Leopold Koželuch - Piano Concerto No. 4 in A major, P 4:4, Tomas Dratva (piano), Slovak Sinfonietta Žilina, Oliver von Dohnanyi (conductor)
1.Allegro 0:00
2.Andantino 10:56
3.Rondeau.Poco presto 19:10
Leopold Koželuch, alternatively also Leopold Koželuh, (26 June 1747 - 7 May 1818), was a Czech composer and teacher of classical music. He was born in the town of Velvary, in Bohemia (present-day Czech Republic). He was an esteemed contemporary of Mozart, and in many circles considered the finer composer and an early champion of the fortepiano.
Koželuch was born Jan Antonín Koželuh but, to avoid confusion with an older cousin, adopted ‘Leopold' as his given name, dropping ‘Jan' altogether. He studied music in his childhood in Velvary and later in Prague with a cousin and with composer Franz Xavier Dussek. Bohemian by birth he remained in Prague until he was in his 30s before taking up a career in Vienna.
The Austrian capital proved quite hospitable to Koželuch in the 1780s, as he scored successes with many of his symphonies, piano concertos and vocal works. He produced more than half of his 49 piano sonatas in the 1780s, many received with great enthusiasm. Koželuch quickly became a highly respected teacher now, as well, successful enough to decline the post of Court organist under the Archbishop of Salzburg, and financially secure enough to establish a publishing house Koželuch's works appeared not only in his own publications now but in those abroad, particularly in England. In 1792 he was appointed Royal Orchestra Master and Court Composer under Austrian Emperor Franz II. In about 1797 Scottish publisher George Thomson contracted the composer to provide--for quite handsome sums--arrangements of Irish, Welsh and Scottish folksongs. For the remainder of his life Koželuch retained his Court posts, teaching and publishing activities, while composing relatively little original music. His last volume of folksongs arrangements appeared in London, in 1809. He died as a respected composer and musician, though his reputation faded over the next decades in the shadow of Beethoven.
12 июл 2024
