Andreas Jakob Romberg (1767-1821) Flute Quintets, Op. 41 Andreas Jakob Romberg was born at Vechta in 1767, a member of a large family of musicians from...
Andreas Jakob Romberg
(1767-1821)
Flute Quintets, Op. 41
Andreas Jakob Romberg was born at Vechta in 1767, a member of a large
family of musicians from nearby Münster. He studied with his father, the
violinist Gerhard Heinrich Romberg, and as a child, together with his cousin,
the cellist and composer Bernhard Heinrich Romberg, accompanied their fathers
on concert tours in Germany and France. In 1790, again with his cousin, he
joined the orchestra of the Archbishop-Elector in Bonn, where they were colleagues
of the young Beethoven. When the French army crossed the Rhine in 1793, they
escaped to Hamburg, where they joined the opera orchestra of the Ackermann
Theatre. By then Andreas Jakob had already won a reputation as a composer and,
above all, as a violinist.
In 1795 the Rombergs embarked on an extended concert tour of Italy,
returning, in 1796, to Vienna, as Italy was threatened by the French. In Vienna
they met Beethoven again and he, after some apparent difference, collaborated
with them in a concert, while Bernard Heinrich joined with Beethoven in the
first performance in Vienna of the latter's Opus 5 Cello Sonatas. Haydn
showed considerable interest in Andreas Jakob's music, in particular his string
quartets that seemed in many ways a reflection of Haydn' s own style. On one
occasion Haydn is reported to have helped distribute the parts for a
performance of a new string quartet which he allowed the audience to think was
his, eventually, after due praise, revealing Andreas Jakob as the composer. The
latter dedicated three string quartets to Haydn. The cultural bond with Vienna
was crucial for Romberg's development as a composer and brought association
with musicians of importance.
The Rombergs returned to Hamburg at the beginning of the new century and
in 1801 visited Paris again. There the opera Don Mendoza, a
collaboration between the cousins, failed and Andreas Jakob now returned to
Hamburg, while Bernhard Heinrich set out on a concert tour of Spain, before
joining the staff of the Paris Conservatoire. In the following year he moved to
Berlin, before resuming his career as a virtuoso. Andreas Jakob remained in
Hamburg during the difficult years of the French occupation of the city,
eventually moving to Gotha, where he succeeded Louis Spohr as Hofkapellmeister.
Suffering from ill health and later poverty, he died in Gotha in 1821.
Romberg was prolific enough as a composer. In addition to eight operas
and ten symphonies, he wrote dozens of chamber pieces, characteristic of a
combination of early romantic and late classical style. In many ways he may be
considered representative of the virtuoso style of his day, with lyrical
melodies, reflections of Sturm und Drang, the 'storm and stress' element
in music of the later eighteenth century, showing the influence of his great
contemporaries.
Outstanding among Romberg's eight quintets is Opus 41, a set of three
brilliantly elaborated and expressively condensed four-movement compositions, a
reminder of Romberg's contemporary reputation as a remarkable violinist,
although his friend Spohr, who referred to him as a cultivated and subtle
artist, also found his actual playing cold and dry. Romberg's flute quintets,
scored for flute, violin, two violas and cello, illustrate the freshness of his
musical language, with its use of dance movements and variations on well-known
melodies. The Flute Quintets, Opus 41, are superb music, created as the
classical style began to turn towards the romantic.
The Quintet in E minor
starts with a movement in tripartite classical form, in which the first
subject assumes considerable importance. A stately Minuet follows, with
the flute offering a sinuous melody in the first of the two contrasting Trios.
The strings open the slow movement, before the flute joins in the principal
theme, leading to the well-known strains of the English national anthem, a
melody that enjoyed similar use in a number of German states. The last movement
finds room for a traditional display of counterpoint.
The second work here
included, the Quintet in D major follows a similar pattern, a repeated
exposition in the first movement leading to a central development, before the
expected recapitulation. The second movement Minuet has corresponding Trios
in contrast, and the slow movement Romanza is again introduced by
the strings, the theme varied on the entry of the flute with the melody,
against a running accompaniment. The quintet ends with a lively Rondo.
In the Quintet in F
major the flute introduces an operatic melody in the style of the
period, admitting, as it is developed, a measure of counterpoint and
passage-work for the flute. The slow movement, placed second, offers a singing
melody in a finely crafted texture, to be followed by a third movement Minuet
with something of Haydn about it. This is capped by a short Vivace in
conclusion.
Keith Anderson
based on notes by Egon
Krak