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Royalty Free Music > Public Domain Music > Composers > Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778 - 1837)
Johann Nepomuk Hummel, also known as Jan Nepomuk Hummel was a Slovakian composer and expert pianist. The move from the Classical to the Romantic period in music can be seen in the transition of his own music.
Hummel was born in Pressburg in what was then Hungary on November 14, 1778. His father was the director of the Imperial School of Military Music and conducted the Theater Orchestra. Mozart offered Hummel piano lessons at age seven while he was in Vienna because the legendary composer was so impressed by his ability. Mozart taught Hummel for two years free of charge and debuted him at one of his own concerts when the boy was just nine years old.
After his piano performance debut, Hummel's father took him on tour throughout Europe, eventually landing in London to study with renowned keyboardist Muzio Clementi for four years before he went back to Vienna. Joseph Haydn, in London at the same time as Hummel composed a piano sonata for him in 1791 and gave it to him to premiere, offering him a financial reward for his outstanding performance.
When the French Revolution began, Hummel had to cancel a Spanish and French tour and replaced it with concerts from London to Vienna. In Vienna once again, he furthered his skills by taking lessons from greats Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Haydn and Antonio Salieri. During this time, a young Beethoven came to Vienna to take lessons from both Haydn and Albrechstberger, and he and Hummel became friends. The arrival of this prodigy almost destroyed Hummel's confidence in his abilities, but eventually the relationship between Beethoven and Hummel developed into one built on admiration and respect. Later in their lives, Hummel visited Beethoven in Vienna with his wife and a pupil, Ferdinand Hiller. Together they performed a memorial concert at the request of Beethoven. It was at this performance that Hummel met Franz Schubert, a composer that dedicated several piano sonatas to him. Because both Schubert and Hummel had died by the time these sonatas were published, the publishers altered the dedication so that it was to an active composer of the time of publication that others would recognize, Robert Schumann.
In 1804, Hummel became Kapellmeister at Eisenstadt, replacing Haydn. He remained in this position for seven years before being fired for not fully completing his responsibilities. After he lost this job, he toured Russia and Europe until returning to Stuttgart and Weimar where he again held the position of Kapellmeister, musical director.
It was at Stuttgart and Weimar that Hummel became acquainted with many important writers, including Goethe and Schiller who worked with him at the theatre. Hummel was responsible for transforming Weimar into a music capital of Europe, and employed the finest musicians to play music there. He also began one of the first pension programs for professional musicians and conducted benefit concert tours to replenish retirement funds. Ahead of his time, he was one of the first musicians to fight against musical copyright violation.
In Germany, Hummel published the work "A Complete Theoretical and Practical Course of Instruction on the At of Playing the Piano Forte" in 1828, which was a high-volume seller and bought by thousands of musicians throughout Europe. This groundbreaking music instruction book sparked a new style of fingering and playing technique. Much of later 19th century technique for the piano was inspired by Hummel's work, through his student Carl Czerny who passed along these techniques to Liszt. Many students, including Czerny, preferred Hummel's playing style to Beethoven's and flocked to him for lessons.
Many composers were influenced by Hummel's compositions, including Frederic Chopin and Robert Schumann. Characteristics of Hummel's Piano Concerto in B minor and the Concerto in A minor are obvious in Chopin's concertos. Schumann also played a great deal of Hummel music during his studies, but was rejected later by the composer as a student because he was too unstable emotionally. Liszt's father had appealed to Hummel in an effort to have him study with him, but could not afford the high price. Czerny, Ferdinand Hiller and Felix Mendelssohn were all pupils of Hummel, and his style is evident in their compositions.
Hummel's music was distinctly different from that of his contemporary, Beethoven. Hummel used many modern techniques in his sonatas and other pieces for piano by changing the classical harmonies and expanding the structure of the sonata itself. However, the motive behind Hummel's innovations was not, like Beethoven's to shock audiences, so he was not perceived as very adventurous musically. Piano was his primary instrument, and during his life he wrote eight piano concertos, ten piano sonatas, eight piano trios, a piano quartet and quintet, a great deal of four-handed piano music, along with compositions for many other instruments.
When Hummel died on October 17, 1837 in Weimar, he was very famous. Even though his fame lent some to believe he would be forever remembered, his music was forgotten because of the emergence of new and different composers at the end of his life as the Romantic period began in its full glory. His classical work was often eclipsed by that of Mozart, but in the late 20th Century, his music was rediscovered and brought about many new recordings and interpretations.
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