Wenzel Ludwig von Radolt

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wenzel Ludwig Freiherr von Radolt (born December 18, 1667 in Vienna ; † March 10, 1716 there ) was an Austrian nobleman, composer and lutenist .

Wenzel von Radolt came from a respected Viennese family. He inherited an extensive library from his grandfather, Hofkammerrat Clement von Radolt, and turned to music at an early age. Many members of his family were high officials at court, whose family grave, the "Radolt Crypt", is in the Dominican Church in Vienna. His mother was a wealthy Italian countess. Due to the financial independence Radolt could mainly deal with the music.

In 1701, Radolt dedicated twelve concerts to Emperor Joseph I (HRR), mainly in the French style, under the title The very truest, most obscure and joyful and sad humor , which are printed in five part books.

In the preface, the voice book of the first lute contains many practical performance tips. The tirer et rabattre ( crossing out with the index finger against the bass and back against the highest note), which is often used in French playing technique, is pushed back in favor of the touch with the index, middle and ring finger, especially since the consonants or dissonants of the middle are clarified Vocal can be recorded. Radolt recommends this different way of playing, although he explicitly represents himself as the successor of the French lutenist François Dufault . An explanation of the symbols follows, which largely follows the French specifications.

The pieces are designed so that they can also be played as solo works. For this purpose, in the first concerto the places where lute 2 plays solo are marked in red in the voice of lute 1.

The concerts are partly in suites or in free form with movements such as symphony, capriccio, toccata and tombeau (instead of a sarabande). Particularly noteworthy is the first concerto, which is written for three lutes of different sizes and moods (with chanterelle in f ', es' and c'), two violins, viola and bass. The instruments are "all timed in a minor way".

Concerto 6 is also special, in which a constant aria in 4/4 time (with melody part and bass) is added to a middle part that corresponds to the character of the dance mentioned (e.g. Allemande, Courante etc.). Correspondingly, complex rhythmic structures sometimes arise when z. B. the Couranten middle voice held in 3/4 time is woven.

In Concerto 9, two characters are juxtaposed: Allemande è Guigue / Courente è Menuette / Sarabande è Aria / Gavotte è Bourée. In the first “passage”, the 1st violin plays the allemande upper part and the 2nd violin plays the gigue part (with the same difficulties as described in Concerto 6); In the second round, the exchange of votes takes place, which is also expressed in the heading: Guigue è Allemande. The bass plays the same bass lines.

In Concerto 6 and 9, this structure meant that the same printing plates could be used several times in two different part books.

The instruments used are the three different sized lutes, a second lute with a chanterelle in f ', two violins, a viola, viola da gamba, bass and a continuo instrument (only for Concerto 3) in various combinations. According to the preface, oboes or flutes could also be used.

Radolt was next to Johann Georg Weichenberger (1676–1740) the most important composer of lute music in Austrian and Bohemian court circles.

Web links

swell

personal data
SURNAME Radolt, Wenzel Ludwig von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Radolt, Wenzel Ludwig Freiherr von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian nobleman, composer and lutenist
DATE OF BIRTH December 18, 1667
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH March 10, 1716
Place of death Vienna