Release Date: 09 January 2005
Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 747313269426
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: HUMMEL
Description
Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837)Chamber MusicLargely neglected by posterity, Johann NepomukHummel in his own time enjoyed the highest reputationboth as a composer and as a virtuoso performer. Theincreasing availability of his music, whether in print orin recordings, is evidence of the unjustified nature of theposthumous neglect of his work, although neither thebicentenary of his birth nor the 150th anniversary of hisdeath in 1987 aroused the interest that his compositionsclearly deserve.Hummel was born in 1778 in Pressburg, the modernSlovak capital Bratislava, the son of a musician. At theage of four he could read music, at five play the violinand at six the piano. Two years later he became a pupilof Mozart in Vienna, lodging, as was the custom, in hismaster's house. On Mozart's suggestion the boy and hisfather embarked in 1788 on an extended concert tour.For four years they travelled through Germany andDenmark and by the spring of 1790 they were inEdinburgh, where they spent three months. Therefollowed visits to Durham and to Cambridge before theyarrived, in the autumn, in London. Plans in 1792 to tourFrance and Spain seemed inopportune at a time ofrevolution, so that father and son made their way backthrough Holland to Vienna.The next ten years of Hummel's career found himoccupied in study, in composition and in teaching inVienna. When Beethoven had settled in Vienna in 1792,the year after Mozart's death, he had sought lessonsfrom Haydn, from Albrechtsberger and from the CourtComposer Antonio Salieri. Hummel was to study withthe same teachers, the most distinguished Vienna had tooffer. Albrechtsberger provided a sound technical basisfor his composition, while Salieri gave instruction inwriting for the voice and in the philosophy of aesthetics.Haydn, after his second visit to London, gave him someorgan lessons, but warned him of the possible effect onhis touch as a pianist. It was through Haydn thatHummel in 1804 became Konzertmeister to the secondPrince Nikolaus Esterhazy, effectively doing the workof Kapellmeister, a title that Haydn held nominally untilhis death in 1809. He had Haydn to thank, too, for hisretention of his position with the Esterhazy family whenin 1808 neglect of his duties had brought dismissal. Hisconnection with the family came to an end in 1811 buthis period of service had given him experience as acomposer of church and theatre music, while his father,as director of music at the Theater auf der Wieden andlater of the famous Apollo Saal, provided otheropportunities.Hummel had impressed audiences as a child by hisvirtuosity as a pianist. He returned to the concertplatform in 1814, at the time of the Congress of Vienna,a year after his marriage, but it was the Grand Duchy ofWeimar, home of Goethe, that was able to provide him,in 1818, with a basis for his career. By the terms of hisemployment he was allowed leave of absence for threemonths each spring, a period spent in concert tours. InProtestant Weimar he was relieved of r
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
Yaqi Yang; Margarita Parsamyan; Robynne Redmon; Minghao Liu; Frank Ragsdale; Kim Josephson; Kevin S
Vilmos Csikos; Olivier Lechardeur; Manon Lamaison
Tomas Cotik; Martingale Ensemble; Ken Selden
