His performance was successful enough to launch a career as a traveling virtuoso throughout Europe. This success was soon followed by stories about his scandalous and quarrelsome behaviour. He gave frequent public performances until 1777, when he probably became leader of the orchestra for Prince Rohan-Guémémee. In 1779 he suddenly left Paris, reportedly under questionable circumstances. After appearing in Frankfurt he went to Berlin where he was appointed leader of the orchestra to the Crown Prince of Prussia late in 1779. Less than three years later he left because of quarrels with the cellist Jean-Pierre Duport. He played in Warsaw in September 1782 and early the next year went to St Petersburg where he entered the service of Catherine II. In 1786 he went to Vienna and made an excellent impression on such discerning artists as Joannes Carolus Diters von Dittersdorf, Leopold Mozart and Vojtech Matyáš Jírovec. Early in 1791 he began to play regularly in London. He was repeatedly successful at Salomon’s Hanover Square series and took part in Joseph Haydn’s first benefit concert. Once again his personality created difficulties. William Thomas Parke reported that he behaved arrogantly to royalty at the Duke of York’s house, and Ernst Ludwig Gerber that he nearly provoked a duel with Johann Baptist Cramer. Towards the end of 1796 he left London. For the next six years he reportedly lived in Hamburg, more active as a billiard player than as a violinist. In 1802 he played in St Petersburg, where he was once again given a place in the court orchestra, probably as leader. He held the position until he died of a stroke apparently suffered during a game of billiards. Ivan Mane Jarnović was known as a facile and progressive violinist, a rival of Giovanni Battista Viotti, with whom he was close friends, he helped to create the French school of violin playing. His own works largely reflect this focus and include 22 violin concertos, seven symphonies, six string quartets, 10 duos, and seven sonatas. His most important compositions are his violin concertos, which evidently reflect his performing style. Simple in texture and harmony, clear in structure, and charming but limited in expression, they epitomize the later stages of the galant style.
