Danzi, Franz

Preface

Franz Danzi – Sinfonia Concertante
for flute, oboe, horn, bassoon and chamber orchestra

(b. Schwetzingen or Mannheim, 15. May 1763 – d. Karlsruhe, 13. April 1826)

Preface (Michael Davis, Samsuel Gaskin, Sammy Gradner, 2018)
Franz Danzi was a German composer primarily remembered for his chamber music. He was born in Schwetzingen, a German town situated just to the southeast of Mannheim. He studied piano, cello, and singing with his father, Innocenz Danzi, the Italian-born principal cellist and composer in the Mannheim orchestra, under the direction of Johann Stamitz. Under Stamitz’s direction, the orchestra famously made several innovations in orchestral composition and performance, including the use of unified bowing, independent parts written for woodwinds, dramatic dynamic contrasts, and four-movement symphonies. Franz also studied composition with the renowned Georg Joseph Vogler, who was also the composition instructor of both Carl Maria von Weber and Giacomo Meyerbeer. At the age of fifteen, Franz joined the Mannheim orchestra as a cellist. Shortly thereafter, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart visited Mannheim for five months to hear the revolutionary orchestra in person. Mozart’s visit undoubtedly left an impression on the young composer. Shortly thereafter, Danzi composed and published the first of his woodwind compositions. In 1778, Elector Palatine Carl Theodor moved his Mannheim court to Munich. While Innocenz Danzi moved to Munich to continue playing in the orchestra, the younger Danzi stayed in Mannheim to perform in the orchestra of the newly established National Theater until 1784, when he was appointed to replace his father as principal cellist in the Munich court orchestra.

It was in 1785 that Danzi wrote his Sinfonia Concertante für Flöte, Oboe, Horn und Fagott mit Kammerorchester. The sinfonia concertante—essentially a concerto for two or more instruments and orchestra—was originally a French genre, and despite never having traveled to France, Danzi consumed French music during his time at the Mannheim court. The 1785 manuscript for Danzi’s Sinfonia Concertante, copied by Sixtus Hirsvogl, is found in the music collection of the Bavarian State Library in Munich. In this piece, one can clearly see the influence of Stamitz in its orchestration. Like Stamitz’s late symphonies, Danzi wrote for four string parts, two horns, and two oboes. Like Stamitz, Danzi indicates in the manuscript that oboes may be replaced with clarinets. There is no record of a performance of the piece occurring until March of 1938 at the Reichssender Munich. In the three-movement Sinfonia Concertante, Danzi displays a well-informed understanding of his contemporaries and employs many elements of both the galant and classical styles.

The first movement opens in typical 18th-century fashion, in sonata-allegro form. Beginning in the heroic key of E-flat major, the strings carry much of the primary theme’s 12 measures in largely homophonic texture. In a lengthy transition that spans 73 measures, the music teases the dominant key of B-flat major as the woodwinds fight back and confirm the key of E-flat major. The music seems to turn angry about being tricked and demands to be taken to the dominant key. The oboe enters with the light and tender secondary theme over a full string section, firmly in the key of B-flat major. The bassoon and flute try their hands at developing the theme, yet fall out after one phrase, leaving the strings to support the music. The movement has a heavily adjusted recapitulation that begins in m. 288. This time around, during the primary theme and transition, the woodwind and string parts are largely inverted. Where the strings were once featured, now the woodwinds are, allowing the flute to take the glory from the first violin, although the oboe once again carries the secondary theme

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