CARULLI, Ferdinando (1770-1841) - Petit concerto de société (1820)

Ferdinando Carulli (1770-1841) - Petit concerto de société, Op.140 (1820)

Performers: Pepe Romеro (guitar); Academy of St. Martin in the Fields; Iona Brown (1941-2004, conductor)

Painting: Ferenc Balassa (1794-1860) - Sunday afternoon near Naples (1829)

Further info: Guitar concertos

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Ferdinando (M[aria?] Meinrado Francesco Pascale Rosario) Carulli [Karulli]

(Naples, 9 February 1770 - Paris, 14 February 1841)

Italian guitarist and composer. Son of Michele Carulli, a distinguished literator, secretary to the delegate of the Neapolitan Jurisdiction, he was taught the rudiments of music by his cello teacher, a priest, though around the age of 16 his interest shifted decisively to the guitar. Around 1801 he married a French woman, Marie-Josephine Boyer, and had a son with her. A few years later he started to compose in Milan, where he contributed to local publications. In 1808 he settled in Paris where he was at the centre of the phenomenon known as guitaromanie, establishing himself as a virtuoso, composer and teacher. For years he had practically no serious rival, except for his two fellow Italians Matteo Carcassi and Francesco Molino. His privileged position lasted at least until 1823, when Fernando Sor arrived in Paris. As a composer, his works number nearly 400 items, including concertos, quartets, trios, duos, fantasias, variations, and solos of all descriptions. In 1830 he composed a piece of program music for guitar entitled 'Les Trois Jours', descriptive of the days of the July 1830 revolution. He also published the method 'L'Harmonie appliquee a la guitarre' (Paris, 1825). His son Gustavo Carulli (1801-1876) was also a guitarist, teacher and composer active in Paris, London and Boulogne.

VIOLAND, August (1750-1811) - Offertorium solenne

August Violand (1750-1811) - Offertorium solenne (D-Dur) 'Pro Festo St. Truperti'

Performers: Dorothea Rieger (soprano); Freiburger Domsingknaben; Philarmonic Orchestra Freiburg;

Raimung Hug (conductor)

Painting: Jacob de Wit (1695-1754) - Diana and her companions returning from the hunt (1731)

Further info: Festliche Musik Aus Sudwestdeutschen Benediktinerklostern

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August (Augustin) Violand [Violland]

(Endingen am Kaiserstuhl, 8 February 1750 - Tunsel, 12 November 1811)

German Benedictine monk, church musician, and composer primarily associated with the St. Trudpert Abbey in the Black Forest. Born in Endingen am Kaiserstuhl, Violand is believed to have studied under the Italian composer Pasquale Anfossi, a collaboration that influenced his own musical output. Throughout his ecclesiastical career, he served as a vicar in Grunern and a pastor in Tunsel, while simultaneously holding the influential roles of choirmaster (Chorregent) and organist at St. Trudpert. His compositional legacy reflects the liturgical music of the era, consisting of a significant body of religious vocal works, including masses, offertories, and vespers.

Unknown composer (18th Century) - Concerto per il Clarino

Unknown composer (18th Century) - Concerto (D-Dur) per il Clarino

Performers: Wolfgang Basch (trumpet); Orchestra of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic

Painting: Attributed to John Laguerre (1688-1748) - A fair, with a crowd gathered in a square by the Red Lion Inn, with actors on a balcony, and a recruiting officer and drummer beside a stall

Further info: Trumpet Concertos

MELANI, Alessandro (1639-1703) - Magnificat à 8

Alessandro Melani (1639-1703) - Magnificat à 8

Performers: Concerto Italiano; Rinaldo Alessandrini (conductor)

Painting: Richard Wilson (1713-1782) - St Peters and the Vatican from the Janiculum, Rome

Further info: Melani - Mottetti

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Alessandro Melani [Milani]

(Pistoia, 4 February 1639 - Rome, 3 October 1703)

Italian composer. Brother of Jacopo Melani (1623-1676) and Atto Melani (1626-1714), he sang at Pistoia Cathedral (1650-60) and then served as maestro di cappella in Orvieto and Ferrara. In 1667 he succeeded his brother Jacopo as maestro di cappella of Pistoia Cathedral, but later that year went to Rome to take up that position at Santa Maria Maggiore; in 1672 he obtained the same position at San Luigi dei Francesi, which he held until his death. In Rome he enjoyed the favourable conditions of the Rospigliosi papacy, who paid for an opera at the 1668 carnival, and the patronage of Ferdinando de’ Medici, his name appearing among 'celebrated professors of music protected by the Prince of Tuscany' in 1695, and of Francesco II d'Este, who in 1690 commissioned an oratorio from him. As a composer, he wrote several operas, oratorios, motets, and cantatas. He also collaborated with Bernardo Pasquini and Alessandro Scarlatti.

VON KRUFFT, Nikolaus (1779-1818) - Sonate Pour le Pianoforte avec Accompagnement de Cor

Nikolaus von Krufft (1779-1818) - Sonate (E-Dur) | Pour le Pianoforte

| avec Accompagnement | de Cor ou Violoncello obligé

Performers: Kristin Pederson Thelander (horn); Carol lei Post (pianoforte)

Painting: Jakob Alt (1789-1872) - Wien von der Rampe des Gartenpalais Schwarzenberg aus gesehen (c.1820)

Further info: Music Of The Early 19th Century

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(Baron) Nikolaus (Nicolaus, Niclas) Freiherr von Krufft [Kruft, Crufft, Krafft, Krufet]

(Vienna, 1 February 1779 - Vienna, 16 April 1818)

Austrian jurist and composer. Born into the administrative aristocracy as the son of Andreas Adolph Freiherr von Krufft (1721-1793), a Minister of State, he completed advanced studies in philosophy and jurisprudence at the University of Vienna before joining the Imperial State Chancellery (Hof- und Staatskanzlei) in 1801. Rising to the rank of State Secretary, he became a trusted associate of Prince Metternich, accompanying him on pivotal diplomatic missions across Europe; services for which he was knighted by both Russian and Sicilian orders. Despite his decorated political tenure, his intellectual legacy remains rooted in his musical output; initially trained by his mother, Maria Anna von Haan, and later by the theorist and composer Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, he developed a compositional style that bridged the formal rigor of Classicism with burgeoning Romantic sensibilities. His oeuvre, notably his technically demanding works for bassoon and horn and his proto-Schubertian Lieder, reflects the stylistic transition of the Beethovenian generation. Ultimately, the taxing coexistence of his rigorous governmental duties and his nocturnal creative pursuits led to a severe nervous collapse and auditory hypersensitivity, culminating in his untimely death in Vienna at the age of thirty-nine.