Citizendia

Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Johann Nepomuk Hummel

Johann Nepomuk Hummel or Jan Nepomuk Hummel (14 November 1778 – 17 October 1837) was a composer and virtuoso pianist of Austrian origin who was born in Pressburg (present-day Bratislava, Slovakia). Events 1533 - Conquistadors from Spain under the leadership of Francisco Pizarro arrive in Cajamarca, Inca Year 1778 ( MDCCLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or Events 539 BC - King Cyrus The Great of Persia marches into the city of Babylon, releasing the Jews from almost Year 1837 ( MDCCCXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common A composer (literally meaning 'one who puts together' is a person who creates Music, usually in the medium of notation, for Interpretation and Performance A pianist (/'piənɪst/ is a Musician who plays the Piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces play with an ensemble or Orchestra Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich ARTICLE TEXT BEGINS AFTER THESE COMMENTS - PLEASE READ 1 Please do not edit the lead without reading ARTICLE TEXT BEGINS AFTER THESE COMMENTS - PLEASE READ 1 Please do not edit the lead without reading Slovakia (long form Slovak Republic; Slovak:, long form, is a Landlocked country in Central Europe with a population of over five million His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era. The dates of the Classical period in Western music are generally accepted as 1750 to 1810 Romantic Music is a Musicological term referring to a particular period theory compositional practice and canon in European music history from about 1815 to 1910

Contents

Life

Hummel was born in Pressburg, Austrian Empire, which is now Bratislava, Slovakia, but a part of Hungary when he was born. ARTICLE TEXT BEGINS AFTER THESE COMMENTS - PLEASE READ 1 Please do not edit the lead without reading For the history of these states before 1804 see Holy Roman Empire, Habsburg Monarchy, and articles on each of the component countries. ARTICLE TEXT BEGINS AFTER THESE COMMENTS - PLEASE READ 1 Please do not edit the lead without reading Slovakia (long form Slovak Republic; Slovak:, long form, is a Landlocked country in Central Europe with a population of over five million His father, Josef Hummel, was the director of the Imperial School of Military Music in Vienna and the conductor there of Schikaneder's Theater Orchestra. Emanuel Schikaneder ( Straubing, September 1, 1751 &ndash September 21, 1812, Vienna) born Johann Joseph Schikaneder Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart offered the boy music lessons at the age of eight after being impressed with his ability. Hummel was taught and housed by Mozart for two years free of charge and made his first concert appearance at the age of nine, at one of Mozart's concerts.

Hummel's father then led him on a European tour, arriving in London, where he received instruction from Muzio Clementi and stayed for four years before returning to Vienna. Muzio Clementi (23 January 1752 &ndash 10 March 1832 was a classical Composer, and acknowledged as the first to write specifically for the Piano. In 1791, Joseph Haydn, who was in London at the same time as young Hummel, composed a sonata in A flat for Hummel, who played its premiere in the Hanover Square Rooms in Haydn's presence. The Baroque keyboard sonata In the Baroque era the use of the term "sonata" generally referred to either the Sonata da chiesa ( Church sonata When Hummel finished, Haydn reportedly thanked the young man and gave him a guinea.

Hummel in 1814
Hummel in 1814

The outbreak of the French Revolution and the following Terror caused Hummel to cancel a planned tour through Spain and France. The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an Instead he concertized his way back to Vienna. Upon Hummel's return to Vienna he was taught by Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Haydn, and Antonio Salieri. Johann Georg Albrechtsberger ( February 3, 1736 - March 7, 1809) was an Austrian musician who was born at Klosterneuburg, Antonio Salieri ( 18 August 1750 &ndash 7 May 1825) was an Italian Composer and conductor.

At about this time, young Ludwig van Beethoven arrived in Vienna and took lessons from Haydn and Albrechtsberger, becoming a fellow student and a friend. Ludwig van Beethoven ( English ˈlʊdvɪg væn ˈbeɪtoʊvən, 16 December 1770 &ndash 26 March 1827 was a German Composer and Pianist. Beethoven's arrival was said to have nearly destroyed Hummel's self-confidence, though he recovered without much harm. Despite the fact that Hummel's friendship with Beethoven was often marked by ups and downs, the mutual friendship developed into reconciliation and respect. Before Beethoven's death, Hummel visited him in Vienna on several occasions, with his wife Elisabeth and pupil Ferdinand Hiller. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Ferdinand (von Hiller ( 24 October 1811 &ndash Following Beethoven's wishes, Hummel improvised at the great man's memorial concert. It was at this event that Hummel became good friends with Franz Schubert. Schubert dedicated his last three piano sonatas to Hummel. However, since both composers were dead by the time of the sonatas' first publication, the publishers changed the dedication to Robert Schumann, who was still active at the time. Robert Schumann, sometimes given as Robert Alexander Schumann (June 8 1810 &ndash July 29 1856 was a German Composer, Aesthete and influential Music critic

Bust of Hummel near the Deutsches Nationaltheater in Weimar
Bust of Hummel near the Deutsches Nationaltheater in Weimar

In 1804, Hummel succeeded Haydn as Kapellmeister to Prince Esterházy's establishment at Eisenstadt. Weimar (ˈvaɪmaʁ is a City in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of Thuringia (Thüringen north of the Thüringer Wald, Kapellmeister (kəˈpɛlˌmaɪstər is a German word designating a person in charge of music-making He held this post for seven years before being dismissed for neglecting his duties. Following this, he toured Russia and Europe and married the opera singer Elisabeth Röckel. They had two sons.

Hummel later held the position of Kapellmeister at Stuttgart and Weimar, where he formed a close friendship with Goethe and Schiller, colleagues from the Weimar theater. Kapellmeister (kəˈpɛlˌmaɪstər is a German word designating a person in charge of music-making Stuttgart (ˈʃtʊtgaɐ̯t is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. Weimar (ˈvaɪmaʁ is a City in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of Thuringia (Thüringen north of the Thüringer Wald, ˈjoːhan ˈvɔlfgaŋ fɔn ˈgøːtə (in English generally ˈgɝːtə 28 August 1749 22 March 1832 was a German writer Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller krɪstɔf friːtʁɪç fɔn ʃɪləʁ/ʃɪlɐ (10 November 1759 9 May 1805 was a German Poet, Philosopher During Hummel's stay in Weimar, he made the city into a European musical capital, inviting the best musicians of the day to visit and make music there. He started one of the first pension programs for fellow musicians, giving benefit concert tours when the musicians' retirement fund ran low. A benefit concert is a Concert, show or gala featuring musicians comedians or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose often directed at a specific In addition, Hummel was one of the first to fight for musical copyrights against intellectual pirating.

Influence

While in Germany, Hummel published A Complete Theoretical and Practical Course of Instruction on the Art of Playing the Piano Forte (1828), which sold thousands of copies within days of its publication and brought about a new style of fingering and of playing ornaments. Later 19th century pianistic technique was influenced by Hummel, through his instruction of Carl Czerny who later taught Franz Liszt. Carl Czerny (sometimes Karl; February 21 1791 &ndash July 15 1857 was an Austrian Pianist, Composer and teacher Czerny had first studied with Beethoven, but upon hearing Hummel one evening, decided to give up Beethoven for Hummel.

Hummel's influence can also be seen in the early works of Frederic Chopin and Robert Schumann, and the shadow of Hummel's Piano Concerto in B minor as well as his Piano Concerto in A minor can be particularly perceived in Chopin's concertos. Robert Schumann, sometimes given as Robert Alexander Schumann (June 8 1810 &ndash July 29 1856 was a German Composer, Aesthete and influential Music critic Johann Nepomuk Hummel 's Piano Concerto No 3 Op 89 in B minor was composed in Vienna in 1819 and published in Leipzig in 1821. Johann Nepomuk Hummel 's Piano Concerto No 2 Op 85 in A minor was written in 1816 and published in Vienna in 1821. This is unsurprising, considering that Chopin must have heard Hummel on one of Hummel's concert tours to Poland and Russia, and that Chopin kept Hummel's piano concertos in his active repertoire.

Robert Schumann also practiced Hummel (especially the Sonata in F sharp minor, op. Robert Schumann, sometimes given as Robert Alexander Schumann (June 8 1810 &ndash July 29 1856 was a German Composer, Aesthete and influential Music critic 81). He later applied to be a pupil to Hummel, but was rejected for his neurotic instability. Liszt would have liked to study with Hummel, but Liszt's father Adam refused to pay the high tuition fee Hummel was used to charging (thus Liszt ended up studying with Czerny). Czerny, Friedrich Silcher, Ferdinand Hiller, Sigismond Thalberg, Felix Mendelssohn and Adolf von Henselt were among Hummel's most prominent students. Phillipp Friedrich Silcher ( June 27, 1789 in Schnait (today part of Weinstadt)- August 26, 1860 in Tübingen) was a WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Ferdinand (von Hiller ( 24 October 1811 &ndash Sigismond Thalberg ( January 8, 1812 &ndash April 27 1871) was a Composer and one of the most distinguished Virtuoso Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born and generally known as Felix Mendelssohn (February 3 1809 &ndash November 4 1847 was a German Composer Adolf von Henselt ( May 12, 1814 - October 10, 1889) German Composer and Pianist, was born at Schwabach

Music

Hummel's music took a different direction from that of Beethoven. Looking forward, Hummel stepped into modernity through pieces like his Sonata in F sharp minor, opus 81, and his Fantasy, opus 18, for piano. These pieces are examples where Hummel may be seen to both challenge the classical harmonic structures and stretch the sonata form. Sonata form is a Musical form that has been used widely since the early Classical period. In these two pieces, Hummel showed himself to be innovative and daring, especially considering that Op. 81 was composed five years before Beethoven's Hammerklavier sonata. Ludwig van Beethoven 's Piano Sonata No 29 in B flat major, opus 106, known as the Große Sonate für das Hammerklavier, or more simply as the However, Hummel's vision of music was not iconoclastic. The philosophy on which Hummel based his actions was to "enjoy the world by giving joy to the world".

His main oeuvre is for the piano, on which instrument he was one of the great virtuosi of his day. He wrote eight piano concertos, ten piano sonatas (of which four are without opus numbers, and one is still unpublished), eight piano trios, a piano quartet, a piano quintet, a wind octet, a cello sonata, two piano septets, a mandolin concerto, a mandolin sonata, a Trumpet Concerto in E major written for the Keyed trumpet (usually heard in the more convenient E flat major), four hand piano music, 22 operas and Singspiels, masses, and much more. A piano concerto is a work written for Piano and Orchestra.See also Harpsichord concerto; some of these works are occasionally played on piano The Baroque keyboard sonata In the Baroque era the use of the term "sonata" generally referred to either the Sonata da chiesa ( Church sonata A piano trio is a group of Piano and two other instruments usually a Violin and a Cello, or a piece of Music written for such a group A piano quartet is a Musical ensemble consisting of a Piano and three other instruments or a piece written for such a group A piano quintet is a chamber Musical ensemble made up of one Piano and four other instruments or a piece written for such a group A cello sonata usually denotes a sonata written for Cello and Piano, though other instrumentations are used such as solo cello Like Joseph Haydn, Johann Nepomuk Hummel wrote his Concerto a Trombe Principale ( Trumpet Concerto in E Major) for Viennese trumpet virtuoso and inventor wwwthekeyedtrumpetcouk ---- The keyed trumpet is a Brass instrument that contrary to the traditional valved trumpet, uses keys Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto For the racehorse see Singspiel (horse. Singspiel ("song-play" (plural Singspiele is a form of German-language For other uses see Mass (disambiguation The Mass, a form of sacred musical composition, is a choral composition that

The conspicuous lack of a symphony among Hummel's works may perhaps be explained by the fact that he could not follow Beethoven's innovations in that field, although that does not explain why he didn't compose a symphony in, say, the style of Haydn. A symphony is a Musical composition, often extended and usually for Orchestra.

Last years and legacy

At the end of his life, Hummel saw the rise of a new school of young composers and virtuosi, and found his own music slowly going out of fashion. His disciplined and clean Clementi-style technique, and his balanced classicism, opposed him to the rising school of tempestuous bravura displayed by the likes of Liszt and Giacomo Meyerbeer. Muzio Clementi (23 January 1752 &ndash 10 March 1832 was a classical Composer, and acknowledged as the first to write specifically for the Piano. Giacomo Meyerbeer ( September 5, 1791 &ndash May 2, 1864) was a noted German -born Opera Composer, and Composing less and less, but still highly respected and admired, Hummel died peacefully in Weimar in 1837. A freemason (like Mozart), Hummel bequeathed a considerable portion of his famous garden behind his Weimar residence to his masonic lodge.

Although Hummel died famous, with a lasting posthumous reputation apparently secure, his music was quickly forgotten at the onrush of the Romantic period, perhaps because his classical ideas were seen as old-fashioned. Later, during the classical revival of the early 20th century, Hummel was passed over. Like Haydn (for whom a revival had to wait until the second half of the 20th century), Hummel was overshadowed by Mozart. Due to a rising number of available recordings and an increasing number of live concerts across the world, it seems admirers of his music are now growing again in number.

List of works

See also: List of compositions by Johann Nepomuk Hummel

For a complete list of works by Johann Nepomuk Hummel, see this list (PDF), compiled and formatted by Mr. Opus Numbers This is a list of compositions by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837 sorted by Opus number. Mikio Tao of Japan. His sources were the New Grove Dictionary of Music, as well as Zimmerschied's Thematisches Verzeichnis der Werke von Johann Nepomuk Hummel.

References

External links

The Werner Icking Music Archive, often abbreviated WIMA, is a web archive of Public domain Sheet music. The International Music Score Library Project ( IMSLP) is a project for the creation of a virtual library of Public domain music scores, based on the
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