Franz Grill

Franz Grill (* probably 1756; † August 18, 1792 in Ödenburg ) was an Austrian composer .

Life

Although Franz Grill was well known as a composer of piano and chamber music in the late 18th century, very little is known about his life. While his origin and his exact date of birth could not be determined to this day, since the discovery of the entry in the death registers of St. George's Church in Ödenburg it has been clear that he was on August 18, 1792 at the age of 36 as a "manorial valet" of the art and music patron Ferenc Graf Széchényi (1754–1820), the founder of the Hungarian National Museum and the Hungarian National Library, died. He got to know Grill during a stay in Vienna in the mid-1780s, possibly on the basis of a recommendation by Franz Anton Hoffmeister .

Stylistics and works

The preserved chamber music works consistently show a musical language trained on the model of Joseph Haydn , with catchy melodies and contrapuntal skills that can be played and understood by interested music lovers, and are comparable to similar compositions by his contemporaries Joseph Bengraf , Franz Anton Hoffmeister and Paul Wranitzky . Grill's early death and his employment in the small provincial town of Ödenburg prevented a more sustainable broad impact; Nevertheless, his compositions should have enjoyed a popularity that should not be underestimated, as copies of his compositions were not only found in the well-known centers of musical life at the time (Vienna, Munich, Dresden, Berlin, Paris, London), but even in Naples, Oslo and Uppsala .

Almost all of the works that have survived by Franz Grill were published in the comparatively short period of 1789–1791, but some of them were certainly created earlier.

• op. 1 three sonatas f. Violin and piano
• op. 2 three sonatas f. Violin and Piano (Opp. 1 and 2 were published by Hoffmeister under the title Six Duos concertants )
• op. 3 Three string quartets (dedicated to Joseph Haydn)
• op. 4 three sonatas f. Violin and piano
• op. 5 Three string quartets
• op. 6 Three sonatas f. Violin and piano
• op.7 Six string quartets (C major, E flat major, B flat major, G minor, D major, A major)

In addition, Grill wrote two cycles each with twelve minuets and “German Dances” for unknown instrumentation as well as several smaller piano compositions, e.g. B. a "Rondeau et Final in Dis".

literature

• Agnes Sas, Ilona Ferenczi: Franz Grill in: Discotheca Hungarica , Budapest 2001
• Katalin Komlos: The Viennese Keyboard Trio in the 1780s: Sociological Background and Contemporary Reception , in: Music & Letters , Vol. 68, No. 3 (07/1987), pp. 222-234

Web links

• http://www.cdwiki.de/6_Streichquartette_op._7