Classics in the Nieuwe Kerk

Johann Baptist Vanhal (1739-1813)
Sinfonia in d (1767-68?) (arr. Shunske Sato) 

• Allegro

• Arioso. Ma non lento 

• Menuetto - Trio 

• Presto 

Bohemian composer Johann Baptist Vanhal (1739-1813) was the son of a serf in the service of the noble Schaffgotsch family in Bohemian Nechanice. There, a certain Anton Erban, whom Vanhal would later call "his favorite music teacher," taught him to play the organ. In nearby towns, he learned to sing, play string and wind instruments. He was also sent to Marschersdorf to learn German and other subjects so he could later settle in Vienna, then the epicenter of musical life in Europe. In 1760 Vanhal, who had developed into an excellent organist and violinist, actually left for Vienna with the support of Countess Schaffgotsch, where in less than ten years he composed, among other things, 34 symphonies, which found general acclaim. He is also said to have had lessons there from Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf. Out of admiration, a certain Baron Issac of Riesch from Dresden financed a stay in Italy, where the young farmer's son could taste the atmosphere of aristocratic courts. Then he wanted to appoint him as Kapellmeister of a yet to be founded orchestra. But after returning to Vienna, Vanhal could not find his feet. He refused to become Kapellmeister, but also struggled to establish himself as a free-lance composer. As his career unfolded, Vanhal, with his independent spirit, became one of Vienna's most important and influential citizens, a highly respected freelance composer, teacher and performer. But around age 40 he stopped writing symphonies, and a few years later, string quartets and other chamber music, not least because he noted that the tastes of the Viennese public had changed, Last . Nevertheless, more than 270 prints of his music were published in Vienna, and at least 250 religious works, including 48 masses, are still waiting for further study and publication. Vanhal's classically based Sinfonie in d testifies to originality, esprit and ingenuity. No wonder the man, who was the teacher of Ignaz Pleyel and others, was held in high regard by Haydn and Mozart.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Violin ConcertoNo. 1 in B-flat, KV 207 (1773) 

• Allegro moderato 

• Adagio 

• Presto 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was brought up on the art of violin playing. His father Leopold was an excellent violinist and in the year Mozart was born he wrote his famous Violinschule, which caused a stir throughout Europe and was translated into many languages. At the instigation of his father, the 19-year-old Mozart, who himself played the violin very well, wrote a number of Violin Concertos in 1775, which were premiered by the Italian violinist Brunetti and the archbishop's court orchestra in Salzburg. The intention was for Mozart to earn money and fame abroad with these pieces, which he performed himself. "I am not a lover of trickery," Mozart declared to his father, after they had heard a violin virtuoso play together. Yet the corner movements of his 'classically' written First Violin Concerto, which according to recent research came into being as early as 1773, do feature brilliant and virtuosic passages. The middle movement is a "gallant conversation.

In the intermission we serve a free drink

Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739-1799)
Menuetto non troppo presto from String Quartet No. 5 in E-flat (1782)

Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739-1799) was also a deserving violin virtuoso. Born in Vienna, he played as a child in the local Benedictine church until Prince Josef von Hildburghausen took him under his wing and ensured that the talented boy received a thorough musical education with, among others, the later court composer Giuseppe Bonno. Von Dittersdorf then landed in the opera orchestra of the Viennese court, but as a violin virtuoso he toured Italy. He later succeeded Michael Haydn as Kapellmeister of the Bishop of Grosswardein. In Johannesberg, he established his own theater for the performance of his operas. He wrote at least ten of them, in addition to masses, oratorios, cantatas, orchestral works and chamber music. Like Mozart and Haydn, with whom Von Dittersdorf regularly played string quartet in later life, he adopted elements of the Mannheimer Schule around 1770, which would eventually lead to the Vienna Classical School. While his First and Third string quartets are reminiscent of the music of Haydn, the Fifth String Quartet is more of Mozart's influence. It is touching to consider how all four composers of this concerto may well have played through the Viennese-looking Menuetto, non troppo presto together with his Trio designated as Alternativo .

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Symphony No. 45 in f-sharp 'Abschied' (1772) 

• Allegro assai 

• Adagio 

• Menuetto: Allegretto 

• Finale: Presto - Adagio 

The highly prolific and inventive Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) is considered the inventor of the classical symphony. He wrote some 104 of them, including the Farewell Symphony is the 45th. The four-movement work, with a wonderfully turbulent first movement, a warm Adagio, a graceful Minuet and the famous Last movement originated in 1772. It owes its nickname to the fact that in the concluding Adagio , the musicians stop playing, blow out their candle, take their score from the lectern and leave the hall, until only two violinists remain: at the time, they were concertmaster Luigi Tomasini and Kapellmeister Haydn. At that time, Haydn's patron Nikolaus I, Prince Esterházy, along with all his musicians and entourage, were living in his favorite summer palace at Eszterháza in rural Hungary. The stay there had been longer than expected, and most of the musicians had been forced to leave their wives at home in Eisenstadt, about a day's travel away. Longing to return, the musicians enlisted the help of their Kapellmeister. Diplomatic Haydn, rather than making a direct appeal, turned his request into the music of the symphony. The prince seemed to have gotten the message: the entire court returned to Eisenstadt a day later.

Wenneke Savenije