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Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the original submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand markings or patterns which may appear on this reproduction. 1.The sign or "target" for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is "Missing Page(s)". If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting thru an image and duplicating adjacent pages to insure you complete continuity. 2. When an imsgs on the film is obliterated with a large round black mark, it is an indication that the photographer suspected that the copy may have moved during exposure and thus cause a blurred image. You will find a good image of the page in the adjacent frame. 3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., was part of the material being photographed tiie photographer followed a definite method in "sectioning" the material. It is customary to begin photoing at the upper left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue photoing from left to right in equal sections with a small overlap. If necessary, sectioning is continued again — beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete. 4. The majority of users indicate that tiie textual content is of greatest value, however, a somewhat higher quality reproduction could be made from "photographs" if essential to the understanding of the dissertation. Silver prints of "photographs" may be ordered at additional charge by writing the Order Department, giving the catalog number, title, author and specific pages you wish reproduced. 5. PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed as received. Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. MASTERS THESIS M-8434 WILLIAMS, Donna Marzetta JOHANN NEPOMUK HUmEL: A STYLISTIC OVERVIEW AND SELECTED ANALYSES. The American University, M.A., 1976 Music Xerox University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan 4si 05 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. I JOHAM KEPOMUK HUMMEL: I :,t A STYLISTIC OVERVIEW AND SELECTED ANALYSES I by I Donna Marzetta Williams I Submitted to the ? Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences I I> of The American University I in Partial Fulfillment of Î the Requirements for the Degree I ii; Master of Arts Signatures of Committee ; Chairman : Dean of the College* Date : A. > (. Date : / ^ % 1976 The American University Washington, D. C. TBE AÎŒRICAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 5 5 D 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. I l l I Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Without the inspiration, guidance and living memory of Doctor Esther Williamson Ballou, this thesis could not have been possible. IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS PART ONE; OVERVIEW I. Biographical Survey 1 II. Melody 6 III. Harmony 12 IV. Rhythm 28 V. Form 35 VI. Pianistic Flair and Demands 4l VII. Texture 52 VIII. Summary and Evaluation 59 PART TlfO: SELECTED ANALYSES I. Fantasie. Onus I8 64 II. Septet. Op u s 74 85 III. Piano Concerto, Opus 89, Allegro moderato 128 IV. Grand Etudes, Opus 125. Nos. 8 and 12 14? PART THREE Bibliography I59 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PART ONE OVERVIEW Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. g CHAPTER I BIOGRAPHICAL SURVEY AND INTRODUCTION The music of Johann Nepomuk Hummel is an important steppingstone in the development of style. Although his compositions never attained the reputation of those of greater composers, his music provides a link between the styles of Mozart and Chopin. Furthermore, in spite of his many mediocre compositions, Hummel left the world of music some very fine and well-conceived pieces of music. For these two reasons he is worth more study than is ordinarily given to him. Hummel was b o m on November 14, 1778, in Pressburg (Bratislava), the son of Johannes and Margarethe Hummel.^ His father was the band- 2 master of the Imperial School of Military Music in Pressburg and was responsible for young Hummel's early musical training. At the age of four, Hummel began violin lessons with his father and soon added voice and piano lessons. The child, despite his obvious and exceptional talent, 3 4 endured, we are told, "severe drudgery"-^ and was "scantily educated"I 1 Biographical information has been taken from the dissertation "The Piano Concertos of Johann Nepomuk Hummel" by Francis Humphries Mitchell (Northwestern University, June, 1957), pages 37-^7, unless otherwise footnoted. 2 Article "Johann Nepomuk Hummel," in Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians (jth ed., edited by Eric Blom, 195^), IV, 406. 3 Anna de Bremont, The World of Music (London; W. W. Gibbings, 1892), p. 98. 4 Henry Fothergill Chorely, Modern German Music (New York; Da Capo Press, I854), II, 5 . Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The Hummel family moved to Vienna in 1785, when the elder Hummel acquired a conductor’s post at Schikaneder's Theater. This same year Wolfgang Amadeu'- Mozart met the young Hummel and was immediately impressed with his pianistic talent. For the next two years, Hummel lived and studied with Mozart in his home. In 1787, Hummel gave his first concert under Mozart’s sponsorship— a concert which proved most successful. His father then took young Hummel on an extended tour, in 1788, which included visits to Austria, Germany, Scotland, Denmark, and England. While in England, Hummel met Muzio Clementi, with whom he studies until he returned to Vienna in 1?93- Tn Vienna, Hummel studied counterpoint with Alhrechtsherger, and he also studied vocal composition, aesthetic ideas and musical philosophy with Salieri. In 1795, he studied organ with Joseph Haydn. At this time Hummel first became acquainted with Ludwig van Beethoven, who was also studying with Albrechtsberger and Haydn.^ In I8OI, Hummel was again in England, playing the piano and harp and singing at social gatherings. In this quotation, "his teetotailing, his conversation, and his choice of songs for young ladies"^ gives the reader a clear picture of the young Hummel and reflects many of his compositions. He was "an attractive young gentleman of the Romantic revival, independently eccentric and naive, yet touched with the fashionable sensibility."^ In 1804, Hummel became the Kapellmeister for Prince Esterhazy at 5 Grove's. "Hummel," IV, 406. 6 Philip H. Hi^ifill, "Communications," Journal of the American Musicological Society, IX (Spring, 1956), 71. 7 Ibid. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Eisenstadt, a position formerly held by Haydn. During this time Hummel wrote several operas. In 1811, he was dismissed from his position, whereupon, he returned to Vienna. In I8l6 , Hummel accepted the position of conductor of the court orchestra in Stuttgart. He was not happy there and resigned in 1818. In 1819, Hummel took on a similar position at the Grand Ducal Court at Weimar and he kept this position until his death on October 17, 1837. His years at Weimar were both productive and interesting. His nearly annual tours took him to Holland, England, Belgium, Russia, and France. During this period of his life Hummel g achieved great fai..e and much money. Concurrently, his works were increasingly pirated. To combat this piracy, Hummel made a proposal in 1825 which became the basis of later patent laws.^ During this period, he also taught some of the more promising young students of the time, including Ferdinand Killer, Adolf von Henselt, Carl C z e m y and Thalberg. His own personal contacts widened and included such notables as Goethe, Beethoven, von Weber, Schubert, Kalkbrenner, Moscheles, John Field, and J. B. Cramer. Hummel was one of the most celebrated musicians of his time; his fame rested on his superb improvisations on the piano and on his tech­ nical skills as a performer. He also influenced many future composers as a pedagogue and as a composer. In addition, he was a well-knoi-m conductor, as a result of his conducting posts at Stuttfart and Weimar. He authored Ausfuhrliche theoretischpractische Anweisung zum Piano- 8 Karl Benyovsky, J. N. Hummel, der Mensch und Kunstler (Bratislava: BOS, 1934), p. 383. 9 Ibid. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. fortespiel. a pianoforte school published in 1828 in all modern languages. He composed over a hundred compositions of a wide variety, including operas, masses, songs, piano concertos, string quartets, trios, sonatas, septets, and fantasies. Most of his works are for the piano— other works emphasize a great deal of piano. These compositions were . generally well-received and often performed during his lifetime. Almost immediately after his death, though, his fame and stature declined sharply, and his works no longer appeared on programs. To a great extent, the next generation of composers, notably Berlioz and Schumann, were responsible for this decline. Richard Franko Goldman aptly states a possible reason for this. It is quite conceivable that they the following generation of critics and composers were wrong in their judgements because the esthetic of early Romanticism and the overwhelming weight of Beethoven blinded them to a number of musical and artistic virtues, or, in the case of Hummel, aroused con­ flicted feelings simply because Hummel had already indicated a direction that they were ag^ious to explore, and had done so vrithout talking about it.
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