Antonín[Anton] Kraft - Cello Concerto in C major Op.4

 

Antonín Kraft

 

 (December 30, 1749,^[1] Rokycany – 28 August 1820,^[2] Vienna) was a Czech cellist and composer. He was a close friend of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.

 

Kraft was born in the Bohemian town of Rokycany of a German Bohemian ethnic family which had assimilated into Czech. He received early musical education on the cello from his father before going to university in Vienna to study law. He soon obtained a position in the Imperial Hofkapelle. In 1778 he was appointed cellist in Prince Nikolaus Esterházy's orchestra, where he met and studied composition with Haydn. In 1783 Haydn wrote his second cello concerto in D (Hob. VIIb/2, Op. 101) for Kraft. In 1789,[https://youtu.be/_d3q9C0Mcfg] 

he met Mozart in Dresden and took part in the premiere of his divertimento for string trio in E-Flat.[https://youtu.be/2wiYvGV8RHE

 

Mozart played the viola part and Anton Teyber played the violin part. After Esterházy died in 1790, his successor, Prince Anton Esterházy, dismissed most of the court orchestra. Kraft went to Vienna and became a founding member of the Schuppanzigh Quartet, where he helped establish the traditions of string quartet playing. He played in the Grassalkovich court and from 1796 was employed in the orchestra of Prince Joseph Franz von Lobkowitz. He died on 28 August 1820 in Vienna.

 

Kraft was considered one of the greatest cellists of his time and both Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 2 in D, the cello part in Mozart’s divertimento for string trio in E-Flat and the cello part in Beethoven's Triple Concerto https://youtu.be/93PoeraZm_

were written for him, though his son Nikolaus Kraft is also claimed to have played the premiere of the latter.

As a composer, he wrote cello sonatas (six for cello with bass published as Op. 1 and 2) and a cello concerto (Op. 4). He also wrote various duos: for violin and cello (Op. 3), for cello and double bass and for two cellos (Op. 5 and 6).

 

Cello Concerto in C major Op.4        

1. Allegro con spirito
2. Adagio maestoso
3. Finale. Rondeau. Allegretto

 

Prague Symphony Orchestra
Josef Hrncir Conductor     

 

The C Major Cello Concerto Nr. 1 was first published by Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig the year 1805.

The concerto bears the title Premier Concerto Pour le Violoncelle composé et dédié à Monsieur le Comte Maurce de Fries chambellan SMJ (Sa Majesté Imperiale) par Antoine Kraft Executé par son Fils Nicolaus Antoine Kraft au Théatre imperial (Tous les deux, Violoncelles de S.A.S. le Prince régnant de Lobkowitz Oeuvr. 4 L.1. Dir. 2. Rthl. à Leipsic chez Breitkopf et Härtel[1]

The dedicatee of the Concerto is Moritz von Fries, who was the wealthiest man in the monarchy at that time, and through his personal contact and financing allowed its publication and performance. The concerto was regularly performed at the imperial Theatre in Vienna Burgtheater by his son Nikolaus Kraft (named after Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy).[1] Both father Antonin Kraft and his son Nikolaus were principal cellists at the orchestra of Prince Joseph Franz von Lobkowitz and premiered several of Beethoven's symphonies, for instance the 3rd Symphony (also premiered in 1805) that starts with the theme on the cellos.[1]

Old imperial theatre (Burgtheater), built in 1748 and destroyed at the end of the 19th century

The concerto was played on tour all over Europe, and was a much appreciated work at that time. The personal copy of Friedrich Grützmacher of the Concerto is to be found at the Sächsische Landesbibliothek. Grützmacher was a pupil of Bernhard Romberg who was himself a pupil of Franz Xaver Hammer (also called Marteau or sometimes Mardeau) and Antonin Kraft.

The second edition of the work was printed in 1961 in Prague by Státní hudební nakladatelství Praha (now editio Supraphon) SHV, 1961. Plate H 3296. This edition was heavily revised by Josef Chuchro.

Inside of the old Burgtheater, painting by Gustav Klimt.

Kraft was principal cellist under Joseph Haydn in Prince Nikolaus Esterházy's orchestra from 1778 until 1790. Antonin Kraft along with his son Nikolaus joined the orchestra of Count Anton Grassalkovich in Bratislava in 1790 as first cellist. Kraft became a member of the Schuppanzigh Quartet founded in 1792 in the salon of Prince Karl Lichnowský,[2] then from 1796 he was employed in Prince Lobkowicz's orchestra. The cello parts to Haydn's D major Cello Concerto and Beethoven's Triple Concerto, Op.56 were written to fit his technique.[3] Haydn's D Major Cello Concerto was attributed to Kraft for almost a century.

Antonin Kraft was also a composition student of Haydn and played chamber music with all major musicians of that time, notably also the premiere of the Divertimento in E-flat major, K.563 by Mozart in Dresden on April 13, 1789 (follow up concerts in Leipzig and Berlin) with Anton Teyber taking the violin part, Mozart playing viola and himself playing cello.[4] In 1792 Ludwig van Beethoven established permanent residence in Vienna, and he soon made the acquaintance of Kraft. Both artists were bound by a friendship that lasted until Kraft's death. He was also first cellist in the Vienna opera.[2]