Jan Křtitel Vanhal (1739-1813)
- Concerto Toni C. per il Fagotto Principale
Performers: MiIan Turkovic (bassoon); Ensemble Archets; Bernhard KIee (conductor)
Further info: Johann Baptist Vanhal (1739-1813) - Cello Concerto in C
---
Bohemian composer, violinist and teacher, active in Austria. Although
there is indirect evidence that his father’s ancestors may have
originated in the Netherlands, both of Vanhal’s parents’ families
(Vaňhal and Volešovský) had lived in Bohemia for several generations. He
was bonded to Count Schaffgotsch, in whose estates his family lived.
During his early years in Nechanicz he was trained to sing and to play
string and wind instruments. His favourite teacher, Anton Erban, taught
him to play the organ, and at the age of 13 he became organist in
Opocžna (Opocžno). He later became choir director in Niemcžowes
(Nemyčeves) in the province of Jicin, where Mathias Nowák trained him to
be a virtuoso violinist and to write concertos. In 1760-61 Vanhal moved
to Vienna. He lived there until May 1769, entering ‘the most imposing
circles’ and giving instrumental and singing lessons; among his keyboard
pupils was Ignace Pleyel. His income enabled him to purchase his
freedom from bondage; he apparently returned to Bohemia only once, on
the death of one of his parents. In 1762-63 he probably received some
help from Dittersdorf, who was a member of the imperial theatre
orchestra. Dittersdorf later referred to Vanhal as ‘a pupil of mine’,
but there is little evidence of his influence in Vanhal’s music. Payment
records, however, suggest that Ditters helped by introducing Vanhal to
the musical scene as a violinist. An encounter in 1762 with the child
Mozart has also been reported. During this period Vanhal established
himself as one of the leading composers in Vienna, contributing to the
rise of the ‘Viennese style’. He also made contact with the Parisian
publisher Huberty, who issued his six Simphonies quatours op.1 in 1769.
Baron I.W. Riesch of Dresden offered to finance Vanhal’s musical tour to
Italy, so that he could prepare himself to become Kapellmeister of
Riesch’s court in Dresden. Reaching Italy in May 1769, Vanhal spent
about a year in Venice, then travelled to Bologna, Florence, Rome and
elsewhere.
He met many prominent composers, including Gassmann (with whom he
returned to Vienna) and Gluck. Two operas which he may have written in
Rome, Il trionfo di Clelia and Il Demofonte, both to texts by
Metastasio, have not been found. On his return to Vienna in September
1771, he declined the Kapellmeister’s position in Baron Riesch’s
orchestra. The often-stated (but mistaken) idea that he was overcome
with a debilitating mental disease has its source in Burney’s statement
that a ‘little perturbation of [Vanhal’s] faculties’ had caused his
compositions to become ‘insipid and shallow’. During the succeeding
decade Vanhal paid several visits to the estate of a new patron, Count
Ladislaus Erdödy, at Varaždin (now in Croatia), but his home continued
to be in Vienna. In response to the changing musical tastes of the
Viennese public, he stopped composing symphonies in the late 1770s, and
string quartets a few years later, and began to cultivate the unique
opportunities offered by the fledgling Viennese music publishing
industry to control the character and dispersal of his works; Viennese
publishers subsequently issued more than 270 prints of his music. He was
unmarried and left no heirs; when he died, in an apartment near the
Stephansdom, he had obviously been living in modest but comfortable
circumstances. Vanhal’s career was strongly influenced by his character.
Dlabač, in addition to recounting the pleasing social qualities that
gained him quick access to Viennese noble circles called him ‘a zealous
Christian’. It can also be seen that, although he was hard-working,
conscientious, pragmatic and determined, he was not personally
ambitious. He must have been a fine performer, but, other than that he
was listed as a first violinist in a performance of Gluck’s Orfeo in
1763 and that in 1784 he played (perhaps the cello) in a quartet with
Haydn, Dittersdorf and Mozart, little is known about his ability. He was
not related to a travelling virtuoso flautist known as Vanhal.
Cap comentari:
Publica un comentari a l'entrada