Hummel, Johann Nepomuck

Johann Nepomuk Hummel – Concerto for Madolin, Small String Orchestra, Flutes and Horns in G major

(b. Pressburg, 14. November 1778 – d. Weimar, 17. Oktober 1837)

Preface
Johann Nepomuk Hummel was renowned throughout Europe as a composer and pianist. At age ten, the end of his studies with Mozart (1786-1788), he embarked on his first performance tour of Europe. He also began to compose prolifically at an early age. In Vienna he would study with Albrechtsberger and Salieri, both of whom also taught his friend and sometime rival Beethoven. He was considered to be one of the great composers of his era and his compositional abilities are inarguable, but toward the end of his life he was seen as representing a time that had passed while Beethoven was seen to be ushering in a new musical age.

Mandolins of several different types were common throughout Europe during this time but most of the compositions for the instrument came from the pens of those who played or taught it. They were occasionally used by some in Hummel’s circle. Mozart had written two songs with mandolin accompaniment (Die Zufriedenheit and An die Zither ) a few years before the two met, and composed Don Giovanni (with the famous canzonetta with obligato mandolin) while Hummel was his student. Beethoven wrote four works for mandolin and cembalo (Sonatina in C, Sonatina in c, a theme and variations, and Adagio in E flat) in the mid-1790s.

Hummel was well-acquainted with plucked instruments. In addition to this concerto, he composed a sonata for mandolin and piano, and a number of chamber works that included guitar. Hummel’s concerto and his sonata are among the most significant works for the instrument. These rank among the most ambitious works of the era for the instrument by a composer of his stature. …

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