Daniel Gottlieb Steibelt (22 October 1765) was a German pianist and composer. His main works were composed in Paris and in London, and he died in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
, Russia. He once challenged and lost to
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
in a piano duel.
Biography
Steibelt was born in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, and studied music with
Johann Kirnberger before being forced by his father to join the
Prussian Army. After deserting, he began a nomadic career as a pianist before settling in 1790 in Paris, where he attained great popularity as a
virtuoso
A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'', or ; Late Latin ''virtuosus''; Latin ''virtus''; 'virtue', 'excellence' or 'skill') is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as fine arts, ...
as the result of a
piano sonata
A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement (Liszt, Scriabin, Medtner, Berg), others with two movemen ...
called ''La Coquette'', which he composed for
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...
.
Also in Paris, his dramatic
opera
Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
entitled ''Romeo et Juliette'', which was later highly regarded by
Hector Berlioz
Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...
, was produced at the
Théâtre Feydeau in 1793. This is held by many to be his most original and artistically successful composition.
Steibelt began to share his time between Paris and
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, where his piano playing attracted great attention. In 1797 he played in a concert of
J. P. Salamon. In 1798 he produced his
Concerto
A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The ...
No. 3 in E containing a ''Storm Rondo'' characterized by extensive
tremolo
In music, ''tremolo'' (), or ''tremolando'' (), is a trembling effect. There are multiple types of tremolo: a rapid repetition of a note, an alternation between two different notes, or a variation in volume.
Tremolos may be either ''measured'' ...
s, which became very popular. In the following year Steibelt started on a professional tour in Germany; and, after playing with some success in
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, Berlin,
Dresden
Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
, and
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
, he arrived at the end of March 1800 at
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, where he is reported to have challenged
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
to a trial of skill at the house of
Count Moritz von Fries. The oft-quoted account by
Ferdinand Ries
Ferdinand Ries (baptised 28 November 1784 – 13 January 1838) was a German composer. Ries was a friend, pupil and secretary of Ludwig van Beethoven. He composed eight symphony, symphonies, a violin concerto, nine piano concertos (the first ...
was written 37 years later; Ries did not attend it and became only later a student and friend of Beethoven. The duel between Steibelt and Beethoven consisted of multiple rounds as different assessments of each player's skill. The first round was a prepared playing of someone else's composition. For this Beethoven played a
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 ...
composition, and Steibelt performed a
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 ...
piece. The next round of competition involved each player improvising over a theme supplied by their opponent. According to Ries, Beethoven won the first two rounds with ease. The third and final round secured Beethoven's victory. Each player was to sightread a newly written piece from their opponent. Steibelt was given Beethoven's
Piano Sonata in B♭ Major, Op. 22, which did earn him some considerable applause. However, Steibelt proceeded to bend the rules and handed Beethoven a Sonata for Cello and Piano instead of just a Piano composition. This did not faze Beethoven at all, as he simply took the score, placed it upside down, and read it backward. He then began improvising on the inversed themes for about 30 minutes, causing Steibelt to furiously storm out before Beethoven had finished. Ries stated that Steibelt had "made it a condition that Beethoven was not to be invited where his own company was desired".
Following this supposed public humiliation Steibelt ended his tour. (The date of his departure from Vienna is not known, while Beethoven did leave Vienna at the end of April or the beginning of May: he played in Buda, Hungary, on 7 May.) Steibelt went again to Paris, where he organized the first performance of
Joseph 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 ...
's oratorio ''
The Creation'', which took place on 24 December 1800 at the Opera House. On his way to it,
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
narrowly escaped a bomb attack. Steibelt had just published one of his most accomplished sonatas, which he had dedicated to Bonaparte's wife, Josephine. After a second stay in England from March 1802 to March 1805, Steibelt returned to the continent, gave concerts in Brussels (April 1805), and was back in Paris in Summer. He celebrated Napoleon's triumph at
Austerlitz with a ''Musical Interlude'' named ''La Fête de Mars'', whose première was attended by Napoleon in person (4 February 1806).
In 1808 he was invited by
Tsar Alexander I to
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
, succeeding
François-Adrien Boieldieu as director of the French Opera in 1811.
He remained there for the rest of his life. In 1812, he composed ''The Conflagration of Moscow'', a grand fantasy for piano dedicated to the Russian nation. Steibelt generally ceased performing in 1814 but returned to the platform for his Concerto No. 8, which premiered on March 16, 1820, in Saint Petersburg, and is notable for its choral finale. This was four years before Beethoven's unconventional
Symphony No. 9 and was the only piano concerto ever written (excluding Beethoven's
Choral Fantasy) with a part for a chorus until
Henri Herz's 6th concerto, Op. 192 (1858) and
Ferruccio Busoni
Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...
's
Piano Concerto
A piano concerto, a type of concerto, is a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for piano accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuosic showpieces which require an advance ...
(1904). Steibelt died in Saint Petersburg on 20 September 1823 (2 October N.S.), following a prolonged illness.
New York Weekly Review, Volume 13.
1862. p. 51
Legacy
Besides his dramatic music, Steibelt left behind him an enormous number of compositions, mostly for the piano. His playing was said to be brilliant, though lacking the higher qualities which characterized that of such contemporaries as Cramer and Muzio Clementi
Muzio Filippo Vincenzo Francesco Saverio Clementi (23 January 1752 – 10 March 1832) was an Italian-British composer, virtuoso pianist, pedagogue, conductor (music), conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer, who was mostly ac ...
. Despite this, his playing and compositional skills enabled him to build a career across Europe. Grove describes him as "extraordinarily vain, arrogant, discourteous, recklessly extravagant and even dishonest."
Selected list of his works
1) Stage
* ''Romeo et Juliette'', 3 acts (1793)
* ''Albert et Adelaide'', 3 acts (1798)
* ''Le retour de Zephyr'', 1 act ballet (1802)
* ''Le jugement du Berger'', 3 acts ballet (1804)
* ''La Belle Laitière, ou Blanche Reine de Castille'' (1805)
* ''La Fête de Mars'', intermezzo (1806)
* ''La Fête de l'Empereur'', ballet (1809)
* ''Der Blöde Ritter'' (1810)
* ''Sargines'', 3 acts, opera (1810) (This is most likely not a work by Steibelt.)
* ''Cendrillon'', 3 acts opera (1810)
* ''La Princesse de Babylone'', 3 acts opera (1812)
* ''Le jugement de Midas'' (1823?)
2) Orchestral
* Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra in C (Paris edition in 1794)
* Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra in E minor (1796?)
* Concerto No. 3 for Piano and Orchestra in E "L'orage" (created in 1798; Paris ed. 1799)
* Concerto No. 4 for Piano and Orchestra in E (1800?)
* Concerto No. 5 for Piano and Orchestra in E "À la chasse" Op. 64 (created in 1802; Paris ed. 1805)
* Concerto No. 6 for Piano and Orchestra in G minor "Le voyage au mont Saint-Bernard" (Paris edition 1817)
* Concerto No. 7 for Piano and Orchestra in E minor "Grand concerto militaire dans le genre grec", with 2 orchestras, (Paris ed. 1818)
* Concerto No. 8 for Piano and Orchestra in E "with bacchanalian rondo, acc. chorus" (1820), not published.
* Harp Concerto (1807)
* Ouverture en Symphonie (1796)
* Marches and Waltzes
3) Chamber
* Rondo favorite, for violin or flute, and guitar
* 3 String Quartets, Op. 17 (1796)
* 3 Quintets for Piano and Strings, Op. 28 (1797)
* 6 String Quartets, op. 34 (ca 1799)
* 3 Duos for Violin and Guitar, Op. 37
* 3 String Quartets, Op. 49 (1800)
* 3 Violin Sonatas, Op. 69
* 1 Quartet for Piano and Strings
* 26 trios for piano and strings
* 6 trios for harp and strings
* 115 duos for piano and violin (?)
* 6 duos for Piano and Harp (or for two pianos)
* 6 sonatas for harp
* 36 bacchanals and 12 divertissements for Piano, tambourine and triangle ad lib.
* 77 sonatas for piano solo
* 45 rondos
* 32 fantasias
* 21 divertissements
* 12 caprices or preludes
* 20 pots-pourris
* 2 series of serenades
* 25 series of variations
* 16 sonatas for piano 4 hands (at least 6 of them are apocryphal works)
* Descriptive pieces (Triumph, sieges, marches funebres ... )
* Waltzes, danses.
* Studies, Op. 78
4) Methode de Pianoforte (1805)
5) Songs
* 6 romances (1798)
* Air d'Estelle (1798)
* 30 songs, Op. 10 (1794)
Selective discography
* Variations on two Russian Folksongs, Irina Ermakova, piano (Arte Nova ANO 516260, 1996)
* Sonata in E major, Hiroko Sakagami, piano (''Hans Georg Nägeli, publisher and composer'', MGB CD 6193, 2002)
* Grand Sonata in E-flat major, dedicated to Madame Bonaparte, Daniel Propper, piano (''Echoes of the Battlefields'', Forgotten Records, fr 16/17P, 2012)
* ''The Conflagration of Moscow'', a grand fantasia, Daniel Propper, piano (''Echoes of the Battlefields'', Forgotten Records, fr 16/17P, 2012)
* Grand concerto for harp, Masumi Nagasawa, harpe, Kölner Akademie, dir. Michael Alexander Willens (Ars Produktion, ARS 38 108, 2012)
* Sonata in C minor, Op. 6 No. 2, Anna Petrova-Forster, piano (Gega New, GD 362, 2013)
* Etudes, Op. 78 (Nos. 50, 32 and 3), Anna Petrova-Forster, piano (Gega New, GD 362, 2013)
* Sonata in D major, Op. 82, Anna Petrova-Forster, piano (Gega New, GD 362, 2013)
* Concerto in G minor, No. 6, ''Le voyage au Mont St. Bernard'', Anna Petrova-Forster, piano (Gega New, GD 362, 2013)
*Rondo ''The Storm'', from his Concerto No. 3, Anna Petrova-Forster, piano (Forgotten Records, fr 32P, 2015)
*Rondo ''Les Papillons'', Anna Petrova-Forster, piano (Forgotten Records, fr 32P, 2015)
*Fantaisie and Variations on two Russian themes, Anna Petrova-Forster (Forgotten Records, fr 32P, 2015)
*Sonata in G major, Op. 64, Anna Petrova-Forster (Forgotten Records, fr 32P, 2015)
*Etudes op.78, Nos. 10, 11, 24, 26, 30, 31, 33, Anna Petrova-Forster, piano (Toccata Classics, TOCN0005, 2021)
Notes
References
* Frank Dawes a.o.. "Steibelt, Daniel (Gottlieb)", ''Grove Music Online
''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...
'', ed. L. Macy (accessed 27 April 2006)
grovemusic.com
(subscription access).
* Gottfried Müller: "Daniel Steibelt: Sein Leben und seine Klavierwerke (Leipzig and Zurich, 1933/R1973)
* Karen A. Hagberg: "Daniel Steibelt's Cendrillon: a critical edition with notes on Steibelt's life and works" (diss.Eastman School of Music,1975)
* Eliza (2012-08-26). "Daniel Gottlieb Steibelt (1765-1823) , Biography, Music & More"
External links
*
* Eight Sonatas of Daniel Steibelt mostly first time recorded in the sound of a period Johann Schantz Pianoforte (1790) and a modern grand piano a
resampled.de/steibelt
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steibelt, Daniel
1765 births
1823 deaths
German classical pianists
German male classical pianists
German opera composers
German male opera composers
German Classical-period composers
Musicians from Berlin
German expatriates in the Russian Empire
18th-century German keyboardists
German pianists
German male pianists
19th-century German male musicians
Composers from the Kingdom of Prussia