Carl Friedrich Abel (22 December 1723 – 20 June 1787) was a German composer of the pre-

Classical era Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the interwoven civilization ...

. He was a renowned player of the

viola da gamba The viola da gamba (), or viol, or informally gamba, is a bowed and fretted string instrument that is played (i.e. "on the leg"). It is distinct from the later violin family, violin, or ; and it is any one of the earlier viol family of bow (m ...

, and produced significant compositions for that instrument. He was director of music at the Dresden court from 1743, and moved to London in 1759, becoming chamber-musician to

Queen Charlotte Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until her death in 1818. The Acts of Un ...

in 1764. He founded a subscription concert series there with

Johann Christian Bach Johann Christian Bach (5 September 1735 – 1 January 1782) was a German composer of the Classical era, the youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. He received his early musical training from his father, and later from his half-brother, Carl ...

. According to the '' Catalogue of Works of Carl Friedrich Abel'' (AbelWV), he left 420 compositions, with a focus on

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

Life

Karl Friedrich Abel by Thomas Gainsborough

Abel was born in

Köthen Köthen () is a town in Germany. It is the capital of the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld in Saxony-Anhalt, about north of Halle. Köthen is the location of the main campus and the administrative centre of the regional university, Anhalt Univers ...

, where his father, Christian Ferdinand Abel, had worked for years as the principal

and

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

player in the court orchestra of

Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen (29 November 1694 – 19 November 1728) was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Köthen. Today, he is best remembered for employing Johann Sebastian Bach as his Kapellmeister ...

. In 1723 Abel senior became director of the orchestra, when the previous director,

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

, moved to

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. The young Abel later boarded at

St. Thomas School, Leipzig St. Thomas School, Leipzig (; ) is a co-educational and public boarding school in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1212 and is one of the oldest schools in the world. St. Thomas is known for its art, language and m ...

, where he was taught by Bach. On Bach's recommendation in 1743 he was able to join

Johann Adolph Hasse Johann Adolph Hasse (baptised 25 March 1699 – 16 December 1783) was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a co ...

's orchestra at the Dresden court, where he remained for fifteen years. In 1759 (or 1758 according to ''Chambers''), he went to England and became chamber-musician to

, in 1764. He gave a concert of his own compositions in London, performing on various instruments, one of which was a five-string cello known as a

pentachord A pentachord in music theory may be either of two things. In pitch-class set theory, a pentachord is defined as any five pitch classes, regarded as an unordered collection . In other contexts, a pentachord may be any consecutive five-note sectio ...

, which had been recently invented by

John Joseph Merlin John Joseph Merlin (born Jean-Joseph Merlin, 6 September 1735 – 8 May 1803) was a Freemason, clock-maker, musical-instrument maker, and inventor from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège in the Holy Roman Empire. He moved to England in 1760. By 1766 ...

.Freiberg, Sarah
Conversation with Magical Merlin
Internet Cello Society. Retrieved 29 January 2009. In 1762,

, a son of J. S. Bach, joined him in London, and the friendship between him and Abel led, in 1764 or 1765, to the establishment of the famous Bach-Abel concerts, England's first subscription concerts. In those concerts, many celebrated guest artists appeared, and many works of

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

received their first English performance. For ten years the concerts were organized by

Teresa Cornelys Teresa Cornelys (sometimes spelt Theresa; born Anna Maria Teresa Imer; 1723 in Venice – 19 August 1797 in Fleet Prison, London) was an operatic soprano and impresario who hosted fashionable gatherings at Carlisle House in Soho Square. She a ...

, a retired Venetian opera singer who owned a concert hall at Carlisle House in

Soho Square Soho Square is a garden square in Soho, London, hosting since 1954 a ''de facto'' public park leasehold estate, let by the Soho Square Garden Committee to Westminster City Council. It was originally called King Square after Charles II of Engla ...

, then the height of fashionable events. In 1775 the concerts became independent of her, to be continued by Abel and Bach until Bach's death in 1782. Abel still remained in great demand as a player on various instruments new and old. He traveled to Germany and France between 1782 and 1785, and upon his return to London, became a leading member of the Grand

Professional Concerts The "Professional Concerts" were subscription concerts established in 1783 and given at the Hanover Square Rooms in London. Leading musicians of the day performed at the concerts. History Background Other regular concerts began in London around th ...

at the

Hanover Square Rooms The Hanover Square Rooms or the Queen's Concert Rooms were assembly rooms established, principally for musical performances, on the corner of Hanover Square, London, England, by Sir John Gallini in partnership with Johann Christian Bach and Ca ...

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

. Throughout his life he had enjoyed excessive living, and his drinking probably hastened his death. Abel died in London on 20 June 1787. He was buried in the churchyard of

St Pancras Old Church St Pancras Old Church is a Church of England parish church on Pancras Road, Somers Town, London, Somers Town, in the London Borough of Camden. Somers Town is an area of the ancient parish and later Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras, London, St ...

Works

One of Abel's works became famous due to a misattribution: in the 19th century, a manuscript symphony in the hand of

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

was catalogued as his Symphony No. 3 in E flat, K. 18, and was published as such in the first complete edition of Mozart's works by

Breitkopf & Härtel Breitkopf & Härtel () is a German Music publisher, music publishing house. Founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf, it is the world's oldest music publisher. Overview The catalogue contains over 1,000 composers, 8,000 works ...

. Later, it was discovered that this symphony was actually the work of Abel, copied by the boy Mozart, evidently for study purposes, while he was visiting London in 1764. That symphony was originally published as the concluding work in Abel's Six Symphonies, Op. 7. A first catalogue of Abel's works was published in 1971 by , ''Abel-Werkverzeichnis'', with 233 work numbers. Zadow, Günter von
Catalogue of Works of Carl Friedrich Abel
Ortus Musikverlag 2023 In 2015 new manuscripts of Abel's viola da gamba music were found in the library of the

Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań The Adam Mickiewicz University (; Latin: ''Universitas Studiorum Mickiewicziana Posnaniensis'') is a research university in Poznań, Poland. Due to its history, the university is traditionally considered among Poland's most reputable institution ...

, in a collection from the Maltzahn family palace in the town of

Milicz Milicz () is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. It is the seat of Milicz County and of Gmina Milicz, part of the larger Wrocław metropolitan area. Geography The town is situated in the historic Lower Silesia regi ...

in Poland, originally brought back from London by . Many of them were published by Edition Güntersberg. A new catalogue, of now 420 works, was published by Ortus Musikverlag in 2023, '' Catalogue of Works of Carl Friedrich Abel'' or AbelWV, edited by Günter von Zadow. It takes into account many newly discovered works, and additional sources for known works.

Major works by opus number

* Op. 1: 6 Overtures or Sinfonias (1761) * Op. 2: 6 Sonatas for keyboard, and violin and cello (ad libitum) (1760) * Op. 3: 6 Trio Sonatas for 2 violins and basso continuo (1762) * Op. 4: 6 Overtures or Sinfonias (1762) * Op. 5: 6 Sonatas for keyboard, and violin and cello (ad libitum) (1762) * Op. 6: 6 Sonatas for keyboard and flute (1763) * Op. 7: 6 Symphonies (1767) * Op. 8: 6 String Quartets (1768) * Op. 9: 6 Trio Sonatas for violin, cello and basso continuo (1771) * Op. 10: 6 Symphonies (1771) * Op. 11: 6 Concerti for keyboard and strings (1771) * Op. 12: 6 Flute Quartets (1774) * Op. 13: 6 Sonatas for keyboard and violin (1777) * Op. 14: 6 Symphonies (1778) * Op. 15: 6 String Quartets (1780) * Op. 16: 4 Trio Sonatas for 2 flutes and basso continuo (1781) * Op. 16: 6 Trio Sonatas for violin, viola and cello (1782) * Op. 17: 6 Symphonies (1785) * Op. 18: 6 Sonatas for keyboard and violin (1784)

Abel Fest

As Abel was born in 1723, the city of Köthen announced an international tricentennial festival around his music on four days in June 2023, held at historic locations including the

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

and its gardens. It was initiated by gambist and musicologist Thomas Fritzsch. The city also created a biennial Abel Prize. The first recipients in 2023 were Leonore von Zadow-Reichling and Günter von Zadow of Edition Güntersberg for their efforts to retrieve and publish Abel's works. They published more than 150, many as first publications.

Notes and references

;Notes ;References

External links