Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Johann Nepomuk Hummel | |
---|---|
Died | 17 October 1837 (aged 58) |
Occupation(s) | Composer and pianist |
Works | List of compositions |
Spouse | Elisabeth Röckel (m. 1813) |
Children | Eduard , Carl |
Johann Nepomuk Hummel (14 November 1778 – 17 October 1837) was an Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era. He was a pupil of Mozart, Salieri and Haydn. He also knew Beethoven and Schubert.
Life
Early life
Hummel was born in
Hummel was a child prodigy. At the age of eight, he was offered music lessons by the classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was 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.[3]
Hummel's father then took him on a European tour, arriving in London in 1790, where he received lessons from Muzio Clementi.[4] He played to much acclaim at the Hanover Square Rooms, performing a Mozart piano concerto and a sonata of his own.[5] In 1791, at the same venue, the thirteen-year-old Hummel premiered a piano trio by Haydn.[6]
He returned to Vienna in 1793, giving concerts along his route.[7] Upon his return, he was taught by Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Joseph Haydn, and Antonio Salieri.[8] At about this time, young Ludwig van Beethoven arrived in Vienna and also took lessons from Haydn and Albrechtsberger. The two men became friends, and Hummel took part in several performances of Beethoven's orchestral work Wellingtons Sieg.[9]
On the 16th of May 1813, he married the opera singer Elisabeth Röckel.[10] The following year, at her request, was spent touring Russia and the rest of Europe. The couple had two sons.[11] The younger, Carl (1821–1907), became a well-known landscape painter. The older, Eduard , worked as pianist, conductor and composer; he moved to the U.S. and died in Troy, New York.
Hummel visited Beethoven in Vienna on several occasions with his wife Elisabeth and pupil Ferdinand Hiller. [12] Hummel would later perform at Beethoven's memorial concert.[13]
Hummel had also made friends with Franz Schubert, who dedicated his last three piano sonatas to Hummel. However, both men had died by the time of the sonatas' first publication, and the publishers changed the dedication to Robert Schumann.[14]
Career
In 1804, Hummel became
Hummel later held the positions of Kapellmeister in Stuttgart from 1816 to 1818 and in Weimar from 1819 to 1837, where he formed a friendship with Goethe. Hummel brought one of the first musicians' pension schemes into existence, giving benefit concert tours to help raise funds.[16] In his fight against unethical music publishers, Hummel was also a key figure in establishing the principles of intellectual property and copyright law.[17]
In 1825, the Parisian music-publishing firm of Aristide Farrenc announced that it had acquired the French publishing rights for all future works by Hummel. In 1830, Hummel gave three concerts in Paris; at one of them, a rondo by Hummel was performed by Aristide Farrenc's wife, the composer Louise Farrenc, who also "sought Hummel's comments on her keyboard technique."[18]
In 1832, at the age of 54 and in failing health, Hummel began to devote less energy to his duties as music director at Weimar. In addition, after Goethe's death in March 1832 he had less contact with local theatrical circles and as a result was in partial retirement from 1832 until his death in 1837.[11]
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
Although Hummel died famous, with a lasting posthumous reputation apparently secure, he and his music were quickly forgotten at the onrush of the
Notable students include Ferdinand Hiller and Alexander Müller.[20]
Music
Hummel's music took a different direction from that of Beethoven. Looking forward, Hummel stepped into modernity through pieces like his Piano Sonata in F-sharp minor, Op. 81, cherished by Robert Schumann,[21] and his Fantasy, Op. 18, which would have a major influence for Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy,[22] for piano. These pieces are examples where Hummel may be seen to both challenge the classical harmonic structures and stretch the sonata form.
His main
Aside from the piano, Hummel wrote a wind octet, a
Hummel was also very interested in the guitar and talented with the instrument. He was prolific in his writing for it, beginning with opus 7 and finishing with opus 93. Other guitar works include Opp. 43, 53, 62, 63, 66, 71 and 91, which are written for a mixture of instruments.[23]
Hummel's output is marked by the conspicuous lack of a symphony. Of his eight piano concertos the first two are early compositions (S. 4/WoO 24 and S. 5) and the later six were numbered and published with opus numbers (Opp. 36, 85, 89, 110, 113, and posth.)
Influence
While in Germany, Hummel published A Complete Theoretical and Practical Course of Instruction on the Art of Playing the Piano Forte (Anweisung zum Pianofortespiel, 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. Czerny had transferred to Hummel after studying three years with Beethoven. Liszt knew and admired Hummel and often performed his works, a particular favourite being the Septet Op. 74.[24]
Hummel's influence can also be seen in the early works of
Schumann studied Hummel's Anweisung zum Pianofortespiel, and considered becoming his pupil.[28] 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, and Adolf von Henselt were among Hummel's most prominent students. He also briefly gave some lessons to Felix Mendelssohn.[29]
According to Schubert's friend Albert Stadler, Schubert's Trout Quintet was modelled on an earlier Hummel work, the quintet version of his Septet in D minor for Flute, Oboe, Horn, Viola, Cello, Bass and Piano, Op. 74.[30] It may also have been influenced by Hummel's Quintet in E-flat, Op. 87 .[31]
References
- ^ Hust, Christoph. 2003. "Hummel, Johann Nepomuk." In: Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart. 2nd ed. Ludwig Finscher (ed.). Kassel: Bärenreiter, pp. 503–511.
- ^ "The Hummel Project – Hummel's Life – His Early Life and Mozart". Archived from the original on 24 March 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
- ISBN 978-0-8108-5920-3.
- ISBN 978-0-253-02264-6.
- ISBN 978-1-135-45579-8.
- ISBN 978-0-8108-8880-7.
- ISBN 978-0-429-99787-7.
- ISBN 978-0-19-762240-7.
- ISBN 978-0-429-99787-7.
- ISBN 978-0-19-816672-6.
- ^ AllMusic. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-521-48489-3.
- ISBN 978-0-698-15013-3.
- ISBN 978-1-4422-4343-9.
- AllMusic. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
- ISBN 978-1-4616-6008-8.
- ISBN 978-0-8108-5920-3.
- ^ Bea Friedland, Louise Farrenc, 1804–1875: Composer, Performer, Scholar, 1980, Ann Arbor, UMI Press, pp. 15–16, ISN=0-8357-1111-0
- ISBN 978-1-4481-3086-3.
- OCLC 928752154.
- ^ Edler, Arnfried (2009). Robert Schumann. Munich: C. H. Beck. p. 75.
- Naxos Records.
- ^ The Guitar and Mandolin, biographies of celebrated players and composers for these instruments by Philip J. Bone, London: Schott and Co., 1914.
- ISBN 978-0-8108-5920-3.
- ISBN 978-1-250-23482-7.
- ISBN 0-671-64200-6 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Scans from Universal Edition c. 1900, and symbolic data for Op. 67 preludes
- ISBN 978-0-19-983195-1.
- Oxford Music Online(subscription only), accessed 29 May 2011
- ISBN 978-1-4616-6008-8.
- ISBN 978-0-521-65087-8.
Further reading
- Johann Nepomuk Hummel: Der Mensch und Künstler. Karl Benyovszky, Breslau: Eos-Verlag 1934.
- Zwischen Klassik und Klassizismus. Johann Nepomuk Hummel in Wien und Weimar. Anselm Gerhard, Laurenz Lütteken (editors), Kassel: Bärenreiter 2003.
- Kroll, Mark (2007). Johann Nepomuk Hummel: A Musician's Life and World. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-5920-3.
- Lorenz, Michael: "Maria Eva Hummel. A Postscript", Vienna 2013
- Kapellmeister Hummel in England and France. Joel Sachs, Detroit: Information Coordinators 1977.
- Johann Nepomuk Hummel und Weimar. Komponist, Klaviervirtuose, Kapellmeister 1778–1837. Kurt Thomas, Weimar: Rat der Stadt 1987
- Dieter Zimmerschied. Die Kammermusik Johann Nepomuk Hummels. Mainz 1966.
- Dieter Zimmerschied. Thematisches Verzeichnis der Werke von Johann Nepomuk Hummel. Hofheim am Taunus: Hofmeister 1971.
External links
This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. (July 2023) |
- Free scores by Johann Nepomuk Hummel at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
- Free scores by Johann Nepomuk Hummel in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
- The Hummel Project, biographical information, videos, audio samples and scores, information on performances of Hummel's works
- Mikio Tao, Works Catalogue of Hummel [1](pdf)
- Works by Johann Nepomuk Hummel at Open Library
- Hummel Gesellschaft Weimar (Hummel society in Weimar) (German)
- Hummel's House in Marienstrasse 8, Weimar Official website of the Hummel House (owned by the Lückhoff Institute)
- musicalics.com (in French)
- 8notes biography and commentary
- Compactdiscoveries article on Hummel's relation to Chopin Archived 3 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine
- Hummel on Hyperion Records; many of the individual CD pages have a further link to sound samples and/or the CD booklet notes.
- Hummel medallion by David d'Angers, 1834.
- Hummel notes written in Japanese by Mikio Tao
- Rondo Favori, Op. 11 on YouTube, animated score