Johann Baptist Cramer
Johann Baptist Cramer (born February 24, 1771 in Mannheim , † April 16, 1858 in Kensington ) was an English pianist and composer of German descent.
Life
Cramer, who came to London with his parents at the age of three , was one of the most famous pianists of his time and also known as a piano teacher. The British Queen Victoria was enthusiastic about his appearance. His teachers were Hélène de Montgeroult at the Conservatoire de Paris and Clementi . His father Wilhelm was a well-known violinist in the then famous orchestra at the Mannheim court ; likewise his grandfather.
On his concert tours of several years (1788–1790 and 1799–1800) through Europe, he also got to know Beethoven . Cramer was also successful in London as an entrepreneur in piano construction and as a music publisher . The piano brand still exists today and is in demand in the Far East.
In 1824 he founded the publishing house Cramer, Addison & Beale (later Cramer & Co.) with Thomas Frederick Beale and Robert Addison, which was operated under the name J. B. Cramer & Co. Ltd. also still exists today. Cramer was a co-founder of the Philharmonic Society in London .
His eighty-four Etudes op. 50, (written 1804–1810), published as the fifth part of the Great Practical Pianoforte School (1815) , are still important today and indispensable in piano pedagogy; they were revised by Hans von Bülow ( Cramer-Bülow- Etudes ).
Some of his piano works have a rather simple structure; they are works that he wrote for his publishing house in order to provide the large number of amateurs with “real Cramer”. He created his fully valid works primarily for himself. Stylistically, they stand between Hummel and Beethoven and are technically demanding.
Beethoven's biographer Alexander Wheelock Thayer reports that Beethoven explicitly praised his adlatus Ferdinand Ries to Cramer as the only pianist and virtuoso composer.
Works (selection)
piano
Piano sonatas
- La Parodie op.43 (1810)
- L'Ultima op.53 (1815)
- 3 sonatas Les Suivantes op.57 - op.59 (1817-1818)
- Le Retour à Londres op.62 (1818)
- L'Amicitia op.64 (1825)
Piano and orchestra
- 1st Piano Concerto in E flat major op.10 (1795)
- 2nd piano concerto in D minor op.16 (1797)
- 3rd Piano Concerto in D minor op.26 (1802)
- 4th Piano Concerto in C major op.38 (1807)
- 5th Piano Concerto in C minor op.48 (1813)
- 6th Piano Concerto in E flat major op.51 (1815)
- 7th Piano Concerto in E major op.56 (1817)
- 8th Piano Concerto in D minor, op.70 (1825)
literature
- Rochus Freiherr von Liliencron : Cramer, Jean Baptiste . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, pp. 551-555.
- Willi Kahl : Cramer, Johann Baptist. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, ISBN 3-428-00184-2 , p. 390 ( digitized version ).
Web links
- Literature by and about Johann Baptist Cramer in the catalog of the German National Library
- Sheet music and audio files by Johann Baptist Cramer in the International Music Score Library Project
swell
- ↑ Claudia Schweitzer: Montgeroult, Montgeron, Hélène (-Antoinette-Maria) de, geb. de Nervo , Sophie Drinker Institute
- ↑ Alexander Wheelock Thayer: Ludwig van Beethoven's life. Volume 2, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1910, p. 77 ( online at Zeno.org .).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cramer, Johann Baptist |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Cramer, Jean Baptiste |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English pianist and composer of German descent |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 24, 1771 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mannheim |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 16, 1858 |
| Place of death | London |