KUHN, Antoine-Léonce (1753-1823) - Petites pièces pour le forte piano

Antoine-Léonce Kuhn (1753-1823) - Petites pièces, pour le forte piano ou clavecin [...] oeuvre VIII

Performers: Christine Sartoretti (pianoforte)

Painting: Heinrich von Förster (1832-1889) - The Music Room of Archduchess Margarete,

Princess of Saxony, in Schloss Ambras

Further info: Das Klavier en Der Schwei

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Antoine-Léonce (Anton Leoni) Kuhn [Kh.]

(Soultz, 18 December 1753 - Saint Gallen, 3 March 1823)

French organist and composer. Son of Jean-Georges Kuhn, an organist and schoolmaster, and Catherine Cabélig. Initially educated by his father, he studied at the Jesuit college in Porrentruy (1767-1773), where he also served as an organist. His early career included roles as a music master, conductor, and composer in Fribourg before he was appointed secretary and first violinist to the Prince-Bishop of Basel. He directed the episcopal court orchestra, composing chamber music, violin sonatas, piano trios, and symphonies, which were even performed in Paris. At the bishop's request, he published the 'Manuale chori seu vesperale romanum' in 1785 and the 'Processionale ad usum diocesis basiliensis' in 1788. Following the French Revolution, he worked as a school inspector and directed a boarding school before moving to Saint Gallen in 1809, where he became a music and French teacher at the Catholic gymnasium, as well as the conductor and organist of the abbey church, where he composed numerous masses.

VALENTINI, Giuseppe (1681-1753) - Sinfonia a tre (1701)

Giuseppe Valentini (1681-1753) - Sinfonia a tre, cioè due Violini, e Violoncello, col Basso per l'Organo (1701)

Performers: New Zealand Symphony Orchestra; Marc Taddei (conductor)

Painting: Giuseppe Zocchi (1711-1767) - El Arno en el puente Santa Trinita (c.1741)

Further info: Christmas Baroque

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Giuseppe (Iosephus, Joseph, Josephus) Valentini [Valentinus, Straccioncino]

(Florence, 14 December 1681 - Rome, 1753)

Italian composer and violinist. He studied under Giovanni Bononcini in Rome between 1692 and 1697 in a city where he was a member of the Congregazione di Santa Cecilia. Between 1701 and 1714 he published seven collections of instrumental compositions and he also composed several oratorios and cantatas. Until the publication of his '12 Concerti grossi' in 1710, he had not succeeded in obtaining such a post in Rome nor in finding a real patron, but from that year, partly as a result of having published sonatas and concertos, the situation changed. 1710 saw the beginning of his activity at San Luigi dei Francesi (1710-1741), where he succeeded Arcangelo Corelli as director of the concertino. In 1710, according to the title-page of his Concerti grossi, he was made 'Suonator di Violino, e Componitore di Musica' to Prince Michelangelo Caetani, in whose service he remained at least until 1727. From 1711 to 1726 he was active as violinist at San Giacomo degli Spagnoli and he attended the Sunday conversazioni in the Ruspoli residence. His activities increased in the years that followed, and to the two churches already mentioned were added San Giovanni dei Fiorentini (1720-1753) and Santa Maria Maddalena (1727-1750), where he became maestro di cappella, and the Collegio del Nazareno (1720-1749). He also played at Santa Maria Maggiore, where in 1736 he was appointed maestro of the Cappella Borghese, at San Lorenzo in Damaso and at the Oratorio di San Marcello. From the third decade of the 18th century, he was regularly serving as maestro di cappella in these churches, yet his compositions grew increasingly scarce. His career as a composer was virtually finished.

KOZELUH, Jan Antonín (1738-1814) - Messa Pastorale (1784)

Jan Antonín Koželuh (1738-1814) - Messa Pastorale | a | 4 Voci

2 Violini | 2 Oboe | 2 Flauti | 2 Clarini | Viola | Organo | e Timpani (1784)

Performers: Magdalena Hajossyova (soprano); Marta Benackova (alto); Vladimir Dolezal (tenor); Milan Bürger (bass); Kühn Mixed Choir; Prague Philharmonic Orchestra; Bohumil Kulínský (1959-2018, conductor)

Painting: Rudolf von Alt (1812-1905) - Blick auf die Teynkirche und die Mariensäule am Altstädter Ring zu Prag

Further info: Jan Antonín Kozeluh (1738-1814) - Bassoon Concerto in C-Dur

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Johann Antonin (Jan Evangelista Antonín Tomáš) Koželuh [Koscheluch, Kozeluch, Goscheloch, Koziluh et al.]

(Velvary, 14 December 1738 - Prague, 3 February 1814)

Bohemian teacher, composer and organist, cousin to Leopold Koželuh (1747-1818). He studied under the Jesuits at Brenitz, as well as Josef Seger in Prague. He then worked for a short time as Kapellmeister in Rakovník and cantor in Velvary. Moving to Vienna, he became a pupil of Christoph Willibald von Gluck and Florian Gassmann. By 1784 he had returned to Prague to accept a position at the St. Vitus Cathedral as well as the Strahov Monastery, positions he retained for 30 years. Among his pupils were Václav Praupner and Leopold Kozeluch; he also taught composition to his two sons, Wenzel Franz Koželuh (1784-?) and Vinzenz Emanuel Koželuh (1780-1839), and to his daughter Barbara Koželuh, a singer and pianist. As a composer, his output includes 45 Masses, a Requiem, an oratorio, two operas, 98 offertories, 60 sacred arias, 10 Te Deums, two litanies, four symphonies, and at least three woodwind concertos. He was one of the most important Bohemian composers in the second half of the 18th century, and his music was performed well into the 19th century.

WESLEY, Charles (1757-1834) - Concerto for the organ

Charles Wesley (1757-1834) - Concerto for the organ from 'Six concertos [d, F, D, C, g, Es] for the organ or harpsichord with accompaniment for two violins, a tenor & bass, two hautboys & two french horns ... opera II'

Performers: Roger Bеvаn Williams (organ); Scοttish Baroque Players

Painting: Unknown artist (19th Century) - Hemming's Portable House Manufactory. Clift House. Bristol

Further info: Six Eighteenth-Century Organ Concertos

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Charles Wesley [Wesley Jr.]

(Bristol, 11 December 1757 - London, 23 May 1834)

English organist and composer. He was the elder son of Charles Wesley (1707-1788) and brother of Samuel Wesley (1766-1837). He inherited musical ability from both parents. In infancy he displayed a talent almost without parallel: before he was three years old he could ‘play a tune on the harpsichord readily and in just time’ and ‘always put a true bass to it’. His later development hardly fulfilled this promise. During his childhood and adolescence his father discouraged him from becoming a professional musician, and would not let him take up an appointment as chorister or (later) organist at the Chapel Royal. But under Joseph Kelway he became an excellent organist, and held appointments at several dissenting chapels, the Lock Hospital Chapel (1797-1801) and finally St Marylebone parish church. He learnt composition chiefly from William Boyce, to whom he dedicated his set of string quartets. His brother Samuel called him an ‘obstinate Handelian’ and indeed his compositions, especially those for organ and piano, are extremely conservative in style. In 1822 he published a revised edition of John Wesley's Sacred Harmony.

BOYCE, William (1711-1779) - Symphony in d (1760)

William Boyce (1711-1779) - Symphony in d from 'Eight symphonys in eight parts, six for violins, hoboys, or german flutes, and two for violins, french horns and trumpets, with a bass for the violoncello and harpsicord ... opera seconda' (1760)

Performers: Festival Strings Lucerne; Rudolf Baumgartner (1917-2002, conductor)

Painting: Mason Chamberlin the elder (1722-1787) - William Boyce

Further info: Concertos Nos. 4 And 5 / 3 Symphonies In 8 Parts

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William Boyce

(London, bap. 11 September 1711 - London, 7 February 1779)

English composer and organist. His earliest musical education was as a chorister at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, after which he was a student of Johann Pepusch and Maurice Greene. In 1734 he obtained his first position as an organist at the Oxford Chapel, and in 1736 he became a composer for the Chapel Royal. By 1755 he was well known for his stage works, including the 1740 masque Peleus and Thetis and The Chaplet, a favorite pastoral opera from 1749. In 1755 he was appointed as master of the King’s Musick, and three years later organist of the Chapel Royal. Shortly thereafter he was forced to retreat from official duties owing to increasing deafness, and instead concentrated upon finishing the compendium Cathedral Music begun by his teacher Greene. This volume of Anglican Church services from all ages is still partially in use. His other music includes eight symphonies derived from stage works, 50 or more cantatas and odes, 60 anthems, 12 trio sonatas, 12 overtures or small symphonies, five complete Anglican services, two oratorios (including David’s Lamentation over Saul and Jonathan from 1736), and a host of incidental music and keyboard voluntaries.