Friedrich Kalkbrenner
27
FRIEDRICH KALKBRENNER David C F Wright DMus Friedrich Wilhelm Kalkbrenner is another composer forgotten in many quarters and has been maligned. He is similar to Elgar being of lowly birth and wanted to be an aristocrat. Such arrogance is totally unacceptable and causes people to dislike that type of person. As with Elgar he was pompous and understandably disliked and even despised. Vanity is the evidence of a person of severe doubtful character. Norman Del Mar said that vanity will never make a great composer. Kalkbrenner was subject to constant jokes and was satirized by Heinrich Heine and others. And he deserved it as did Elgar. There is the story of someone who was asked if they knew Elgar and the reply was, “Yes, I have just trod in some!” Chopin was hateful to him but that corresponds with his character. Clara Schumann was often unpleasant and complained about a Sextet saying how poor and feeble it was. The Norwegian composer Thomas Tellefsen approved of Kalkbrenner as a teacher. It was in early November 1785 that Kalkbrenner was born. He quickly rose to be an exceptional German pianist and composer with over 200 piano works to his name. He also wrote operas and four piano concertos. He taught piano and among his pupils were Marie Pleyel and Camille-Marie Stamaty. He was the author of a piano-playing method which appeared in 1831 and it was used by such composers as Louis Moreau Gottschalk and Camille Saint-Saens. Much of Kalkbrenner’s life was spent in France and London. He preceded Chopin. Liszt and Thalberg and was regarded as the finest pianist in Europe although some would give this accolade to Hummel. He was a shrewd businessman and became rich. As with Elgar who said he was the only British composer, Kalkbrenner said that he was the only classical composer. He published Beethoven’s none symphonies for solo piano long before Liszt did. Chopin dedicated his Piano Concerto no 1 to him and it was probably Kalkbrenner who introduced octave passages in both hands. He was born during a trip his mother made from Hesse to Berlin. His father was about to be appointed Kapellmeister to Frederica Louise of Hesse- Darmstadt, Queen’s Consort of Prussia. The boy’s first teacher was his father. At the age of six he played a Haydn Concerto before the Queen of Prussia and, within, a few years, could speak four languages with ease. He went to the Paris Conservatoire in 1798 and studied with Louis Adam who was a demanding teacher. He was taught harmony and composition by Charles Simon Catel and a fellow student was Ferdinand Herold. Having won a prestigious prize, Kalkbrenner went to Vienna studying counterpoint with the great Salieri and Albrechtsberger, another forgotten master. The latter had taught Beethoven, Czerny, Hummel, Moscheles and Ries and was a good friend of Haydn. Kalkbrenner modelled some of his works on Haydn. By 1805, Kalkbrenner was a concert pianist and had concerts in Berlin, Munich and Stuttgart.
Transcript of Friedrich Kalkbrenner
FRIEDRICH KALKBRENNER
David C F Wright DMus
Friedrich Wilhelm Kalkbrenner is another composer forgotten in many quarters and has been maligned.
He is similar to Elgar being of lowly birth and wanted to be an aristocrat. Such arrogance is totally unacceptable and causes people to dislike that type of person. As with Elgar he was pompous and understandably disliked and even despised. Vanity is the evidence of a person of severe doubtful character. Norman Del Mar said that vanity will never make a great composer.
Kalkbrenner was subject to constant jokes and was satirized by Heinrich Heine and others. And he deserved it as did Elgar. There is the story of someone who was asked if they knew Elgar and the reply was, “Yes, I have just trod in some!”
Chopin was hateful to him but that corresponds with his character. Clara Schumann was often unpleasant and complained about a Sextet saying how poor and feeble it was. The Norwegian composer Thomas Tellefsen approved of Kalkbrenner as a teacher.
It was in early November 1785 that Kalkbrenner was born. He quickly rose to be an exceptional German pianist and composer with over 200 piano works to his name. He also wrote operas and four piano concertos. He taught piano and among his pupils were Marie Pleyel and Camille-Marie Stamaty. He was the author of a piano-playing method which appeared in 1831 and it was used by such composers as Louis Moreau Gottschalk and Camille Saint-Saens.
Much of Kalkbrenner’s life was spent in France and London. He preceded Chopin. Liszt and Thalberg and was regarded as the finest pianist in Europe although some would give this accolade to Hummel.
He was a shrewd businessman and became rich. As with Elgar who said he was the only British composer, Kalkbrenner said that he was the only classical composer.
He published Beethoven’s none symphonies for solo piano long before Liszt did. Chopin dedicated his Piano Concerto no 1 to him and it was probably Kalkbrenner who introduced octave passages in both hands.
He was born during a trip his mother made from Hesse to Berlin. His father was about to be appointed Kapellmeister to Frederica Louise of Hesse- Darmstadt, Queen’s Consort of Prussia. The boy’s first teacher was his father. At the age of six he played a Haydn Concerto before the Queen of Prussia and, within, a few years, could speak four languages with ease.
He went to the Paris Conservatoire in 1798 and studied with Louis Adam who was a demanding teacher. He was taught harmony and composition by Charles Simon Catel and a fellow student was Ferdinand Herold.
Having won a prestigious prize, Kalkbrenner went to Vienna studying counterpoint with the great Salieri and Albrechtsberger, another forgotten master. The latter had taught Beethoven, Czerny, Hummel, Moscheles and Ries and was a good friend of Haydn. Kalkbrenner modelled some of his works on Haydn.
By 1805, Kalkbrenner was a concert pianist and had concerts in Berlin, Munich and Stuttgart.
The years 1814 - 1823 saw him living in London where he was a much-admired teacher and who gave concerts. He came across Johann Bernard Logier who had invented the chiroplast or hand guide a device to help pianists find the correct position of the hands. The patent of this invention made Kalkbrenner a wealthy man.
He gave concerts in Berlin, Dresden, Frankfurt, Leipzig and Prague during 1823 and 1824 before settling in Paris from 1825 until his death from cholera in 1849.
In Paris he became a partner in Pleyel’s Fortepiano Factory. He toured as a concert pianist in 1833, 1834 and 1836 but with the arrival of Liszt and Thalberg his fame waned. His compensation was that he was married to a much younger wealthy French heiress.
He died on 10 August 1849.
Selected works Piano Concerto no 1 Op61 Piano Concerto no 2 Op85 Piano Concerto no 3 Op 107 Piano Concerto no 4 Op 127 Piano Quartet Op 2 Three piano sonatas Op 1 Three piano sonatas Op 4 Piano Sonata Op 13 Piano Sonata Op 28 Piano Sonata Op 35 Piano Sonata Op 40 Piano Sonata Op 48 Piano Sonata Op 56 24 Preludes Op 88 Piano Trio no 1 Op 7 Piano Trio no 2 Op 14 Piano Trio no 3 Op 26 Piano Trio no 4 Op 84 Concerto for two pianos Op 125 Bravura Variations on God save the King Op 99 Septet op 132 Sonata for piano four hands Op 3 Sonata for piano four hands Op 79 Grande Sonata Brilliante Op 143 dedicated to Thalberg 23 Grand studies Op 143 Several Fantasies Several sets of variations including a set on a Mazurka on Chopin
Score of Piano Sonata 56 starts on next page… Piano Sonata Op 56
© COPYRIGHT David C F Wright DMus 1998 – This article or any part of it, however small, must not be copied, quoted, reproduced, downloaded or altered in any way whatsoever nor stored in any retrieval system. Failure to comply is in breach of International Copyright Law and will render any offender liable to action at law.
