# Johann Nepomuk Hummel



## Aramis

Slovak composer, contemporary to Beethoven. Student of Mozart, Haydn and Salieri. Quite interesting guy, much like Beethoven his music was revolutionary and autonomic. 

So far I got recordings of his sonatas, bassoon and trumpet concertos. Great works, especially the sonatas, since he was mainly a piano composer (never wrote any symphony). Still have to check piano concertos, which I hope to be as good as sonatas, or even better.


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## emiellucifuge

I bought a cd of his work but have yet to listen to it, so I will return to this thread in due time!


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## LvB

Aramis said:


> Still have to check piano concertos, which I hope to be as good as sonatas, or even better.


Try the a minor and b minor piano concerti (often paired on disk; I think the Stephen Hough recording is the best, but I'm not aware of any really bad ones currently available). Both are quite striking. The a minor is more than just a prefiguration of Chopin's e minor concerto; in some ways (especially orchestrally) it's better. The b minor is very dark and dramatic, with some startlingly Romantic scoring both for soloist and for orchestra; its influence on Chopin is also very clear. I've heard the other piano concerti, all of which are pleasant but none of which strikes me as measuring up to these two.


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## Kevin Pearson

I love what I have heard of Hummel's music. One of my favorite CDs is the Hummel Septet, Op. 74 and Quintet, Op 87 by the Melos Ensemble on London Records. It also includes Carl Maria Von Weber's Grand Quintet in B flat major, Op. 34. If you can get this CD you will not regret it!

Kevin


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## jurianbai

quite trivia by his chamber works. i read in wikipedia that he composed some string quartets. i am big fan of early romantic string quartet.


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## Sid James

Being familiar with Hummel's A minor piano concerto, I agree with Lvb above. Generally, it's gentler and more lyrical than Beethoven's & anticipate Chopin (and perhaps Mendelssohn's & Schumann's works in that genre?). Hummel was a minor composer compared to Beethoven or Haydn, but this does not mean that listening to his music, which is probably of a high quality, cannot be quite rewarding. Due to the negative comparisons he was neglected for quite a while, but these days there are quite a few good recordings of his works available, as people above have commented...


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## jurianbai

Been listening to his Basson Concerto in F this week and like it very much. the CD also come along a clarinet quartet in Eb. http://www.amazon.com/Hummel-Bassoon-Concerto-F-major/dp/B00000J8JZ


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## ScipioAfricanus

Hummel's Piano Concerto are the concertos that Mozart would have written had he lived.


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## Gangsta Tweety Bird

stephen hough's disc is impressive


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## Il Seraglio

I heard one of his piano concertos on the Radio 3's 'Classical Collection' yesterday I think and I was highly impressed. I love his flowing melodies.


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## Weston

Tonight I have heard his piano sonatas, Nos. 4 and 5 via my Rhapsody account. It was from a recording company and pianist (Phyllis Moss) I'd never heard of. Still they are impressive pieces - almost Schubertian, and well realized by the performer. I don't know why Hummel was neglected for so long other than being in the shadow of Beethoven. But then what musician wasn't in Beethoven's shadow for several decades after his time? 

I'll look forward to studying these pieces further and hearing some of his chamber works.


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## jurianbai

You may want to check his Violin Concerto CD and other premiere recording in there.

I agree he is underated and neglected.


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## joen_cph

Agree with the positive remarks about this early producer of sports-wear ... . The Chandos issues of his music are all delightful, such as the piano concertos played by Shelley; they are perhaps better than Chopin´s concertos (or the 1st Chopin concerto at least), IMO, and though the situation is improving, he seems to have been under-recorded. The vocal works - including Masses - recorded by Chandos are also good.


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## Weston

joen_cph said:


> Agree with the positive remarks about this early producer of sports-wear ... .


And let's not forget all those ceramic figurines that illiterate folk around me called "Humbles" when I was growing up.


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## Guest

I was just blown away by Hummel's Cello Sonata in A (Op 104). This is a really good piece.










I'm listening to my other Hummel now. Some of it is a bit more gallant, but that cello sonata is wonderfully romantic.


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## martijn

Hummel is a wonderful composer, the most underrated composer of the classical and early-romantic composer. He really isn't that worse than the great classical composers. He just could have done a little more with his huge talents. But even then, his works are really beautiful. His piano concerti are very good (just too many notes in the piano part, but his orchestration is superior to that of Schumann or Chopin f.e.), as are his piano trios. His string quartets are also good works, and I should also mention his choral works, which belong to the best he wrote.


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## Tristan

"Transitional" composers between the classical and romantic eras have been an interest of mine over the past year or so. First it was Weber, then Spohr, and now I'm pre-occupied with Hummel, particularly his piano concertos. I had never heard any of them before, but I greatly enjoyed what I heard and I now have CDs of all 5. 

Prior to this, all I had by Hummel was his excellent Trumpet Concerto in E major; that'll probably still go down as my favorite of Hummel's works, but I hope to discover more


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## mmsbls

I love Hummel's Piano Concerto in B minor (No. 3). I like many of his other piano concertos as well. He also wrote a concerto for piano and violin that is beautiful. 

Some mentioned his Piano Quintet and the trios. They are lovely. 

He wrote several short orchestral works, and of these, I especially like Oberons Zauberhorn and Variations On "Das Fest Der Handwerker".


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## 13hm13

Listening to Op 85 and 89 currently ... good stuff, indeed!!


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## RockyIII

My favorite works by Hummel are his Trumpet Concerto in E Flat and Bassoon Concerto in F Major.

Rocky


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## KenOC

Chamber music fans will enjoy Hummel's piano trios. There are quite a few recordings, including this one that seems a bit expensive right now. Superb works!


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## Judith

13hm13 said:


> Listening to Op 85 and 89 currently ... good stuff, indeed!!
> 
> View attachment 112090


Only discovered him recently thanks to a post on this site a while ago. My first experience of him was when I bought the above album and was more than impressed. Went on to buy Trumpet Concerto


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