Carl Stamitz- Concerto for Cello in A Major/No.1 in G Major

 

 

 

Carl Philipp Stamitz (Czech: Karel Stamic; baptized 8 May 1745 – 9 November 1801) was a German composer of partial Czech ancestry. He was the most prominent representative of the second generation of the Mannheim School.

He was the eldest son of Johann Stamitz, a violinist and composer of the early classical period. Born in Mannheim, he received lessons from his father and Christian Cannabich, his father's successor as leader of the Mannheim orchestra. As a youth, Stamitz was employed as a violinist in the court orchestra at Mannheim. In 1770, he began travelling as a virtuoso, accepting short-term engagements, but never managing to gain a permanent position. He visited a number of European cities, living for a time in Strasbourg and London. In 1794, he gave up travelling and moved with his family to Jena in central Germany, but his circumstances deteriorated and he descended into debt and poverty, dying in 1801. Papers on alchemy were found after his death.

Stamitz wrote symphonies, symphonies concertantes, and concertos for clarinet, cello, flute, oboe, bassoon, basset horn, violin, viola, viola d'amore and different combinations of these instruments. Some of his clarinet and viola concertos are particularly admired. He also wrote duos, trios and quartets. Two operas, Der verliebte Vormund and Dardanus, are now lost. Stylistically, his music resembles that of Mozart or Haydn and is characterized by appealing melodies, although his writing for the solo instruments is not excessively virtuosic. The opening movements of his orchestral works, which are in sonata form, are generally followed by expressive and lyrical middle movements and final movements in the form of a rondo.

 

 

Stamitz's cello concertos were written for Frederick William II of Prussia, who was a gifted amateur musician: both Mozart and Beethoven wrote music for the king.

 

 Concerto for Cello in A Major

I. Allegro con spirito – 00:00
II. Romanze. Andantino – 09:52
III. Rondo. Allegretto – 16:23

 

Stamitz' A major Cello Concerto perfectly demonstrates his lyrical style, closest to that of Mozart in his concertante music, and with a similar buildup in the opening tutti combination of strings with winds. The cello entry - Allegro con spirito - however, is a direct link with Haydn. Fulsome, expressive and extremely vocal in character, it spans two octaves and is mainly in the key of E major. After another orchestra tutti, the cellist resumes his phrase spinning in E minor, moving back to A for further exploits and a cadenza that journeys from mid to high regions, where there is a lengthy discussion, quoting elements of the various themes in fresh guises. The middle movement is a Romanza, the winding melody descending from D to A and back again. There is some lovely, moulded phrasing between soloist and strings with hints of B minor en route. The hushed ending is particularly effective. The Rondo finale is skittish, made up of dotted and repeated notes, its opening theme partially echoed by the soloist. An A minor/ D major second subject does not impede the music's joyful progress, and cello harmonics contribute to the general pleasure.” ( Bill & Gill Newman)

 

Cello Concerto No.1 in G Major

Klaus-Peter Hahn (cello), Kurpfalz Chamber Orchestra

I. Allegro con spirit – 0:00 II. Romance (Andantino) – 10:03 III. Rondo. Allegro – 14:58