Andrea Luchesi (1741-1801)

[WoO]

Hello everyone, joined the forum a couple of weeks ago.

Andrea Luchesi (born near Venice) was the last Kapellmeister (1774-1794) at the Cologne court in Bonn. Some argue that he was Beethoven's real teacher (never recognized as such by scholars and now almost forgotten).

"... and the young Beethoven spent much time with Luchesi in the court musical activities. How startling to find 'Beethovenian' characteristics sprinkled here and there in Luchesi's sonatas published six years before Beethoven's birth! ..." [sic! actually published in 1771-1772] (see http://www.recordsinternational.com/ RICatalogDec99.html)

Credible? Plausible?

Regards,
WoO

[Peter]

Very interesting - thanks for that as I'd never heard of him, no mention of him in the Oxford companion to music or any other of my reference books.

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'Man know thyself'

[Gurn Blanston]

Here is an interesting link I found on Luchesi:
http://tinyurl.com/5hjf4

Well, the Italians sure like him, and are yet rankled, it would seem!


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Regards,
Gurn
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That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
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[WoO]

Thanks Gurn, I know that article by Giorgio Taboga

He also wrote a whole book on the matter: "Andrea Luchesi. L'ora della verità" (1994). Though his thesis may sound appealing, his arguments, in most cases, seem far-fetched, and often border on plain guesswork.

Anyway, he clearly points out that at the time the activity of "ghost-composer" (writing music on behalf of well-known musicians) was widespread (this could start a whole new topic, I guess). Think about young Beethoven and his "Ritterballet" WoO1, ascribed to count Waldstein.

By the way, I am Swiss , and I am not rankled!

Regards,
WoO

[This message has been edited by WoO (edited 10-07-2004).]

[Gurn Blanston]

WoO,
Well, I have read any number of articles over the years which attempt to debunk the legacy of various composers. This one is more ambitious than most, I must say! But they all have a common method of attack, which is to very selectively choose a few facts which can be interpreted in a variety of ways, spin those facts to suit your theory, then totally ignore any others which debunk you. Standard procedure.
Of course, we are all very familiar with the pan-Germanic plot to deprive any credit for music from the Italians...

PS - I didn't mean you were rankled, I meant the author of that web page! I actually thought you were merely bemused, as was I!
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Regards,
Gurn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
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[This message has been edited by Gurn Blanston (edited 10-07-2004).]