Johann Nepomuk Hummel

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Juro (talk | contribs) at 05:50, 18 November 2005 (and leaving this out is clear vandalism !!). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Johann Nepomuk Hummel or Jan Nepomuk Hummel (14 November 177817 October 1837) was an Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist of Slovak origin. His music reflects a transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era.

Johann Nepomuk Hummel

Hummel was born in Pressburg (now Bratislava), Slovakia and died in Weimar, Germany.

His father, Josef Hummel, was the director of the Imperial School of Military Music and the conductor of the Theater Orchestra. Mozart offered the boy music lessons at the age of seven after being impressed with his ability. Hummel was taught and housed by Mozart for two years free of charge and made his first concert appearance at the age of nine.

Muzio Clementi was also his teacher in London, where he stayed for four years before returning to Vienna. And Haydn who was in London at the same time as young Hummel, composed a piano sonata for Hummel, who played its premier in the Hanover Square rooms in Haydn's presence. When Hummel finished, Haydn reportedly thanked the young man and gave him a Guinea.

Beethoven arrived in Vienna and took lessons from Haydn and Albrechtsberger, becoming a fellow student and a friend. Beethoven's arrival was said to have nearly destroyed Hummel's self-confidence, though he recovered without much harm. Despite the fact that Hummel's friendship with Beethoven was often marked by ups and downs, and that their admirers hated each other, the mutual friendship developed into reconciliation and respect.

Kapellmeister to Prince Esterhazy's establishment. He held this post for seven years before being dismissed. Following this, he toured Russia and Europe and married the opera singer and they had two sons. He later held the position of Kapellmeister at Stuttgart and Weimar.

List of works

For a complete list of works by Johann Nepomuk Hummel:

This list is compiled and formated by Mr. Mikio Tao of Japan. His sources were the New Grove Dictionary of Music, as well as Zimmerschied's Thematisches Verzeichnis der Werke von Johann Nepomuk Hummel.

A Short Bibliography:

  • Kapellmeister Hummel in England and France. Joel Sachs, Detroit: Information Coordinators 1977.
  • Johann Nepomuk Hummel: Der Mensch und Künstler. Karl Benyovszky, Breslau: Eos-Verlag 1934.
  • Thematisches Verzeichnis der Werke von Johann Nepomuk Hummel. Dieter Zimmerschied, Hofheim am Taunus: Hofmeister 1971.
  • Die Kammermusik Johann Nepomuk Hummels Dieter Zimmerschied, Mainz: 1966.
  • Johann Nepomuk Hummel und Weimar. Komponist, Klaviervirtuose, Kapellmeister 1778-1837. Kurt Thomas, Weimar: Rat der Stadt 1987
  • Zwischen Klassik und Klassizismus. Johann Nepomuk Hummel in Wien und Weimar. Anselm Gerhard, Laurenz Lütteken (editors), Kassel: Baerenreiter 2003.
  • The Great Pianists: From Mozart to the Present. Harold Schonberg, New York: Simon & Schuster 1963. (Chapter VII:"From Irland to Bohemia").