Joseph Wölfl
Encyclopedia
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n pianist and composer.
Biography
Wölfl was born at SalzburgSalzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
, where he studied music under Leopold Mozart
Leopold Mozart
Johann Georg Leopold Mozart was a German composer, conductor, teacher, and violinist. Mozart is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule.-Childhood and student years:He was born in Augsburg, son of...
and Michael Haydn
Michael Haydn
Johann Michael Haydn was an Austrian composer of the classical period, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn.-Life:...
.
He first appeared in public as a soloist on the violin at the age of seven. Moving to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in 1790 he visited Wolfgang Mozart and may have taken lessons from him. His first opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, Der Höllenberg, appeared there in 1795.
Wölfl was very tall (over 6 feet), and with an enormous finger span (his hand could strike a thirteenth
Interval (music)
In music theory, an interval is a combination of two notes, or the ratio between their frequencies. Two-note combinations are also called dyads...
, according to his contemporary Frantisek Tomasek); to his wide grasp of the keyboard he owed a facility of execution which he turned to good account, especially in his extempore performances.
Although he dedicated his 1798 sonatas op. 6 to Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
, the two were rivals. Beethoven however bested Wölfl in a piano 'duel' at the house of Count Wetzlar in 1799, after which Wölfl's local popularity waned. After spending the years 1801 -1805 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Wölfl moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where his first concert performance was on May 27, 1805.
Here he enjoyed commercial if not critical success. In 1808 he published his Sonata, Op. 41, which, on account of its technical difficulty, he entitled Non Plus Ultra; and, in reply to the challenge, a sonata by Dussek, originally called Le Retour à Paris, was reprinted with the title Plus Ultra, and an ironic dedication to Non Plus Ultra. He also completed for publication an unfinished sonata of George Pinto
George Pinto
George Pinto was an English composer and keyboard virtuoso.-Family:He was baptized at St. Mary's, Lambeth on February 11, 1786 as George Sanders. Accounts of Pinto's life and character are tenuous. There seems to be no surviving correspondence, nor did he have any descendants preserving a family...
.
Wölfl died in Great Marylebone Street, London, on the 21st of May 1812.
Wölfl's works have long disappeared from the concert repertory. However, in 2003 four selected piano sonatas of his (Op. 25 and Op. 33) were recorded by the pianist Jon Nakamatsu (Harmonia Mundi CD # 907324). (An Adda CD in 1988 contained his three opus 28 sonatas, played by Laure Colladant, who also recorded the sonatas opus 6 for Adès in 1993 and the three opus 33 sonatas for the label Mandala in 1995.)
Piano Concertos
- Piano Concerto No. 1 op. 20 in G major (ca 1802-1803)
- Piano Concerto No. 2 op.26
- Piano Concerto No. 3 op.32 in F major
- Piano Concerto No. 4 op. 36 in G major "The Calm" (1808)
- Piano Concerto No. 5 op. 43 in C major "Grand Military Concerto" (1799?)
- Piano Concerto No. 6 op. 49 in D major "The Cuckoo" (published 1811)
The Symphonies
- Symphony in G minor op. 40.' Dedicated to Luigi CherubiniLuigi CherubiniLuigi Cherubini was an Italian composer who spent most of his working life in France. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the greatest of his contemporaries....
. - Symphony in C major op. 41.' Dedicated to Johann Peter SalomonJohann Peter SalomonJohann Peter Salomon was a German violinist, composer, conductor and musical impresario.-Life:...
. - A publication ca.1825 was made of 3 "Grand Symphonies" by Wölfl. (The British Library record does not give an opus number.)
The String Quartets
- String Quartet in E flat major op. 30 No. 1. Dedicated to Mr. Bassi Guaita
- String Quartet in C major op. 30 No. 2. Dedicated to Mr. Bassi Guaita
- String Quartet in D major op. 30 No. 3. Dedicated to Mr. Bassi Guaita
- Six String Quartets op.51. Published by Lavenu in London.
Operas
- Der Höllenberg (1795)
- Das schöne Milchmädchen, oder Der Guckkasten (1797)
- Der Kopf ohne Mann (1798)
- Liebe macht kurzen Prozess, oder Heirat auf gewisse Art (1798)
- Das trojanische Pferd (1799)
- L'Amour romanesque (1804)
- Fernando, ou Les maures (1805)
Other work
- Grand Duo in D minor for Pianoforte and Violoncello op. 31. Dedicated to Madame Hollander
Influenced
- Charles Neate, one of the original members of the Philharmonic SocietyRoyal Philharmonic SocietyThe Royal Philharmonic Society is a British music society, formed in 1813. It was originally formed in London to promote performances of instrumental music there. Many distinguished composers and performers have taken part in its concerts...
. - Joseph BottomleyJoseph BottomleyJoseph Bottomley , was an English musician. He was born at Halifax in Yorkshire in 1786. His parentage is not recorded, but his musical education was begun at a very early age; when only seven years old he played a violin concerto in public. At the age of twelve he was sent to Manchester, where he...
, future organist at SheffieldSheffieldSheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
.