Franz Krommer (; 27 November 1759 – 8 January 1831) 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 *Czech (surnam ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

and violinist. He was one of the most popular composers in 19th-century

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. ...

alongside

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 ...

, whom he knew. Today he is mostly known for his clarinet and

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

clarinet concerto A clarinet concerto is a concerto for clarinet; that is, a musical composition for solo clarinet together with a large ensemble (such as an orchestra or concert band). Albert Rice has identified a work by Giuseppe Antonio Paganelli as possibly th ...

Life

Franz Krommer was born František Vincenc Kramář in Kamenice. His parents went by a Germanized version of their surname, Krommer. His father was an innkeeper in Kamenice until the family moved to

Třebíč Třebíč (; ) is a town in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 35,000 inhabitants. The beginnings of the town's history are connected with the establishment of a Benedictines, Benedictine monastery, where the castle is loca ...

in 1773. From 1773 to 1776, Franz studied

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

and

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

with his uncle, Antonín Mattias Kramář (1742–1804), in Tuřany. He became an organist here along with his uncle in 1777. In 1785 he moved to

and later to

Simontornya Simontornya is a town in Tolna County, Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the eas ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, where he was a violinist and later a Kapellmeister for the orchestra of the Count of Limburg Stirum. In 1790, Krommer was named choirmaster at the

Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

Pécs Pécs ( , ; ; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Päťkostolie''; also known by #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the c ...

, Hungary. In 1793 he became a Kapellmeister to Count Anton II Grassalkovich. He returned to Vienna in 1795, becoming Maestro di Cappella for Duke Ignaz Fuchs in 1798. In 1818 Krommer succeeded

Leopold Koželuch Leopold Koželuch (, born ''Jan Antonín Koželuh'', alternatively also ''Leopold Koželuh'', ''Leopold Kotzeluch''; 26 June 1747 – 7 May 1818) was a Czech composer and music teacher. He was born in Velvary and moved to Prague to further hi ...

as composer for the Imperial Court of Austria, the post he held until his death. He was named a

Kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

in 1818. According to Carl Engel he may have been Kapellmeister as early as 1814. He died on 8 January 1831 in Vienna, at the age of 71.

Compositions

His output was prolific, with at least three hundred published compositions in at least 110

opus number In music, the opus number is the "work number" that is assigned to a musical composition, or to a set of compositions, to indicate the chronological order of the composer's publication of that work. Opus numbers are used to distinguish among ...

s including at least 9 symphonies, seventy string quartets and many others for winds and strings, about fifteen

string quintet A string quintet is a musical composition for five string players. As an extension to the string quartet (two violins, a viola, and a cello), a string quintet includes a fifth string instrument, usually a second viola (a so-called "viola quintet ...

s and much sonorous, idiomatic and at times powerful music for wind ensemble, for which he is best known today.

References

External links

Biography in English

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Krommer, Franz 1759 births 1831 deaths 18th-century Austrian male musicians 18th-century classical composers 18th-century musicians from Bohemia 18th-century violinists Czech male classical violinists 19th-century Austrian composers 19th-century Austrian male musicians 19th-century Czech classical composers 19th-century classical violinists Composers from the Austrian Empire Classical-period composers from Bohemia Czech male classical composers Czech classical violinists 18th-century composers from the Holy Roman Empire People from Jihlava District Czech Romantic composers String quartet composers Composers for piano Composers for clarinet Composers for double bass

Life

Compositions

Further reading

References

External links