Stamitz, C.: Cello Concertos Nos. 1-3

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Cat No: 8550865

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Release Date: 12 January 1999

Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 4891030508651

Genres: Classical

Composer/Series: STAMITZ, C.

Description
Carl Stamitz (1745 - 1801) Cello Concertos Nos. 1 -3 An army of generals, equally qualified to plan a battle as to win it, was Charles Burney's verdict on the famous orchestra at Mannheim, the seat of the Elector Palatine. The town had been chosen as capital by the Elector Carl Philipp in 1720, who built there a palace of great splendour and established a body of musicians, by 1723 numbering as many as 56, to match this magnificence. With the succession of Carl Theodor in 1742 the arts received still greater attention, with a musical establishment that by 1778 numbered ninety instrumentalists and singers. The orchestra, one of the most famous of its time in Europe, owed much of its brilliance to the violinist Johann Stamitz, who seems to have joined the Mannheim Hofkapelle in 1742. The Mannheim style that developed under Stamitz was based on strong orchestral discipline. In particular the Mannheim crescendo became an important feature, with other more sudden dynamic changes. The crescendo has come to be known as the Mannheim roller or, popularly but less accurately, steamroller, derived perhaps from Italy, rather than an original development. Other features frequently mentioned include the Mannheim rocket, an ascending triadic figure in the melody, with the sigh, a feeling use of the appoggiatura. While these elements may not have been the exclusive property of Mannheim, they nevertheless became a marked feature of the style of instrumental composition favoured there. Johann Stamitz was himself a considerable performer and composer, compared by Burney in a high flight of imagination to Shakespeare. His two sons Carl and Anton, members of the second generation of Mannheim composers, contributed very significantly to instrumental repertoire. Carl, the older of the two, was first trained by his father and then, after the latter's death in 1757, by Christian Cannabich, Holzbauer and Richter. He played the violin in the orchestra until 1770, when he and his brother moved to Paris, Carl entering the service of the Duc de Noailles. After 1777 he travelled as a virtuoso, visiting London, The Hague, Hamburg, Leipzig and Berlin, in the last place apparently securing a contract to ensure payment for any work written for the royal orchestra there. In spite of considerable success, he suffered some straitening of circumstances in later life, a situation that his earnings as Kapellmeister at Jena during his last few years was unable to ameliorate. The fate of his brother remains unknown. It seems that he remained in France and is heard of in 1780 as the teacher of Rodolphe Kreutzer, but there are no direct references to his existence after 1789, apart from a complaint in 1809 from his widow, whose promised pension had not been paid. The two Stamitz brothers made a very significant addition to concerto repertoire, particularly for the viola, an instrument that they did much to popularise in France. The arrangement that Carl Stamitz had come to with the court at
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