Johann Baptist Vanhal
Encyclopedia
Johann Baptist Vanhal also spelled Wanhal, Waṅhall or Wanhall (May 12, 1739–August 20, 1813) was an important classical music
composer
born in Nechanice
, Bohemia
to a Czech
family.
, Bohemia
, to a Czech
peasant family, Vanhal received his early training from a local musician. From these humble beginnings he was able to earn a living as a village organist and choirmaster. The Countess Schaffgotsch, who heard him playing the violin, took him to Vienna
in 1760, where she arranged lessons in composition with Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf
. Further patronage helped him to travel and gain further knowledge of music and by the age of 35, he was moving in exalted musical company: it is reported he played quartets with Haydn
, Mozart, and Dittersdorf.. Vanhal tailored his output to economic realities of the day and ceased writing symphonies in the late-1770s. He wrote three operas: Il Demofoonte (1770), Il trionfo di Clelia (1770), and The Princess of Tarento. In the 1770s, Vanhal met the contrabassist Johannes Matthias Sperger
and wrote a double bass concerto for him. The English music historian Charles Burney
visited Vanhal in 1772. Mozart performed Vanhal's Violin Concerto in B flat in Augsburg in 1777. In circa 1784, Haydn, Dittersdorf, Mozart and Vanhal played String Quartets together. Haydn and Dittersdorf played the violins, Mozart the viola, and Vanhal on cello. The recorder of this event, the composer and tenor Michael Kelly, stated that they played well but not outstandingly together, but the image of four of the great composers of the time all joined in common music-making is still one of the classic images of the Classical era.
He was reported to have suffered from an unspecified nervous disorder, which eventually went away, but which gave rise to the opinion held by Burney and others that the quality of Vanhal's compositions deteriorated with the disappearance of his condition. Scholars such as Paul Bryan find that "the quality and quantity of the serious works he [Vanhal] composed after 1770, ... belie that assertion."
in recent times, and the best of them are comparable with many of Haydn's. Many of Vanhal's symphonies are in minor keys and are considered highly influential to the "Sturm und Drang
" movement of his time. "Vanhal makes use of repeated semiquavers, pounding quavers in the bass line, wide skips in the themes, sudden pauses (fermatas), silences, exaggerated dynamic marks ... and all these features ... appear in Mozart's first large-scale Sturm und Drang symphony, no. 25 in g minor (K. 183) of 1773." This kind of style also appears in Joseph Haydn
's Symphony No. 83 in g minor, The Hen (1785), and
Muzio Clementi
's Sonata in g minor, Op.34, No.2 (circa 1795).
Such was his success that within a few years of his symphonies being written, they were being performed around the world, and as far distant as the United States. In later life, however, he rarely moved from Vienna where he was also an active teacher.
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
born in Nechanice
Nechanice
Nechanice is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has cca 2,150 inhabitants.- See also :* Nechanitz, USA, unincorporated community in Texas named after Nechanice-External links:*...
, Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
to a Czech
Czech people
Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...
family.
Biography
Born in NechaniceNechanice
Nechanice is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has cca 2,150 inhabitants.- See also :* Nechanitz, USA, unincorporated community in Texas named after Nechanice-External links:*...
, Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, to a Czech
Czech people
Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...
peasant family, Vanhal received his early training from a local musician. From these humble beginnings he was able to earn a living as a village organist and choirmaster. The Countess Schaffgotsch, who heard him playing the violin, took him to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in 1760, where she arranged lessons in composition with Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf
Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf
----August Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf was an Austrian composer, violinist and silvologist.-1739-1764:...
. Further patronage helped him to travel and gain further knowledge of music and by the age of 35, he was moving in exalted musical company: it is reported he played quartets with Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
, Mozart, and Dittersdorf.. Vanhal tailored his output to economic realities of the day and ceased writing symphonies in the late-1770s. He wrote three operas: Il Demofoonte (1770), Il trionfo di Clelia (1770), and The Princess of Tarento. In the 1770s, Vanhal met the contrabassist Johannes Matthias Sperger
Johannes Matthias Sperger
Johannes Matthias Sperger, also often Johann, was an Austrian contrabassist and composer....
and wrote a double bass concerto for him. The English music historian Charles Burney
Charles Burney
Charles Burney FRS was an English music historian and father of authors Frances Burney and Sarah Burney.-Life and career:...
visited Vanhal in 1772. Mozart performed Vanhal's Violin Concerto in B flat in Augsburg in 1777. In circa 1784, Haydn, Dittersdorf, Mozart and Vanhal played String Quartets together. Haydn and Dittersdorf played the violins, Mozart the viola, and Vanhal on cello. The recorder of this event, the composer and tenor Michael Kelly, stated that they played well but not outstandingly together, but the image of four of the great composers of the time all joined in common music-making is still one of the classic images of the Classical era.
He was reported to have suffered from an unspecified nervous disorder, which eventually went away, but which gave rise to the opinion held by Burney and others that the quality of Vanhal's compositions deteriorated with the disappearance of his condition. Scholars such as Paul Bryan find that "the quality and quantity of the serious works he [Vanhal] composed after 1770, ... belie that assertion."
Style
He had to be a prolific writer to meet the demands made upon him, and attributed to him are 100 quartets, at least 73 symphonies, 95 sacred works, and a large number of instrumental and vocal works. The symphonies, in particular, have been committed increasingly often to compact discCompact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
in recent times, and the best of them are comparable with many of Haydn's. Many of Vanhal's symphonies are in minor keys and are considered highly influential to the "Sturm und Drang
Sturm und Drang
Sturm und Drang is a proto-Romantic movement in German literature and music taking place from the late 1760s through the early 1780s, in which individual subjectivity and, in particular, extremes of emotion were given free expression in reaction to the perceived constraints of rationalism...
" movement of his time. "Vanhal makes use of repeated semiquavers, pounding quavers in the bass line, wide skips in the themes, sudden pauses (fermatas), silences, exaggerated dynamic marks ... and all these features ... appear in Mozart's first large-scale Sturm und Drang symphony, no. 25 in g minor (K. 183) of 1773." This kind of style also appears in Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
's Symphony No. 83 in g minor, The Hen (1785), and
Muzio Clementi
Muzio Clementi
Muzio Clementi was a celebrated composer, pianist, pedagogue, conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer. Born in Italy, he spent most of his life in England. He is best known for his piano sonatas, and his collection of piano studies, Gradus ad Parnassum...
's Sonata in g minor, Op.34, No.2 (circa 1795).
Such was his success that within a few years of his symphonies being written, they were being performed around the world, and as far distant as the United States. In later life, however, he rarely moved from Vienna where he was also an active teacher.
Published Concertos
- 4 Sinfonie Concertanti (Paris, 1775)
- A favourite Concerto for the German flute or Vl. (London, ca. 1775)
- 6 concertos for Harspichord:
- 1 Concerto for Harps. (Wien, 1785)
- 2 Concertos for Harps. (London, 1788)
- 1 Concerto for Harps. (Offenbach, 1789)
- 1 Concerto for Harps. (Mainz, 1880)
- 1 Concerto for Harps. (Wien, 1808)
- 1 Concertino for Harpsichord (Wien, s.a.)
- 5 Concertos for Flute (Paris, s.a.)
Concertos: Manuscripts
- 1 Concerto for Harpsichord and Violin
- many concertos for Harpsichord or Piano (the exact number of which is still unknown)
- 2 Concertos for Harpsichord or Organ
- 1 Concerto for Organ
- 1 Concerto for 2 Violins
- 5 Concertos for Violin
- 1 Concerto for Cello
- 2 Concertos for Flute:
- (MS 1-D major: Weinmann IIe:D1, Lund University Library; now publ. Artaria)
- (MS 2-E flat major: Weinmann IIe:Eb1, The Danish Royal Library Mu.6304.2368; now publ. Artaria)
- Concerto in F major for viola and orchestra (c.1785); original version for bassoon and orchestra (c.1780); transcription by the composer; The solo viola part is written in the key of E major requiring a scordaturaScordaturaA scordatura , also called cross-tuning, is an alternative tuning used for the open strings of a string instrument, in which the notes indicated in the score would represent the finger position as if played in regular tuning, while the actual pitch is altered...
tuning a whole step higher. - 1 Concerto for Contrabass
- 1 Concerto for Clarinet
- 1 Concerto for 2 Bassoons
- 1 Concerto for Basson (now publ. Breitkopf & Härtel)
- 1 concerto for viola
Concertos: selection of best known concertos
- Cello concerto in A major
- Concert for two bassoons and orchestras
- Flute concerto No. 1
- Flute concerto No. 2
- Concerto for double bass and orchestra
Symphonies
Vanhal left 51 published symphonies. There are also another 81 symphonies which are preserved only in manuscripts. [according to the catalogue published by Civra Ferruccio, Torino 1985]. Even though the modern actual French spelling of Symphonie Périodique is Symphonie Périodique, the original 18th century French title of such works was Simphonie Periodique, as it can be seen on the 18th century frontispiece of Vanhal's published symphonies "a Amsterdam chez J.J. Hummel, Marchand & Imprimeur de Musique".Published Symphonies
- 4 Symphonies Op. 10 (Paris, 1771–72)
- 3 Symphonies Op. 10 (Paris, 1773)
- 3 Symphonies Op. 16 (Paris, 1773)
- 2 Symphonies Op. 17 (Paris, 1773)
- 1 Symphony (Paris, 1778)
- 3 Symphonies Op. 10 (Amsterdam, ca. 1783)
- 1 Symphony Op. 10 (Offenbach, s.a.)
- 34 Symphonies Périodiques (Amsterdam)
Symphonies: selection of best known symphonies
- Symphony in A major Bryan A9
- Symphony in A flat major Bryan As1
- Symphony in B major Bryan B3
- Symphony in C major Bryan C3
- Symphony in C major (Comista) Bryan C11
- Symphony in D major Bryan D2
- Symphony in D major Bryan D4
- Symphony in D major Bryan D17
- Symphony in G major Bryan G6
- Symphony in G major Bryan G8
- Symphony in G major Bryan G11
- Symphony in a minor Bryan a2
- Symphony in c minor Bryan c2
- Symphony in d minor Bryan d1
- Symphony in d minor Bryan d2
- Symphony in e minor Bryan e1
- Symphony in g minor Bryan g1
- Symphony in g minor Bryan g2
Chamber Music
- Piano quartets:
- Piano quartet in E flat major Op. 40 No. 1
- Piano quartet in G major Op. 40 No. 2
- Piano quartet Op. 40 No. 3
- Oboe quartets:
- Oboe quartet Op. 7 No. 1
- Oboe quartet Op. 7 No. 2
- Oboe quartet Op. 7 No. 3
- Oboe quartet Op. 7 No. 4
- Oboe quartet Op. 7 No. 5
- Oboe quartet Op. 7 No. 6
- Caper quartet:
- Caper quartet in G major Op. 4 No. 1
- Trio:
- Trio Op. 20 No. 1
- Trio Op. 20 No. 2
- Trio Op. 20 No. 3
- Viola sonatas:
- Viola sonata Op. 5 No. 1
- Viola sonata Op. 5 No. 2
- Viola sonata Op. 5 No. 3
- Viola sonata Op. 5 No. 4
Operas
- Il Demofoonte (Metastasio; Roma, 1770)
- Il trionfo di Clelia (Metastasio; Roma, 1770)
Published Sacred Music
- 2 Masses (C major and G major, Wien, s.a.)
- 2 Offertories (Wien, s.a.)
- Pange Lingua (Wien, s.a.)
- IV breves et faciles Hymni in honorem SS. Altari Sacramenti (Wien, s.a.)
Sacred Music: Manuscripts
- 58 Masses:
- (MS 1-G major Missa Pastoralis ca. 1782: Weinmann XIX: G4, Austrian National Library Mus.Hs.926)
- (MS 2-C major Missa Solemnis ca. 1778: Weinmann XIX: C7, Austrian National Library Mus.Hs.22290)
- Both the Masses are now publ. Artaria.
- 1 Credo
- Kyrie and Gloria
- 54 Offertories
- 16 Salve Regina
- 10 litanies
- 14 motets
- Stabat Mater
- Te Deum
- Tantum ergo
- Pange Lingua
- Quatro stationi
- Sacrum Solenne
- 31 arias
External links
- Works by Vanhal at the Mutopia projectMutopia projectThe Mutopia Project is a volunteer-run effort to create a library of free content sheet music, in a way similar to Project Gutenberg's library of public domain books.The music is reproduced from old scores that are out of copyright...
- Duke University website
- Dr. Paul Bryan: Thematic Catalog of Vanhal's music.
- www.klassika.info/Komponisten/Vanhal/wv_gattung.html
- www.klassika.info/Komponisten/Vanhal/index.html
- Johann Baptist Vanhal on NAXOS.com
- Johann Baptist Vanhal on mozartforum.com, Who's Who Page
- www.karadar.com/Dictionary/vanhal.html Karadar Classical Music Dictionary
- www.classical-composers.org/comp/vanhal
- www.artaria.com/SystemLink_Composer_27 artaria.com