Post by erik on Sept 3, 2022 19:04:09 GMT -5
A Czech-born contemporary of both Mozart and Haydn is in this week's Classical Works Spotlight with a concerto that (not surprisingly) sounds suspiciously Mozartean.
Leopold Kozeluch: PIANO CONCERTO NO. 1 IN F MAJOR
Decades before anyone had ever heard Bedrich Smetana and Antonin Dvorak, perhaps the best-known composer to come from Bohemia (later Czechoslovakia) was Leopold Kozeluch. Until almost the end of the 20th century, however, Kozeluch was relatively unknown among even the keenest observers of classical music because, given that he lived from 1747 to 1818, his career and life overlapped those of the two biggest composers of the late 18th century, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Joseph Haydn. Indeed, Kozeluch’s positions overlapped those of Mozart’s, including his refusal to take on the job of court organist in Mozart’s hometown of Salzburg because of what he saw as the ill treatment afforded to Salzburg’s native son. His output of symphonies and instrumental concertos, particularly in the sizes of the orchestral forces require, even tend to mimic those of Mozart’s. Indeed, his First Piano Concerto, which runs twenty-six minutes in length, shows his appreciation of Mozart’s keyboard virtuosity, particularly the 11th and 19th concertos of Mozart that are in the same key of F Major. It was fairly popular during Kozeluch’s time with its orchestral lightness; after his death in 1818, however, like with his other works, it would fall into obscurity for two centuries, until the popularity of Mozart’s concertos, long since established, made music scholars look into the works of his far lesser known contemporaries.
Piano: HOWARD SHELLEY
London Mozart Players/HOWARD SHELLEY (Hyperion)
Included):
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 5 IN E FLAT MAJOR
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 6 IN C MAJOR
Leopold Kozeluch: PIANO CONCERTO NO. 1 IN F MAJOR
Decades before anyone had ever heard Bedrich Smetana and Antonin Dvorak, perhaps the best-known composer to come from Bohemia (later Czechoslovakia) was Leopold Kozeluch. Until almost the end of the 20th century, however, Kozeluch was relatively unknown among even the keenest observers of classical music because, given that he lived from 1747 to 1818, his career and life overlapped those of the two biggest composers of the late 18th century, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Joseph Haydn. Indeed, Kozeluch’s positions overlapped those of Mozart’s, including his refusal to take on the job of court organist in Mozart’s hometown of Salzburg because of what he saw as the ill treatment afforded to Salzburg’s native son. His output of symphonies and instrumental concertos, particularly in the sizes of the orchestral forces require, even tend to mimic those of Mozart’s. Indeed, his First Piano Concerto, which runs twenty-six minutes in length, shows his appreciation of Mozart’s keyboard virtuosity, particularly the 11th and 19th concertos of Mozart that are in the same key of F Major. It was fairly popular during Kozeluch’s time with its orchestral lightness; after his death in 1818, however, like with his other works, it would fall into obscurity for two centuries, until the popularity of Mozart’s concertos, long since established, made music scholars look into the works of his far lesser known contemporaries.
Piano: HOWARD SHELLEY
London Mozart Players/HOWARD SHELLEY (Hyperion)
Included):
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 5 IN E FLAT MAJOR
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 6 IN C MAJOR