Presents
Franz Krommer
String Quartet in d minor, Op.34 No.2
Franz Krommer's String Quartet in d minor, Op.34 No.2 is the second of a set completed in 1802 and published the following year. It was dedicated to Prince Joseph Franz von Lobkowitz, an amateur musician who played violin and cello quite well and a patron of several composers in Vienna, the most famous of which were Haydn and Beethoven. The work is in four movements. The pounding, opening bars of the first movement, Allegro vivace, recall Mozart but by the fourth measure when the music takes off, we are in pure Krommer Land with all of the twists and turns which made him so popular among chamber music players. Here and there, snippets of Mozart reappear. A hard driving Menuetto allegretto follows, not the sort of minuet to which one would dance. Next is a reflective Andante. The finale, Rondo, is a typical, lively toe-tapping affair.
Franz Krommer (1759-1831) was born in town of Kamnitz then part of the Habsburg Austrian Empire (today Kamenice in the Czech Republic) It had a mixed population of Germans and Czechs and though baptized František Vincenc Kramář by the time he was 15, Krommer began using the Germanized version of his name for the rest of his life, the name by which he beame known to the world. Krommer was one of the most successful composers in Vienna at the turn of the 18th Century. His reputation was attested to by the fact that his works were frequently republished throughout Germany, England, France, Italy, Scandinavia and even the United States. According to several contemporary sources he was regarded with Haydn as the leading composer of string quartets and as a serious rival of Beethoven. Krommer was a violinist of considerable ability who came to Vienna around 1785. For the following 10 years he held appointments at various aristocratic courts in Hungary. He returned to Vienna in 1795 where he remained until his death, holding various positions including that of Court Composer (Hofmusiker) to the Emperor, Franz I, an enthusiastic quartet player. He was the last composer to hold this august title and one of his duties was accompanying the Emperor on his various campaigns so that he could relax in the evenings playing quartets.
There are more than 300 compositions which were at one time or another published, much of which is chamber music. He wrote more than 70 string quartets, 35 quintets, perhaps as many as 15 string trios, but also several works for winds and strings. Of the string quartets, the famous chamber music critic Wilhelm Altmann, in his Handbook for String Quartet Players writes, “Krommer knew how to write for string instruments and as a result what he wrote sounds brilliant.” Among his dozens of quartets, Altmann singles out Krommer’s Op.24 as particularly fine and effective. He considered them on a par with those of Haydn and noted that each of the instruments is given grateful parts and solos, and violinists in particular can always learn something from playing the works of Krommer.
Here is a first class work, fresh-sounding and appealing, which would make a great program choice as an alternative to the inevitable Haydn or Mozart.
Parts: $24.95
