Un portal on escoltar i gaudir de l'art musical dels segles XVI, XVII, XVIII i XIX. Compartir la bellesa de la música és l'objectiu d'aquest espai i fer-ho donant a conèixer obres de compositors molt o poc coneguts és el mètode.
Antonín Mašát (1692-1747)
- Offertorium 'Jubilate apparenti Domino' a Canto, Alto, Tenore,
Basso,
Violinis 2, Clarinis 2, Tympanis et Fondamento
Performers: Hana Blazikova (soprano); Petra Noskaiova (mezzosoprano);
Ondrej Smid (tenor); Vojtech Safarik (bass); Pueri Gaudentes; Capella
Regia Praha; Robert Hugo (conductor)
Bohemian composer and scholar. He received his education within the
Piarist system, completing his studies in philosophy and theology at the
order's schools. As a member of the Piarist Order, he was obligated to
teach. He excelled not only in music but also in scientific and
scholarly pursuits, which was characteristic of the Piarist educational
tradition. He is known to have published works on optics and related
sciences, demonstrating a broad intellectual scope typical of
Baroque-era priest-scholars. His musical activities were primarily
centered around the institutions of his order in Bohemia and Moravia,
including schools and churches. He used the Latinized pseudonym Antonín
Maschat (or Remigius Maschat) for some of his work, which has sometimes
led to confusion with other contemporary composers. His extant works are
entirely sacred, including one Requiem, the Missa 'Sancti Attalae
Abbat', litanies, and offertories.
German abbot and composer. He was the son of Michael Müller and
Magdalena Höltschi. At the age of 12, he joined the school of Einsiedeln
Abbey, which he entered as a novice on January 20, 1742. A year later,
he took his vows, and in 1748, he was ordained as a priest. It was
likely while studying in Milan and during his time in Bellinzona that he
became acquainted with the practice of playing on several organs. In
1763, he was recalled to Einsiedeln to take up the office of Subprior.
Concurrently, starting in 1771, he reorganized the abbey's archive. On
August 11, 1773, he was elected Abbot of Einsiedeln, a post he held for
the rest of his life. As a composer, he wrote several sacred songs as
well as masses, hymns, psalms, and motets. He also left behind
one-movement pieces for organ intended for specific liturgical
celebrations.
Spanish composer. Baptized in the Santa Maria del Mar parish in
Barcelona, he began his musical studies as a choirboy at the Escolania
de Montserrat. In 1778 he was appointed 'maestro de capilla' at Seu
d'Urgell Cathedral. After his ordination as a priest in 1780, he secured
the post of 'maestro de capilla' at Girona Cathedral in 1781,
succeeding Francesc Juncà, and in a post he held until 1785. In that
year he transferred to Córdoba to assume this magisterium, a position he
retained until his death, with one brief interruption between 1787 to
1789 to assume the post of 'maestro de capilla' of the Royal Convent of
La Encarnación in Madrid. As a composer, his legacy is exceptionally
prolific, with a corpus that exceeds 900 cataloged compositions, mainly
sacred. His style is rooted in the classicism of the Viennese school.
German composer, pianist and conductor. Sister of Felix Mendelssohn
(1809-1847), she was the eldest of four children born into a
post-Enlightenment, cultured Jewish family. She enjoyed an excellent
general and musical education throughout her childhood, but while he was
encouraged to pursue music professionally, she was prevented from doing
so by her father. Nevertheless, music remained centrally important to
her within private spaces such as the salon. She received her earliest
musical instruction from her mother, Lea Salomon (1777-1842), who taught
her the piano (she is reputed to have noted her daughter’s ‘Bach
fingers’ at birth). She then studied the piano with Ludwig Berger, and
in 1816 with Marie Bigot in Paris. A few years later she embarked on
theory and composition with Carl Friedrich Zelter, a conservative
musician and early champion of Johann Sebastian Bach. Her first
composition dates from December 1819, a lied in honour of her father’s
birthday. In 1820 she enrolled at the newly opened Berlin Sing-Akademie.
During the next few years Mendelssohn produced many lieder and piano
pieces; such works were to be the mainstay of her output of about 500
compositions. In 1825, the Mendelssohns moved to Leipziger Straße 3, a
large property which allowed the family to establish one of the most
impressive musical salons of the century. In 1829, she married the
painter Wilhelm Hensel (1794-1861), whose active support of her gifts
meant that, exceptionally, marriage and motherhood did not spell the end
of her compositional life. She collaborated closely with her husband in
a purpose-built studio, Hensel responding to her music with drawings,
and she composing songs to his poetry. Beginning in the early 1830s, she
became the central figure in a flourishing salon, for which she created
most of her compositions and where she performed on the piano and
conducted. Two trips to Italy, in 1839-40 and 1845, were among the
highpoints of her life. In Rome she formed a close relationship with
Charles Gounod, who later noted Fanny’s influence on his budding musical
career. Her impressions of the first Italian trip are inscribed in 'Das
Jahr', a set of 12 character-pieces that combine musical and
autobiographical motifs. Her last composition, the lied 'Bergeslust',
was written on 13 May 1847, a day before her sudden death from a stroke.
Italian violinist and composer. Born in the center of the Italian violin
makers at Cremona, he received his earliest training on the violin from
his father and, subsequently, from Giacomo Civeri and Carlo Ricci. An
invitation from Antonio Caldara, who had met him while passing through
Casalmaggiore, took him to Vienna, where he became a well-known virtuoso
and teacher without, however, obtaining an official position in the
service of the imperial court. In 1736, however, he returned to
Casalmaggiore on the death of his mentor, remaining there as a performer
and teacher. He died in a carriage accident on the way to Mantua. His
works are mostly in the style of Antonio Vivaldi, including the 12
violin concertos and the 18 trio sonatas (six of which were published in
1727). His set of six symphonies published in 1729, however, reflect
the styles and structures of Milanese works by Antonio Brioschi and
Giovanni Battista Sammartini.
German composer. He began organ studies with local organist Johann
Philipp Pitzler, with whom he traveled. In 1710 he met Johann David
Heinichen in Weissenfels, who at the time was working as a lawyer. With
Heinichen, he took lessons in general bass and also began studying
composition. When Heinichen went to Italy, Förster moved to Merseburg
where he continued his studies with the Kapellmeister and court organist
Georg Friedrich Kaufmann. Later, in 1717 he was employed as a chamber
musician in the Sachsen-Merseburg Hofkapelle where he played second
violin to Johann Gottlieb Graun, whom he later superseded as
Konzertmeister. In 1723, Förster traveled to Prague with his employer
for the coronation of Charles VII of Bohemia. In Prague, he made the
acquaintance of the Viennese court musicians Fux, Caldara, Conti and
Piani and also took part in a performance of Fux's Constanza e Fortezza
and performed in a concert as a harpsichord soloist and violinist for a
Dutch ambassador. He continued to serve at his post in Merseburg until
the Hofkapelle was dissolved in 1738 following the death of the Duke
Moritz Wilhelm. At the birthday of Frederick Anton, Prince of
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt he played as a soloist under the leadership of
Kapellmeister Johann Graf. Still without a fixed position, he applied
for the position of vice-kapellmeister in Rudolstadt which he received
on 3 May 1743 without a fixed salary. He died there two years later in
1745. Throughout his life, Förster maintained numerous contacts with
other musicians. Most notably, he is known to have subscribed to two of
Telemann's publications of the 1730s; Tafelmusik and the Paris quartets.
It was Telemann who published Förster's Sei Duetti, Op. 1 in Paris in
1737. Förster was proficient in the Italian style of composition, which
he learned from Heinichen and from his subsequent trips to Leipzig and
Dresden (1719), and then Prague (1723). This is evident in his wealth of
orchestral and chamber music, much of which was probably composed for
performance at the Merseburg court. During his time in Merseburg he was
also required to compose Italian cantatas, and purportedly also learned
Italian for this purpose. Although there are several Italian cantatas
listed in Breitkopf's thematic catalogue, few, if any, of these pieces
have survived.
Brazilian singer, composer, and conductor. In 1752, he joined the
Brotherhood of São José dos Homens Pardos, where he served as a tenor
until the end of his life, and also as a 'regente'
(conductor/choirmaster) starting in 1792. He assumed the same post at
the Church of Nossa Senhora das Mercês de Baixo from 1776 to 1782. He
was also an organist and worked for the Senado da Câmara of Vila Rica,
often performing as a tenor using the falsetto tradition of the time,
following the Spanish and Portuguese style, rather than the Italian
castrato tradition. As a composer, a significant portion of his musical
output has been lost. Among the extant works, a Salve Regina, mass
settings, a Ladainha (1789), the Ofício para os Funerais do Rei D. Pedro
III, and the Oratório ao Menino Deus Para a Noite de Natal.
Italian composer, flautist, and violinist. Little is known about his
early life or training, although he may have received education at one
of the Neapolitan conservatories. He first appears as a composer of
opera buffa in 1738, when his 'Lo secretista' was premiered successfully
in Naples. His opera 'La tavernola abentorosa' was censured in 1741 due
to its satirical portrayal of monastic life, even though it was
apparently written for a monastic audience. During this period he
attained a reputation as an excellent contrapuntist and chamber
musician. His main instrument was the violin, but he probably also
played the flute, due to the focus of his music on that instrument. In
addition to three operas, he wrote 25 duets for two flutes, concertos
for one and two flutes, a mandolin concerto, and a double concerto for
flute and violin. His style typifies the lyrical Neapolitan opera, with
clear tunes and stable formal structures (mostly ritornello or binary).
German-born Norwegian organist, composer and polymath. Born in a port
city on the eastern Baltic (today in Lithuania), he was trained in music
by his father, Heinrich Berlin, before finishing his studies in
Copenhagen with Andreas Berg. In 1737 he was appointed as city musician
in Trondheim, and three years later became organist at the cathedral as
well. His duties included playing at all the services as well as
assisting the cantor’s rehearsals of hymns and choral music at the Latin
school. In 1751 he assumed responsibility for the organist post at Vor
Frue church and would often engage his sons as deputies. He also found
time to continue the theoretical and pedagogical research that he had
embarked on in Copenhagen. Besides his work in music as a theorist,
composer, and instrument builder, he was also in charge of the city
waterworks and fire brigades, as well as writing treatises on astronomy
and meteorology. As a composer, his works include three symphonies and
nine concertos (six for harpsichord, and others for violin and bass
viol), as well as two cantatas and a host of smaller dance and
occasional works for the keyboard. His musical style tends toward the
North German Empfindsamkeit. His theoretical works include 'Musikalske
Elementer (1744), the first music text in Norwegian, and 'Anleitung zur
Tonometrie' (1767), an early work exploring the physics of the art form.
His son Johan Henrich Berlin (1741-1807) was also organist and
composer, mainly active in Trondheim.
French composer, organist and writer. Almost nothing is known about his
life before 1690. The only reliable information about him is given on
the title-page of his harpsichord book and in a few archival documents
at Perpignan. He is generally believed to have been a pupil of the
composer and organist Nicolas Lebègue. He served as the titular organist
of the church of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet in Paris, likely holding
this prestigious position until around 1690. At some point then he moved
from Paris to the southern city of Perpignan where he became the
organist at the Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste in a post he held until
his death. The reason for his departure from a prominent Parisian post
for the provincial city of Perpignan is unknown, especially considering
the prestige of his previous position. His surviving music, though
limited in volume, is highly regarded for its systematic and
harmonically progressive nature. A single collection of his harpsichord
pieces survives in manuscript form, titled 'Livre des pièces de clavecin
de tous les tons naturels et transposéz'. This collection contains 255
pieces and is considered, alongside the works of François Couperin and
Jean-François Dandrieu, one of the most important contributions to
French Baroque harpsichord music. According to some scholars, it is the
largest collection of 17th-century French harpsichord music. The
collection is unique for European music of the late 17th century because
the pieces are systematically organized, exploring all major and minor
keys. His music is noted for its extreme chromaticism and striking
exploration of the expressive possibilities of harmonic variation.
Italian composer. He was born into a musical family, the eldest of seven
children of Rosario Bellini (1776-1840) and Agata Ferlito (1779-1842),
and niece of the organist and composer Vincenzo Tobia Bellini
(1744-1829). He received his first musical instruction from his father
and grandfather, and soon revealed a fine gift of melody. The Duke and
Duchess of San Martino e Montalbo took interest in him and in 1819
arranged to have him enter the Real Collegio di Musica di San Sebastiano
in Naples, where he studied harmony and accompaniment with Giovanni
Furno and counterpoint with Giacomo Tritto. He further studied the vocal
arts with Girolamo Crescentini and composition with Nicola Zingarelli.
Under their guidance, he made a detailed study of the works of
Pergolesi, Jommelli, Paisiello, and Cimarosa, as well as those of the
German classics. While still in school, he wrote several sinfonias, two
masses, and the cantata 'Ismene' (1824). His first opera, 'Adelson e
Salvini', was given at the Collegio in 1825; it was followed by the
premiere at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples of his second opera, 'Bianca e
Gernando' (1826). In 1827 he went to Milan, where he was commissioned
by the impresario Barbaja to write an opera seria for the famous Teatro
alla Scala; it was 'Il Pirata', which obtained fine success at its
premiere on 1827; it was also given in Vienna in 1828. It was followed
by another opera, 'La Straniera' (1829). He was then commissioned to
write a new opera for the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, on a Shakespearean
libretto; it was I Capuleti e i Montecchi; first performed on 1830, it
had a decisive success. Even more successful was his next opera, 'La
Sonnambula', which was premiered in Milan on 1831, with the celebrated
prima donna Giuditta Pasta as Amina. Pasta also appeared in the title
role of Bellini's most famous opera, 'Norma', first given at La Scala on
26 December 1831, which at its repeated productions established
Bellini's reputation as a young master of the Italian operatic bel
canto. He then had an opportunity to go to London and Paris, and it was
in Paris that he brought out his last opera, 'I Puritani' (1835), which
fully justified the expectations of his admirers. He was on his way to
fame and universal artistic recognition when he was stricken with a
fatal affliction of amebiasis, and died six weeks before his 34th
birthday. His remains were reverently removed to his native Catania in
1876. Bellini's music represents the Italian operatic school at its most
glorious melodiousness, truly reflected by the term 'bel canto'. In his
writing, the words, the rhythm, the melody, the harmony, and the
instrumental accompaniment unite in mutual perfection. The lyric flow
and dramatic expressiveness of his music provide a natural medium for
singers in the Italian language, with the result that his greatest
masterpieces, 'La Sonnambula' and 'Norma', remain in the active
repertoire of opera houses of the entire world, repeatedly performed by
touring Italian opera companies and by native forces everywhere.
Italian composer and violinist. He was born into a family of musicians
and artists. His grandfather was one of the first violinists of
Florence; his uncle Antonio Veracini (1659-1733) was that and a fine
composer as well. He studied violin with his uncle, with whom he
appeared in concerts in Florence, and also received instruction from
Giovanni Maria Casini and Francesco Feroci, and from Giuseppe Antonio
Bernabei in Germany (1715). In 1711 he went to Venice, where he appeared
as a soloist at the Christmas masses at San Marco; in 1714 he gave a
series of benefit concerts in London, and in 1716 entered the private
service of the Elector of Saxony; in 1717 he went to Dresden and entered
the court service. In 1723 he returned to Florence, where he was active
as a performer and composer of sacred works; he also gave private
concerts. In 1733 he returned to London, where he played for the Opera
of the Nobility, a rival to Handel's opera company; he also composed
operas during his London years. In 1745 he returned to Italy, where from
1755 until his death he was maestro di cappella for the Vallambrosian
fathers at the church of S. Pancrazio in Florence; he also held that
position for the Teatini fathers at the church of S. Michele
agl'Antinori there (from 1758). He acquired a reputation as an
eccentric, and some considered him mad. Nonetheless he was esteemed as a
violinist and composer. Charles Burney remarked that ‘by travelling all
over Europe he formed a style of playing peculiar to himself’.
Performers: Maria Mrazova (alto); Miroslav Svejda (tenor); Maîtrise
d'enfants de Brno; Chœur féminin du Conservatoire de Prague, Chœur
d'hommes Moravan; Orchestre Radiosymphonique de Bratislava;
Bohemian organist and composer. His musical training began at the Jesuit
Gymnasium Jičín (1711-1717). Though he briefly studied law at Prague
University, he soon abandoned it for music, becoming the organist at the
Týn Church. His major breakthrough came in 1720 with the success of his
works for the annual 'musica navalis', the St. John’s Eve festivities
on the Vltava River. This success secured him a lucrative commission to
compose the music for these festivals every year from 1722 to 1729. He
later served as a music teacher and organist at St. Martin's school,
rising to choirmaster at St. Martin's in 1727. As a composer, his output
include 34 extant works, among them, several masses, settings of the Te
Deum and the Magnificat, litanies, offertories and motets; one school
comedy is known, 'Cancet preambulans'. His compositions are in the
Venetian style represented by Johann Joseph Fux and Antonio Caldara,
with some elements of Czech folk music. His style is marked by full
instrumentation and a preference for brass. He handled contrapuntal
texture skilfully, and in homophonic passages often made use of
concertato interplay between soloists and chorus. His son František
Xaver Brixi (1732-1771) was also organist and composer.
German composer and violinist. Brother of August Friedrich Graun
(c.1698-1765) and Carl Heinrich Graun (1704-1759), he received his
earliest education at the Kreuzschule in Dresden before enrolling in
music at Leipzig University. In 1723 he studied with violinist Giuseppe
Tartini in Prague before obtaining the post as concertmaster in
Merseburg in 1726. In 1728 he relocated to Arolsen to serve in the court
of Prince von Waldeck, before joining the private orchestra of Crown
Prince Frederick of Prussia in Ruppin and Rheinsburg in 1732. There he
was concertmaster at the opera until his death. Along with his brother
Carl Heinrich Graun, he was one of the principal figures in the musical
circles of the Berlin court, and although he concentrated his own
efforts toward writing instrumental works, he was adept at vocal genres
as well. Among the latter can be counted an oratorio, La Passione di
Gesù Cristo; several sacred works; six Lieder; and seven Italian secular
cantatas. He was a prolific composer of the former, however, in many
cases defining the emerging North German empfindsamer Stil
(Empfindsamkeit). He composed no fewer than 54 symphonies, 13
two-movement overtures, 62 trios (mostly for flutes/violins and basso),
36 sonatas for violin, four sonatas for flute, and 62 concertos (48 for
violin, five for two violins, three for oboe, two for bassoon, two for
violin/viola, and one each for viola da gamba and viola da
gamba/cembalo). The scope of his compositions has yet to be determined,
given that many works, particularly chamber music, are attributed only
to 'Graun'. He was held in high regard by his contemporaries, especially
as an orchestral trainer and instrumental composer.
Austrian violinist and composer. The son of an impoverished painter, he
showed talent as a violinist at an early age. He was a pupil of Joseph
Suche in 1797 and of Anton Wranitzky from 1798. Encouraged by Ignaz
Schuppanzigh, he made his first public appearance with brilliant success
at a morning concert in the Augarten in 1800. In 1802 he began piano
and composition lessons with Emanuel Aloys Förster. In 1810 he was
appointed leader of the Hoftheater orchestra in Vienna, soloist at the
Hofkapelle (1816) and later soloist to the emperor (1835) and musical
director of the Hofkapelle (1836). He never went on tours and rarely
gave concerts, yet he was a finished virtuoso, admired even by Niccolò
Paganini. In Vienna he was very successful as a teacher. He was awarded
the Salvator medal (1811), the freedom of Vienna (1817) and the Order of
Franz Joseph (1862), and was an honorary member of several musical
academies. As a composer, his works include 3 violin concertos, a Mass
(1848), 5 string quintets, 8 string quartets, trios, and solo violin
pieces. Most of these are conservative in style and were intended
primarily for his own performance.
Austrian composer and violinist. Born to Paul Ditters, costumier at the
imperial court and theatre in Vienna, and his wife Anna (née Vandelin),
he received his earliest education at the Jesuit school in Vienna, where
he displayed a precocious talent as a violinist, enough so that in 1751
he was performing with local court orchestras. Here he came to the
attention of Giueseppe Bonno and Christoph Willibald von Gluck, the
latter of whom took him with him to Italy in 1763. There Ditters
achieved success as a virtuoso, and by 1765 he had been hired by
Archbishop Adam Patachich as Michael Haydn’s successor at Großwerdein
(now Oradea, Romania). He improved the quality of the ensemble, but in
1769 it was dissolved and Ditters relieved of his duties. He found other
employment with the Archbishop of Breslau, Count Philipp Gotthard von
Schaffgotsch as a state administrative functionary at Schloss
Johannesberg (now Janský vrch, Poland), and in 1773 he was appointed as
chief forester at nearby Javernig (Javornik). This appointment required
aristocratic rank, and Ditters was ennobled as von Dittersdorf at
Freiwaldau (Jeseník). In 1784 he returned to Vienna where he
participated actively in the musical life of the city. His rank allowed
him access to all levels of the court society, and his abilities earned
him the friendship of colleagues such as Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart, with whom he performed in a string quartet (the cellist
was his student Jan Křtitel Vanhal). In 1790, however, he returned to
music as Kapellmeister to Duke Carl Christian Erdmann zu
Württemberg-Oels, a post that also included governmental administrative
duties. He moved to Oels (Olésnice) and then Karlsruhe in Upper Silesia.
A reversal of fortune caused him to retire in 1796, and he moved to the
small town of Neuhof (Červená Lhota), where he died only a couple of
days after completing his autobiography. He was a prolific and
progressive composer, particularly with respect to his use of the
characteristic symphony, sometimes based upon Classical stories. He was
conventional in terms of his harmony, but his skill in contrasting
instruments (as well as writing for unusual timbres and combinations)
demonstrates a good sense of color. His formal structures are often
conventional, and his textures mainly homophonic, but he was considered
one of the foremost composers of Vienna during his day. He can be
considered one of the most popular composers of Singspiels of his day,
with one work, Doktor und Apotheker, achieving international success.
The number of works composed demonstrates an almost inexhaustible
creativity and includes: 127 symphonies (with another 90 likely, making
him the most prolific composer in the genre of all time, if true), 18
violin concertos, five viola concertos, eight oboe concertos, four
keyboard concertos, nine other concertos (for oboe d’amore, harp,
contrabass, cello, flute, and two violins), four sinfonia concertantes
(including two for string quartet and orchestra, one for viola,
contrabass, and orchestra, and another for 11 solo instruments), four
serenades, five cassations, 16 divertimentos, 18 string trios, seven
string quartets, six horn quintets, six string quintets, 35 partitas, 72
preludes, 31 keyboard sonatas, 136 solo keyboard works, 16 violin
sonatas, 32 operas, three concert arias, 16 secular cantatas, 16 Masses,
a Requiem, four oratorios, 11 offertories, eight litanies, and 170
smaller sacred works such as Psalms, motets, and so forth.
Hungarian composer, pianist and teacher. Son of Ádám Liszt (1776-1827)
and Maria Anna Lager (1788-1866), his father was an amateur musician who
devoted his energies to the education of his son. At the age of 9,
young Liszt was able to play a difficult piano concerto by Ferdinand
Ries. A group of Hungarian music-lovers provided sufficient funds to
finance Liszt's musical education. In 1822 the family traveled to
Vienna. Beethoven was still living, and Liszt's father bent every effort
to persuade Beethoven to come to young Liszt's Vienna concert on April
13, 1823. Legend has it that Beethoven did come and was so impressed
that he ascended the podium and kissed the boy on the brow. There is
even in existence a lithograph that portrays the scene, but it was made
many years after the event by an unknown lithographer and its
documentary value is dubious. Liszt himself perpetuated the legend, and
often showed the spot on his forehead where Beethoven was supposed to
have implanted the famous kiss. However that might be, Liszt's
appearance in Vienna created a sensation; he was hailed by the press as
'child Hercules'. He met and studied with Carl Czerny and Antonio
Salieri. Salieri appealed to Prince Esterhazy for financial help so as
to enable Liszt to move to Vienna, where Salieri made his residence.
Apparently Esterhazy was sufficiently impressed with Salieri's plea to
contribute support. Under the guidance of his ambitious father, Liszt
applied for an entrance examination at the Paris Conservatory, but its
director, Luigi Cherubini, declined to accept him, ostensibly because he
was a foreigner. Liszt then settled for private lessons in counterpoint
from Antoine Reicha. Liszt remained in Paris, where he soon joined the
brilliant company of men and women of the arts. Paganini's spectacular
performances of the violin in particular inspired Liszt to emulate him
in creating a piano technique of transcendental difficulty and
brilliance, utilizing all possible sonorities of the instrument.
Handsome and a brilliant conversationalist, Liszt was sought after in
society. His first lasting attachment was with an aristocratic married
woman, the Comtesse Marie d'Agoult; they had 3 daughters, one of whom,
Cosima Liszt (1837-1930), married Liszt's friend Hans von Bulow before
abandoning him for Richard Wagner. His second and final attachment was
with another married woman, Carolyne von Sayn-Wittgenstein, who was
separated from her husband. Her devotion to Liszt exceeded all limits,
even in a Romantic age. Liszt fully intended to marry Sayn-Wittgenstein,
but he encountered resistance from the Catholic church, to which they
both belonged and which forbade marriage to a divorced woman. His own
position as a secular cleric further militated against it. Thus, Liszt,
the great lover of women, never married. Liszt's romantic infatuations
did not interfere with his brilliant virtuoso career. One of his
greatest successes was his triumphant tour in Russia in 1842. Russian
musicians and music critics exhausted their flowery vocabulary to praise
him as the miracle of the age. Czar Nicholas I himself attended a
concert in St. Petersburg, and expressed his appreciation by sending him
a pair of trained Russian bears. Liszt acknowledged the imperial honor,
but did not venture to take the animals with him on his European tour.
It is not clear why, after all his triumphs in Russia and elsewhere in
Europe, he decided to abandon his career as a piano virtuoso and devote
his entire efforts to composition. He became associated with Wagner as a
prophet of 'music of the future'. In 1848 he accepted the position of
Court Kapellmeister in Weimar. As a composer, he made every effort to
expand the technical possibilities of piano technique; in his piano
concertos, and particularly in his Etudes d'execution transcendante, he
made use of the grand piano, which expanded the keyboard in both the
bass and the extreme treble. He also extended the field of piano
literature with his brilliant transcriptions of operas. Although Liszt
is universally acknowledged to be a great Hungarian composer, he was
actually brought up in the atmosphere of German culture.
Anton Bernhard Fürstenau (1792-1852)
- Concerto (D-Dur) in modo di Scena cantate | per il Flauto con
accompagnemento | di due Violino, Alto, Basso, Flauto, due Oboi,
Clarinetti, | Fagotti, Corni, Clarini e Timpani (o Pianoforte.) |
composto e dedicato al suo amico | Signor Enrico Dehnel | Capitano
nell'artigliera Reale di Hannover, | Cavaliere dell'Ordine Guefe ...
Op:84 (1831)
German flautist and composer. Son of Caspar Fürstenau (1772-1819), he
received his first flute lessons from his father. He was highly gifted,
performing publicly for the first time at the age of seven. In 1804, he
joined the Oldenburg court orchestra. He later embarked on extensive
concert tours throughout Germany and Europe (including Berlin, Munich,
Copenhagen, St. Petersburg, and Vienna) in the company of his father.
Partly owing to his wish to settle down and partly on account of his
father's poor health, he accepted an appointment to the Frankfurt town
orchestra in 1817; there Johannes Vollweiler gave him further lessons in
composition. The year after his father's death he moved to Dresden,
where he became first flautist under Carl Maria von Weber's direction.
As a composer, he wrote and arranged numerous works, mainly for the
flute. He created new and characteristic literature for his instrument
through his 147 published works, including twelve solo concertos,
variations, and chamber compositions. His influence extended through his
extensive teaching, with his son Moritz Fürstenau (1824-1889) being one
of his numerous students. He was considered the most important Romantic
flautist and the most famous virtuoso on his instrument in Germany
during the first half of the nineteenth century.
German composer and organist. Almost nothing is known about his life.
His primary professional roles included serving as a Council Member
(Ratsherr) and as the Organist at the collegiate church of the Blessed
Virgin Mary (Stiftskirche B.M.V.), which is the current Erfurt
Cathedral. He was active in Erfurt his whole life and his contributions,
along with those of contemporaries like Philipp Jacob Baudrexel, are
cited as having a sustainable and lasting influence on the musical life
of the city and region. The only extant music by him is a manuscript
copy of his 'Sequitur Missa â 6. C. A. T. B. | 2 Violin. Authore Paulo
Meinong | ad B.V. Effurti | Organoedo'.
Italian composer and keyboardist. As a girl she performed in her home
while her elder sister Maria Gaetana (1718-1799) became a distinguished
mathematician lectured and debated in Latin. Little is known about her
early training, although her cantata 'Il restauro d’Arcadia' was
produced at the Teatro Ducale in Milan in 1747, followed in 1751 by her
opera 'Sofonisba'. Further stage works were produced, expanding her
reputation as a composer throughout Lombardy. In June 1752 she married
Pietro Pinottini, and her fortunes declined thereafter. At her death,
she was in pecuniary difficulties. Her instrumental music demonstrates
an affinity with the prevailing early Classical Empfindsamkeit, while
her stage works are all in the manner of opera seria. Her works include
at least six operas or serenatas, four concertos for keyboard, two
fantasias, and several keyboard sonatas, in addition to a few
miscellaneous works.
Swedish conductor, violinist, viola player and composer. He was born
into a musical family. His father, Johan David Gottfried Zander
(1714-1774), was a musician (bassoonist, oboist, and violinist) who had
emigrated to Sweden and played in the Royal Court Orchestra, the
Hovkapellet. Following his father's footsteps, he joined the Hovkapellet
as a violinist in 1772. His talent quickly earned him recognition, and
he was promoted to assistant concertmaster in 1787, and deputy
Konzertmeister the next year, a post he held until his death. He taught
the violin at the Swedish Royal Academy of Music from 1785 and at the
Opera school from 1786; he became a member of the Academy in 1786. He
gained a considerable reputation as a highly skilled soloist on both the
violin and viola in public concerts throughout the capital. While best
known for his theatrical music, he also composed a significant body of
instrumental work, displaying his awareness of contemporary European
stylistic trends, particularly the influence of the Austrian composers.
His most notable surviving large-scale orchestral work is the Symphony
in B-flat major (1785), one of the few four-movement symphonies written
in Sweden during the 18th Century. He also composed several concertos
(mostly lost), three string quartets and various solo and chamber pieces
published in collections like Musikaliskt Tidsfördrif. His promising
career was tragically cut short when he died prematurely of pneumonia in
1796. He remains as an important figure in the Gustavian era of Swedish
music.
English organist and composer. He studied for seven years with Matthias
Hawdon, organist of St. Nicholas's Church. From 1783 to 1836 he was
organist of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Aberdeen, and was for several
years organist to the Aberdeen musical society. In Aberdeen he was long
the only resident musician of any standing. He died on 28 July 1837 at
Craigie Park, a suburban residence. He was a prolific composer of
pianoforte and vocal music. He contributed several airs to Robert
Archibald Smith's ‘Scottish Minstrel,’ and was complimented by Robert
Tannahill for setting some of his songs to music. He edited ‘Sacred
Music, consisting of Chants, Psalms, and Hymns for three Voices,’
London, 1828, the tunes in which are mostly his own. His anthem, ‘When
sculptured urns,’ was once very popular.
American organist, composer, and teacher. His father was an officer in
the United States Army. Due to his father's career, Gleba's family
traveled extensively during his childhood and adolescence, which
included a prolonged period living in Europe. He began teaching himself
to play the pianoforte at an early age. As a teenager, he studied piano
for one year with the late Leopold Godowsky III, who was a grandson of
the pianist Leopold Godowsky I, and a nephew of George and Ira Gershwin.
Gleba has served as an organist and music director at numerous
churches, which has fostered his particular fondness for sacred choral
music. Through intensive study of classical scores, he taught himself to
compose symphonies, sonatas, concerti, and other classical forms. He
insists on composing in the Viennese classical style of the second half
of the 18th Century. Today, he performs only occasionally. He teaches
harmony, counterpoint, composition, piano, harpsichord, clavichord, and
organ at his home in Branford, Connecticut.
Johann Wilhelm Hertel (1727-1789)
- Concerto per il Organo | accompagnato | da | 2 Corni, 2 Flauti | 2
Violini, Violetta et Basso, | composto et dedicato | all'Altezza
Serenissima | di | FEDERICO |
Duca Regnante di Meclenburgo
Performers: Mеrsеburger Hofmusik; Michael Schönhеit (organ &
conductor)
German violinist, keyboard player and composer. Son of Johann Christian
Hertel (1697-1754), he received his musical training from his father and
members of the Bach family. He also came to the attention of Franz
Benda, who heard him perform in 1742 in Strelitz, where his father had
moved. Upon Benda’s recommendation Hertel was trained in Berlin and at
the court of Zerbst before obtaining a position as Kapellmeister with
Duke Christian Ludwig of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. From 1770 he was the
privy councillor in the service of Princess Ulrike but continued to
compose, arrange concerts at the court and give music instruction. In
his last years he gave up the violin and devoted himself to keyboard
instruments. As a theorist, Hertel wrote four volumes on musical
compositions, which were published in Leipzig between 1757 and 1758. In
his youth Hertel was considered one of the best violinists of Franz
Benda’s school. As a composer, he is best known for his craftsmanship
that blends a progressive harmonic language with technical display. His
music includes a Mass, five Passions, 12 secular cantatas (and seven
with nontraditional sacred texts), 11 Lutheran cantatas, numerous
chorales, 40 concert arias, 60 Lieder, three motets, three Psalms (in
German), two sets of incidental music for Shakespeare plays, 63
symphonies, 15 keyboard concertos (and 31 other concertos), three
partitas, five trios, 19 violin sonatas, and 30 keyboard sonatas. His
literary works include a treatise on thoroughbass, three autobiographies
and a collection of essays by Voltaire and others.
English painter, composer and woodwind player. Son of Robert Woodcock
(1642-1710) and Deborah Littleton, he grew up in Shrewsbury House,
Chelsea, London, where his parents ran a girls school. In 1714, he
married Ayliffe Stoaks, by whom he had several children. According to a
contemporaneous biographical account, he worked as a civil servant,
holding a 'place or clerkship in the Government.' He resigned his
government post around 1723 to devote himself to marine painting, and
that he was ‘very skillful in music, had judgement and performed on the
hautboy in a masterly manner’. John Hawkins called Woodcock ‘a famous
performer on the flute’, but he was more likely an enthusiastic amateur
on the oboe, recorder and flute. As a composer, his only surviving
compositions are a set of XII Concertos in Eight Parts (1727). They are
of historical importance as the first flute concertos ever published and
the first oboe concertos published by an English composer.
Flemish teacher, organist, and composer. While he originated from
Flanders, he spent the first part of his life in England. Much of his
early life remains a mystery, though he was a Jesuit, which
significantly shaped his career. He is believed to have worked as an
organist in Liège between 1651 and 1657. During this time, he likely
composed the majority of his keyboard works. In 1658, he entered the
novitiate of the English Jesuit Province at Watten, near Saint-Omer.
After his novitiate, he became a music professor at the English Jesuit
College in Saint-Omer, a position he held from around 1658 until his
death in 1687. This college was a vital institution for English
Catholics who couldn't study in England. It's believed he died in
Saint-Omer. While not widely known, his work has recently gained
attention due to the discovery of a 17th-century manuscript containing
music attributed to him. This manuscript, found in a London bookshop,
has offered new insights into the keyboard music of the period and his
compositions.
German composer and organist. He received his musical training from
Johann Christoph Schmidt when he was choirboy in the Dresden Hofkapelle.
In 1702, he settled in Leipzig and enrolled at the university to study
law. He also joined the student collegium musicum founded by Georg
Philipp Telemann. When Telemann left Leipzig in June 1705, he succeeded
him as organist and music director of the Neukirche, and took over as
director of Telemann’s collegium musicum. He was also conductor of the
Leipzig civic opera for which he wrote a number of works. In 1709 he met
the violinist and composer Johann Georg Pisendel, who became leader of
the orchestra of Hoffmann’s collegium. At this time the ensemble
consisted of 50 to 60 musicians and had won fame and recognition beyond
the Leipzig area. He seems to have visited England between 1709 and
1710, but no details are known. In 1713 he applied, along with Johann
Sebastian Bach and three other candidates, to succeed Friedrich Wilhelm
Zachow as organist at the Liebfrauenkirche in Halle. When Bach
eventually declined the appointment on 19 March 1714 the Halle
consistory offered it to Hoffmann, but although he officially accepted
the post he never took up his duties there. On 9 September 1714 he
married Margaretha Elisabeth Philipp and in the same month became one of
the few Leipzig musicians of the time to be granted citizenship. He had
been suffering from a serious illness since 1713 and died on the
evening of 6 October 1715, aged only 36. As a composer, he was highly
regarded during his life and Charles Burney stated as 'one of the finest
composers of the first half of the 18th century'.
