Release Date: 01 January 2000
Label: Naxos / Naxos Classics
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 636943447222
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: KRAUS
Description
Joseph Martin Kraus(1756-1792): Symphonies, Volume 2Joseph Martin Kraus can be considered one of the most talented andunusual composers of the eighteenth century. Born in the central German town ofMiltenburg am Main, he received his earliest formal education in nearby Buchenand at the Jesuit Gymnasium and Music Seminar in Mannheim, where he studiedGerman literature and music. Following studies in law at the universities inMainz and Erfurt, Kraus spent a year at home in Buchen in 1775-1776, while hisfather was under indictment for misuse of office, a charge later dropped. In1776 he resumed his studies in law at Gottingen University, but under theinfluence of the remnants of the Gottinger Hainbund, a literarycircle in the Sturm und Drang vein, be began to explore a career inmusic. In 1778 he published his treatise Etwas van und ??ber Musik, whichis one of the few actual theoretical works devoted to the adaptation of Sturmund Drang literary philosophy to music.In 1778, with the encouragement of fellow student Carl Stridsberg, thecomposer decided to dedicate his life to music and to seek employment in Swedenat the court of Gustav III. Although promised a position, he found it difficultto break into the cultural establishment of Stockholm, and for the next twoyears he faced dire economic circumstances as he attempted to overcome thepolitical obstacles in his way. His opera Azire was rejected by theRoyal Academy of Music, but in 1780 he was commissioned to compose a trialwork, Proserpin, the text of which had been conceived by the kinghimself. Its successful private performance at Ulriksdal in 1781 brought anappointment as deputy Kapellmastare and in 1782 a grand tour of Europeat Gustav's expense to view the latest in musical and theatrical trends. Thistook him throughout Germany, Vienna, Italy, England, and France, where he metmajor figures of the period such as Gluck and Haydn.Kraus returned to Stockholm in 1787 and the following year was appointedas First Kapellmastare and director of curriculum at the Royal Academyof Music. For several years he enjoyed a reputation in Stockholm for hisdisciplined conducting, his activities as a composer and his rigorouspedagogical standards. He was a participant in the Palmstedt literary circle andcontributed much to the establishment of Stockholm as one the leading culturalcentres of Europe. Soon after the assassination of Gustav III in 1792, Kraussuccumbed to tuberculosis and died at the age of 36.As a composer, Kraus can be seen as one of the most innovative of theentire century. His earliest training brought him the Italian style of theMannheim composers, the contrapuntal rigour of Franz Xaver Richter and J. S.Bach, as well as the dramatic style of C.P.E. Bach, Gluck, and Gretry. A man ofmany talents, the composer was also theorist, pedagogue and author (a book ofpoetry and a tragedy). His compositional style features the unexpected and thedramatic and it is no surprise, therefore, to find many forward-lookings
Tracklisting
Dariia Lytvishko
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Marin Alsop
Alice Di Piazza; Basel Sinfonietta; NDR Bigband; Titus Engel
Anna Alas i Jove; Miquel Villalba
David Childs; Black Dyke Band; Nicholas Childs
Various
Various
Lully
