Friedrich Kuhlau (1786-1832)

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Introduction
Friedrich Kuhlau was a German composer during the Classical period and some of the Romantic period. He was born in Uelzen, Germany of a military musician father causing the family to move around frequently. When Kuhlau was only seven, he slipped on ice, injuring himself and causing permanent blindness in his right eye. Kuhlau finished his schooling and quickly started his compositions. Throughout the years, he took various jobs such as a voice teacher and composer for the Court, but he always came back to his own piano music. Kuhlau lost both his parents in 1830. Only two years later, his house burned down causing him to suffer a chest ailment leading him to a slow death.



Works
Trio in E major op. 119

This piece was performed in Alba on May 26. The performers were Giuseppe Nova and Maxence Larrieu on flute and Andrea Bacchetti on piano. The set was all very busy with a lot of grace notes and trills throughout. All three movements had similar themes and styles with open rounds and long separated quarter notes. The rounds were very busy for the flutes. The piano was more used as a baseline percussion throughout than for melodic purposes. The range for both flutes seemed very comfortable but sometimes crept to a lower register.

Comparisons
Kuhlau's composition career peaked when he premiered a singspiel (German style opera) titled "Røverborgen" in 1814. Another great success, "Elverhøj," became popular almost immediately. However, some works were not as well received such as Trylleharpen (1817), Elisa (1820) and Hugo og Adelheid (1827). Kuhlau began to write works for William Shakespeare to bring his career back to the top. Aside from his operas, Kuhlau was known for his flute and piano compositions. Most of these were sonatas, rounds or waltzes.

Observations
Kuhlau's work is very simplistic. While it does contain busy rhythms, the layers are thin and most times there is no large group to perform the work. Being a part of both the Classical and Romantic eras gave Kuhlau the opportunity to pursue different styles of music. Even though his house burned down destroying tons of his work, he still left behind a legacy.