Georg Matthias Monn (1717-1750)
- Concerto in D â 5
Performers: Janos Sebestyen (1931-2012, cembalo); Hungarian Chamber Orchestra;
Vilmos Tátrai (1912-1999, conductor)
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Austrian composer. The elder son of a coachman, Jakob Mann, and
Catherina Päsching Mann, he was baptized Johann Georg but used the names
Matthias Georg instead, possibly to avoid confusion with his younger
brother Johann Christoph Monn. His preferred spelling, ‘Monn’, may be
understood as a Lower Austrian dialect version of the family name Mann.
He apparently sang in the choir at Klosterneuburg monastery in 1731-32
and at an early age (but not before 1738) became organist at the new
Karlskirche in Vienna. There is little to support Gerber’s assertion
that Monn was ‘Hoforganist’ at Melk Abbey or that he gave J.G.
Albrechtsberger his first lessons in thoroughbass there.
Albrechtsberger’s alleged reverence for Monn as a teacher (described by
Sonnleithner) has not been proved, but a surviving set of thoroughbass
exercises by Monn suggests that he devoted part of his career to
teaching. As a composer, Monn ranked with Wagenseil as the leading
Viennese counterpart to Johann Stamitz in Mannheim. Although he never
attained wide European recognition his local reputation was substantial,
as shown by performances of his music at the imperial court of Joseph
II and in monasteries in Austria and present-day Slovakia. A
biographical sketch by Sonnleithner, who claimed Albrechtsberger as his
source, described Monn as a temperate and economical person, who
apparently never married. Although he produced a remarkable number of
well-crafted compositions in a variety of genres and styles, none was
published during his short lifetime. His output has often been confused
with his brother’s, and any listing or evaluation must therefore be
subject to error.
Monn’s keyboard concertos were the first by a Viennese composer to show
galant elements in their thematic structure. Several are infused
throughout with cheerful galanterie, characterized by treble-dominated
textures and major-mode diatonicism. Ritornello form persists, yet
binary tonal plans underlie most movements, and some second and third
movements have double bars and repeat signs. Others employ fugal,
canonic or toccata-like textures in all movements. An extraordinary
harmonic restlessness in the interior solo sections of some movements
enhances the developmental character of the sometimes difficult, yet
idiomatic, solo part (such as the Keyboard Concerto in E , f44, with the
modulations e –c –f –b–e ). Tutti interjections and dialogue passages
between solo and orchestra enliven the solo sections, creating textures
normally associated with chamber music. Monn’s control of texture
enables his music to flow seamlessly between contrapuntal and galant
textures. The Violin Concerto (1747), probably the earliest of the few
violin concertos before Haydn’s, offers a similar combination of idioms;
walking basses alternate with passages of repeated bass notes more
typical of north German concertos. Siciliana rhythms pervade the slow
movement. The Cello Concerto exploits the technical possibilities of the
instrument to a surprising extent, making especially good use of the
low register. Schoenberg in 1911-12 made continuo realizations for it
(ed. for vc and pf, Vienna, 1913/R), as well as for the D major keyboard
concerto f41, which he later adapted as a cello concerto for Pablo
Casals (New York, 1935/R).
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