Joseph Linke

Joseph Linke, unmarked lithograph

Joseph Linke (born June 8, 1783 in Trachenberg ; † March 26, 1837 in Vienna ) was a German-Austrian cellist and composer .

Life

Linke began his musical career as a choirboy in Breslau . In June 1808 he came to Vienna and became a member of Ignaz Schuppanzigh's famous string quartet , of which he was a member until its dissolution in 1814. Since then he has also belonged to Ludwig van Beethoven's circle of friends , who composed numerous works for leftists, especially the sonatas for violoncello and piano in C major op.102 no.1 and in D major op.102 no.2 . They are dedicated to Countess Marie von Erdödy .

In 1818 he became solo cellist in the orchestra of the Theater an der Wien . When Schuppanzigh returned from Russia in 1823 , he took Linke back into his newly founded quartet ensemble, for which all of Beethoven's last string quartets were written.

In 1831 Joseph Linke became a member of the Vienna Court Opera Orchestra. In an anonymous obituary on the left, the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik reads :

“He was a close friend of Beethoven, who wrote a lot for him. His way of performing his compositions was also unique and so far I have not heard a cellist with this conception, who sometimes expressed himself flattering, sometimes repulsive, capricious, passionate, etc., in short, in humorous requirements and thus reproduced Beethoven's primary manner. "

literature

• Constantin von Wurzbach : Linke, Joseph . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 15th part. Imperial and Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1866, p. 215 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Theodor von Frimmel : Beethoven Handbook. Leipzig 1926, Volume 1, pp. 364–366 (digitized version )
• Peter Clive: Beethoven and his World: A Biographical Dictionary. Oxford 2001, pp. 208f.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Neue Zeitschrift für Musik , Volume 6, No. 32 of April 21, 1837, p. 130 (digitized version)