Presents
Franz Krommer
Wind Octet No.2 in F Major, Op.57
Franz Krommer's Wind Octet in F Major, Op.57 is the second of 13 such works. Why so many for an ensemble which is rarely heard today. The answer lies in the fact that in the last part of the 18th century, there was an increase in the popularity of wind music. This coincided with the fashion for those noblemen who could afford a full-sized orchestra to keep one. However, many minor nobles could not afford this luxury and kept only a small band of wind players, known as a Harmonie and music for such groups became known as Harmoniemusik. Krommer was hardly alone in writing several works for such groups, Haydn, Mozart and most of the other Vienna Classical era composers, including even Beethoven, wrote Harmoniemusik. But Krommer's Harmoniemusik, both by his contemporaries and by posterity, was and is generally considered to be the best of its type, even superior to that of Mozart. Like Mozart, Krommer discovered the secret of writing for such an ensemble, giving each of the parts independent lines without slavishly doubling, as was the common practice. The result was a unique sound of blended sonorities and variations of tone color. It is thought that Krommer wrote these works before he settled in Vienna, while working for various Hungarian nobles such as Prince Grassalkowitz who mainted a Harmonie. That would place the dates of their composition in the 1780's.
Franz Krommer (1759-1831) was born in town of Kamnitz then part of the Habsburg Austrian Empire (today Kamenice in the Czech Republic) A violinist of the first rank, he moved to Vienna around 1790 and became one of its most successful composers by the start of the 19th Century. Such was the universal high regard in which he was held that he was appointed 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. Despite this, it is one of the ironies of history that after Krommer's death, it is primarily his music for winds or winds and strings that gets played. That Krommer knew how to write for winds is evidenced by the fact that he wrote a great deal of tuneful, popular chamber music for wind instruments which received numerous published throughout Germany, England, France, Italy, Scandinavia and even the United States.
The Op.57 Wind Octet, sometimes called by the old fashioned Baroque name Partita for a dance suite, is typical of the genre and became one of the more popular.
Parts: $43.95
Parts & Score: $49.95
