Another Beethoven contemporary

[Frankli]

I am curious if anybody can guess who wrote this symphony, and when. The composer lived in Vienna for a while in the late 1790's, and Beethoven knew him, though they were not exactly friends. The composer's name appears in many Beethoven biographies, mainly because of one specific event.

You can download mvt 1 and 3 by rightclicking the links below and choose to save them.

http://www.frank.dds.nl/Etc/01.mp3
http://www.frank.dds.nl/Etc/03.mp3

[Rutradelusasa]

I haven't got a clue , but the orchestra sounds like Concerto Köln or similar.
Very nice music, btw

[HaydnFan]

I am going to say Daniel Steibelt...the period is right for his presence in Vienna and he and Beethoven did not like each other because of a certain event at a Viennese salon...

[Hofrat]

To the best of my knowledge, that piano duel between Steibelt and Beethoven took place in 1800 when Steibelt arrived in Vienna.

[Hofrat]

Since we can rule out Steibelt, how about Joseph Wolfl!! He spent a lot of time in Vienna during the 1790's and actually played against Beethoven on several occasions without fleeing the city when he lost. Wolfl composed a few symphonies, too.

[HaydnFan]

Actually, Frankli said "late 1790's" so the year 1800 is around this time...I don't think Steibelt is ruled out yet.

[Peter]

I'd go for the Abbe Gelinek. The composer seems to have been influenced by Mozart.

[Frankli]

I haven't got a clue , but the orchestra sounds like Concerto Köln or similar.

Yes, their playing is comparable to that of Concerto Köln. Besides that, Concerto Köln also has a fine nose for lesser-known composers who deserve to be discovered.
But this is the Russian "Pratum Integrum Orchestra". Never heard of them? Neither had I! I think that this is their first cd, but it's a very promising one.

Very nice music, btw

It is great music, and I have played it for months now without getting bored.

[Frankli]

I am going to say Daniel Steibelt...the period is right for his presence in Vienna and he and Beethoven did not like each other because of a certain event at a Viennese salon...

I think that's a very good guess. Steibelt fled from Vienna after having been crashed by Beethoven in a pianoduel.
You are warm... but it is not Steibelt.

[Frankli]

I'd go for the Abbe Gelinek. The composer seems to have been influenced by Mozart.

Gelinek, another piano duellist fighting Beethoven. He was influenced by Mozart, and as you can hear, our mystery composer was, as well.
But it's not Gelinek!

[Hofrat]

Pratum Integrum recorded two symphonies by Joseph Wolfl. Beethoven had very high regard for Wolfl as a piano duellist.

[Frankli]

Since we can rule out Steibelt, how about Joseph Wolfl!! He spent a lot of time in Vienna during the 1790's and actually played against Beethoven on several occasions without fleeing the city when he lost. Wolfl composed a few symphonies, too.

Wölffl, that's the 3rd piano duellist.... and he is the one - your deduction was right!
Joseph Wölffl (1773 - 1812) composed three symphonies, but the last only exists in a piano reduction. I had never heard a note from him, but the two symphonies on this cd really need to get better known. Excellent, virtuosic music, with lots of drama and original ideas. He had lessons from M. Haydn and L. Mozart, and perhaps some from W.A. Mozart - they were friends. Mozart is also the biggest influence in this music.
The two movements are from his 1st Symphony written in 1803.
Wölffl was a very clever composer and these symphonies are packed with good ideas - and the skill to combine them coherently in one work.

In the 1790's, still in Vienna, he fought some piano duels with Beethoven. These men were considered as opposites in style and skills. While Beethoven was seen as the most original one, with a tendency to "the mysterious and the gloomy, Wölffl was considered as the ambassador of good taste and with an impeccable technique - he was helped by his enormous hands.

One of these duels between Wölffl and Beethoven has survived in accounts and reviews. Tia DeNora has written a chapter about this duel in her book and about the reception of the two piano lions in Viennese musical circles. Interesting and thought-provoking.
This is a pdf of that chapter (with some OCR mistakes here and there):

http://www.frank.dds.nl/Etc/pianoduel.pdf

Print it and take it to bed.

This is a link to the cd (including the text in the booklet):

http://www.caromitis.com/eng/catalogue/cm0022005.html

[Frankli]

Pratum Integrum recorded two symphonies by Joseph Wolfl. Beethoven had very high regard for Wolfl as a piano duellist.

You even guessed the right cd.
Btw his name is sometimes spelled as Wölfl, sometimes as Wölffl.

[Peter]

You even guessed the right cd.
Btw his name is sometimes spelled as Wölfl, sometimes as Wölffl.

Thanks for the information - I've done as you suggested and printed out the pdf. Won't read for a while though as Rousseau's Confessions are taking my reading time at the moment!

[Cetto von Cronstorff]

Print it and take it to bed.

I'd rather not. An author who relies on Moore and Hanson instead of the relevant sources, addresses Wurzbach as 'Constantin' and Zaslaw as 'Zazlaw' and thinks that Dolezalek was a cellist, is not to be trusted. The whole discussion of the Schoenfeld genealogy is basically flawed. She has no expertise wahtsoever on the various social layers of Viennese nobility.