Christian Cannabich (1731-1798)
- Sinfonia (B-Dur) à 12 strumenti
Performers: Nοrthern Sinfonia Orchestra; Boris Brott
Further info: Christian Cannabich (1731-1798) - Les Fêtes du Sérail
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German composer. He was the third of the five children born to Matthias
and Rosina Cannabich. He received his earliest musical training from his
father. His early promise on the violin enabled him to enter the
Mannheim orchestra at the age of 12 as a ‘scholar’ earning 50 gulden (6
May 1744), and by February 1746 he was earning 125 gulden as a
violinist. After instruction in composition and the violin from Johann
Stamitz, he studied with Nicolò Jommelli in Rome from about 1752 to July
1753, then followed him to Stuttgart, remaining there until February
1754. In March of that year he visited Milan, where he encountered the
music of G.B. Sammartini and other Italian composers. He returned to
Mannheim by 1756, when Marpurg reported that he held the position of
third violinist under Stamitz and Dominicus Basconi. After Stamitz's
death in March 1757 he was promoted. By 1759 he was joint Konzertmeister
with C.J. Toeschi, receiving 700 gulden per year (200 more than
Toeschi) and carrying out new duties that included directing the
orchestra and preparing music for various court occasions and
performances, in particular the académies and ballets. Contemporaries
considered him a ‘a born Konzertmeister’ (Schubart) on account of his
conducting technique and violin bowing. Mozart called him the best
director he had ever seen (letter of 9 July 1778). His fine musical
instruction shaped some of the best performers of the century, most
notably Wilhelm Cramer and Carl Stamitz. On 8 January 1759 he married
Maria Elisabetha de La Motte, who had been in service to the Duchess of
Zweibrücken. The marriage produced six children (two died in infancy) of
whom Carl August took after his father as a violinist and composer. Two
daughters, Rosina (Rosa) Theresia (bap. 18 April 1764) and Elisabetha
Augusta (bap. 11 April 1776), were also musically talented. Mozart
taught Rosina during his stay in Mannheim in 1777 and wrote a piano
sonata for her (? k309/284b); Elisabetha became a singer and studied in
Italy in 1793 under a stipend from the Elector of Bavaria.
The period from 1759 to 1778 was the most productive in Cannabich's
career as a composer, giving rise to over 50 symphonies and 20 ballets.
In 1774 he was appointed director of instrumental music at Mannheim, a
title he held for the rest of his life; his salary was listed at 1500
gulden in 1776. Mozart and the Cannabich family became close friends
during Mozart's stays in Mannheim in 1777-78. Cannabich's household was a
constant centre of musical activity, and the letters of Mozart and his
mother describe many performances and social occasions held there, as
well as the writing, copying and playing of various compositions. The
Mozart family's comments about Cannabich as a composer range from
Leopold's of 6 April 1778, describing Cannabich as ‘a wretched scribbler
of symphonies’, to Wolfgang's high praise of an overture of his in a
letter of 8 November 1780. In 1778 Carl Theodor became the ruler of the
combined Palatinate and Bavaria, causing the Mannheim court to move to
Munich. Cannabich became the director of the merged Mannheim and Munich
orchestras on 1 October of that year, again at a salary of 1500 gulden,
but the expense of the move forced him to proceed to Munich without his
family; despite 35 years of service, he had to plead with the elector
for a loan to defray family debts. When the family was reunited in
Munich, his home again became a hub of musical activity. No salary
increases were offered, and in 1790, after Toeschi's death, he had to
request additional payments to bring his income to 1800 gulden as
compensation for writing the symphonies that had been the responsibility
of his colleague. He composed his last symphony in 1794 in Vienna,
where the unfinished autograph score, numbered 73, remains; according to
Reichardt's Musikalischer Almanach he was there in 1796, supposedly
owing to the disturbances of the Napoleonic campaigns. On 26 October
1797 Carl Theodor cut the number of his musicians from 95 to 70, and
reduced the salaries of those remaining. Cannabich's salary dropped to
1200 gulden. Shortly thereafter he went to Frankfurt to visit his son
Carl, and he died there at the age of 66.
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