Antonín Kraft Antonín Kraft (30 December 1749, Rokycany – 28 August 1820,''Wiener Zeitung'', 1 September 1820, p.799
/ref> Vienna) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

cellist and composer. He was a close friend of

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

, Mozart, and

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

Biography

Kraft was born in the Bohemian town of

Rokycany Rokycany (; german: Rokitzan) is a town in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 14,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Administrative parts Rokycany is made up o ...

of a German Bohemian ethnic family which had assimilated into Czech. He received early musical education on the cello from his father before going to university in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

to study law. He soon obtained a position in the Imperial Hofkapelle. In 1778 he was appointed cellist in Prince

Nikolaus Esterházy Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the name and its ...

's orchestra, where he met and studied composition with Haydn. In 1783 Haydn wrote his second cello concerto in D (Hob. VIIb/2, Op. 101) for Kraft. After Esterházy died in 1790, his successor, Prince

Anton Esterházy Anton may refer to: People * Anton (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Anton (surname) Places * Anton Municipality, Bulgaria ** Anton, Sofia Province, a village * Antón District, Panama ** Antón, a town and capital ...

, dismissed most of the court orchestra. Kraft went to Vienna and became a founding member of the

Schuppanzigh Quartet The Schuppanzigh Quartet was a string quartet formed in Vienna in the 1790s by the violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh. It continued, with breaks and changes of members, for many years. Schuppanzigh was a close friend and admirer of Ludwig van Beethoven, ...

, where he helped establish the traditions of string quartet playing. He played in the Grassalkovich court and from 1796 was employed in the orchestra of Prince

Joseph Franz von Lobkowitz Joseph Franz Maximilian, 7th Prince of Lobkowitz (also spelled ''Lobkowicz'') (8 December 1772 – 16 December 1816

. He died on 28 August 1820 in Vienna. Kraft was considered one of the greatest cellists of his time and both Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 2 in D and the cello part in Beethoven's Triple Concerto were written for him, though his son

Nikolaus Kraft Nikolaus Kraft (14 December 1778, Eszterháza, Hungary – 18 May 1853, Cheb, Bohemia) was an Austrian cellist and composer (six cello concertos). He was the son of Antonín Kraft image:AntonKraft.jpg, Antonín Kraft Antonín Kraft (30 December ...

is also claimed to have played the premiere of the latter. As a composer, he wrote cello sonatas (six for cello with bass published as Op. 1 and 2) and a cello concerto (Op. 4). He also wrote various duos: for

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

and cello (Op. 3), for cello and

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

and for two cellos (Op. 5 and 6).

Works

* Op.1: 3 Cello Sonatas in C, G, D * Op.2: 3 Cello Sonatas in B♭, G, C * Op.3: 3 Grand Duos for Violin and Cello * Op.4: Cello Concerto in C major * Op.5: Cello Duo in G minor * Op.6: Cello Duo in D major * Op.7: Cello Duet on the theme from Mozart's Opera The Magic Flute ('Duettino Tamina and Papageno') * Duets for Cello and Guitar * Cello Concerto in C major "Seydel's Concerto"

References

External links

* * 1749 births 1820 deaths 18th-century Bohemian musicians 19th-century Czech musicians 19th-century Austrian people 18th-century classical musicians 19th-century classical musicians 18th-century classical composers 18th-century male musicians 19th-century classical composers Austrian Classical-period composers Czech classical composers Czech male classical composers Czech classical cellists Esterházy family Czech expatriates in Hungary Austrian people of Czech descent People from Rokycany Pupils of Joseph Haydn 19th-century Czech male musicians {{Composer-stub