# SS 19.10.19 - Kraus "Symphony In E-flat"



## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

A continuation of the Saturday Symphonies Tradition:

Welcome to another weekend of symphonic listening!

For your listening pleasure this weekend:*

Joseph Martin Kraus (1756 - 1792)*

Symphony in E-flat major

1. Allegro
2. Larghetto
3. Allegro
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Post what recording you are going to listen to giving details of Orchestra / Conductor / Chorus / Soloists etc - Enjoy!


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

Another weekend is upon us and another Symphony is up for your listening enjoyment. This week it's German/Swedish composer (sometimes called the "Swedish Mozart") Joseph Martin Kraus and his Symphony in E-flat. I love Kraus and always look forward to hearing his works. It's a short one so I hope everyone will be able to join in.

I'll post a YouTube link for those without a recording:




Concerto Koln

But I'll be listening to this one:







Petter Sundkvist/Swedish Chamber Orchestra


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

I like Kraus and will be going with the Naxos recording


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

I've been working my way through all four Naxos Sundkvist CDs over the past few months. Top quality stuff! I'll work out which one you mean, and give him a listen


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

Naxos here for me as well.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Just for info, the catalog number is VB 144, dating from 1783. I'll be listening to the Concerto Koln performance. I also have an "alternative Larghetto" for this symphony played by the Swedish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Sundkvist. Don't know what that's all about!


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Naxos for me too.


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## cougarjuno (Jul 1, 2012)

I'll try the Concerto Koln recording. Know nothing of this composer, so eager to listen.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

I will go with Concerto Koln


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## Mika (Jul 24, 2009)

Naxos is the way


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

Very enjoyable and he has his own voice. Thanks for picking this one, RDB. I'll have to listen to more Kraus.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Kraus was certainly one of the best composers of his era - he was an almost exact contemporary of Mozart, even dying shortly after writing a requiem (his was for Gustavus III of Sweden, felled by an assassin's bullet at a masked ball). Although he worked mostly in Sweden, he was no stranger to the Viennese music scene, even belonging to the same Masonic lodge as Mozart.

His E-flat Symphony, this week's piece, shows his skill and originality but is a bit lightweight. Anybody who likes his style might want to give a listen to his far more dramatic *C minor Symphony VB 142* written in the _sturm und drang_ tradition. This may well be the symphony he wrote for Haydn to perform at Esterhaza. Haydn spoke of it to a Swedish diplomat years after Kraus's death: "The symphony he wrote here in Vienna especially for me will be regarded as a masterpiece for centuries to come; believe me, there are few people who can compose something like that."

Whether or not Haydn's praise was a bit _too _fulsome, Kraus deserves more recognition today than he gets, and his symphony is a welcome addition to this series.


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## sbmonty (Jan 11, 2014)

My first go round with this composer. Thanks again!


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Both pictures in the 2nd post are of King Gustavus III of Sweden, not J.M. Kraus. Here's young Kraus as a student, holding a very cool pipe.


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

^^^ Sadly there are no pictures of an old Kraus to compare.......

Nice. Cool Churchwarden indeed.


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