Karl Kohaut
Encyclopedia
Karl Ignaz Augustin Kohaut (Carolus Ignatius Augustinus) (baptised August 26, 1726 – August 6, 1784) was an Austrian
Austrians
Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....

 lutenist and 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...

 of Czech descent. He is considered (along with Bernhard Joachim Hagen
Bernhard Joachim Hagen
Bernhard Joachim Hagen was a German composer, violinist and lutenist. He was the last important composer of lute music in 18th century Germany.-Life:...

) to be one of the last important composers of music for Baroque Lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....

.

Born in 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...

, Karl Kohaut pursued a dual career as a diplomat and musician. He entered the Austrian civil service in 1756 or 1757 as a minor official in the state chancellery, but by 1778 he had reached the position of court secretary.

He was active as a violinist in performances organized by Gottfried van Swieten
Gottfried van Swieten
Gottfried, Freiherr van Swieten was a diplomat, librarian, and government official who served the Austrian Empire during the 18th century...

 (in quartets by Haydn and Mozart), but he was most widely admired as a lutenist. He is recorded to have appeared as the soloist in a performance of one of his own lute concertos at the Tonkünstler-Societät on 17 March 1777, during which one of his symphonies was also performed.

Kohaut wrote seven lute concertos, which are fine examples of this rare genre. The concerto in F major is probably most well known, having been recorded thrice: by Julian Bream
Julian Bream
Julian Bream, CBE is an English classical guitarist and lutenist and is one of the most distinguished classical guitarists of the 20th century. He has also been successful in renewing popular interest in the Renaissance lute....

, John Schneiderman
John Schneiderman
John H. Schneiderman is an American lutenist and guitarist born in California. Schneiderman was introduced to music by his mother, who taught him to play the ukelele when he was six years old. He began performing at the age of nine, playing the banjo and fiddle at bluegrass festivals in California...

 and Hopkinson Smith
Hopkinson Smith
Hopkinson Smith is an American lutenist.Born in New York, he graduated from Harvard with Honors in Music...

. Kohaut’s eight masses were frequently performed at the monasteries of Melk and Göttweig, especially the Missa Sancti Willibaldi, which was performed at Göttweig on 24 occasions, the last time as late as 1798. Kohaut's Symphony in f-minor was his best known work during the 20th century, recorded on LP on the Supraphon
Supraphon
Supraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, it is oriented mainly towards publishing classical music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers.- History :...

label.

Works

Vocal:
  • Applausus Mellicensis (cant.), perf. 1764, A-M;
  • 8 masses, A-GÖ, M, CZ-Bm, Pnm


Orchestral:
  • 12 syms., A-M, CZ-Bu, Pnm;
  • 7 lute concs., D-As, Bsb; Db Conc., A-Wgm, ed. D. Young (London, 1996)

1 double bass conc., DM

Chamber:
  • 3 divertimentos, lute, 2 vn, b, B-Br, D-As;
  • 5 divertimentos, lute, B-Br; Sonata, lute, D-As;
  • 7 trios, 1 for lute, vn, b, 6 for 2 vn, b, A-GÖ, M, Wgm, D-Bsb;
  • 7 partitas, 2 vn, b, A-Wgm, Wn; Qt, 2 vn, va, b, Wn; Trio, fl, vn, b, D-Bsb;

1 sonata, lute solo, DM
  • works listed in Breitkopf catalogues, 1762–3, 1766–7
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