Hummel: Concerto For Piano And Violin, Op. 17 / Violin Concerto

Description

Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837)Violin Concerto Concerto for Piano and ViolinJohann Nepomuk Hummel was born in Pressburg, nowBratislava, in the Slovak Republic, and was consideredone of Europe's finest pianist-composers. A childprodigy, he became a pupil of Mozart at the age of eight,the two forming a life-long friendship. His successfuldebut concert as a pianist in 1787 was followed in 1788by a four-year tour to Germany, Denmark, Scotland andEngland with his father, the conductor Johannes Hummel.On his return, Johann studied with Albrechtsberger,Salieri and Haydn while he himself taught, performed andcomposed. It was during this period that he formed a long,stormy friendship with his great rival, Beethoven. In 1804he was appointed Konzertmeister to Prince NikolausEsterhazy at Eisenstadt, following the retirement ofHaydn, a post he retained until 1811. While at Eisenstadthe composed several concertos, sacred works, includingfive large-scale Masses, and many works for solo piano.He also composed a number of short theatrical pieces, andminuets and dances for orchestra.In 1811 Johann Nepomuk returned to Vienna andcontinued life as a pianist and composer, marrying a wellknownsinger, Elizabeth Rockel, with whom he had twosons. After a brief, unhappy period as Kapellmeister inStuttgart, he and his family settled in Weimar, where hismain responsibilities lay in directing operas and specialevents for the ducal court and he developed a closefriendship with Goethe. During the 1820s Hummeltravelled extensively, but in 1827 he returned to Vienna tovisit the dying Beethoven. He was a pall-bearer at hisfuneral, and, following Beethoven's wishes, organized amemorial concert, where he improvised on themes fromthe dead composer's works, most movingly on thePrisoners' Chorus from Fidelio. In 1830 Hummel visitedParis and London, his first visit there for forty years, andthe climax of his playing career. Ill health in his last threeyears reduced his activities, and his death in Weimar in1837 was regarded as the passing of an era, marked inVienna by a performance of Mozart's Requiem.Hummel composed about a dozen works for pianoand orchestra between 1805 and his death, over half ofwhich bore the title 'concerto'. There are 54 volumes ofHummel's manuscripts in the British Library in London,which were purchased in 1884, and amongst these is avolume containing an incomplete Violin Concerto, boundtogether with the famous Trumpet Concerto. Hummelwould have spent a great deal of time on the latter, sincehe wanted to make a good impression as the newKapellmeister at Eisenstadt, and this was to be performedin his first major concert for the Esterhazy family.Therefore it is likely that he abandoned work on the ViolinConcerto, intending to take it up at a later date, andpreferred instead to compose the Concerto for Piano andViolin. The appearance of the Violin Concerto by his greatrival Beethoven in 1806 could easily have dissuaded himfrom completing his own concerto.Although