Mannheim school
Encyclopedia
Mannheim school refers to both the orchestral techniques pioneered by the court orchestra of Mannheim
in the latter half of the 18th century as well as the group of composers who wrote such music for the orchestra of Mannheim and others.
to Mannheim in 1720, already employing an orchestra larger than that of any of the surrounding states. The orchestra grew even further in the following decades and came to include some of the best virtuosi of the time. Under the guidance of Kapellmeister
Carlo Grua
, the court hired such talents as Johann Stamitz
, who is generally considered to be the founder of the Mannheim school, in 1741/42, and he became its director in 1750.
The most notable of the revolutionary techniques of the Mannheim orchestra were its more independent treatment of the wind instruments, and its famous whole-orchestra crescendo.
, Franz Xaver Richter
, Carl Stamitz
, Franz Ignaz Beck
, Ignaz Fränzl
, and Christian Cannabich
, and it had a very direct influence on many major symphonists of the time, including Joseph Haydn
and Leopold Hofmann
. (Cannabich, one of the directors of the orchestra after the death of J. Stamitz, was also a good friend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
from the latter's visit to Mannheim in 1777 onwards.)
Johann Stamitz visited Paris, and the Mannheim school had an influence on the Concert Spirituel
Sacred Concert since 1754. When Joseph Legros
took over the Parisian concert series Concert Spirituel
, the relationship with the Mannheim School flourished and the music of Haydn became extremely popular in Paris. Prominent concerts in Paris during the 1770s were the Concert de la Loge Olympique (Concert of the Olympic Lodge) and the Concert de Amateurs (Concert for the Fans) which may have been part of the Concert Spirituel
.
Claude-François-Marie Rigolet (the Comte d'Ogny) commissioned Joseph Haydn's six "Paris Symphonies
", Nr. 82–87, for performance by Concert de la Loge Olympique. Chevalier de Saint-Georges
conducted for their world premiere. The influence of the Mannheim school is evident in these symphonies.
Composers of the Mannheim school introduced a number of novel ideas into the orchestral music of their day: sudden crescendo
s – the Mannheim Crescendo (a crescendo developed via the whole orchestra) – and diminuendos; crescendos with piano releases; the Mannheim Rocket (a swiftly ascending passage typically having a rising arpeggiated melodic line); the Mannheim Roller (an extended crescendo passage typically having a rising melodic line over an ostinato
bass line); the Mannheim Sigh (a mannered treatment of the Baroque practice of putting more weight on the first of two notes in descending pairs of slurred notes); the Mannheim Birds (imitation of birds chirping in solo passages) and the Grand Pause where the playing stops for a moment, resulting in total silence, only to restart vigorously. The Mannheim Rocket can be a rapidly ascending broken chord
from the lowest range of the bass line to the very top of the soprano
line. Its influence can be found at the beginning of the 4th movement of Mozart's Symphony No. 40
as well as the very start of Beethoven
's Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1
.
derives its name from mixing the name of the Mannheim roller with the steamroller
.
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
in the latter half of the 18th century as well as the group of composers who wrote such music for the orchestra of Mannheim and others.
History
The court of the Elector Charles III Philip moved from HeidelbergHeidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
to Mannheim in 1720, already employing an orchestra larger than that of any of the surrounding states. The orchestra grew even further in the following decades and came to include some of the best virtuosi of the time. Under the guidance of Kapellmeister
Kapellmeister
Kapellmeister is a German word designating a person in charge of music-making. The word is a compound, consisting of the roots Kapelle and Meister . The words Kapelle and Meister derive from the Latin: capella and magister...
Carlo Grua
Carlo Grua
Carlo Luigi Grua was an Italian composer who is best known for his position as Kapellmeister for the Electoral Court at the German city of Mannheim....
, the court hired such talents as Johann Stamitz
Johann Stamitz
Jan Václav Antonín Stamic was a Czech composer and violinist. Johann was the father of Carl Stamitz and Anton Stamitz, also composers...
, who is generally considered to be the founder of the Mannheim school, in 1741/42, and he became its director in 1750.
The most notable of the revolutionary techniques of the Mannheim orchestra were its more independent treatment of the wind instruments, and its famous whole-orchestra crescendo.
Composers
Members of the Mannheim school included Johann StamitzJohann Stamitz
Jan Václav Antonín Stamic was a Czech composer and violinist. Johann was the father of Carl Stamitz and Anton Stamitz, also composers...
, Franz Xaver Richter
Franz Xaver Richter
Franz Xaver Richter, known as François Xavier Richter in France was an Austro-Moravian singer, violinist, composer, conductor and music theoretician who spent most of his life first in Austria and later in Mannheim and in Strasbourg, where he was music director of the cathedral...
, Carl Stamitz
Carl Stamitz
Karl Philipp Stamitz , who later changed his given name to Carl, was a German composer of partial Czech ancestry , and a violin, viola and viola d'amore virtuoso...
, Franz Ignaz Beck
Franz Ignaz Beck
Franz Ignaz Beck was a German violinist, composer, conductor and music teacher who spent the greater part of his life in France, where he became director of the Bordeaux Grand Théâtre. Possibly the most talented pupil of Johann Stamitz, Beck is an important representative of the second generation...
, Ignaz Fränzl
Ignaz Fränzl
Ignaz Fränzl, , was a German violinist, composer and representative of the second generation of the so-called Mannheim School...
, and Christian Cannabich
Christian Cannabich
Johann Christian Innocenz Bonaventura Cannabich , was a German violinist, composer, and Kapellmeister of the Classical era...
, and it had a very direct influence on many major symphonists of the time, including Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
and Leopold Hofmann
Leopold Hofmann
Leopold Hofmann was an Austrian composer of classical music.-Biography:...
. (Cannabich, one of the directors of the orchestra after the death of J. Stamitz, was also a good friend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
from the latter's visit to Mannheim in 1777 onwards.)
Johann Stamitz visited Paris, and the Mannheim school had an influence on the Concert Spirituel
Concert Spirituel
The Concert Spirituel was one of the first public concert series in existence. The concerts began in Paris in 1725 and ended in 1790; later, concerts or series of concerts of the same name occurred in Paris, Vienna, London and elsewhere...
Sacred Concert since 1754. When Joseph Legros
Joseph Legros
Joseph Legros was a French singer and composer of the 18th century. He is best remembered for his association with the composer Christoph Willibald Gluck...
took over the Parisian concert series Concert Spirituel
Concert Spirituel
The Concert Spirituel was one of the first public concert series in existence. The concerts began in Paris in 1725 and ended in 1790; later, concerts or series of concerts of the same name occurred in Paris, Vienna, London and elsewhere...
, the relationship with the Mannheim School flourished and the music of Haydn became extremely popular in Paris. Prominent concerts in Paris during the 1770s were the Concert de la Loge Olympique (Concert of the Olympic Lodge) and the Concert de Amateurs (Concert for the Fans) which may have been part of the Concert Spirituel
Concert Spirituel
The Concert Spirituel was one of the first public concert series in existence. The concerts began in Paris in 1725 and ended in 1790; later, concerts or series of concerts of the same name occurred in Paris, Vienna, London and elsewhere...
.
Claude-François-Marie Rigolet (the Comte d'Ogny) commissioned Joseph Haydn's six "Paris Symphonies
Paris symphonies
The Paris Symphonies are a group of six symphonies written by Joseph Haydn and performed at the Concert Spirituel, the Concert de la Loge Olympique and the Concert de Amateurs in Paris.-The Symphonies:...
", Nr. 82–87, for performance by Concert de la Loge Olympique. Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George was an important figures in the Paris musical scene in the second half of the 18th century as composer, conductor, and violinist. Prior to the revolution in France, he was also famous as a swordsman and equestrian...
conducted for their world premiere. The influence of the Mannheim school is evident in these symphonies.
Musical innovations
Dynamics (music)
In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional . The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics...
s – the Mannheim Crescendo (a crescendo developed via the whole orchestra) – and diminuendos; crescendos with piano releases; the Mannheim Rocket (a swiftly ascending passage typically having a rising arpeggiated melodic line); the Mannheim Roller (an extended crescendo passage typically having a rising melodic line over an ostinato
Ostinato
In music, an ostinato is a motif or phrase, which is persistently repeated in the same musical voice. An ostinato is always a succession of equal sounds, wherein each note always has the same weight or stress. The repeating idea may be a rhythmic pattern, part of a tune, or a complete melody in...
bass line); the Mannheim Sigh (a mannered treatment of the Baroque practice of putting more weight on the first of two notes in descending pairs of slurred notes); the Mannheim Birds (imitation of birds chirping in solo passages) and the Grand Pause where the playing stops for a moment, resulting in total silence, only to restart vigorously. The Mannheim Rocket can be a rapidly ascending broken chord
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
from the lowest range of the bass line to the very top of the soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
line. Its influence can be found at the beginning of the 4th movement of Mozart's Symphony No. 40
Symphony No. 40 (Mozart)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote his Symphony No. 40 in G minor, KV. 550, in 1788. It is sometimes referred to as the "Great G minor symphony," to distinguish it from the "Little G minor symphony," No. 25. The two are the only minor key symphonies Mozart wrote....
as well as the very start of 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...
's Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1
Piano Sonata No. 1 (Beethoven)
Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1, was written in 1795 and dedicated to Joseph Haydn. It is the first piano sonata written by Beethoven...
.
Recordings
- Clarinet Concertos by The Mannheim School
- Seven concertos by Carl StamitzCarl StamitzKarl Philipp Stamitz , who later changed his given name to Carl, was a German composer of partial Czech ancestry , and a violin, viola and viola d'amore virtuoso...
; works by Franz DanziFranz DanziFranz Ignaz Danzi was a German cellist, composer and conductor, the son of the noted Italian cellist Innocenz Danzi. Born in Schwetzingen, Franz Danzi worked in Mannheim, Munich, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe, where he died....
, Franz Anton Dimmler, Josef FialaJosef FialaJosef Fiala , was a composer, oboist, viola da gamba virtuoso, cellist, and pedagogue.He was born in Lochovice in Bohemia and began his professional career as an oboist in the service of Countess Netolicka. In 1777 he moved to Munich to serve in the court orchestra of Elector Maximilian Joseph...
, Frédéric BlasiusFrédéric BlasiusFrédéric Blasius was a French violinist, clarinetist, conductor, and composer. Born Matthäus Blasius, he used Frédéric as his pen name on his publications in Paris.- Life and career :Blasius was born in Lauterbourg, a town in the far north-west corner of France on the Rhineland...
, Johann Sebastian Demar, Georg Friedrich Fuchs, Franz Wilhelm Tausch, Peter von Winter; Karl Schlechta, clarinet and basset horn; Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester, Jiří Malát, conductor. Arte Nova 74321 37327 2, 5 discs- "Symphonies" Many of the Mannheim Symphonists have now been recorded on Chandos and the Naxos labels in various numbers of volumes per composer. J.Stamitz 2 volumes, Richter 2 Volumes, Carl Stamitz, Cannabich 2 Volumes, etc.
Trivia
American band Mannheim SteamrollerMannheim Steamroller
Mannheim Steamroller is an American music group founded by Chip Davis and Jackson Berkey, known primarily for its modern recordings of Christmas music. The group has sold 28 million albums in the U.S. alone.-Beginnings:...
derives its name from mixing the name of the Mannheim roller with the steamroller
Steamroller
A steamroller is a form of road roller – a type of heavy construction machinery used for levelling surfaces, such as roads or airfields – that is powered by a steam engine...
.