Jansa Quartet

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Several string quartet formations led by Leopold Jansa in Vienna between 1834 and 1849 are grouped together under the Jansa Quartet . It was a repeated and ultimately successful attempt to join the practice of public chamber music concerts opened by the Schuppanzigh Quartet and maintained until 1829 .

history

Eduard Hanslick , the most prominent music critic in Vienna at the time, explained the background to the founding of the quartet in Jansas : “Chamber music lived miserable days in the period 1830–1848. For several years after Schuppanzigh's death, Vienna has lacked any stable public quartet society. It was traveling artists from abroad who first rekindled participation in this once wonderfully cultivated art form: the Müller brothers from Braunschweig. ”In the winter of 1833/34, this traveling ensemble had eight, ultimately very successful, concerts in the Musikvereinssaal and the Kärntnertor Theater given and thus earned the merit of "having demonstrated to the Viennese again a quartet game based on serious, devoted study and perfect technique".

Possibly motivated by this example, Leopold Jansa performed a cycle of six concert evenings with Karl Holz (2nd violin ) and Joseph Linke ( cello ), who were still members of the last Schuppanzigh Quartet, as well as with Leidhacker ( viola ) in November 1834. However, the concerts were not well received and were not continued. Jansas's second attempt in 1836 (now with Karl Holz, Josef Khayll jun. And Aegidius Borzaga) was unsuccessful: “Under the virtuoso enthusiasm of the following years, the Viennese public seemed to have a calm and collected mood, which is indispensable for the unadorned seriousness of chamber music , to have been lost entirely, ”assumed Hanslick.

It was not until December 1845 that Leopold Jansa made a new attempt, this time supported by Matthias Durst, Carl Heissler and Carl Schlesinger. Over five seasons, the ensemble managed to hold successful subscription concerts on six Sundays at 5:00 p.m. in the Musikvereinssaal.

The programs mainly contained works by Haydn , Mozart and the early Beethoven , as well as works by Louis Spohr , George Onslow , Bernhard Molique and Alexander Fesca . As in the last phase of the Schuppanzigh Quartet, each performance offered two quartets and in between a trio or a piano sonata with violin.

In the autumn of 1849, the establishment of a new string quartet in Vienna created a special competitive situation: “An interesting phenomenon in the upcoming concert season is the rivalry between two quartet companies. Messrs. Durst, Heißler and Schlesinger, who played with Jansa in the past, have now met under the excellent Jos. Hellmesberger united, while Jansa, the HH. Bezdek, Stredinger and Borzaga won. Since each of these two societies gives six quartet evenings with the usual 3 numbers, friends of chamber music can expect no fewer than 36 quartets. "

The reason for the change of the former partner Jansas to Hellmesberger is incomprehensible. With the new line-up, the Jansa Quartet's last concert took place on January 13, 1850. In 1849 Leopold Jansa took part in a benefit concert for refugee Hungarian revolutionaries in London and therefore lost his employment in Vienna at the court orchestra and conservatory , which prompted him to emigrate to England. After that he doesn't seem to have run any more string quartet ventures.

The pianist Friederike Müller gave concerts with the Jansa Quartet.

meaning

The Jansa Ensemble has evidently not completely succeeded in the difficult task of taking on the legacy of the Schuppanzigh Quartet. Differences in the founding personalities, the quality of the performance and, above all, the repertoire were the main reasons for this.

"Jansa's quartet evenings have always been a safe haven for true, worthy music in the largely frivolous musical life of Vienna," said Hanslick, praising the ensemble in general. But he also said: “Jansa was not far removed from the personality to bring about a change in this mood and a lasting victory in the quartet game. He was a properly trained, correct, sometimes elegant player without any hint of size or genius. This character was imprinted on the entire quartet. "

He was even more vehement in his criticism of the limited and less demanding repertoire of the events: “With all the admiration for the 'classical' school, it must be steadfastly insisted that it be restricted in periodic programs as much as a worthy representation of the 'Romantic' school makes it necessary. (...) Just like the neglect of the later Beethoven period, the consequent ignoring of Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann in Jansa's programs cannot be regretted enough. "

Nevertheless, the Jansa Quartet has the special achievement of resuming the tradition of regular public string quartet concerts, which was interrupted after Schuppanzigh's death in Vienna.

Members

  • Violin: Leopold Jansa (1834/35, 1836/37, 1845–1850)
  • Violin: Karl Holz (1834/35, 1836/37), Matthias Durst (1845–1849), Bedrich Bezdek (1849/50)
  • Viola:? Leidhacker (1834/35), Josef Khayll jun. (1836/37), Carl Heissler (1845–1849),? Stredinger (1849/50)
  • Violoncello: Joseph Linke (1834/35), Agidius Borzaga (1836/37), Carl Schlesinger (1845–1849), Agidius Borzaga (1849/50)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Eduard Hanslick: History of concerts in Vienna. Vol. 1. Braumüller, Vienna 1869, p. 305.
  2. ↑ a b c Eduard Hanslick: History of the concert business in Vienna. Vol. 1. Braumüller, Vienna 1869, p. 306.
  3. ↑ Musical newsreel. In:  Wiener Zeitung , October 27, 1849, p. 16 (online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / wrz(= Supplement to the Morgenblatt , p. 4.)
  4. ^ A b Eduard Hanslick: History of concerts in Vienna. Vol. 2. Braumüller, Vienna 1870, p. 7.

literature