OEHLSCHLAGEL, Jan Lohelius (1724-1788) - Missa Pastoralis Solemnis (1761)

Jan Lohelius Oehlschlägel (1724-1788) - Missa Pastoralis Solemnis ex D (1761)

Performers: Ivana Kvasnickova (soprano); Virginie Walterová (alto); Richard Sporka (tenor); Marc Niubo (bass); Ceskeho Rozhlasu Orchestra; Cantores Pragenses; Josef Hercl (1928-2005, conductor)

Painting: Januarius Zick (1730-1797) - The Adoration of the Shepherds (c.1765)

Further info: Weihnachten An St. Jakob

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Jan (Joannes) (Franz Joseph) Lohelius Oehlschlägel [Oehlschlegel, Oelschlegel]

(Lahošť, 31 December 1724 - Strahov, 22 February 1788)

Bohemian composer, choirmaster, organist and organ builder. He was a pupil of Jana Jiřího Weidiga, the choirmaster of Duchcov, and later in Prague he studied with Josef Anton Sehling. In 1737 he received financial support by Emanuel Filibert von Waldstein of Duchov and he was addmited to the Jesuit monastery of Bohosudov where he was appointed as organist in a time he was finishing his studies of philosophy and theology. In August 1747 he entered the Premonstratensian Order and definitively took his monastic name of Jan Lohelius, under which most of his music was written. He was appointed as choirmaster of the monastic churches at Milevsko (1749-50) and at Strahov (1756). He also spent 15 years rebuilding the Strahov church organ, making it one of the best and largest in Bohemia at the time (Mozart tested and admired it in 1787). As a composer, he mainly wrote sacred music in a pre-Classical and early Classical style close to his fellows Antonio Boroni and F.X. Brixi. He died in Prague in February 1788.

CANNABICH, Christian (1731-1798) - Simphonia a 14. Stromenti (1778)

Christian Cannabich (1731-1798) - Simphonia (C-Dur) a 14. Stromenti (1778)

Performers: Freiburger orchester; Gottfried von der Goltz (conductor)

Drawing: Dirk Langendijk (1748-1805) - De inneming van een stad door Franse troepen

Further info: Christian Cannabich (1731-1798) - Sinfonia concertante F-Dur

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(Johann) Christian (Innocenz Bonaventura) Cannabich

(Mannheim, bap. 28 December 1731 - Frankfurt, 20 January 1798)

German composer, violinist, and Kapellmeister. Son of Matthias Franciscus Cannabich (c.1690-1773), the private music tutor for the Elector of the Palatinate, he began his formal study of violin under Johann Stamitz and at the Jesuit Gymnasium and Music Seminar in Mannheim. At the age of 12 he was appointed as a scholar with the Mannheim orchestra, receiving full employment in the violin section in 1746. In 1750 Elector Carl Theodor sent Cannabich to Rome to study under Niccolò Jommelli, after which he followed his teacher to Stuttgart as a violinist. In 1756 he returned to Italy, this time to Milan, where he took lessons from Giovanni Battista Sammartini. Upon the death of Stamitz, Cannabich returned to Mannheim where he was appointed first violin, later becoming Konzertmeister. He became a friend of the Duke of Zweibrücken, who introduced him to Parisian musical circles in 1764; Cannabich returned to Paris several times over the next years, both to perform at the Concerts spirituels and to publish his music. In 1778 he followed the Electoral court to Munich, where he spent the remainder of his life and career. Cannabich was one of the most important composers of the second generation in Mannheim. He composed prolifically, in particular for ballets that were created by choreographer Étienne Lauchery during the 1760s. He was admired internationally, particularly by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with whom he was a close friend. His musical style has clear-cut themes, harmonic progressions, and formal structures that are all hallmarks of the Classical style of the period. His ballets are particularly adept for dancing, while his duodramas such as Elektra of 1777 show a dramatic flair in his music. He wrote well over 200 works, including at least 75 symphonies (and perhaps as many as 90), 40 ballets, two operas, two duodramas, 18 duets (flute/violin or violin/viola), 30 violin sonatas, 16 concertos or sinfonia concertantes, 12 string quartets, six piano trios, six flute quartets, and a number of works for the keyboard.

ROSIER, Natalis Carolus (1640-1725) - Sonata für trompete

Natalis Carolus Rosier (1640-1725) - Sonata für trompete in C-Dur

Performers: Helmut Hunger (1929-2011, trumpet); The Angelicum Orchestra; Alberto Zedda (1928-2017, conductor)

Painting: Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668) - Riding School

Further info: Art of the Trumpet

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Natalis Carolus (Noël-Charles, Carl) Rosier [Rosiers, de Rosier]

(Liège, 26 December 1640 - Cologne, 1725)

Flemish composer and violinist. His first years are unknown. From about 1664 he was a violinist at the court of the Elector Maximilian Heinrich in Bonn and later became vice-Kapellmeister there. From 1675 he lived principally in Cologne, but from about 1683 to 1699 he also worked in the Netherlands, where he was highly regarded as a violinist and numbered Carolus Hacquart among his colleagues. On a title-page of 1691 he is described as vice-Kapellmeister at the court at Cologne. In 1697 he participated in a collegium musicum in Amsterdam together with Nicolas Desrosier, Hendrik Anders and others. In 1699 he was Kapellmeister of Cologne Cathedral and in 1701 was appointed to a similar post by the city council; he kept both posts until his death in 1725. As a composer, he mainly published sacred works, among them, 'Motetta, sive cantiones sacrae' (1668) and at least 12 masses and 18 motets (c.1705-1713). He was also praised as a composer of instrumental music, mainly by his collection of '14 sonate' for several instruments (1697). His daughter Maria Anna married the composer Willem de Fesch.

BOLOGNE DE SAINT-GEORGE, Joseph (1744-1799) - Sinfonia à plusieurs instruments (1779)

Joseph Bologne de Saint-George (1744-1799) - Sinfonia (en ré majeur) à plusieurs instruments ... oeuvre XI (1779)

Performers: Orchestre de Chambre de Versailles; Bernard Wahl (1922-1994, conductor)

Drawing: Mather Brown (1761-1831) - Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges

Further info: Joseph Bologne (1745-1799) - Sonatas pour clavecin

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Joseph Bologne [Boulogne] 'Chevalier de Saint-Georges'

(Baillif, 25 December 1745 - Paris, 9 June 1799)

Caribbean composer, violinist, swordsman, equestrian and military commander. Son of a manumitted African mother and French plantation owner (his last name was apparently taken from one of the plantations his father owned), he grew up in the vicinity of Basse-Terre. His family went to France in 1747 to escape difficulties with the law but returned to Guadeloupe a few years later. In 1753 they moved permanently, first to Bordeaux then to Paris, where he underwent his earliest musical education, probably under Antonio Lolli and a few years later François-Joseph Gossec. In 1769 he became a violinist in the Concerts des amateurs, later becoming its director. During this time, beginning with his debut as a soloist in 1772, he became famous for his technical proficiency on his instruments, earning the epithet as the finest violinist of the age. A proposal to make him musical director of the Opéra in 1776 was blocked by four singers who refused to work with a “mulatto.” In 1781 he founded the Loge Olympique orchestra sponsored by one of Paris’s largest masonic lodges; he conducted the premieres of Haydn’s so-called Paris symphonies, which he had helped commission. In 1787 he traveled to London, where his prowess as a violinist and swordsman were thought legendary. A supporter of the Revolution, he was given command of troops from France’s colonial domains in 1792, but a year later he was denounced and spent 18 months in prison. Disillusioned, he sailed to Hispanola to participate in the newly independent Haiti of Toussant l’Ouverture. There the corruption and poor living standards further eroded his health and state of mind. He returned to Paris to conduct the Cercle d’harmonie orchestra, but was unable to escape poverty. During his lifetime, Saint-Georges was a remarkable bon vivant who freely interacted in the upper circles of Parisian society. His music was known for its tunefulness and technical brilliance, using devices such as bariolage that were extremely uncommon. His 1778 opera 'Le partie du chasse' was well received. In all he wrote six operas, 13 violin concertos, 10 sinfonia concertantes, a bassoon concerto, two symphonies, nine violin sonatas, 18 string quartets, and several other smaller pieces. His multifaceted personality has been the subject of both literature (six novels) and a motion picture. He is reckoned as one of the greatest Afro-Caribbean musicians of the period.

COMPERE, Loyset (c.1445-1518) - Missa in Nativitate

Loyset Compère (c.1445-1518) - Missa in Nativitate Deus Noster Jesu Christe

Performers: Orlаndo Consort

Painting: Antwerp, early 16th century - Adoration of the Magi

Further info: Loyset Compère, Orlando Consort

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Loyset Compère

(Hainaut, c.1445 - St Quentin, 16 August 1518)

French composer. According to the poet Jean Molinet, Compère belonged to a family from St Omer, in the county of Artois; a Milanese document of 1476, moreover, describes him as a cleric of Arras, also in Artois. During the mid-1470s Compère belonged to the cappella of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan. Later he was a singer in the service of Charles VIII of France until at least 1498. After serving as dean of the church of St. Gery in Cambrai (1498-1500), he was provost of the collegiate church of St. Pierre in Douai until about 1504. From 1491 he also held a canonry at the collegiate church in St. Quentin. His extant works include Masses, mass sections, motetti, missales, a Magnificat, motets, motet-chansons, and frottolas. L. Finscher ed. his works in the Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae series (1958-72). He was one of the leading chanson and motet composers of the late 15th and early 16th centuries.

Unknown composer (18th Century) - Symphonia de Nativitate (1759)

Unknown composer (18th Century) - Symphonia de Nativitate (1759)

Performers: Warsaw Chamber Opera Orchestra; Mieczyslaw Nowakowski (1934-2017, conductor)

Painting: Jacques Guillaume van Blarenberghe (1691-1742) - Rural scene with figures

Further info: Symphonia de Nativitate (1759)

PALSCHAU, Johann Gottfried Wilhelm (1741-1815) - Sonata per Cembalo

Johann Gottfried Wilhelm Palschau (1741-1815) - Sonata (V, D-Dur) per Cembalo (c.1760), IJP 4

(World Premiere Recording)

Performers: Pau NG on Sibelius with samples of a German harpsichord (18th Century)

Painting: Johan Christian Claussen Dahl (1788-1857) - Copenhagen Harbor by Moonlight (1846)

Further info: Johann Gottfried Wilhelm Palschau (1741-1815)

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Johann Gottfried Wilhelm Palschau

(Copenhagen?, 21 December 1741 - St Petersburg, 5 July 1815)

Danish harpsichordist and composer. He was the son of the violinist Peter Jacob Palschau (c.1708-1793), who settled in Copenhagen around 1747, probably from Holstein. As a member of the Royal Opera orchestra in Copenhagen, he encouraged the musical career for his five sons. Johann Gottfried Wilhelm Palschau received music lessons from his father before touring Europe from an early age. He was performing in London (1754) and Hamburg (1761), and about 1771 he studied with Johann Gottfried Müthel in Riga. In 1777 he settled in St Petersburg, where he quickly found favour at court and pursued a highly successful career as a concert artist with the violinist L.P. Yershov. The last documented appearance took place there in 1800 where he accompanied the German singer H. Chr. Wunder. As a composer, only few works are extant, mainly for harpsichord; 2 harpsichord concertos (c.1771), several sonatas and a keyboard 'Aria Francois avec Variations'. His two daughters were singers and they took part on the Johann Adolph Scheibe's funeral music at Frederik V funeral in 1766.

CIMAROSA, Domenico (1749-1801) - Symphonie concertante (1793)

Domenico Cimarosa (1749-1801) - Symphonie concertante (en Sol majeur) pour Deux Flutes (1793)

Performers: Robert Dohn (1936-2015, flute); Helmut Steinkraus (flute);

Württembergisches Kammerorchester; Jörg Faerber (1929-2022, conductor)

Painting: Francesco Saverio Candido (1768-1807) - Domenico Cimarosa

Further info: Domenico Cimarosa (1749-1801) - Magnificat

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Domenico Cimarosa

(Aversa, 17 December 1749 - Venice, 11 January 1801)

Italian composer. Born into poverty, his family sent him to Naples to be educated. There his musical talent was recognized by a priest, Padre Polcano, who arranged for him to attend the Conservatorio di Santa Maria de Loreto, where his teachers included Niccolò Piccinni and Antonio Sacchini. In 1772 he had his first success at the Teatro Fiorentini with a pair of operas, Le stravaganze de conte and Le magie de Merlina e Zoroastro. Thereafter, he became one of the most popular and successful composers of opera buffa, working in virtually all of the major cities in Italy, beginning with Rome. In 1779 he was appointed as organist at the Cappella Reale in Naples. His fame grew internationally, so that in 1788 Russian empress Catherine II called him to St. Petersburg to write opera for the court. In 1792, however, economic circumstances forced her to reduce her theatre personnel, and Cimarosa left to accept an invitation of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II to write for Vienna. Traveling to the Imperial capital, he sojourned in Warsaw, where he composed three operas, before continuing on to Vienna, where his opera Il matrimonio segreto was a stunning success. Upon his return to Naples, he joined with the opposition to the French occupation, eventually in 1799 being imprisoned and condemned to death. The sentence was commuted to banishment, and an intended return to St. Petersburg was thwarted by his death in Venice on his journey. It was suspected that he had been poisoned by rivals, but an inquest revealed no hint of foul play. Cimarosa was once of the most prolific composers of the Classical period in terms of opera buffa. He wrote almost 100 operas (mostly buffa but also including the late intermezzo), six oratorios, 17 Masses, 16 miscellaneous sacred works, 10 solo motets, two Requiems, 10 secular cantatas, eight duets, seven patriotic hymns, 88 keyboard sonatas, six string quartets, two symphonies, two concertos (one for harpsichord, one for two flutes), two sextets (including one with lyra organizzata), and several partimenti. His style is fluid and facile, with a special focus on lyricism. Cimarosa solidified the potpourri opera buffa overture as a sequence of non-sequitur material in a single movement. He was a central figure in opera of the late 18th century.

BACH, Johann Christoph (1642-1703) - Es ist nun aus mit meinem Leben

Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703) - Es ist nun aus mit meinem Leben

Performers: English Baroque Soloists; John Eliot Gаrdіner (conductor)

Painting: Anoniem (18th Century) - Christ Handing a Nail to a Nun

Further info: Johann Christoph Bach - Welt, Gute Nacht 

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Johann Christoph Bach

(Arnstadt, bap. 18 December 1642 - Eisenach, bur. 2 April 1703)

German composer and organist, son of Heinrich Bach (1615-1692), organist and composer of the highest distinction among the earlier Bachs. He received early lessons from his father, and on 20 November 1663 was appointed organist of the Arnstadt castle chapel. Two years later he was invited by the Eisenach town council to apply for the post of organist at St Georg, and after an audition on 10 December 1665, he was appointed to that position and also to the post of harpsichordist in the court Kapelle of the Duke of Eisenach. He retained both positions until his death. In 1667, he married Maria Elisabeth Wiedemann and they had seven children, including four sons who became musicians: Johann Nicolaus Bach (1669-1753), Johann Christoph Bach Jr. (1676-1738), Johann Friedrich Bach (1682-1730), and Johann Michael Bach (1685-?). As a composer, C.P.E. Bach described him as a "great and expressive composer". He was probably the most important member of the family before Johann Sebastian Bach.

DELALANDE, Michel Richard (1657-1726) - Caprice des Simphonies pour le Souper du Roy (1703)

Michel Richard Delalande (1657-1726) - Caprice des Simphonies pour le Souper du Roy (1703) Performers: Orchestre de chambre Paul Kuentz; Paul Kuentz (conductor)

Painting: Adam-François van der Meulen (1632-1690) - L'entrée solennelle de Louis XIV et de Marie-Thérèse à Douai

Further info: Michel Richard Delalande (1657-1726) - Te Deum

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Michel-Richard Delalande [La Lande, De Lalande]

(Paris, 15 December 1657 - Versailles, 18 June 1726)

French composer, harpsichordist and organist. He was the leading composer of the high Baroque grand motet at the French court. He was the 15th child of Michel Lalande, a Parisian master tailor, and Claude Dumoutiers. He joined the choir of the royal church of St.Germain-l'Auxerrois about 1666 and sang there until his voice broke at age 15. He became a distinguished organist and harpsichordist, giving instruction on the latter to two of the daughters of Louis XIV by his mistress Mme. de Montespan. He was also active as a church organist in Paris. In 1683 he became one of the four sous-maitres of the Royal Chapel; he was in sole charge from 1714 until 1723, when Louis XV restored the other three positions. He then was joined by Campra, Bernier and Gervais. In 1685 he was named 'compositeur de la musique de la chambre', a title he solely held from 1709 to 1718. He also was 'surintendant de la musique de la chambre' from 1689 to 1719. He was made a Chevalier of the Order of St. Michel by Louis XV in 1722. Delalande's grand motets are outstanding, being notable for their mastery of the Versailles style. He is also distinguished by his music for the stage. He deftly used music from his ballets and divertissements in his 'Simphonies pour les soupers du Roi', which were played at the dinners of Louis XIV and Louis XV. According to the ‘Discours’, he died of pneumonia. He was buried in the church of Notre Dame de Versailles, not far from the château where he had served for 43 years.

DE CASTILLON, Alexis (1838-1873) - Quintette avec piano (1864)

Alexis de Castillon (1838-1873) - Quintette avec piano, Op.1 (1864)

Performers: Laurent Martin (piano); Satie Quartet

Painting: Servais Joseph Detilleux (1870-1940) - Familieportret (1904)

Further info: Alexis de Castillon (1838-1873) - Piano Concerto Op. 12 (1872)

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Marie-Alexis de Castillon [de Saint-Victor]

(Chartres, 13 December 1838 - Paris, 5 March 1873)

French composer. He was born into an old aristocratic family from Languedoc. He received piano lessons with Charles Delioux in a years he also met and befriended a young Camile Saint-Saëns. In 1856 his family sent him to the military academy of Saint Cyr where he remained until 1861, the year he decided to dedicate himself to music. Shortly after, he continued his training with Victor Massé. His first public appearance as a composer was in Pau where he befriended the Marquis d'Angosse. At the end of 1869 he met César Franck in an event that would become pivotal in his career. Later, he served during the Franco-Prussian War. After the war ended, he founded the Société Nationale de Musique with Saint-Saëns at a time he composed his Piano Concerto, Op.12 (1872) although its first performance went unnoticed. In 1872 he began the composition of Paraphrase du psaume lxxxiv, Op.17 considered his most outstanding work. However, his health was fastly decaying and on his return to Paris he died in March 1873. 

ZELTER, Carl Friedrich (1758-1832) - Concerto per il Viola di Braccia (1779)

Carl Friedrich Zelter (1758-1832) - Concerto per il Viola di Braccia, 2 Violini, 2 Viole, 2 Corni e Basso (1779)

Performers: Georg Schmid (1907-1984, viola); Kammerorchester Des Saarländischen Rundfunks, Saarbrücken;

Karl Ristenpart (1900-1967, conductor)

Painting: Thomas Hudson (1701-1779) - The Radcliffe Family (c.1742)

Further info: Carl Friedrich Zelter (1758-1832) - Lieder

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Carl (Karl) Friedrich Zelter

(Berlin, 11 December 1758 - Berlin, 15 May 1832)

German composer, conductor and teacher remembered primarily as a composer of lieder. The son of the mason George Zelter, he was brought up in the same trade, but his musical inclinations soon asserted themselves. He began training in piano and violin at 17, and from 1779 he was a part-time violinist in the Doebbelin Theater orchestra in Berlin. Also there he was a pupil of C.F.C. Fasch (1784-86). In 1786 he brought out a funeral cantata on the death of Frederick the Great. In 1791 he joined the Singverein (later Singakademie) conducted by Fasch, often acting as his deputy, and succeeding him in 1800. He was elected associate ("Assessor") of the Royal Academy of the Arts in Berlin in 1806, becoming a teacher in 1809. In 1807 he organized a Ripienschule for orchestra practice, and in 1809 he founded in Berlin the Liedertafel, a pioneer men's choral society that became famous; similar organizations were subsequently formed throughout Germany, and later in America. Zelter composed about 100 men's choruses for the Liedertafel. In 1822 he founded the Royal Institute for Church Music in Berlin, of which he was director until his death (the Institute was later reorganized as the Akademie fur Kirchen- und Schulmusik). His students, among others, included Mendelssohn, Meyerbeer, Loewe and Nicolai. Goethe greatly admired Zelter's musical settings of his poems, preferring them to Schubert's and Beethoven's; this predilection led to their friendship, which was reflected in a voluminous correspondence, 'Briefwechsel zwischen Goethe und Zelter' (ed. in 6 vols. by F.W. Riemer, Berlin, 1833-34; ed. in 3 vols. by L. Geiger, Leipzig, 1906; ed. in 4 vols. by M. Hecker, Leipzig, 1913; Eng. tr. by AD. Coleridge, London, 1887). His songs are historically important, since they form a link between old ballad types and the new art of the lied, which found its flowering in Schubert and Schumann. Zelter's settings of Goethe's 'König von Thule' and of 'Es ist ein Schuss gefallen' became extremely popular. He published a biography of C.F.C. Fasch (Berlin, 1801). Zelter's autobiography was first published under the title 'C.F. Zelter. Eine Lebensbeschreibung nach autobiographischen Manuscripten', ed. by W. Rintel, then as 'C.F. Zelter. Darstellungen seines Lebens' (Weimar, 1931).

GUGLIELMI, Pietro Alessandro (1728-1804) - Dixit a 8 concertato (c.1797)

Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi (1728-1804) - Dixit a 8 concertato (c.1797)

Performers: Der Domchor Münster; Santini Kammerorchester; Heinz-Gert Freimuth (1939-2009, conductor)

Painting: Pietro Francesco Garoli (1638-1716) - A view of the Piazza del Campidoglio, Rome

Further info: Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi (1728-1804) - Quartetto in sol maggiore, Op.1 (c.1768)

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Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi

(Massa, 9 December 1728 - Rome, 19 November 1804)

Italian composer. Son of Jacopo Guglielmi, his earliest studies were with Francesco Durante at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto in Naples, from which he emerged in 1753 as an opera composer with his first major success in Turin two years later. During the next decade, he wrote no fewer than 25 operas; these included such popular works as Il ratto della sposa (1765) and La Sposa fedele (1767), which, along with L'impresa d'opera (1769), were performed throughout Europe with notable success. By 1762 he had been called to Dresden to direct opera (though not as Kapellmeister), and in 1768 he moved to London before returning to Italy in 1772. There he received commissions for his works from around the country. He made a home in Naples in 1777, but in 1793 he was appointed as maestro di cappella at St. Peter’s in Rome. In 1797 he also assumed the post of maestro di cappella at S. Lorenzo Lucina. Considered one of the most popular composers principally of opera buffa during his lifetime, he was known for good lyrical melodies and a progressive sense of harmony. His works have been little studied, and what research exists focuses mainly upon his operas (about 100). In addition, he composed nine oratorios, a Requiem, and nine celebratory cantatas, as well as a considerable amount of instrumental music. 

DUSSEK, František Xaver (1731-1799) - Sinfonia in C (c.1767)

František Xaver Dušek (1731-1799) - Sinfonia in C (c.1767)

Performers: Czech Chamber Philharmonic; Vοjtěch Spurný (conductor)

Engraving: Martin Tyroff (1704-1759) und Johann Andreas Pfeffel (1674-1748) - Zwei Prager

Ansichten Prospect des Platzes bei dem Neustädter Rathaus

Further info: Franz Xaver Dussek (1731-1799) - Piano Concertos

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František (Franz) Xaver Dušek [Duschek, Duscheck, Dussek]

(Chotěborky, bap. 8 December 1731 - Prague, 12 February 1799)

Bohemian composer, pianist and music teacher. The son of a peasant, he was enabled by his patron, Count Johann Karl Sporck, to attend the Jesuit Gymnasium at Hradec Králové. Later he was sent to Prague to study under Franz Habermann and subsequently Vienna under Georg Christoph Wagenseil. In 1770 he returned to Prague where he was associated with the musical establishments of Counts Pachta and Clam- Gallas, in addition to making a living teaching and composing. The most outstanding of his pupils were Leopold Kozeluch, Jan Vitásek and Vincenc Mašek. On 21 October 1776 he was married to Josefa Hambacher (1754-1824), a mezzo-soprano highly appreciated for the sonority, range and flexibility of her voice, for her musicianship, and superb execution of both bravura arias and recitatives. As a composer, Dušek was known for its elaborate structures and short development sections. His works include 37 symphonies, five serenades, nine concertos (almost all for fortepiano), four sinfonia concertantes, 37 parthies, 21 trios, 14 keyboard sonatas for four hands, eight keyboard sonatas, and five songs. Other works, particularly those for the voice and church, have issues of attribution.

DE MAJO, Giuseppe (1697-1771) - Concerto per Flauto Traverso

Giuseppe de Majo (1697-1771) - Concerto (in sol maggiore) per Flauto Traverso con 2. violini violetta et Basso

Performers: Carlo Ipаtа (flute); Ausеr Musici

Painting: Pittore Napoletano del XVIII Secolo - Musici

Further info: Neapolitan Flute Concertos

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Giuseppe de Majo [Maio]

(Naples, 5 December 1697 - Naples, 18 November 1771)

Italian composer and organist, father of Gian Francesco de Majo (1732-1770). Following study at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini under Nicola Fago and Andrea Basso, he became associated with the Teatro Fiorentini beginning in 1725 as a composer of operas. His first stage work, the opera buffa 'Lo finto laccheo', was premiered there in 1725. By 1736, however, he was appointed as 'organista soprannumerario' at the Cappella Reale, promoted to provicemaestro in August 1737 and to vicemaestro in 1744. After the death of the primo maestro Leonardo Leo in 1744, he competed for the post the following year, against Porpora, Fago and Durante, and on 9 September 1745 he became primo maestro in a post he held until his death. As a composer, his works reflect Baroque stylistic idioms, particularly his sacred music. His output includes 10 operas, an oratorio, six cantatas, and four sacred works, though many others remain undiscovered. 

SOLER Y RAMOS, Antonio (1729-1783) - Concierto VI en re mayor (c.1770)

Antonio Soler y Ramos (1729-1783) - Concierto VI en re mayor (c.1770)

Performers: Joseph Payne (1937-2008, clavecin); Anthony Newman (clavecin)

Engraving: Georg Braun (1541-1622) & Franz Hogenberg (1539-1590) - Scenographia totius fabricae S. Laurentii in Escoriali (1575)

Further info: Antonio Soler (1729-1783) - Magnificat Secundi Toni

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[Padre] Antonio (Francisco Javier José) Soler y Ramos

(Olot, bap. 3 December 1729 - El Escorial, 20 December 1783)

Spanish composer and organist. At the age of six, after instruction from his father, Marcos Mateo Pedro Soler (a band musician in the regiment of Numancia), he entered the famous music school Escolanía in the monastery of Montserrat where he studied under Benito Esteve, Andrés Jaumeandreu and Benito Valls. By 1744 he had taken Holy Orders and obtained the post of organist at the cathedral of La Seu d’Urgell, later functioning as director in Lleida and finally at El Escorial in Madrid, in a post he held the rest of his life. There he taught the royal family, as well as living a simple life in the Heironymite monastery of San Lorenzo. In 1762 he published a treatise on harmony, 'Llave de la modulación'. Soler can be considered one of the major composers of the middle of the 18th century in Spain, whose reputation especially for his keyboard sonatas achieved international recognition. He composed some 200 of these, as well as 132 villancicos, 60 Psalms, 25 hymns, 13 Magnificats, nine Masses, six quintets for organ and strings, six concertos for solo organ, five Requiems, and five motets, as well as some miscellaneous pieces, over 500 compositions in total. His musical style shows the development of the sonata principle in his sonatas, and the organ concertos are still performed regularly today as exemplars of a florid church style. His brother Mateu Soler y Ramos (c.1720-1799) was a bassoon player and composer.

GIGLI, Innocenzo (1708-1772) - Vesperae solemnes in festo Pentecostis

Innocenzo Gigli (1708-1772) - Vesperae solemnes in festo Pentecostis

Performers: Ayse Sеnеr (soprano); Elöise Cеnаc-Mοrthé (mezzosoprano); David Bеuchеr (tenor);

Felipe Olivеira (baritono); Cantores Sancti Joseph; Ensemble da camera da “La Grande Orchestra” di Faenza;

Daniele Bοnοncini (conductor)

Painting: Antonio Joli (1700-1777) - View of the flooded Piazza Navona, Rome

Further info: Innocenzo Gigli (1708-1772)

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Innocenzo Gigli

(Finale Emilia, 3 December 1708 - Modena, 1 August 1772)

Italian composer. Son of Francesco Antonio Gigli and Francesca Paola Castellacci, the earliest news of him comes from the sacred orders certificates preserved in the Modena Archbishop's Archives. It is documented he attended the Schola Doctrinae Christianae from 1716 to 1731. In 1729 he was ordained subdeacon, then deacon (1730) and finally priest on December 1731. About his musical career it is deduced he received music lessons by local masters based in Modena, such as Francesco Buoni and Antonio Toselli. The main composer active there was Antonio Maria Pacchioni, maestro di cappella at Modena Cathedral and with whom he probably studied. About 1734 he was appointed chaplain and music teacher at the Modena's brotherhood of the SS. Rosary. Later, in touch with Padre Martini, he was elected as a member of Philharmonic Academy of Bologna. After the death of Antonio Maria Pacchioni, he was promoted to maestro di cappella at Modena Cathedral a post he held until his death in 1772.

LOEWE, Johann Carl (1796-1869) - Grosse Sonate für das Pianoforte (1829)

Johann Carl Loewe (1796-1869) - Grosse Sonate (E-Dur) für das Pianoforte, Op.16 (1829)

Performers: Tobias Kοch (pianoforte); Gesine Adlеr (soprano)

Painting: Gustave Léonard de Jonghe (1829-1893) - Practicing

Further info: Carl Loewe (1796-1869) - Piano Concerto in A major

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Johann Carl (Gottfried) Loewe

(Löbejün, 30 November 1796 - Kiel, 20 April 1869)

German composer and singer. He was the twelfth and youngest child of the Kantor and schoolmaster Adam Loewe (?-1826), from whom he received his first musical education. When he was 12 he was sent to the Francke Institute in Halle, where his attractive manner, excellent high voice, and early ability to improvise brought him to the attention of Jerome Bonaparte, who granted him stipend of 300 thalers annually until 1813. His teacher was Daniel Gottlob Türk, the head of the Francke Institute; after Turk's death in 1813, Loewe joined the Singakademie founded by Johann Friedrich Naue. He also studied theology at the University of Halle, but soon devoted himself entirely to music. He had begun to compose as a boy; under the influence of Zelter, he wrote German ballades, and developed an individual style of great dramatic force and lyrical inspiration; he perfected the genre, and was regarded by many musicians as the greatest song composer after Schubert and before Brahms. In 1820 he became a schoolmaster at Stettin, and in 1821 music director there and organist at St. Jacobus Cathedral. He lived in Stettin, except for frequent travels, until 1866, when he settled in Kiel. He visited Vienna (1844), London (1847), Sweden and Norway (1851), and Paris (1857), among other places. During his long career in Stettin, he established a reputation across Europe both as a composer and a singer. Much respected at the Prussian court, where he was a favourite of both Friedrich Wilhelm III and Friedrich Wilhelm IV, he was elected a member of the Berlin Academy in 1837. Loewe was also active as a music teacher. His most famous student, whom he taught composition from 1841 to 1847, was Emilie Mayer. As a composer, he wrote 6 operas, hundreds of songs and ballades, several cantatas, 2 symphonies, 2 piano concertos, 4 string quartets, a Piano Trio and piano sonatas.

DONIZETTI, Gaetano (1797-1848) - Sinfonia per la morte di Capuzzi (1818)

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) - Sinfonia (in re minore) per la morte di [Antonio] Capuzzi (1818)

Performers: Camerata Budapest; László Kοvács (conductor)

Painting: Francesco Ferrari (1811-1878) - Ritratto di Gaetano Donizetti

Further info: Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) - Kyrie e Gloria in Re maggiore

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(Domenico) Gaetano (Maria) Donizetti

(Bergamo, 29 November 1797 - Bergamo 8 April 1848)

Italian composer. His father was from a poor family of artisans who obtained the position of caretaker in the local pawnshop. At the age of nine, he entered the Lezioni Caritatevoli di Musica, a charity institution that served as the training school for the choristers of S. Maria Maggiore; he studied singing and harpsichord there, later studying harmony and counterpoint with J.5. Mayr. With the encouragement and assistance of Mayr, he enrolled in the Liceo Filarmonico Comunale in Bologna in 1815, where he studied counterpoint with Pilotti; later, he studied counterpoint and fugue with Padre Mattei. His first opera, Il Pigmalione (1816), appears never to have been performed in his lifetime. He composed two more operas in quick succession, but they were not performed. Leaving the Liceo in 1817, he was determined to have an opera produced. Mayr helped him to obtain his first professional engagement, a commission that resulted in Enrico di Borgogna, performed in November 1818 at the Teatro di S Luca in Venice. Up to this point Donizetti's professional activities had been confined to northern Italy and to smaller theatres, but in 1821 he was invited to compose a new opera for the Teatro Argentina in Rome. The resulting work, Zoraid di Granata, was Donizetti's most successful yet, winning him an invitation from the leading impresario of the time, Domenico Barbaja, to write for Naples. Donizetti settled in Naples in February 1822 and was to be based there for the next 16 years. With Anna Bolena (Milan, 1830), Donizetti established himself as a master of the Italian operatic theater. Composed for Pasta and Rubini, the opera was an overwhelming success. Within a few years it was produced in several major Italian theaters, and was also heard in London, Paris, Dresden, and other cities. Donizetti left Naples in October 1838 and moved permanently to Paris. In March 1842 Rossini attempted to persuade Donizetti to accept the post of maestro di cappella at the cathedral of San Petronio in Bologna, but Donizetti declined in order to accept the far more prestigious position of Hofkapellmeister to the Habsburg court in Vienna and court composer to the Austrian emperor. The last opera produced in his lifetime was Caterina Cornaro (Naples, 1844). By this time Donizetti began to age quickly; in 1845 his mental and physical condition progressively deteriorated as the ravages of syphilis reduced him to the state of an insane invalid. In 1846 he was placed in a mental clinic at Ivry, just outside Paris; in 1847 he was released into the care of his nephew, and was taken to his birthplace where he died on 8 April 1848.

KROMMER, Franz (1759-1831) - Concerto Pour deux Clarinettes (c.1802)

Franz Vinzenz Krommer (1759-1831) - Concerto Pour deux Clarinettes

composé et dédié à M. de Marsano, Op.35 (c.1802)

Performers: Ludmila Pеtеrková (clarinet); Marjolein de Rοοs (clarinet);

Czech Ensemble Baroque; Roman Válеk (conductor)

Drawing: Unknown - Volkssänger in einem Gasthaus (c.1850)

Further info: Franz Krommer (1759-1831) - Clarinet Concerto Op.91 (c.1815)

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Franz Vinzenz (František Vincenc) Krommer [Kramář]

(Kamenice u Třebíče, 27 November 1759 - Vienna, 8 January 1831)

Moravian composer. He was the son of the innkeeper and later mayor of Kamenice Jiří Kramář (1737–1810), and the nephew of the composer and choirmaster Anton Matthias Krommer (1742-1804) with whom he studied violin and organ. Later he was self-taught in composition. He became a violinist in the orchestra of the Duke of Styrum in Simontornya (1786), becoming his music director (1788). Towards the end of 1790 he became Kapellmeister of Pécs Cathedral; after 1793 he acted as Kapellmeister and composer in the service of a Duke Karolyi and later of Prince Antal Grassalkovich de Gyarak. In 1798 he became Kapellmeister to Duke Ignaz Fuchs. Then he returned to Vienna where in 1806 he applied, unsuccessfully, to join the Vienna Hofkapelle as a violinist. In 1810 he was appointed Ballett-Kapellmeister at the Wien Hofkapelle. On 14 June 1815 he was appointed Kammertürhüter to the emperor, and in this office accompanied Emperor Franz I to Paris and Padua in the same year, and to Verona, Milan and Venice in 1816. From 13 September 1818 until his death he succeeded Leopold Anton Kozeluch as the last official director of chamber music and court composer to the Habsburg emperors. As a composer, he wrote over 300 works, among them, accomplished solo concertos for wind instruments, as well as symphonies, sacred works, much chamber music and piano pieces. He was one of the most successful of the many influential Moravian composers in Vienna at the turn of the 18th century. His son August Krommer (1807-1842), an insurance agent in Vienna, was for a time a violinist in the orchestra of the Burgtheater, and also appeared in public as a pianist in 1833.

DIAS DE OLIVEIRA, Manoel (c.1735-1813) - Te Deum laudamus

Manoel Dias de Oliveira (c.1735-1813) - Te Deum laudamus

Performers: Camerata Antiqua de Curitiba; Roberto de Regina (conductor)

Painting: Vinzenz Fischer (1729-1810) - Triumphzug eines Feldherrn durch den Titusbogen (1791)

 Further info: Te Deum

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Manoel Dias de Oliveira

(São José del Rei [now Tiradentes], c.1735 - São José del Rei, 19 August 1813)

Brazilian composer, organist and conductor. He was active in the province of Minas Gerais during the late colonial period and worked as a scribe in several brotherhoods in São José del Rei and São João del Rei. In the register of death certificates and wills at the church of S Antônio in his native city he is described as ‘mestre compositor de muzica’. According to research by J.M. Neves, Oliveira was also a captain and a mulatto. His rather extensive output includes a Mass, a Miserere, Te Deum, Magnificat, novenas, litanies and motets. The works are preserved chiefly in the archives of the Lira Sanjoanense Orchestra and the Lira Ceciliana, though few of the manuscripts are autograph.

ATTWOOD, Thomas (1765-1838) - Trio for the piano forte, violin and violoncello obligato (c.1787)

Thomas Attwood (1765-1838) - Trio for the piano forte, violin and violoncello obligato, Op. I (c.1787)

Performers: Concilium Musicum Wien

Painting: George Barret (1723-1784) - River Landscape

Further info: Les Élèves De Mozart

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Thomas Attwood

(London, bap. 23 November 1765 - London, 24 March 1838)

English composer and organist. His father, Thomas Attwood, was an under-page to George III, and a viola player and trumpeter in the King's Band. Throughout his life Attwood benefited from royal patronage. At 9, he became a chorister at the Chapel Royal. In 1781 he was made one of the Pages of the Presence to the Prince of Wales, who made it possible for him to study in Naples with Felipe Cinque and Gaetano Latilla (1783-85). He then went to Vienna, where he received composition lessons from Mozart. In 1787 he returned to England and resumed his court position. He was made music teacher to the Duchess of York in 1791 and to the Princess of Wales in 1795. In 1796 he became organist at St. Paul's Cathedral and composer at the Chapel Royal. In 1813 he helped to organize the Philharmonic Society of London, with which he appeared as a conductor. When the Royal Academy of Music in London was organized in 1823, he was made a professor. In 1825 he became musician-in-ordinary to the king. He was named organist of the Chapel Royal in 1836. Mendelssohn became his close friend, and among his students were his godson, Thomas Attwood Walmisley, George Bridgetower and Cipriani Potter. Attwood's compositions, whether for the stage, the church or the home, were profoundly affected by his intense experience as Mozart's pupil. His output includes music for some 30 stage works, several instrumental pieces, much vocal music, including the fine coronation anthems 'I was glad' (1821) and 'O Lord, grant the king a long life' (1831), a Service in F, songs and glees. Thomas Attwood Walmisley edited 'Services and Anthems Composed by T. A.' (London, 1852).

BACH, Wilhelm Friedemann (1710-1784) - Sinfonia a 6 (c.1740)

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1784) - Sinfonia (d-moll) â 2 Travers:, 2 Violini, Viola et Basso (c.1740), Fk 65

Performers: Akademie für Alte Musik Bеrlin; Stephen Mаi (conductor)

Painting: Jan Josef Horemans II (1714-1792) - Romantic scene (1760)

Further info: Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1784) - Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen (c.1754)

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Wilhelm Friedemann Bach

(Weimar, 22 November 1710 - Berlin, 1 July 1784)

German composer and organist. The eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach, he received his earliest musical training from his father, later enrolling in the Thomasschule in Leipzig. In 1726 he was sent to Merseburg to study violin under Johann Gottlieb Graun, returning in 1729 to enroll in Leipzig University. There he studied mathematics, but in 1733 he was appointed organist at the Sophiakirche in Dresden. In 1746 he was appointed as organist at the Liebfraukirche in the Pietist city of Halle. Unfortunately, his relations with the town fathers and his cantor Georg Mittag were problematic, and he began to apply for other posts throughout Germany without success, although he was allowed in 1762 to style himself as Kapellmeister to the court of Hessen-Darmstadt even though he did not obtain the position. In 1764 he simply quit his position and began to support himself through private teaching, eventually leaving for Braunschweig in 1770 and subsequently for Berlin four years later. There, he continued to teach even though he was initially welcomed at the court of Anna Amalia, the sister of Frederick II of Prussia. His last years were spent in extreme poverty exacerbated by alcoholism. Although active as a composer, his reputation during his lifetime was primarily for his keyboard improvisation, no doubt due in part to the rigorous training provided by his father. His music, however, is often characterized by a mixture of older styles (also inherited from his father) and a sense of harmonic and formal experimentation that often created extreme contrast and jarring dissonances. Not surprisingly, some of his earlier compositions were so close in style to those of his father that they were misattributed. He was a good teacher; his students include his brother Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, and Johann Nikolaus Forkel, with whom he also collaborated on that author’s biography of Johann Sebastian Bach. His music, cataloged according to F (Falck) or BR numbers, consists of 32 cantatas (two secular); an opera, Lausus und Lydie; two Masses and several Mass movements; a German Te Deum; several other smaller sacred settings; 15 keyboard sonatas; 18 works for musical clockwork; around 40 polonaises; 10 keyboard fantasies; some 40 or so miscellaneous works for the keyboard; 11 fugues/canons; three sonatas for two keyboards (one titled “concerto”); eight symphonies; seven concertos (five for keyboard, and one each for flute and two harpsichords); a sextet; nine flute duets; three viola duets; and five trio sonatas. The famous portrait by Wilhelm Weitsch is now known to portray his cousin.

CIRRI, Ignazio (1711-1787) - Sonata per Clavicembalo e Violino

Ignazio Cirri (1711-1787) - Sonata (in do maggiore) per Clavicembalo e Violino, Op.2 (c.1772)

Performers: Luca Gіаrdіnі (violin); Filippo Pаntіerі (clavecin)

Painting: Sebastiano Lazzari (c.1730-c.1790) - A trompe l'oeil with musical instruments

Further info: Cirri - Sonatas

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(Giacomo Matteo) Ignazio Cirri

(Forli, 20 November 1711 - Forli, 13 July 1787)

Italian composer and organist. Brother of the cellist and composer Giovanni Battista Cirri (1724-1808), his musical education was obtained locally. In 1758 he took Holy Orders and was elected to the Accademia Filarmonica in Bologna, where he was closely in touch with Padre Martini. The following year he obtained the post as maestro di cappella at Forlì a post he held the rest of his life. Little has been studied on his musical style or works; he published a set of Dodici Sonate per organo, Op.1 (London, 1770) and Sei Sonate per clavicembalo con accompagnamento per violino, Op.2 (London, c.1772). Two sacred pieces, a Chirie e Gloria a Quattro con Strumenti and a Credo a 5, are preserved only in manuscript. 

GEREMIA, Giuseppe (1732-1814) - Missa pro defunctis (1809)

Giuseppe Geremia (1732-1814) - Missa pro defunctis (1809)

Performers: Katia Ricciarelli (soprano); Salvatore Fisichella (tenor); Furio Zanasi (baritone); Francesca Aparo (alto); Camerata Polifonica Siciliana; Douglas Bostock (conductor)

Painting: Jakob Becker (1810-1872) - Der vom Blitz erschlagene Schäfer (1844)

Further info: Missa Pro Defunctis : Tantum Ergo

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Giuseppe Geremia

(Catania, 19 November 1732 - Catania, January 1814)

Italian composer. He studied in Naples at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto, where he was a pupil of Francesco Durante. His first work, an oratorio entitled The Flight into Egypt or Jesus Stolen into Egypt, dates from this Neapolitan period. Together with Nicola Logroscino and Giacomo Insanguine he composed the music for the comic opera L'innamorato balordo (1763). In 1773 he became maestro di cappella in Catania at both the cathedral and the Benedictine abbey of San Nicolò l'Arena. He later left the cathedral post to his pupil Giacinto Castorina in 1800 but retained the abbey position at least until 1807. Geremia's surviving works include about 100 sacred compositions held in manuscript mostly in Catania. Among these are the dialogo teatrale La città d'Abella liberata of 1780, 12 other oratorios including Mosé trionfante (1800) and Il ritorno di Noemi (1802), two secular and two sacred cantatas and 23 masses, including a Missa pro defunctis (1809) and Messa breve in F (1810). Together with Vincenzo Tobia Bellini, he was the most prominent composer in Catania in the second half of the 18th Century.

KREUTZER, Rodolphe (1766-1831) - Concerto pour Violon (1806)

Rodolphe Kreutzer (1766-1831) - Concerto (en sol majeur) pour Violon, No.17 (1806)

Performers: Axel Strаuss (violin); San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra; Andrew Mοgrеlia (conductor)

Painting: Unknown artist - Portrait of the composer Rodolphe Kreutzer 

Further info: Rodolphe Kreutzer (1766-1831) - Violin Concertos Nos.13 & 14 (1803)

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Rodolphe Kreutzer

(Versailles, 16 November 1766 - Geneva, 6 January 1831)

French violinist, composer and teacher. His father, a wind player, gave him early instruction in music; he began studying violin and composition with Anton Stamitz in 1778. On 25 May 1780, he played a Stamitz violin concerto at the Paris Concert Spirituel, and returned there in May 1784 to play his own first Violin Concerto. In 1785 he became a member of the king's music, and soon established a notable reputation as a virtuoso. In 1789 he settled in Paris, where he first gained success as a composer for the theater with his opera-comique Paul et Virginie (1791). His opera-comique Lodoiska (1791) was also a success, being accorded an even warmer reception than Cherubini's score of the same name. In 1793 Kreutzer became a professor at the Institute National de Musique; when it became the Paris Conservatory in 1795, he remained on its faculty, retiring in 1826. Beginning in 1798 he made a number of outstanding concert appearances at the Theatre Feydeau and the Opera in Paris, being made solo violin at the latter in 1801; he also became a member of Napoleon's chapel orchestra (1802) and of his private orchestra (1806). His ballet-pantomime Paul et Virginie (1806) found favor with Paris audiences, as did his ballet Les Amours d'Antoine et Cleopatre (1808) and his comedie lyrique Aristippe (1808). In 1810 he suffered a broken arm in a carriage accident, which effectively put an end to his career. However, he continued to hold his various positions as a violinist. In 1815 he was made maitre de la chapelle du roi. In 1816 he was appointed second conductor, and in 1817 first conductor at the Opera, retaining this post until 1824, at which time he became director (1824-26). His last opera, Matilde (c.1826-27), was refused by the Opera management. By then in declining health, he spent his remaining years in retirement. Kreutzer was one of the foremost violinists of his era. With Pierre Baillot and Pierre Rode, he stands as one of the founders of the French violin school. Beethoven greatly admired his playing, and was moved to dedicate his Violin Sonata, Op.47 (the Kreutzer), to him. Kreutzer's most celebrated publication remains the brilliant 42 etudes ou caprices for Unaccompanied Violin. He also composed a number of fine violin concertos. His renown as a teacher brought him many students, including his brother Jean Nicolas Auguste Kreutzer (1778-1832), Charles Philippe Lafont and Lambert Massart. With Rode and Baillot, he published 'Methode de violon' (1803).

ZACHOW, Friedrich Wilhelm (1663-1712) - Das ist das ewige Leben

Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow (1663-1712) - Das ist das ewige Leben

Performers: Veronika Wintеr (soprano); Franz Vіtzthum (alto); Immo Schrödеr (tenor); Markus Flаіg (bass);

Rheinische Kаntorеi; Das Klеinе Konzert; Hermann Mаx (conductor)

Painting: Louis Chéron (1660-c.1715) - The Marriage of Hercules and Hebe

Further info: Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow (1663-1712) - Cantatas

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Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow [Zachau]

(Leipzig, bap. 14 November 1663 - Halle, 7 August 1712)

German composer and organist. His maternal grandfather and father were Stadtpfeifer, and he received training in organ and as a Stadtpfeifer. In 1676 he went with his family to Eilenburg, where he most likely studied with Johann Hildebrand. From 1684 until his death he was organist at the Marienkirche in Halle, where he also led the noted musical performances every third Sunday. Zachow was one of the leading composers of church cantatas and keyboard works of his day. He is remembered chiefly as Handel's teacher but is important in his own right as a composer of church cantatas and keyboard music. Zachow became an eminent teacher and besides Handel his pupils included Gottfried Kirchhoff, J.G. Krieger and J.G. Ziegler. Surviving from an apparently large output, are about 30 cantatas in various forms from sacred concerto to operatic, a chorale mass, 3 Latin motets, about 50 keyboard chorales, and about 20 assorted keyboard works.

ROMBERG, Bernhard (1767-1841) - Grosse Kinder-Symphonie (1836)

Bernhard Romberg (1767-1841) - Grosse Kinder-Symphonie (C-Dur) FÜR Wachtel, Nachtigall, Kukuk, Schnarre, Triangel, Trompete, Trommel, (Nürnberger Kinderinstrumente.)

Zwei Violinen und Bass oder PIANOFORTE, Op.62 (1836)

Performers: Orchestra de chambre 'Pro Arte' de Munich; Kurt Rеdеl (1918-2013, conductor)

Drawing: Thomas Rowlandson (1757-1827) - A Musical Family (1802)

Further info: Bernhard Romberg (1767-1841) - Cello Concerto No.5 (1823)

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Bernhard Heinrich Romberg

(Dinklage, 13 November 1767 Hamburg, 13 August 1841)

German cellist and composer son of the bassoonist and cellist Bernhard Anton Romberg (1742-1814). He learnt the cello from his father before begin his career in Munster when he appeared with his cousin Andreas Jakob Romberg (1767-1821) at age 7; they toured with their fathers thereafter, making visits to Frankfurt am Main (1782) and Paris (1784, 1785). After playing in the Bonn electoral orchestra (1790-93), they fled in the face of the French invasion and went to Hamburg, where they were members of the opera orchestra at the Ackermann Theater; they then toured Italy (1795-96) and visited Vienna (1796), where they became friends of Joseph Haydn. After further travels in Italy and another visit to Paris (1801), the cousins pursued separate careers. Bernhard Heinrich visited Spain in 1801, served as professor of cello at the Paris Conservatory (1801-03), and then joined the Berlin Royal Court Orchestra (1805). He visited Russia in 1807 and England in 1814, and was Berlin Hofkapellmeister (1816-19). In 1820 he went to Hamburg, which he made his home with the exception of another Berlin sojourn (1826-31); also made extensive tours as a virtuoso. He published 'Methode de violoncelle' (Berlin, 1840). As a composer, his works include two motets, six stage works (some monodramas), numerous Lieder, nine symphonies, 19 concertos (mainly violin and cello), 50 rondos for strings and piano, 11 string quartets, six trios, and a number of keyboard works. He had two children who pursued musical careers: Bernhardine Romberg (1803-1878), a concert singer, and Karl Romberg (1811-1897), a cellist in the St. Petersburg German Opera orchestra (1830-42).