dimecres, 19 de juny del 2024

KRAUS, Joseph Martin (1756-1792) - Sinfonie ur Es Dur

Johann Georg Schütz (1755-1813) - Portrait of a Musician (Portrait of the Composer Joseph Martin Kraus) (1782)


Joseph Martin Kraus (1756-1792) - Sinfonie ur Es Dur, VB 144
Performers: Svenska Kammarorkestern; Petter Sundkvist (conductor)

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German composer. Born in the Electorate of Mainz to a local assessor, he exhibited precocious talent for both literature and music at an early age. Trained at the local school in Buchen, he was sent to the Jesuit Gymnasium und Musikschule in Mannheim, where he received education in music from members of the Mannheim Kapelle and literature under Pater Anton Klein. In 1773 he published a volume of poetry under Versuch von Schäfersgedichte while in attendance at Mainz University. The following year he moved to Erfurt to continue his studies in law, receiving further musical training from Georg Peter Weimar and Johann Christian Kittel. The indictment of his father on charges of bribery forced him to return home, where he published a tragedy, Tolon, and devoted his energies toward writing music for the Buchen church, including oratorios Die Geburt Jesu and Der Tod Jesu. Resuming his study of law at Göttingen University in 1776, he was persuaded to seek his fortune in Sweden at the court of Gustav III by a fellow student. He also published an aesthetical treatise, Etwas von und über Musik fürs Jahr 1776, which applies the emotional philosophy of the literary Sturm und Drang to music. After several years of trying to obtain a position, he was finally appointed assistant kapellmästare in 1781 after the successful trial performance of his opera Proserpin. From 1782 to 1786 he undertook a grand tour of Germany, Austria, Italy, England, and France to observe the latest musical and theatrical trends. Upon his return to Stockholm, he was appointed as the educational director of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and in 1788 as full kapellmästare. An active participant in all aspects of music, he helped to form Gustavian cultural policy. He died of tuberculosis shortly after the assassination of his patron in 1792. As a composer he was lauded by Joseh Haydn and Christoph Willibald von Gluck as one of the most original geniuses of the period, a sentiment that was echoed by Johann Baptist Cramer (who ranked him among the five most important composers of the age) and Johann Friedrich Reichardt. His compositions include five operas (including a titanic six-act work, Aeneas i Cartago), three ballets, 18 symphonies, five violin sonatas, at least eight concertos (violin, viola, flute, and cello), two piano sonatas, and over 100 songs and piano cantatas. His music has been cataloged by VB (van Boer) numbers.

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