Sonatas for Horn and Fortepiano by Anneke Scott / Kathryn Cok

Anneke Scott / Kathryn Cok

Sonatas for Horn and Fortepiano

Format: CD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917251524
Catnr: CC 72515
Release date: 07 June 2011

1 CD

Label
Challenge Classics

UPC
0608917251524

Catalogue number
CC 72515

Release date
07 June 2011

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

About the album

Advances in horn technique during the eighteenth century created an era of virtuosi whose talents moved composers to write for them. Austria, and in particular Vienna, attracted a great number of these artists and the nineteenth century saw a new generation of musicians who composed and collaborated on works that promoted the instrument in fascinatingly new ways. Krufft was a prolific composer who wrote a number of sonatas including one for fortepiano and horn. On his early death in 1818 he was described by the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung as “a pianist of rare talent and precision, a composer of study and spirit”. Like many other Viennese musicians of this time, Krufft studied law at the University of Vienna and then combined a career as a musician with a post in civil service. The life of Jan Václav Stich has been described as “resembling that of a novel” (H.Kling). Born into a family of serfs, his early talent caught the attention of the local count who arranged for him to have specialist training. The high quality of wind musicians emerging from Bohemia at this time led Charles Burney to describe Bohemia as the “Conservatory of Europe”. Stich later absconded and, going under the name of Giovanni Punto, became one of the biggest names in music, travelling the length and breadth of Europe. Beethoven’s Sonata Op.17 for fortepiano and horn, thought to be the first composition for this combination, contains highly characteristic writing for both instruments. Punto’s fame is reflected in a review of an early performance of the work in which a critic asked “Who is this Beethoven? His name is not known to us. Of course, Punto is very well known”. Juxtaposed with the three sonatas on this disc is something of a curiosity. Arrangements and transcriptions of works were incredibly popular in Vienna during the early nineteenth century. Though the combination of horn and fortepiano might not be the most obvious choice for an arrangement of the Largo of Haydn’s String Quartet Hob II;74 (the “Rider” quartet) the range of colours and the flexibility of both instruments chosen by the anonymous arranger suits the movement’s elegant melody and subtle nuances. The final composer on this disc, Leidesdorf, shared with Krufft and Beethoven the guidance of Johann Albrechstberger as a teacher. Haydn rated Albrechtsberger’s skills highly describing him as “the best teacher of composition among all present-day Viennese masters”. Sadly, today Leidesdorf is remembered mainly for his publishing house Leidesdorf und Sauer but was well known as a composer, pianist and guitarist during his lifetime. Schubert described him as a “truly deep and good being” but also “hugely melancholic”. Unusually this “Sonata pour pianoforte et cor concertans”, published in 1824, includes two names on the frontispiece; “Bellonci und M.K.Leidesdorf”. Camilla Bellonci was an Italian horn player who settled in Vienna where he played for the KärntnertorTheatre and the Imperial Hofkapelle. The highly virtuosic writing for both instruments suggests a great deal of collaboration in the compositional process which may justify the “equal billing” of Bellonci and Leidesdorf on the frontispiece.

Natuurtalenten op de hoorn en fortepiano zorgen voor een muzikaal juweeltje
De twee natuurtalenten Anneke Scott en Kathryn Cok spelen op dit alburm zelden opgenomen muziek voor hoorn en fortepiano. Het zijn werken van Nikolaus von Krufft, Ludwig van Beethoven, Joseph Haydn en Maximillian Joseph Leidesdorf. "Drie uiterst plezierige sonates, aangevuld met een onbekende bewerking van het largo uit Haydn's Reiter-kwartet, worden op een fantastische manier gespeeld." HD, tom 3 augustus, 2011.

In de 18e eeuw kwam er een ontwikkeling in de speeltechniek voor hoorn op gang, die virtuoze hoornspelers voortbracht. Dat inspireerde een nieuwe generatie componisten in de 19e eeuw om voor dit instrument te componeren. Ze schreven en publiceerden vele fascinerende nieuwe arrangementen voor de hoorn. En zorgden zo niet alleen voor een verbreding van de hoornmuziek, maar ook voor een behoorlijke omzet. Drie van de componisten op dit album waren leerling van Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, de bekende Oostenrijkse organist en componist uit de Eerste Weense School: Von Krufft, Beethoven en Leidesdorf. Nicolaus von Krufft schreef een groot aantal sonates, waaronder de sonate voor hoorn en fortepiano op dit album. Beethoven componeerde zijn sonate voor de hoornist Giovanni Punto, tijdens een concerttournee van deze jonge virtuoos. Maximillian Joseph Leidesdorf was een productief componist en schreef zijn sonate opus 164 samen met de Italiaanse componist Camilla Bellonci. De Largo voor hoorn en piano komt van Joseph Haydn's String Quartet, beter bekend als het Reiter-Quartett.

Anneke Scott bleek al op jonge leeftijd een uitmuntend natuurhoorniste. Bij een samenwerking met het Etesian Ensemble ontmoette zij pianiste Kathryn Cok, met wie zij een duo vormde om klassiek en romantisch repertoire voor hoorn en fortepiano uit te voeren. Kathryn Cok is onder andere mede-oprichtster van Caecilia-Concert, een groep die gespecialiseerd is in het uitvoeren en onderzoeken van 17e-eeuwse muziek."Ieder stuk krijgt onder hun handen zijn eigen, unieke soortelijk gewicht." Aart van der Wal, Opusklassiek.nl, januari 2012.

Werke für Naturhorn und Hammerflügel um 1800

Anneke Scott, die wohl derzeit weltweit beste Naturhornspielerin, hat sich mit der Kathryn Cok am Hammerflügel zusammengetan, um sehr seltene Kammermusik-Preziosen des frühen 19. Jahrhunderts auszugraben. Sie widmen sich diesen anspruchsvollen Werken sehr einfühlsam und virtuos.

Artist(s)

Kathryn Cok

Kathryn Cok pursues a varied career as a harpsichordist, fortepianist and academic on both sides of the Atlantic. She is well sought after both as a soloist as well as a continuo player. Born in the city of New York, USA, Kathryn now lives in The Hague, Holland where she completed a Masters degree at the Royal Conservatory as a student of Ton Koopman and Tini Mathot on the harpsichord, and Bart van Oort on the fortepiano. Kathryn recently won first prize in the first solo competition for baroque instruments in Brunnenthal, Austria. She works regularly as a soloist and continuo player with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, and other important early music ensembles in Europe and performs regularly as...

Kathryn Cok pursues a varied career as a harpsichordist, fortepianist and academic on both sides of the Atlantic. She is well sought after both as a soloist as well as a continuo player. Born in the city of New York, USA, Kathryn now lives in The Hague, Holland where she completed a Masters degree at the Royal Conservatory as a student of Ton Koopman and Tini Mathot on the harpsichord, and Bart van Oort on the fortepiano. Kathryn recently won first prize in the first solo competition for baroque instruments in Brunnenthal, Austria. She works regularly as a soloist and continuo player with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, and other important early music ensembles in Europe and performs regularly as a soloist in many of the world’s most renowned Early Music Festivals such as Oude Muziek, Utrecht, Brunnenthaler Concert Zomer, Bodensee Festival, and important keyboard collections in the UK such as the Cobbe Collection, Finchcock’s, Fenton House and the Gemeente Museum, Holland. She is co-founder of the Caecilia-Concert, a dynamic international group of instrumentalists specializing in performance and research of 17th century music for instruments and voices. Kathryn is busy as a researcher and teaches at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, Holland.

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Anneke Scott

Anneke Scott began her studies with Andrew Clark and Pip Eastop at The Royal Academy of Music, London. Having been awaded prestigious scholarships she furthered her study of period instruments firstly in France with Claude Maury, and then in Holland with Teunis van der Zwart. Since her graduation she has been in demand with ensembles in the UK and continental Europe. She is principal horn of Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and The English Baroque Soloists, Harry Christopher’s The Orchestra of the Sixteen and The Avison Ensemble and has frequently worked as principal horn with The Australian Chamber Orchestra, The English Concert, Europa Galante, Freiburg Baroque, The Early Opera Company, Concerto Caledonia and The Mahler Chamber Orchestra...

Anneke Scott began her studies with Andrew Clark and Pip Eastop at The Royal Academy of Music, London. Having been awaded prestigious scholarships she furthered her study of period instruments firstly in France with Claude Maury, and then in Holland with Teunis van der Zwart. Since her graduation she has been in demand with ensembles in the UK and continental Europe. She is principal horn of Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and The English Baroque Soloists, Harry Christopher’s The Orchestra of the Sixteen and The Avison Ensemble and has frequently worked as principal horn with The Australian Chamber Orchestra, The English Concert, Europa Galante, Freiburg Baroque, The Early Opera Company, Concerto Caledonia and The Mahler Chamber Orchestra to name but a few. For many years she has had a keen in interest in chamber music leading to her becoming a founder member of The Etesian Ensemble. Through this ensemble she met the fortepianist Kathryn Cok with whom she formed a duo specialising in classical and romantic repertoire for horn and fortepiano. In recent years the duo has been selected as artists for Making Music (UK) and Oude Muziek Netwerk (Netherlands). In 2007 Anneke was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, an honour awarded to past students of the Academy who have distinguished themselves in the music profession and made a significant contribution to their field. “A remarkable musician, authority and expert on a notoriously tricky instrument, Anneke never forgets that performing is about communicating enjoyment and having the courage of one’s conviction. Concerts with Anneke are always a musical adventure!” (Andrew Manze). “In Anneke Scott we have a “natural” horn player in more ways than one. On an instrument which is perilous at the best of times her technique is such that one is aware only of intellect, musicianship and a glorious pallet of sound”. (Pavlo Beznosiuk).

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Composer(s)

Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers. His best-known compositions include nine symphonies, five piano concertos, one violin concerto, 32 piano sonatas, 16 string quartets, his great Mass the Missa solemnis, and one opera, Fidelio. Together with Mozart and Haydn, he was part of the First Viennese School. Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of the Holy Roman Empire, Beethoven displayed his musical talents at an early age and was taught by his father Johann van Beethoven and by composer and conductor Christian Gottlob Neefe. At the age of 21 he moved to Vienna, where he began studying composition with Joseph Haydn, and gained a reputation as a virtuoso pianist. He lived in Vienna until his death. By his late 20s his hearing began to deteriorate, and by the last decade of his life he was almost totally deaf. In 1811 he gave up conducting and performing in public but continued to compose; many of his most admired works come from these last 15 years of his life.

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Nikolaus von Krufft

Maximillian Jospeh Leidesdorf

Camilla Bellonci

Joseph Haydn

(Franz) Joseph Haydn was a prolific Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the piano trio and his contributions to musical form have earned him the epithets 'Father of the Symphony' and 'Father of the String Quartet'. Haydn spent much of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Esterházy family at their remote estate. Until the later part of his life, this isolated him from other composers and trends in music so that he was, as he put it, 'forced to become original'. Yet his music circulated widely and for much of his career he was the most celebrated composer in Europe. He was a friend and mentor of Mozart,...

(Franz) Joseph Haydn was a prolific Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the piano trio and his contributions to musical form have earned him the epithets "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet".
Haydn spent much of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Esterházy family at their remote estate. Until the later part of his life, this isolated him from other composers and trends in music so that he was, as he put it, "forced to become original". Yet his music circulated widely and for much of his career he was the most celebrated composer in Europe.
He was a friend and mentor of Mozart, a teacher of Beethoven, with whom he formed the First Viennese School. He was also the older brother of composer Michael Haydn.

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