Projects of visiting scholars
Sam Girling: Franz Alexander Pössinger and his contribution to string quartet culture in the early nineteenth century
The early nineteenth century was a period in which the nature of chamber music was shifting away from being a private, domestic practice and moving towards the public sphere. This project focuses on the string quartets of Franz Alexander Pössinger (1766–1827), an Austrian violinist, composer and arranger, and a contemporary and friend of Beethoven. Pössinger's works for string quartet provide a fascinating illustration of the role chamber music played in canon formation, music publishing and listening culture in early nineteenth-century Europe.
Among the most common string quartet publications of this era were arrangements of symphonies, concertos and operatic works. Arrangements were a popular and lucrative means for composers to disseminate their works to a wider audience. In the absence of regular public concerts, such arrangements enabled consumers to become familiar with the most popular works of the day in the comfort of their own homes. Pössinger established a reputation as a competent arranger of successful works by other composers. He compiled string quartet arrangements of many notable opera overtures by such composers as Ludwig van Beethoven, Carl Maria von Weber, Gioachino Rossini, Joseph Weigl, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Adalbert Gyrowetz and François-Adrien Boïeldieu. Several sources relating to this subject are held in the Beethoven-Haus archive, including a letter from Beethoven's younger brother Kaspar Karl giving Pössinger permission to arrange Beethoven’s Op. 43 ("The Creatures of Prometheus") for string quartet.
This project aims to shed light on the extent to which arrangements helped establish this level of popularity, as well as the more general contribution of arrangements to the merging of "popular" and "high" art forms, and to the reception history of nineteenth-century opera in Germany and beyond.
Project duration: October 2021 – March 2022
Financed by Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst
Christopher Parton: Lieder in translation: "Englished" editions of nine Beethoven songs published by Clementi & Co, London
Towards the beginning of 1810, Muzio Clementi’s London publishing company received a number of new compositions from Beethoven, including now-famous pieces such as the "Emperor" Concerto (op. 73) and the "Les Adieux" Sonata (op. 81a). Among these pieces, which were to be published by Clementi & Co. simultaneously with Breitkopf & Härtel, were also nine Lieder: the six songs from op. 75 and three standalone songs (WoO 136, 137 & 139). In preparing Beethoven’s lieder for the British domestic music market, Clementi & Co. decided to translate their German texts into English and to publish all the songs separately. Unlike the London editions of his instrumental music, these songs were heavily edited to make them fit for publication.
This project investigates how and why Clementi & Co. adapted Beethoven’s lieder to suit an early nineteenth-century English song culture that was still largely unfamiliar with German Lied styles and the German language. I focus in particular on the technical problems of translating German lieder into English, and how the process of translation also navigated a broader translation of German lieder into English song. I also explore what role Beethoven’s lieder had in establishing his reputation in Great Britain during his lifetime.
Project duration: September 2020 – July 2021
Financed by Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst
Leah Kang: Orchestra in the salon: Piano chamber music arrangements of Beethoven's overtures
In this digital age, music is primarily accessed electronically. Rather than attending live concerts, most people go to their computer or one of many devices where music is just a click away. In a curious historical parallel, although Beethoven composed his works for the concert hall with specific instrumentation in mind, the public was most often introduced to his works through an arrangement.
Arrangements have long been considered derivative, trivial, and merely pedagogical, and as such, have largely been neglected by scholars and performers. Some of these works were arranged by close friends of Beethoven, other composers, and even the composer himself, and cover a wide array of compositional quality and prowess. The best of these arrangements deserve to be known as they are fascinating re-imaginings of canonical works that provide a glimpse into how music was heard and engaged with in Beethoven's time.
A recent resurgence of interest in arrangements has brought them to light, yet their historical impact and scores of music remain mostly unexamined. By combining historical contextualization with close musical readings, this project takes an in depth look the piano chamber arrangements of Beethoven's most famous overtures - Coriolan, Egmont, Leonore III, Fidelio, and Prometheus – as created by his contemporaries Ignaz Moscheles, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, and Carl Czerny. Each composer's approach to the distillation of the orchestral score for smaller forces as well as the significant role arrangements played in the musical activities of the early nineteenth-century will be explored.
Project duration: 1st September 2018 - February 2020
Financed by Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst
Leonardo Miucci: The Classical Viennese Piano School: Its Reception in Milan and Northern Italy during the First Half of the 19th Century
The aim of this project is to trace Beethoven's influence on the keyboard tradition of North Italy in general, and in Milan in particular, during the first half of the 19th century. This investigation will explore Beethoven’s relationship with important figures in this piano world, among them Carlo Soliva, Francesco Pollini, Bonifazio Asioli, Giacomo Gottigredo Ferrari. The influence that Beethoven's piano repertory exerted on 19th-century Milanese pianistic style will also be examined.
Publications see library catalogue.
Project duration: 1st September 2017 – 28th February 2019
Financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation