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**Gurn Blanston** · 11-30-2004, 11:35 PM

Great thread, Peter!

Anton Reicha was born on February 26th 1770 in Prague. Before his first birthday he lost his father, Simon. Around the age of 10 he was adopted by his aout and uncle. The uncle Josef, was a a virtuoso cellist, concert director and composer. Reicha learnt the violin and the piano from his uncle and also received instruction in the flute.

In 1785 the family moved to Bonn. Here Reicha played the violin and his main instrument the flute in the Hofkapelle under his uncle’s direction. In the same orchestra played Beethoven and C.G. Neefe, who may have given both Beethoven and Reicha composition lessons.

Following the French invasion of Bonn in 1794, Anton moved to Hamburg. Here he taught the piano, harmony and composition, while composing and studying himself. In 1799 he tried his luck with his operas in Paris and in 1801 he moved on to Vienna. Here he went to visit Haydn, with whom he formed a close friendship. He renewed his friendship with Beethoven and took lessons from Albrechtsberger and Salieri.

In 1808 he was back in Paris. Despite still not being very succesful with his operas, his fame was rising. Reicha was appointed professor of counterpoint and fugue at the Conservatoire in 1818. The year he married Virginie Enaust, with whom he had two daughters.

Reicha's two most famous students, Liszt and Berlioz, studied with him from 1826. And in 1831 he was made a Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur.

Reicha died in Paris on May 28th 1836.

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Regards,
Gurn
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That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
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**Rutradelusasa** · 12-01-2004, 02:53 AM

Maybe Peter could open a new page in the Recommended CDs part entitled "Beethoven's Unknown/Forgotten Contemporaries" and we could contribute to the list (not me I'm with the people who need the list).

Nice thread though, I've been flirting with the Hummel Masses' CD on Vox for some time now.

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"Wer ein holdes weib errungen..."

**Peter** · 12-01-2004, 02:58 AM

Georges Onslow was born on July 27, 1784 in Clermont-Ferrand, France. His father Edward was an English nobleman who was forced to leave England due to a scandal. He moved to France, where he bought the Chalendrat Castle near Clermont-Ferrand and he married in 1783 a French woman, Marie-Rosalie de Bourdeille, who also belonged to the French nobility. Georges grew up at Chalendrat Castle and received a widespread education by his father, including piano lessons.

In 1789 the French Revolution caused trouble for the Onslows. Edward Onslow as a member of the nobility got imprisoned and was then again forced into exile. This happened in 1798. This time he went to Germany and Georges went with him, their destination was Hamburg. There, in the years of 1799 and 1800, Georges took piano lessons from Johann Ladislaus Dussek (1760-1812) who was a well-known pianist at this time. But in 1800 Georges went on to London and his father Edward returned to France. In London Georges Onslow continued his education with Johann Baptiste Cramer (1771-1858), a pupil of the famous composer Muzio Clementi (1752-1832). After his time in London Onslow was described by Antoine-François Marmontel as a pianist of "brilliant technique, skillful virtuosity, and beautiful sound". Now (around 1803) Georges Onslow returned to his parents in France.

Back home he joined a circle of friends who loved music and sometimes performed together. Until then the piano was the most important instrument for Georges Onslow, but now he also learnt to play the cello and started to compose his first works: a piano sonata, string quintets and piano trios. In 1808 Onslow wanted to learn more about composition and was looking for a teacher. He contacted Anton Reicha (1770-1836), a very important music teacher at this time in France. Later he would become Professor of Counterpoint and Fugue at the Paris Conservatory. Reicha agreed to be Onslows teacher. In the following years Onslow composed a lot of chamber music and looking at them one can say that the lessons with Reicha had been fruitful. But it took some time until Onslow also started to compose three operas and his four symphonies. Symphony No.2 is dedicated to the London Philharmonic Society (in 1830 Onslow was made a distinguished member). He even became Luigi Cherubini's (1760-1842) successor in the Académie des Beaux Arts after Cherubini died.

Now Onslow was quite popular, especially for his chamber music, and in France he was called the "French Beethoven". But his life wasn't as carefree as one might think. There were times when he had no confidence in his abilities as a composer. In 1817 he even concluded "my Muse is dead". This harsh self-criticism also overshadowed the last years of his life (he died in 1853). One reason might be that Onslow became deaf in one ear after a hunting accident in 1829. He also suffered from nervous headaches as a result of this accident.

But self-doubt also came from the constant comparison of each new work (no matter written by which composer) to the works of Beethoven.

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'Man know thyself'

[This message has been edited by Peter (edited 11-30-2004).]

**Gurn Blanston** · 12-01-2004, 04:40 AM

Franz Krommer -
Krommer was born in Kamenice in Moravia on November 27th 1759, as son of an innkeeper and later mayor of the town, Jirí Kramár. He was baptised Frantisek Vincenc, but used the germanised version of his name.

He studied the violin and organ with his uncle Antonín Matthias Kramár in Turán from 1773 to 1776. He became organist in Turán in 1777 and in 1785 he moved to Vienna, where he stayed for a year. He then got a position as violinist in the orchestra of the Duke of Styrum at Simontornya in Western Hungaria.

In 1790 Krommer was appointed Kapellmeister of the Cathedral at Pécs (Western Hungaria). A couple of years later entering the establishment of Prince Grassalkovich de Gyarak. He returned to Vienna in 1795, and in 1798 he became Kapellmeister to Duke Ignaz Fuchs. Around 1810 he was given the post of Chamberlain to Emperor Franz I.

In 1813, he became the last director of chamber music and court composer to the emperors, following Leopold Kozeluch. He remained on this post to his death in Vienna on January 8th 1831.

Franz Krommer was a very succesful and influential composer, with an output of some 300 works. This includes at least nine symphonies, a number of concertos and a large amount of chamber music including 70 string quartets.

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Regards,
Gurn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
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**Amalie** · 12-01-2004, 03:19 PM

FRANZ ANTON HOFFMEISTER (1754-1812)

Franz Anton Hoffmeister was born in May 1754 in Rotherburg am Nicar Germany.
At the age of fourteen, he moved to Vienna to study law. But shortly after graduating, he dedicated himself to music.
By 1780 he established himself as one of Vienna's finest composers.
He wrote 9 operas, 66 symphonies and overtures, 150 string quartets, 5 piano quartets, ll piano trios and works for flute with various instrments, and several collections of songs.
By 1785 he had established a firm in Vienna, publishing his own works and orchestral and chamber music by Haydn and Mozart: it was apparently successful until 1791. From 1788 he began selling of works to Artaria, meanwhile negotiating with Beethoven (whose 0p. 10 sonatas and a set of variations appeared in 1799.
Hoffmeister's firm was shrewd in its choice if composers: catalogue includes Albrechtsberger, Clementi, Playel and Susssmayr; Mozart ( a personal friend) is represented by several first editions between K478 and 577,, including the Hoffmeister Quartet K 499.
He sold his Viennese firm in 1806 to focus on composing.

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~ Courage, so it be righteous, will gain all things ~

[This message has been edited by Amalie (edited 12-01-2004).]

**Peter** · 12-01-2004, 07:55 PM

Thomas Massa Alsager (1779-1846) - an enthusiastic amateur musician and manager of 'The Times' who held a music society (which included a Beethoven quartet society)at his London house where Beethoven's great Mass and other works were performed for the first time in Britain.

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'Man know thyself'

**King Stephen** · 12-01-2004, 08:11 PM

Bravo all! I am very happy to read these posts about forgotten composers. They are just a few of the many, many composers that have slipped into obscurity. Antonio Rosetti (c.1750-1792), Carlos Baguer (1768-1808), Leopold Kozeluch (1747-1818) Domenic Cimarosa (1749-1801), Franz Beck (1734-1809), Samuel Wesley (1766-1837 are a few that come to mind but the list goes on and on. I am still totally engrossed in this Classical time period and I feel like I am just starting over as a lover of classical music. Over the past few months I have been perchasing cd's of composers, 31 as of todays count, from the classical period and this does not include the main stream composers (Mozat, Haydn etc.). I have not in the least been disappointed by any of them. What a homogenization of music leading up to Beethoven, whom we all know took music to its highest level. All that is left for me to say is "What a glorious period of music."

[This message has been edited by King Stephen (edited 12-01-2004).]

**King Stephen** · 12-01-2004, 08:20 PM

Originally posted by Rutradelusasa:
Maybe Peter could open a new page in the Recommended CDs part entitled "Beethoven's Unknown/Forgotten Contemporaries" and we could contribute to the list (not me I'm with the people who need the list).

Nice thread though, I've been flirting with the Hummel Masses' CD on Vox for some time now.

I like your idea and I think it would help open up a whole new look at the Classical Period.
By the way, Hummel's masses,in my opinion, are some of the best choral works to come out of the late 18th and early 19 centuries.

**Sorrano** · 12-01-2004, 08:34 PM

Originally posted by King Stephen:
I like your idea and I think it would help open up a whole new look at the Classical Period.
By the way, Hummel's masses,in my opinion, are some of the best choral works to come out of the late 18th and early 19 centuries.

That's quite a recommendation! How do you compare Hummel's choral works with Haydn's?

**King Stephen** · 12-01-2004, 08:56 PM

Originally posted by Sorrano:
That's quite a recommendation! How do you compare Hummel's choral works with Haydn's?

First let me say that I love Haydn's masses and the 2 oratorios. As to Hummel's choral works I think the are an extention of Haydn's. To me he is more melodic although you do hear Haydn here and there in Hummel's choral works. I have 4 of the 5 Hummel Masses and never get tired of listening to them. Hummel also composed a Te Deum which is about 11 minutes long but is a wonderful piece of music. I know I am partial to Hummel's music for I have never heard any composition by him that I did not like. His piano concertos are great pre romantic works that have a flavor of Mozart in the early ones and lead us to what Chopin would be doing a few years later. A much underated composer.....
Steve

**Amalie** · 12-01-2004, 09:28 PM

JOACHIM EGGERT, 1779-1813

Trombone Pioneer

Though Beethoven has long been credited with introducing the trombone section to the symphony orchestra, the little known Swedish composer Joachim Nikolas Eggert preceded him in this accomplishment by 18 months.
Joachim Nikolas Eggert was born on 22 Feb. 1779 in Gingst, Ruegen (then part of Sweden, but now Germany). He started to sdudy violin and composition under Kuhlow. During the period between 1800-1802, he studied music theory under the guidance of Fischer and Fleischer in Brunswick, and Forkel in Goettingen. For six months in 1802 he was music director at the Court Theater of Mecklenburg-Sweden. Eggert was appointed as a violinst to the Swedish Royal Court Orchestra on 9 August 1803. Later that year, he began to receive commissions to compose music for special occasions. In 1807, he was elected to the Swedish Royal Academy of Music and made his debut as a conductor. Eggert was the acting Kappelmeister of he Swedish Royal Court Orchestra from 1808-1810, and its Kappellmeister from 1810-1812. He brought Viennese Classicism to Sweden and was the first to put Beethoven's major works on a Swedish concert programm. Eggert conducted the Swedish premieres of Haydn's Die Jahreszeiten ( The Seasons) in 1810, and Mozart's Die Zauberflote, in 1812. During this period his four completed symphonies received much attention and both of his musical dramas were staged. On 14th April, 1813, Eggert succumbed to tuberculosis at the age of 34.
His E-flat major Symphony, Eggert's 3rd was composed, April, 1807, Eggert presented and dedicated it to the Royal Academy of Music as a token of his esteem to the Academy for electing him as a member. The score calls for the following instruments: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones (alto, tenor, and bass), timpani, and a full string section.
Eggert's trombone writing unusual in that he shunned the French and the Austrian practices. Unlike French composers, Eggert wrote rhythmic and articulate trombone parts, and he took advantage of the instrument's wide dynamic span. Unlike Austrian composers, he abstained from continuous doubling and florid writing.
This E-flat major Symphony was avant-garde.
Many of its tonalities and symphonic effects came to be commonplace by the end of the nineteenth century.

Did the first presentation of Eggert's E-flat major symphony predate the premiere of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony on 22 December 1808 ?. In a article in the Svensk Tidskrift for Musikforskning (Swedish Journal of Music Research) Tobias Norlind and Sten Broman actually did provide evidence of the first performances of the four completed symphonies. in 1807 at the Rittarhussalen in Stockholm, Sweden. It was here Joachim Eggert conducted his E-flat major symphony, the musical piece that most likely marked the symphonic birth of the trombone section. Not Dec. 1808 at the Theater an der Wien where Beethoven mounted his marathon Akademie in order to hear the first use of the trombone section in symphonic music.

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~ Courage, so it be righteous, will gain all things ~

[This message has been edited by Amalie (edited 12-01-2004).]

**Peter** · 12-02-2004, 12:58 AM

Originally posted by Rutradelusasa:
Maybe Peter could open a new page in the Recommended CDs part entitled "Beethoven's Unknown/Forgotten Contemporaries" and we could contribute to the list

Well the site really has to focus on Beethoven or else it gets too generalised - anyway this thread should give us ample opportunity to list some contemporaries.

Here's a colourful character for you - Nicolas Bochsa (1787-1856). He was the official harpist to Bonaparte and Louis XVlll and developed modern harp technique, touring the old and the new world. He wrote operas and an oratorio called the flood. He was forced to leave France having been detected in large scale forgeries to the tune of £30,000 involving his Paris colleagues Boieldieu and Mehul and the Duke of Wellington! He was condemned in his absence to 12 years imprisonment but instead conducted oratorios in London, commited bigamy and ran off with the wife of the opera composer Sir Henry Bishop. When death approached he composed his own requiem which was duly performed at his funeral in Sydney.

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'Man know thyself'

**Joy** · 12-02-2004, 04:42 AM

KS, Speaking of Hummel I caught the Trio #3, Minuet with the Vienna String Trio earlier today. My radio plays him quite often so he does get quite a bit of air time and that's a good thing.

I came across an article about James Conlon. conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony and his 'mission' is to bring forgotten composers to his audience. One such comtemporary composer is Viktor Ullmann.

There are two reasons most have never heard of Ullmann. The composer was killed in a Nazi concentration camp in the prime of his career. And after the war, most of his music fell out of step with the non-tonal fashion of the time. Ullmann was interned in the Nazi concentration camp of Theresienstadt in 1942 where he bravely continued composing before he was killed in 1944. He wrote an opera there, "Der Kaiser von Atlantis," and also chamber music. Conductor Bernhard Wulff reconstructed his last work, Piano Sonata No. 7, as Symphony No. 2. own."

"I want, slowly but surely, to bring these names, their music and their stories in front of the public eye," Conlon says. "I believe that when the public starts to listen, they will recognize in these composers a sound world and feeling that are very important to us."

"Conlon is among like-minded people now, and working hard to widen the circle of classical music, whether it is new patrons or nearly forgotten composers."

There's some good news in the classical world!

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'Truth and beauty joined'

**Amalie** · 12-02-2004, 02:01 PM

FRIEDRICH DANIEL RUDOLF KUHLAU ~ 1786-1832 ~

Friedrich Daniel Rudolf Kuhlau was born at Ulezen, near Hannover, Germany on September 11th, 1786. As a seven year old boy, Kuhlau lost the ability to see in his right eye as the result of a accident. His father, grandfather, and uncle were military oboists, and even though Kuhlau was born to a poor family, his parents managed to pay for pianoforte lessons at which he excelled in a short time. He and his family subsequently moved with his father's military regiment to Luneburg and then to Brunswich where he attented singings school and continued his instructions in piano. From Brunswick, upon completion of schooling age at 14, Kuhlau went to Hamburg's Catherinenkirche. Schwenke had been a student of both Marpurg and Kirnberger. Kuhlau's first compositions were published for flute and pianoforte while studying in Hamburg, and from 1804 he regularly gave public piano recitals.

In 1810, Hamburg was annexed into the French Empire, and Kuhlau fled to Copenhagen to escape conscription into Napoleon's Army,. During this time, the Danish Court and public at large welcomed foreign musicians into their midst, and Kuhlau began to earn a living in his new homeland as a pianist and composer. In January 1811, he gave a concert at the Royal Theater, performing among other works his C Major Piano Concerto, 0p.7, His concerto is very similar to the early concerti of Beethoven who was in many ways Kuhlau's role model.
Two years later, he was appointed to the position of Court Chamber Musician, with the responsibility of composing dramatic works for Der Kongelige Teater (Royal Theatre), at which he was chorus master, 1816-1817. In 1828, he was appointed an honorary professor. The Danish National Oper flourished under Kuhlau's leadership and plans for its restoration. In 1814 he composed the music to a Singspiel (Vaudeville) entitled R0verborgen (The Robbers Castle). When the work was premiered, it was an instant success, and Kuhlau was immediately called "the great Danish composer". He was appointed Court Composer.

In 1825, Kuhlau visited Vienna and there he met Beethoven (his musical hero) who was then living in Baden. He went with a group of friends to see Beethoven, and the meeting was so friendly that much consumption of alchohol took place. Kuhlau improvised a canon, to which Beethoven replied by a canonical pun on his visitor's name, "Kuhl, nicht lau" ( cool, not warm).
The next morning, Kuhlau received another punning canon on the notes B-A-C-H, with the following letter:

Baden, 3rd Sept, 1825.
I must confess that the champagne got too much into my head last night, and has once more shown me that it rather confuses my wits that assists them: for though it is usually easy enough for me to give an answer on the spot, I declare I do not in the leas recollect what I wrote last night.
Think sometimes of your most faithful,

BEETHOVEN.
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Kuhlau and his friend, Christoph Weyse, were the two most important figures in Danish music at the beginning of the Nineteenth Century. Whereas, Weyse strove for a cool Mozartean Classicism, Kuhlau had a more passionate, dramitic artistic personality, and was greatly preoccupied with the contemporary music of Beethoven.

In 1830, Kuhlau's house was destroyed in a fire, and the only copies of his unpublished manuscripts were destroyed. The composers health steadily began to decline. He grew increasingly sick for over a year, and died near Copenhagen, March 12th, 1832.

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~ Courage, so it be righteous, will gain all things ~

[This message has been edited by Amalie (edited 12-02-2004).]

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